Congratulations! Your app has been approved for the Thinkific App Store and you've built a game-changing listing page, but now you have to think about an entirely different challenge: getting potential customers to your listing page.
What is covered in this article:
- Associating your App with a specific customer Problem
- What does the Thinkific App Store Team do for you?
- What is up to you?
While we’re not able to directly market every app that’s listed, we’re committed to helping you find success in the Thinkific App Store.
Align your app with a specific user problem
It is very important to make sure that your app can be directly aligned with a specific user problem. You may be thinking that this has nothing to do with marketing your app, but the power of association is actually extremely important in this case. Make this problem/solution association clear in all your marketing copy!
Making your app a go-to solution for a common problem makes marketing it much easier, for a few reasons:
- It gets the app review team's attention: If the app solves a very common pain point for customers we are much more likely to keep it front of mind when marketing opportunities for apps arise. We work hard with other teams to get apps mentioned throughout our marketing campaigns and the in-app dashboard. It will be apps that are clearly linked to a user pain point that most commonly fill these spots.
- Gets the support teams attention: We can’t overstate the importance of standing out to our support team as a go-to solution. They are the front-line in terms of solving customer problems and if an app is the solution, they are always keen to share that.
- Makes searchability better in the KB: Our customer-facing knowledge base is aimed at providing quick & easy answers to questions. What that means, is that customers will generally be searching for the problem that they are facing. If you can associate your app directly with one of these problems, it is more likely that your app will be discovered regularly.
You can see from the points above, how important it is to have your app associated with solving a customer problem. Doing so, naturally improves the marketing opportunities for your app!
What does the Thinkific App Store Team do for you?
How do we help to get your apps in front of customers? We have mentioned a few ways above but wanted to elaborate on a number of channels that we use:
- Knowledge Base mentions: At the time of listing an app we will do a search of the existing support articles and see if there are any places where the app can be mentioned. If there are none, we will generally create a new article so that the app finds a spot in our documentation!
- Support mentions: Every app has a macro created in our email system so that support can quickly include a link in their responses to customers. Improving accessibility to our support champions has improved the rate at which apps are mentioned in daily tickets to customers.
- Featured apps: You may have seen the “Featured Apps” section at the top of the Thinkific App Store. There is no guarantee that your app will be included here but ensuring that you meet the eligibility criteria is a great first step. This can be a big traffic driver for apps that are able to secure a spot. You can learn more about that here.
- Blog mentions: We also keep an eye on upcoming Blog posts from our content team to see where apps may tie in. The Thinkific blog is a high traffic spot for customers looking to learn more about expanding their learning business. Showcasing apps that solve some high ticket problems can be a really effective marketing tool!
What is up to you?
Especially when you're starting out as a newly listed app developer, there's a lot you can and should be doing to build trust with potential customers and get their attention. Here are some examples:
- Free Trials/Offers: We all know that people love free things! Offering a free trial or special discounts can be super effective for getting free to paid conversions. People may not be willing to convert if they are paying right away. This at least gets them in the door!
Alternatively, if you offer a Free Plan your app will be added to the high traffic "Free Plan" collection in the Thinkific App Store.
- Blog (Write an article): In the last section we discussed app mentions in the blog but what about writing an article? We are always looking for Partner contributions in the Blog and doing so gives you the opportunity to put your app at the top of the list. This can’t be an article dedicated to your app but will discuss a topic that is important to course creators which your app is applicable to. Email us at apps@thinkific.com if you are interested in doing so!
- Community Engagement: We all know that before people choose to install an app there is always a trust factor that impacts conversion. If you are constantly engaging with both the partner and customer community and are a familiar name, you begin to build up that trust. This makes customers much more likely to convert on the installation.
- Utilize your existing website and social media channels: It is important that you also utilize your existing channels where you may already have an audience. On these channels you can showcase blog articles about your app, customer testimonials/stories and any other marketing material you may think is relevant.
- Work with Thinkific Partners: You can also work with existing Thinkific partners that are already well integrated with the Thinkific ecosystem. By educating them about your product and the problem it solves, they may find value recommending it to their clients.
To learn more about marketing opportunities, please check out our free app development course!