One of our friends is building an app. Is a bloody good one which uses data to help the users get better at their chosen activity. I’m being cagey because the app is in development and I don’t want to give the game away. Suffice to say this will be ace.

Anyway he’s getting ready to test the app and obviously he needs testers. His problem is that he’s spent loads of time developing and doing clever stuff that he’s not done any promotion at all, save for ensuring he has the website URL secured.

So how can he find app testers without anyone knowing about his app?

It’s going to take some work, but it’s actually quite a simple process. Done right it’ll not just help him find testers but also find himself a legion of potential users.

Here are the steps we suggested

1. Write up a brief overview of how the app will benefit the users, be idealistic. Make sure to point out that this isn’t the finished article, but as an early tester you are helping to bring something great to life!
2. Using that copy create a very simple landing page on your website with a short form. On that page tell people about the app and that you are looking for people to test it. Ask for the minimum amount of information you need. The basics are name and email address, but depending on your app you may need more.
3. Legal Point! Ensure you cover off data protection issues by ensuring you are very clear about what you are doing with the data you collect. See our blog post on ensuring your marketing data is GDPR compliant for more information on that.
4. On the page make an offer for all those who sign up. That could be a discount off the app when it launches, a branded t-shirt, trip to the Bahamas etc.
5. Make sure your form sends out an automated response thanking them for volunteering and that you have access to all the data you are collecting.
6. Push the landing page out to all the social media channels you know. Make sure you use groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and any other sites your target testers hang out.
7. Send it out to all your friends, family, distant cousins and anyone else you know.

The beauty of this is it does two things,

Gets you the all important testers for your app

Builds you a list of potential customers along the way.

What’s the next step?

Once you’ve picked your testers, our friend only needs 20, and completed the testing, send out an email to everyone who expressed interest telling them how the testing went. At this point you could ask for a second round of testers too.

Going forward, as long as the idea was viable, you can bring in all these people who volunteered their interest in your app as new customers.

By the way, if you are going for investment for your app, having a database full of potential customers is a great add on to your investor pitch.

Can we help you get your app to market? Give us a call on 07834 197785 or fill in the form below

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