marketing, website, web-appsWe are two partners who worked for several years on a baby name recommendations webapp. We spent tonnes of time making it smart, aesthetic and fully responsive. Even though our algorithm still needs some adjustments, we get (relatively) decent usage statistics; The local Israeli version is stable at the top baby names site. In many countries our avg. session duration is well above 2 or even 3 minutes. Traffic started from 20 people a day last year to currently 140. We sent ~700 emails to relevant sites and blogs and got some items published in (very low profile) media sites. We’re able to quickly translate the app to any Latin language (Spanish and Portuguese translations are ready).
This is where we currently stand, and it feels like with more time and effort this can actually happen. Thing is, we are out of resources. we are no longer able to spend so many hours promoting and improving the app, and we don’t have the funds to hire people. Right now each of us is focused on just making a living.
This is somewhat frustrating as we feel we got close and yet we are still so far. Judging by the local Israeli market, the app stands a real chance, and is easily translatable (incl. name data and everything). But we just can’t afford to put much more effort into it.
Are there any strategies we’re maybe missing out?
Have you asked your users to share it with their friends and family? That can make a huge difference in how quickly an app spreads! Your users may know other people who are expecting a baby. They may have even met some people in classes they took.
Have you gone through all of the social sites and created profiles. Facebook would be a great place to start and create a page. Create some conversations, follow some other ‘parenting’ pages. When you post an update, be sure to tag in the other pages and all of the people that follow that account will also see your post. Same for instagram. There’s a lot you can do with the social networks as long as you spend some time adding content and engaging in conversations. Do you have any expectant friends that could post about using your app?
IMO you need to give a cold hard look at whether you even have a business case and pivot if necessary. A few thoughts off the bat:
There already are a gazillion baby name sites/apps/books/etc. out there.
Your site (as well as your question) doesn’t show any obvious signs that you’re monetizing it somehow or that you ever intend to do so. (Or perhaps my JS blocker killed some ads. But if that’s the case, it’s just as good as no monetization.) If you’ve no monetization strategy in mind yet, your site might be a classic case of “build it and they will come,” and you’ll unfortunately have lots more work to do if you don’t throw the towel. :-(
Users of baby name recommendation tools are most likely ephemeral - as in a few times per baby at most - unless you somehow figure out how to target “professionals” or what services or products or answers of interest to new parents you can deliver. (I can vaguely imagine dreamy, enamored women - perhaps even men - using such apps too. Be wary of not focusing too much on attracting these if that’s the case, because they likely lack purchase intent.)
You’ll probably need to treat your baby name app as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Think of it as the equivalent of providing a free bus tour to tourists with the intent of selling them photos, showing them around in your souvenir shop, etc., and basically earning money on value-added extras rather than on the service itself (which should be a loss maker or barely break even).
Keep in mind as you do that you’re in a position that is similar to that of a restaurant software vendor: your clients aren’t so much restaurants (they’re equipped already) as much as they are future restaurant owners, meaning your restaurant software is a great fit for vaguely related keywords like “bar stools” and other stuff you might want to buy as you equip a new bar or restaurant. Think diapers, baby wipes, baby bottles, baby milk, baby cloths, baby furniture, etc. but also vitamins, supplements, tips, horoscope, baby cry interpretation app, and what have you that soon-to-be moms and dads might eventually want. (Spend a few hours chatting with new parents at any maternity, and you’ll have a laundry list of ideas.)
Solving the how you earn money on the site part is a prerequisite, in my view, before you can ever hope to stand out in that crowded a market. You’ll get nowhere without doing so - as in “Yeah, 1k users per month now!” and not a penny of income to show for it.
How you’ll promote the site itself once you figure that out will follow naturally, if only by copying what your competitors are doing. (If e.g. you’re a diaper delivery service that’s masquerading as a baby name app to get early parent lock-in, you’ll know to look at how other diaper delivery services are promoting themselves and dutifully copy what they’re up to: similar blogs, similar press contacts and channels, similar ad channels, similar joint ventures, etc.)
It sounds like you’re running out of time more so than money, and unfortunately time is the most important factor in launching a successful product. But that doesn’t mean your app can’t still be successful. Some options:
Hope that helps - I’ve had to shut down some apps myself. It’s not fun but the key thing is to reflect on what you learned from the experience for (hopefully) the next app!
Depending on your business model, you could use referral marketing and offer extra features to users who refer your app to friends or at least share it on social media platforms. For instance you can grant them more capacity in “My name List” or some e-cards they can share on social media to announce the birth.
Be careful that such a referral program shouldn’t annihilate a Premium membership if any. It should be small incentives, nice-to-have features but not the killer feature that could convert users to Premium membership
My answer is short, but based on personal experience increasing the (albeit small revenues) of a company by about 1000% based on sheer “elbow grease”. If you have no marketing funds, your only realistic choice as I see it (based on the fact that you are in a saturated market regarding baby names) is to create a the largest possible presence on social media platforms, and bu this I mean every conceivable platform that can get your app some traffic. Even in a saturated market, this can have an effect if your product is unique (niche) or the technology is superior.
Firstly. The amount of time and effort that has been sunk into a project should never be considered when evaluating if it is a good idea or not.
When i ran analytics courses in the past i would talk about goal values and how much each person visiting the site is worth. From those values you can work out how much can be spent aquiring new visitors to the site and still making a profit.
If a site was not making money or covering its own costs then I’d question the owner over what the point of the site is.
If it is simply a vanity project (which is valid and can be fun. I’ve had many) then I’d still look at exactly what I’m trying to get each visitor to achieve in order to measure success and direct my acquisition strategy towards those most likely to achieve those aims (cos learning new skills is a good outcome of side projects).
However, without knowing your aims exactly, only knowing you have no marketing budget I’ll try to answer your question.
Zero funds generally means organic growth and search engine optimisation.
When i do seo work i tend to look at additional ways of benefiting the community coming to the site. Extra tools, blog articles, videos, information, manuals, resources all held on a single domain. All of these things have to be beneficial to the visitors then naturally people will talk about them online, share them and link to them.
Links generally means it’s easier for you to be found from various locations and in search which means more traffic. This all takes time.
Being a single resource for a single service will make it more difficult. If you become a resource for related materials with your website structure focused around driving people to the central service then it becomes easier.
Beyond that you have news letters, social profiles, social media. Online conversations that generate buzz.
There’s also the technical side of seo that will give you a better chance but i think describing all of that is beyond the remit of this SE and can be looked up all across the internet.
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