Your app is ready to ship, but nobody knows it exists. That’s the problem that kills more apps than bad code ever will. Most founders arrive at launch day with no audience, no momentum, and much fewer downloads than they had hoped for.
This guide gives you a complete app marketing strategy that works whether you built your app with Anything, traditional code, or other AI app builders.
Pre-launch app marketing checklist (2 to 4 weeks before release)
The work you do before launch day determines whether you’ll have 50 downloads or 500. Launch day without an audience is just another Tuesday.
1. Validate messaging and target audience
Before you write your first social post, confirm people actually want what you built. Check Google Trends or similar tools to see if anyone’s searching for solutions like yours, and analyze 3 to 5 competitor apps to see whether similar products have traction.
The gaps in existing solutions become your unique differentiator, but only if they’re based on market data rather than assumptions. This research takes a couple of days but saves weeks of talking to the wrong audience.
2. Create a simple landing page
Once you’ve validated demand, capture interest before you launch. Your landing page has one job: convert visitors to email signups. Strip away everything else and keep three essential elements:
- A clear description of the problem your app solves above the fold
- Screenshots or a demo video showing the app in action
- An email signup form
Your value proposition should be visible before scrolling, paired with 2 to 3 screenshots or a quick demo video. The signup form should ask for email only, maybe name if you need it for personalization, but nothing more. Test the mobile layout first, since most visitors will use phones.
Landing pages that load quickly and look professional convert better than complex designs. Anything lets you build your landing page with the same tool you’re using for your app. This means you can iterate on your messaging quickly based on early feedback.
3. Build an email waitlist
Set up email collection 4 to 6 weeks before launch so you have people ready to download on day one. Here’s how to keep them engaged:
- Send weekly updates with feature previews
- Share development progress
- Offer early access incentives
- Track email engagement
- Tag engaged subscribers for launch day outreach
4. Produce visual assets
Prepare visual proof your app works:
- 2 to 3 of your best screenshots (focus on core functionality)
- A 15- to 30-second demo video showing a real problem being solved
- App icon that works at small sizes
- Feature graphics for app store listings
5. Identify launch communities
While building your waitlist, identify where you’ll launch. Product Hunt, Reddit, Discord groups, and Indie Hackers all have active communities, but each requires different preparation:
- Product Hunt: Start engaging 2 to 4 weeks before launch
- Reddit: Research subreddit self-promotion rules
- Discord: Set up essential channels
- Indie Hackers: Build credibility by commenting on other launches
6. Set up analytics and event tracking
Analytics setup needs to happen before your first user arrives. Track:
- Screen visits and navigation paths
- Drop-off points during onboarding
- Session duration
- Return frequency
- Feature usage
- Crash-free rate (keep above 99%)
If you’re using AI app builders with built-in analytics like Anything, you can skip some of this technical setup. Either way, the critical task is tracking user behavior from day 1.
Launch week plan (day-by-day)
Here’s how to structure those critical first seven days, when momentum either builds or dies.
Day 1: App Store + Play Store release
Submit your app to Apple’s App Store 3 to 5 days before your target launch date. While reviews typically take only 24 to 48 hours, you might need extra time if they request changes. Google Play requires identity verification, so you need to complete that verification process weeks before launch day or you’ll miss your window.
Here’s what to focus on for day 1:
- Check crash reports obsessively
- Verify analytics are tracking correctly
- Test payment flow yourself before announcing
- Fix any launch day bugs immediately
Day 2: Email your waitlist
Your waitlist has been waiting for this moment. Send your announcement the moment your app goes live on both platforms, including:
- Direct links to both app stores
- Quick reminder of the problem your app solves
- Specific call to action (”Download now and be one of our first 100 users”)
- Something that creates urgency, like early adopter pricing or limited beta access
Day 3: Launch on social platforms
Now you expand beyond your waitlist to cold audiences. Launch on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram with platform-appropriate content. What works on one platform might flop on another.
Consider these platform-specific tips:
- TikTok: 5–9% engagement rates (highest of any platform), ideal for discovery
- Instagram: Prioritize carousel posts over Reels
- LinkedIn: Best for B2B apps
- Twitter/X: Short, direct announcements with visual content
Day 4: Share demo videos
Share short demo videos showing your app solving real problems.
Here are the format guidelines by platform:
- TikTok and Instagram Reels: 15- to 30-second clips
- YouTube: Longer explanations (watch time determines algorithmic promotion)
- All platforms: Show value within the first 3 seconds
Day 5: Post to launch communities
Post to the communities you researched during pre-launch, following each community’s rules carefully. If a subreddit requires participation history before promotional posts, respect that or your post gets removed, and you’ve wasted your one shot.
Here are some community posting tips:
- Product Hunt: Launch on weekdays, early morning Pacific time
- Reddit: Follow each subreddit’s specific rules
- Indie Hackers: Focus on founder stories, not feature lists
- Discord: Share in relevant channels without spamming
Day 6: Collect your first reviews
By now you have early users who’ve experienced your app, so ask them to leave reviews:
- Target friends, beta testers, and enthusiastic waitlist members
- Use platform-native prompts after positive user actions
- Aim for 50+ reviews in your first month
- Respond to every review
Day 7: Push your first update
By day 7, you’ve likely discovered bugs or received feature requests from early users. Push a small update that fixes the most critical issues, even if it’s just three bug fixes. What matters is showing users you’re listening and responding fast.
When a user reports a bug, they expect it to be fixed within days, not weeks. If you’re managing separate web, iOS, and Android codebases, coordinating releases across all three platforms eats up time you don’t have.
That’s where Anything makes a difference: one codebase means you push updates to web, iOS, and Android all at once. While web fixes can ship the same day, mobile app updates depend on app store approval cycles.
Post-launch (weeks 2 to 4)
Apps that maintain growth focus on fixing what breaks and keeping user retention high.
Track onboarding metrics and drop-off
Start with one question: where do users quit? If Day 1 retention is below 25%, you’ve got fundamental onboarding problems.
Here’s what good retention looks like:
- Day 1: 35–45% acceptable, 50%+ is good
- Day 7: 20–30% expected
- Day 30: 5–10% typical
Apps lose 77% of their daily active users within three days of installation, which is why getting users to their “aha moment” quickly matters so much. Find where users realize your app’s value and get them there fast.
Start simple referral or invite programs
Referral programs deliver some of the highest-quality users for two reasons: referred customers have a 37% higher retention rate according to Deloitte, and their lifetime value is 16% higher than non-referred customers according to Wharton School research.
People trust recommendations from friends and family, which is why referred users convert better and stay longer.
Here’s how to build a successful referral program:
- Use native share functionality for frictionless sharing
- Reward both the referrer and new user
- Focus on making sharing feel natural and valuable, not forced
- Design the referral flow to be completed in three taps or less
Publish early case studies or user stories
Even if you only have 100 active users, some of them are getting value from your app. Find those people and tell their stories. Interview 2 to 3 of them and publish their stories on your blog, social media, and landing page.
Real user stories convert better than any feature list because they demonstrate your app actually works — not in theory, but for real people solving real problems. This element helps increase landing page conversion rates and builds credibility for future marketing efforts.
Build and iterate faster with Anything
When users report bugs, they expect fixes within days. Anything lets you build once and deploy everywhere (web, iOS, Android) from a single codebase. Here are just some of the advantages:
- One-click updates to all platforms simultaneously
- Built-in analytics, payments, and hosting
- Faster response to user feedback
- More time for marketing and growth
