B2B App Marketplaces. A beginner's guide.

What’s App?

…App Marketplaces

….App Marketplaces for B2B Distribution.

Fret not. We’re going to go deep this week

You may recall our post on Under-Utilized Channels in B2B Marketing that was out a couple of weeks ago

We then followed up with a post on Community Marketing in B2B with focus on Reddit.

This week let’s dive into the potential of App Marketplaces

App marketplaces are online platforms where developers can distribute and users can download and purchase applications

Why would you consider getting into App Marketplaces? Well, if the following are your objectives…

Expand Market Reach: Reach a broader audience of potential customers who are actively seeking solutions within the marketplace ecosystem.

Increase Brand Visibility: Boost your brand's visibility and awareness among industry professionals and decision-makers.

Accelerate User Adoption: Streamline the adoption process and drive user acquisition through a centralized platform.

Here are the current popular marketplaces that you can check out:

• Salesforce AppExchange
• Microsoft AppSource
• AWS Marketplace
• Google Cloud Marketplace
• ServiceNow Store
• Hubpot App Marketplace

If you’re not sure which marketplaces are best for your brand, here is a quick comparison.

Now naturally, you might wonder when you should even think about getting into Marketplaces.

When to consider App Marketplaces?

Have a fully developed product: Have a fully developed and rigorously tested product, that has gone through beta testing.

Market Traction & Adoption: Having a healthy number of active users, growth rates etc. before enrolling will better your app’s performance in the marketplace

Operational Readiness: Have a battle tested customer success team that can address any issue that customers may face. Make sure you have a smooth onboarding process in place. 

Check these 3 boxes? Great!

Of course it is not enough that you simply get enlisted.

Here’s how you increase revenue off the whole process

Optimize Listing: Your value prop should be clear and precise to entice potential customers. Use powerful visuals and other brand collaterals that can highlight key features, use cases etc.

Community Engagement: Actively participate in the marketplace’s community by joining forums, engaging in discussions, and collaborating with other developers and partners. 

Track your metrics: Make sure you regularly track and analyze performance metrics such as downloads, user engagement, and conversion rates. Use this data to identify areas for improvement, optimize your listing, and refine your marketing strategies.

Engage with Developer Community: Make use of the developer community too and stay abreast of updates and trends in the community. Expect forums, events and discussions to explore.

Hope this gives you an idea of how marketplaces work and how to go around entering them.

If you’ve had undeniable success with Marketplaces, our CEO would love to have a chat with you over LinkedIn