What is Soft Launch? 

A Soft Launch is the release of a mobile app to a restricted audience or geographical market before making it available publicly. This approach allows developers and marketers to gather insights on user behavior, app performance, and potential issues, enabling optimizations that ensure a more successful global launch.

Soft Launches enable businesses to fine-tune their marketing investments by experimenting with user acquisition tactics in regions akin to their primary market. This approach is favored by companies looking to maintain confidentiality around their service while progressively increasing their user base.

Soft Launch vs. Hard Launch

A soft launch targets a limited audience, often in specific regions, allowing for testing and improvements based on user feedback and app performance metrics. It's a low-risk way to refine the app and marketing approach.

A hard launch is the official, full-scale release of the app to the general public across all intended markets. It typically follows a soft launch, after adjustments have been made to ensure the app is as ready as possible for widespread adoption.

How to fully utilize Soft Launch?

You should keep in mind some checkboxes below to ensure an effective use of Soft Launch:

• Optimize your App Store Optimization (ASO): To maximize user attraction from the get-go, the Soft Launch serves as an ideal opportunity to refine your ASO. Approach it as if you're launching to your entire prospective audience, ensuring that everything on your app's page reflects your app's superior quality. Conducting thorough tests on all visual elements before presenting them to a large audience justifies the soft launch's effort.

• Monitor User Retention Rate: Opting for a Soft Launch enables you to identify the features that encourage users to return to your app and establish the most effective onboarding process for engaging them. By tracking your retention rate daily during a soft release, you can pinpoint precisely when users disengage from your app. Armed with this insight, you can make necessary adjustments to the app prior to its official launch.
• Well prepare and evaluate our Monetization Strategy: To generate income from your game, it's vital to develop a mobile game monetization plan and evaluate its effectiveness during the Soft Launch phase. This moment is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of your chosen monetization approach. Should the Lifetime Value (LTV) remain low and fail to meet your revenue goals, consider revising your strategy before the official launch. If you initially opted for a premium model, switching to a freemium model might prove more fruitful. Ultimately, the decision on the most suitable monetization path for your app rests with you.

Soft Launch vs. Beta Testing

Some might easily get mistaken between these two, as they both refer to the process ensuring the readiness of a product or app for widespread publicity. In essence, you can understand this way

• Soft Launch is primarily a marketing strategy aimed at refining the app’s market fit, performance, and user acquisition strategies in a real-world environment, often without the users knowing they're part of a test.
• Beta Testing focuses on collecting feedback from a selected group of users to identify bugs and usability issues before the app becomes widely available. It's more about product testing than market testing.

For a better understanding of the differences, please check out Beta Testing. 

How can Soft Launch apply to Airbridge?

Within the Soft Launch period, there are many crucial metrics to measure and analyze. Using a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) like Airbridge can help you collect and gauge data better with granular information and detailed analysis on user journey and in-app events with Funnel Report. 

With the help of Airbridge, advertisers are better equipped with measurement tools to make data-driven decisions. They can discover the trends and insights of user behaviors, unlock many potentials for their app in the future. Airbridge not only brings back an efficient Soft Launch, but also accompanies advertisers throughout the whole journey towards future improvements. Book a Demo to see how your app can be raised to the next level.

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