An app launch marketing plan for the 8 weeks before and 90 days after release

Launch day gives you a short spike. What decides growth is the six weeks before release and the 90 days after. Here's a week-by-week plan, a budget split and the metrics to watch.

Launch day is not the launch. For most apps, the store release gets a short bump of installs from friends, a newsletter and maybe a Product Hunt post, and then traffic falls back to almost nothing. What decides whether the app grows is the work done in the six to eight weeks before release and the 90 days after it. A good app launch marketing plan treats those three periods as one connected program, with a budget and a set of metrics for each.

Below is a week-by-week plan you can adapt, a sensible way to split the budget, and the numbers to watch so you know when to scale and when to fix the product.

Start with three decisions

Before you plan any activity, write down:

1. Your key event. The in-app action that signals a valuable user: signup completed, first order, trial started, first workout logged. Campaigns will optimize toward this, so it has to be tracked from the first build.
2. Your launch markets. Starting in one or two countries keeps costs predictable and learnings clear. Many US-focused apps soft-launch in a smaller English-speaking market first to test cheaply.
3. Your success threshold. The cost per key event and day-7 retention you need for the business to work. Without this, every result looks either great or terrible depending on mood.

Pre-launch: six to eight weeks out

Measurement first

• Finalize a tracking plan: events, parameters and which events go to which ad platforms.
• Integrate analytics (Firebase or similar) and an attribution tool, and verify test events in staging builds.
• Set up deep links so ads, emails and push notifications open the right screen.
• Prepare for iOS privacy measurement with SKAdNetwork or AdAttributionKit conversion values.

Store presence

• Do keyword research and write the store listings for both stores. Our guide to app store optimization services covers this in detail.
• Design screenshots and, if the value is hard to show in stills, a short preview video.
• Consider collecting demand before launch. Google Play pre-registration can run for up to 90 days, notifies pre-registered users at launch and can auto-install on eligible devices. On iOS, brand-new apps can be put up for pre-order with a release date 2 to 180 days out, once the app has passed review.

Audience and assets

• Build a waitlist from a simple landing page, and talk to the people on it.
• Produce a first batch of ad creatives: at least three distinct concepts (problem-led, demo-led and social-proof or founder-led), each in vertical video and static formats.
• Line up early testers through TestFlight and a Google Play closed test, and fix what they find.
• Prepare press and community material: a one-paragraph story, screenshots, a founder quote and a demo video.

Launch week

The goal of launch week is not maximum installs. It's clean data and early feedback.

1. Release in your chosen markets and confirm installs, events and attribution are flowing correctly in every tool. Fix tracking issues before spending money.
2. Notify your owned audience: waitlist, newsletter, social followers and personal network. Ask for honest reviews from real users, not fake ones.
3. Post where your users already are: relevant subreddits, Slack and Discord communities, niche forums and Product Hunt if your audience is there. Follow each community's rules.
4. Start paid tests at low daily budgets on one or two channels. For most consumer apps, Google App Campaigns and Meta are the starting pair; Apple Search Ads is a strong addition when people already search for your category.
5. Watch crash reports and reviews daily and ship fixes fast. Early ratings stay on your page for a long time.

Choosing your first two paid channels

Two channels, run properly, teach you more than five run thinly. Use this to pick your starting pair:

Whichever you choose, give each channel enough budget and time to learn before judging it. Turning a channel off after three days usually tells you nothing.

The first 90 days

The common mistake is jumping to "scale" in week two because install numbers look good. If users aren't reaching the key event or coming back, more spend just buys churn faster.

How to split your app launch marketing plan budget

Every app is different, but a structure that works for many first launches looks like this. Treat the percentages as a starting point, not a rule:

The paid test budget needs to be large enough for campaigns to leave the learning phase on the event you care about. That minimum depends on your target cost per event and the channel; we work through the math in how much to spend on app marketing.

Metrics to watch every week

• Store conversion rate: product page views to installs, by source. Low conversion means your listing or ad-to-page match needs work.
• Cost per install (CPI) by channel and country. Useful for diagnosing creative performance, but not your goal.
• Cost per key event: the number that matters most for paid growth.
• Onboarding completion: the share of new installs that finish signup and reach the first moment of value.
• Retention: day 1, day 7 and day 30, by acquisition channel. Channels often differ a lot.
• Crash-free users and rating: stability problems quietly raise every other cost.
• Early revenue signals: trial starts, first purchases, or whatever predicts lifetime value in your model.

Review these in one short weekly report, with a decision attached: what you'll scale, cut, fix or test next week.

Common launch mistakes

• Launching without verified tracking, then trying to reconstruct what happened from incomplete data.
• Optimizing campaigns for installs only and wondering why nobody subscribes.
• Running one creative for months. Creative fatigue is one of the most common reasons campaigns stall.
• Spreading a small budget across five channels so none of them learns.
• Ignoring reviews in the first weeks, when a few complaints can define your rating.

If you're starting with almost no budget, our guide on getting your first 1,000 app users focuses on organic and community tactics.

Launching with Appryze

Every app we build includes free App Store and Google Play submission and one month of launch marketing, so tracking, store listings and the first campaigns are set up together rather than handed between vendors. Our founder has 12+ years of running user acquisition on Google App Campaigns, Meta and Apple Search Ads, and you own every ad account. See the Growth page for how we run launches.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should I start marketing my app?

Start six to eight weeks before release. That gives you time to set up tracking and attribution, write and design store listings, build a waitlist, produce a first batch of ad creatives, and run a pre-registration or pre-order campaign. Starting on launch day means your first weeks of spend generate weaker data and fewer users.

How much should I budget for an app launch?

It depends on your market and target cost per key event. A useful structure is to put roughly half or more into paid acquisition tests, a meaningful share into creative production, and the rest into tools, community and PR. The paid portion must be large enough for campaigns to exit their learning phase on the event you optimize for.

What should I do in the first week after launching an app?

Confirm installs, in-app events and attribution are recorded correctly before spending more. Then notify your waitlist and network, post in relevant communities, start small paid tests on one or two channels, ask real users for honest reviews, and check crash reports and reviews every day so you can ship fixes quickly.

What metrics matter most after an app launch?

Track store conversion rate, cost per install, cost per key event, onboarding completion, day 1, 7 and 30 retention by channel, crash-free users, rating and early revenue signals such as trials or first purchases. Cost per key event and retention matter more than install volume when deciding where to spend.

Should I use Google Play pre-registration for my launch?

Often, yes. Pre-registration can run for up to 90 days, lets you collect interested users before launch, sends them a notification when the app goes live and can auto-install it on eligible devices. You can also run Google Ads App campaigns for pre-registration and offer an optional reward.

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