Skip to content
AM

Pre-launch

App pre-launch checklist for Australian founders (2026 edition)

The 18-step pre-launch app marketing checklist App Media uses with Australian app founders — covering App Store, paid, content, PR, analytics and launch-day execution.

All blog posts
Jarrah Robertson, Chief Strategist at App Media

Reviewed by Jarrah Robertson

Chief Strategist, App Media · 12+ years in app marketing

Published 18 April 2026 · Updated 2 May 2026 · 11 min read

The week your app launches is too late to start marketing it. The work you do in the 8–12 weeks before launch determines whether you ship to crickets or to category-leading day-one installs.

This is the checklist we walk through with every Australian app team that engages App Media for pre-launch planning.

Short answer

A successful Australian app launch in 2026 needs: validated App Store positioning, an optimised App Store and Google Play listing built and tested before launch, paid acquisition campaigns set up and ready to flip on, a launch-week PR and content plan, attribution and analytics live from day one, and a content/community plan for the 30 days post-launch. Skipping any of these meaningfully reduces day-one and week-one installs.

The 18-step pre-launch checklist

Strategic foundation (T-12 to T-8 weeks)

  1. Define your target audience and use-case in one sentence. "An app for X who want to do Y, instead of doing Z." If you can't say this clearly, your App Store listing won't either.
  2. Validate App Store positioning. Run keyword research before you write a single piece of copy. The terms your audience searches for should drive your positioning, not the other way around.
  3. Review the competitive landscape. Top 10 apps in your category — their listings, their reviews, their pricing. Identify the wedge.
  4. Set day-one and 30-day install goals. Anchor every other decision against these numbers.

App Store and Google Play (T-8 to T-4 weeks)

  1. Build your App Store and Play Store metadata. Title, subtitle, description, keyword set. Tune for both ranking and human readability.
  2. Produce screenshot suite. 5–10 variants. First three carry the conversion weight.
  3. Produce a 15–30 second video preview. Open with motion within the first 3 seconds.
  4. Build your icon. Test against competitors' icons in monochrome thumbnail size.
  5. Set up App Store Connect and Google Play Console for testing. Internal, external, TestFlight, Play Console alpha/beta tracks.
  1. Stand up Apple Search Ads account. Build discovery, brand, category and competitor campaign structures. Don't run yet.
  2. Stand up Google App Campaigns. Cross-platform UAC + creative assets ready.
  3. Set up Meta Ads Manager with conversion API, custom audiences and lookalikes. Production-ready creative loaded.
  4. Optional: TikTok Ads Manager. If your audience is under 35 and visual-led, TikTok creative scoped and ready.
  5. Mobile measurement partner (MMP) live. AppsFlyer, Adjust or Singular installed in the app and reporting cleanly.

Content, PR and community (T-4 to T-1 weeks)

  1. Launch-week PR plan. AU tech press list (StartupDaily, AusBiz, SmartCompany), category-specific press, podcast outreach, founder profile pieces.
  2. Content calendar. First-30-days content plan: founder story, behind-the-scenes, customer stories, category POV pieces.
  3. Community presence. ProductHunt launch (if relevant), Reddit / Discord / category-specific forums.

Launch day

  1. Coordinated activation. App Store live → press releases out → ASA and AC campaigns flipped on → Meta + TikTok creative live → founder posts published → community activation. Single coordinated push.

What Australian-specific factors matter

  • AEDT/AEST launch timing. Launch in your audience's working hours. For consumer apps, Tuesday–Thursday morning Australian time is generally strongest.
  • Australian press cycles. Pre-brief AU tech press at least 2 weeks ahead of launch.
  • App Store featuring submission. Submit to Apple's editorial team for featuring consideration 8 weeks before launch via App Store Connect.
  • AU regulatory context. If you're in finance, health, gambling or similar regulated categories, allow extra time for App Store review and TGA/ASIC/AUSTRAC compliance.

What to avoid

  • Launching without an MMP. You'll have no idea what's working.
  • Spending heavily on cold paid acquisition in week one. Burn-rate kills more app companies than competition does.
  • Ignoring App Store reviews and ratings. Day-one ratings disproportionately influence the next 90 days of organic conversion.
  • Treating launch day as the finish line. The 30 days after launch matter more than launch day itself.

Bottom line

Pre-launch is the highest-leverage marketing work an app team will do — and the most often skipped. A well-executed pre-launch can deliver 10x the installs of a "launch and hope" approach for the same downstream marketing spend.

If you'd like a free pre-launch review with Jarrah, apply for a strategy call.

Want to talk?

Apply for a free strategy call with Jarrah.

Personally reviewed within 1–2 business days.

Apply nowSchedule a call