Most Effective App Marketing Strategies To Boost Your App Downloads
If you’re a fan of chess, you know that the Queen is the piece that trumps any other.
In today’s business world, the smartphone holds a similar place of honor. Individuals check these devices throughout the day and for a multitude of different purposes.
Smartphones are only growing in popularity year on year, and since 2016 have seen a surge globally from 2.5 billion to 3.8 billion users, this trend is unlikely to slow down in the years to come.
(Image Source: Statista)
However, while the smartphone might be the most powerful piece on the board, they’re nothing without apps.
Apps are instrumental — this is how individuals interact with the world around them. Smart businesses understand that they need apps to help promote their products and services.
App revenue from downloads and in-app advertising is growing at an astronomical pace year on year and is projected to surpass US $900 billion by 2023.
(Image Source: Statista)
Also Read: How to Generate High ROI by ASO
Getting Your App Downloaded
While the reasons for creating an app might now be apparent, getting your app downloaded can be difficult. Depending on the market, you could be competing with millions of other apps for a slice of the pie.
(Image Source: Statista)
Standing out in this crowded market can be difficult, with thousands of new apps being released every month. However, you can get your app in the spotlight using various app marketing tactics so that your app is more likely to be found, downloaded and used.
You might be familiar with a term called SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization?
SEO is used to get a specific website higher up in search results so that people are more likely to click on the site.
(Image Source: Loganix.com)
By clearly defining specific marketing and promotional steps for a website, this SEO roadmap shows that you can improve its overall weight and authority online.
This helps ensure that search engines find the site more quickly, gradually driving more traffic to the site.
There are a variety of different SEO strategies that companies should consider when it comes to promoting their site.
With apps, there’s a similar promotion method known as App Store Optimization, which helps an app get promoted to the top of any search.
Understanding ASO
ASO and SEO are very similar, but in some ways, ASO is perhaps even more powerful. While the number of apps is high and increasing, What ASO do is, it ensures that your app has greater visibility, which makes it much more likely to be downloaded.
ASO, too, is influenced by a variety of different factors. By maximizing each of these areas, apps are more likely to rank higher. Areas to consider for ASO include:
- Reviews – App stores group different apps by category and topic based on the number of reviews received. Positive reviews help move the app up in the ranking, while negative reviews have the opposite effect.
- Downloads & Retention – We would think that the higher the number of downloads an app has, the more likely it is to get more. However, the flip side of this is how many people keep the app installed? App stores track installs and uninstalls, and both metrics affect their algorithms.
- Keywords – Having the right keywords in the description or the title can help propel an app higher in any search results.
- Location – Certain apps perform better in specific countries than others. If you can get your app to rank highly in multiple countries, the cumulative effect could be potent.
- Social Media & Networking – How your app is perceived across social media and in some cases, how it makes use of social media can help propel it forward. Similarly, the use of backlinks as a means of networking can help improve an app’s overall ranking.
1. Understand Your User
With mobile apps, several things can be done to market them effectively. You need to understand your demographic, which means knowing where they’re located, what they do, their average income, and even the amount of money they’re willing to spend on your app.
For instance, marketing a game app to a younger demographic is very different from a productivity app targeted towards an older demographic.
Once you’ve answered all of these questions and more, you will be better equipped to create an effective marketing plan that suits your prospects more closely.
When this process is done correctly, you will have different user personas that you can use for your marketing activities.
Each user persona will have different requirements that you need to account for, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work.
A great example of this is a personal finance management app. While the app might track an individual’s monthly spending vs. saving objectives for one thrifty persona, another financially challenged persona might focus on fixing their poor credit score.
Each of these groups will have very different requirements that need to be accounted for.
(Image Source: Pixels)
Within each group, there could be additional personas and individuals with even more detailed requirements. While this might seem overly complicated any time spent at this stage of this process is time well spent as it pays healthy dividends in any marketing plan.
Tracking all of this information can be a complex process, however, there are tools in the market that can help you create and manage multiple campaigns.
A workflow automation software can help keep all the essential elements in one location, improving your client’s overall understanding and needs.
2. Advertise and Market Your App
Internet-savvy audiences are looking at online resources like social media, Reddit, blogs, and other alternatives to search for the right app for their requirements.
Depending on your available budget, you might need to focus your ad spend on certain channels where your target users are most active. Targeting your spending will be much more impactful than a scattershot approach across multiple channels or avenues.
One area that you cannot afford to ignore, however, is the web itself. If you don’t have a dedicated website for your app describing its functionality, you miss a massive opportunity.
Check out how Freshbooks does this on their homepage:
(Image Source: Freshbooks)
Freshbooks also has a dedicated footer with clickable buttons to the app which drives targeted traffic. By providing a clear call to action on the home page and other relevant pages of the site, users are regularly informed of the app’s virtues.
Additionally, content marketing through targeted apps with appropriate backlinks are an excellent source of organic web traffic.
Blog posts and content can mention specific features of the app and explain how the app can be beneficial in marketing to particular user personas.
For example, if you’re an eCommerce store optimizing for purchase orders, you might invest in a barcode system to improve your workflow. However, you might feel pressured to purchase additional items as a barcode scanner.
Here’s how inFlow takes their barcode system software to another level:
(Image Source: Inflow inventory)
If an app like inFlow’s scanner can achieve your goal quicker and easier, there’s just a higher chance that you download their app onto your device.
Also Read:Mobile Apps- Free Tools to Build Your Own Apps
3. Target Your Customers
By understanding your user and their needs, you can look beyond the downloads to gain more insight. This can be useful in future releases so that you can satisfy existing customers and gain new ones with similar needs.
Useful tools to help with this analysis include Google Analytics, which can help you track your site’s overall user experience and how they’ve used your app.
This analytics tool is critical in helping you generate and improve targeted marketing plans for your potential customers.
If you find a lot of your traffic is coming from Spanish-speaking countries, you might want to consider building a targeted solution towards that language.
This Spanish company for example offers two different versions of their site.
In this way, users from English speaking countries or Spanish speaking regions both have the information they need.
(Image Source: Clariba.com)
Organizations with a similar requirement can get their site translated by language experts from around the world. This could help businesses attract new clients from previously unexplored areas.
You could even take it a step further and even translate the app into the language you are getting traffic from.
4. Use Podcasting and Influencers
One beneficial way of reaching an audience is through the use of podcast hosts and influencers.
Some of the best and most popular podcasts are over 30 minutes long with some averaging several hours in duration.
However, despite the length, podcast listeners eat up close to 7 hours weekly finishing the whole episode close to 80% of the time.
The contrast with blog visitors is startling. Sumo tells us that for regular text content, visitors on average only consume 25% of the article and only 20% of readers finish the entire post.
Podcasting has been growing at a breakneck pace ever since its introduction and its impact on audiences far exceeds its reach.
In fact, data points indicate that two-thirds of podcast listeners act on the information they hear in podcasting ads and recommendations from the hosts.
This level of engagement is often due to the novelty of the ads themselves – host ads are more interesting, unique and authentic than normal print and video ads and as such, they are more memorable to their audience.
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Companies that have realized these benefits run the gamut and range in size from small local businesses to large global multinationals. Some big names that you might recognize include the following:
- eBay – eBay’s 13 episode Open for Business podcast talks listeners through the minutiae of opening up a business from the ground up.
- Basecamp – It is an excellent tool for running projects large and small. In their 58 episode podcast The Distance, they speak to businesses that have managed to survive and thrive for 25 years or more.
- Sephora – Sephora: A leading multinational retailer for cosmetic products, offers a 15 episode run of talks with different guests where discussions range from self-image to relaxation and fun on #LIPSTORIES
Podcasting has shown that there are many different formulas for success and popularity. For example, Joe Rogan: An American Comedian, has recently moved his podcast to Spotify. His show was regularly getting 190mm downloads a month and that number is only increasing.
Consumers are looking for someone that shares their interests and passions and when they find someone they trust, they follow their advice and guidance.
With podcasting continuing to grow in popularity year-on-year, advertising through this channel has become an excellent avenue that must be considered for any app marketing strategy.
5. Invest in Link Building
Marketing is about networking, and links are the way it’s done online. However, getting other sites to link to you and creating links to them through posts and content can be a time consuming and difficult process.
Luckily, there’s a better way and that’s by having others do the heavy lifting for you.
In this case, an excellent way of creating backlinks is through the use of press releases. This non-traditional method of link building is extremely powerful when done correctly as a means of self-promotion.
A great example of this is the press release from Flaregames for their Android game – Dawn of Steel. Since its launch in 2016, it has surpassed 156,000 downloads.
(Image Source: Google Play Store)
Targeted press releases in the right markets can help drive viewers to your sites in those markets. As your app’s popularity in a specific vertical increase in one geography, it increases the likelihood of other publications focusing on the app. ‘
Conclusion
Gaining new conversions and users for your app is not always an easy target to hit. However, careful planning and branding can ensure that your investment pays off.
Find your customers where they like to play, learn, rest and relax and over time you will gradually gain new fans and advocates.
Always remember to focus on your client and their needs and objectives with all of these strategies. By keeping them in mind you will meet and exceed your goals while gaining rabid followers that will only help you grow and expand.
Author Bio:
Ezekiel Cohen has a special affinity with numbers and patterns, on top of being a natural at PR. This gives him the edge when it comes to SEO analytics and advertising strategy.