A mobile application’s success can be easily measured by the number of downloads. But because of the fierce competition, it is hard for the app development company to gain new customers. As per the most recent statistics, the google app store has over 1.5 million apps. The apple store is not far behind, with 1.4 million apps. Unless you come up with a radically different idea, chances are that similar apps already exist in the store.
This is why it has become important to not only create a promising app but also use effective marketing strategies to market your applications. This collective effort of getting your application to its customers is the process called app store optimization (ASO).
Read more: Why is the app store optimization (ASO) mandatory for mobile app development?
The top 20 tips to increase downloads with app store optimization
The revenue from a single mobile app user is very less these days because of the oversaturation of the market. That is why it is essential to attract a lot of customers to download and use the app. This has become hard unless you follow efficient marketing tricks. Attention to detail is an important factor in selling and thus by careful planning, downloads and success of the app can be increased. Here are the Top 20 tips to get your mobile apps the first hundred thousand downloads.
Choose the app title strategically
The app title must be chosen in a careful manner. It must be chosen in a way such that it pleases the customers and agrees with the app store target keywords. The keywords must seem to fit in the title quite naturally, or else people will think it is spam. Examples include music.aly an app used to make music videos for Facebook and Instagram, Genius scan which is a PDF scanner and Indeed job search. Relevance, simplicity and visual experience must be key in developing a mobile app.
Research keywords thoroughly
An application’s success can be highly influenced by the keywords used to market it. One of the ways to get efficient keywords is market and competitor analysis. But there are other tools that are available to do it. AppCodes AppMind, SearchMan and SensorTower are some of the tools developers are known to use to research keywords. It is also important to remember that Monitoring your keywords after incorporating them into the app. Changing the keywords with market research can be sometimes necessary.
Write a clear and concise description
This is not so important from an app store optimization perspective, but it is important for the end-user. The description must involve information about what the app does and its benefits. It must be clear and concise but very informative. A good app description can boost the number of downloads as it is the first things users look at when they visit the app in the store.
Get more reviews for your app
Reviews are very important to the app development company and therefore measures should be taken to increase them. The app’s rating influences the position of the app in the app store. It is also important that the app must not trouble the user by asking them to review it. After the user has used the app for a considerable amount of time a gentle pop up can be used to ask a user to rate it. Paid reviews must not be used, as the app store can remove your app if it finds out.
Try to minimize the negative reviews
Every user’s review must be taken seriously and the ones which leave negative reviews must be replied to. The problems the user faced must be noted and must be resolved in the bug fixes. New features asked by the users must be included in the upcoming versions of the app. This process must be repeated for every new version release of the app, as it helps to minimize negative reviews.
Use localization to get more customers
There are non-English speakers in many parts of the world who want the app to have local languages. By using research, several local languages can be installed in the app. Multiple studies have shown that using localization helps improve user interaction and the number of downloads in the app.
Use a catchy logo relevant to your app
Pictures are important in the mobile app’s design. The mobile application’s logo must be designed in such a way that it clearly communicates the purpose of the app to the user. It is an important “selling” point for the app
Try the freemium strategy
Making a paid application at the beginning is not a very good strategy for attracting high downloads. The freemium app store optimization strategy involves giving out the apps for free in the beginning. It is also a good way to get the analytics on an app. In-app purchases can then be used to make revenue through the app. However, the freemium strategy is not suitable for certain utility apps which have a specific purpose to their users and are better than their competitors.
Play with the pricing
Pricing must be decided to keeping in mind the competitor’s prices. An app development company can keep the charges of the in-app purchases high in the beginning, this can be then reduced during promotion and other events.
Create a compelling preview video
Both the google and apple app store offer the opportunity to upload a preview video for an application. This feature can be taken advantage of to attract more customers to the application. The video must showcase the features and purpose of the app in the timeframe given by the app store.
Localize the google play store for the app video
On Google play, one video per the language selected can be uploaded. This introduces the localization feature for videos. People who don’t speak English can then understand the video in their own local language. Youtube’s transcript feature can make the play store use the transcript in the user’s selected language if the video is not uploaded in the local language.
Use pinterest to promote the app
Pinterest can be used to create relevant boards around the app category. Creating 8-10 boards with at least 5 relevant pins per board will help promote the app. A board must include app reviews, demos and blog posts about your app. Relevant photos can be added to help in promotion.
Create a youtube channel for your app
Creating a youtube channel and incorporating efficient titles in the videos can get extra downloads for the mobile app. If a creative or a funny video is added, it can become effective promotional content for your application. An app development company can easily gain a few hundred downloads from this strategy
Use the video on your app website
On the app’s landing page or its webpage, the link to the video must be added near the “download from app store” button. A custom thumbnail for the video can be added to make it look attractive to the users.
Use video ads on facebook
Video ads on Facebook and similar websites can help a lot to attract downloads, as they contain a large number of potential users. Other websites specific to mobile apps exist where video ads can be promoted by the app development company. Tapjoy, Chartboost and Vungle are some of the websites that can be used to promote apps.
Focus on a unique feature that sets your app apart
While marketing the app, it is important to focus on the feature that sets the application apart from other apps. This is because rarity is a thing that is sought after even in the store. Every marketing campaign can be centred around such features to increase the number of downloads of the mobile app.
Send your video ad to bloggers with a marketing request
Bloggers can influence the market greatly. By paying them to write blogs about the mobile app, an app development company can increase its number of downloads. It is also important to send the video of the app to bloggers. This will help them understand things about the app that will help them write better blogs about them.
Apply for awards
For boosting the number of downloads, applying for awards in the app’s category is a good strategy. A number of award competitions can be tried for. Sites that consistently host competitions are tabbyawards.com, mobilepremiumawards.com and startups.co.uk. Other sites that host awards can be found by just searching about them on google. If your app wins an award, press mentions will increase and boost the downloads.
Run contests
An app can run interactive contests for its user base like “pin to win” or “tweet to win”. This can be then awarded promo codes that will unlock certain in-app purchases for free. The tweets and the pins can then act as a de facto promotion from the app’s original customers.
Optimize your email
In today’s world, one must not miss any chances of publicizing one’s mobile application. This is why even the business email of the company must include marketing material. The email signature can include the link to both the preview video of the app and the download of the app.
Conclusion
These days, the market has become too saturated and a new app will certainly have lots of competitors to it. That’s why It is no easy task to get the initial traction going even after the development of an amazing mobile application. Nextbrain technologies is one of the best mobile app development companies that also provides app store optimization services. They have their offices in Bangalore, India and serve many clients worldwide with iOS and Android app development and marketing requirements.
Saran
April 20, 2021 Author