Whatever your reason, your app will only have the intended effect if you can get people to actually download it. But how can you do this? Downloading an app is a time commitment (however minor) that you are asking of your customers. To persuade them that it is worth it, you need to up your app marketing game. Here are some tried and tested ways to do exactly that. 

More than just a conduit

In order to encourage people that your app is worth downloading, it needs to have a clear value proposition. So many brands make the mistake of developing an app that is nothing more than a conduit for information, often the sort of content you could easily just find on the brand’s website. These are the apps that are destined to lie unused and forgotten until they are quietly removed from the App Store a few years later.

What you need is an app that is more than just a conduit. For example, consider the Makeup Genius app from the cosmetics giant L’Oreal. Instead of just being a mobile catalogue of products, this handy app allows you to use your camera to match your skin tone with the perfect makeup products for you. This is a genuinely useful tool that has encouraged a huge uptake of the L’Oreal app, and a similar tool could benefit your business.

Give them a freebie

People like free stuff, no matter what it is. If you are in the thick of your campaign and need to get some serious downloads, one tried and tested trick is to offer freebies to anyone who downloaded. Brands across all industries engage in this practice on a daily basis, simply because it works. You could offer in-store discounts to anyone who downloads your app now, which is what retailers like Hollister do.

One industry that has taken this marketing tactic to new heights is the iGaming industry, which offers online games such as poker and slot games to players around the world. In order to get more people to download their branded apps and play games there, the best betting sites on the market offer free bonuses and bets worth hundreds of pounds to anyone who signs up. Since the apps offer all of the products and services that you would find on desktops, it makes sense to extend free signup bonuses to app users. 

App store optimisation

No matter what you wish to achieve with your app, you will need to put it on the App Store or Google Store if you want anyone to be able to access it since these two platforms dominate the market share. However, this alone is not enough. These app stores have hundreds of thousands of apps each, with more being added every day.

In order to stand out from competitors, you need to optimise your app store listing so that it appears at the top of people’s search results and recommendations. Use relevant keywords that your target customer would likely use. Encourage positive reviews on the App Store to boost your ranking. Use snappy descriptions that are not too wordy. Include keywords in your app title. These basic steps will make a huge difference.

Incentivise reviews

We have just mentioned reviews, nonetheless, it really is worth emphasising this. Reviews on the App Store will make it significantly more likely that people will download your product. If there are no reviews, your app is unlikely to even appear in search results.

You should leverage all of your other marketing platforms to encourage and incentivise reviews of your app. Give discount codes or free products to anyone who is willing to leave a review. Encourage detailed and honest reviews, as these will rank well and will also give you some constructive feedback that you can use to make your product better.  Your app could be your secret marketing superweapon. Follow these steps to give it the best possible chance of success.