17 Efficient Ways to Promote a Mobile App that You Need to Know

Product promotion on the market is one of the main difficulties faced by mobile app developers. However, this task is very important because there will be no audience without proper marketing, and if there is no audience, how can you make money?

To let users know about your product, you have to tell them it exists and not only attract attention to them through Google Play and the App Store but also through other marketing channels.

I have compiled a list of efficient mobile app promotion methods for you, making specific recommendations, providing examples, and giving references to useful resources and tools.

1. ASO (App Store Optimization)

ASO is an integral part of mobile app marketing. The objective is to improve app visibility and positioning on Google Play and the App Store, as well as to get organic user clickthroughs and downloads.

Without any adequate ASO optimization, any other promotion measures may not work because people will simply not be able to find your app in the store. Even if they follow a direct link, they will not want to download it when they see incorrect screenshots.

ASO work includes:

• app title optimization (indexed in the search)
• creation of interesting and keyword-optimized descriptions
• creation of high-quality and visible icons: it is worth spending time, effort, and money to develop an icon that will catch the user’s eye
• selection of  a suitable category in which the app will be added
• filling in the block of keywords
• creating attractive and informative screenshots.

Analyze competitor app pages, draw conclusions from their mistakes, and take advantage of successful methods.

2. Motivated Installations

One of the key factors promoting your app to a higher position in the store is the number of app installations. You need a large number of downloads in a short time period. To achieve this, developers often resort to services supplying motivated mobile traffic.

Motivated traffic presumes app installation for a certain reward. There are specialized services which help you purchase the required number of installations. You can distribute installations by day and time.

3. Facebook Ads

Facebook has a special type of advertising called “App Install Ads.” Such ads appear on Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger news feeds. When you promote mobile apps, this channel can provide good results.

The Facebook advertising account provides users with the possibility to flexibly adjust their budgets, set up accurate targeting, and use various calls to action. This is a relatively expensive channel, but the advantages of this traffic source are quite promising and worth the investment.

4. Posts in Facebook Groups

If you have an insufficient budget for targeted advertising, there is another option. You can create a post in a Facebook thematic group dedicated to apps for a particular OS or subject. Such communities consist of an audience that is used to regularly downloading apps. Consequently, you will definitely get your share of attention.

Join several Facebook thematic groups. The community audience should be interested in your app’s subject matter. Avoid direct advertising, provoking users into discussions, and avoid arguments in the comments.

5. Personal Page and Accounts

You can also create the official app page on Facebook even at the development stage and make posts describing the development process. If your personal account has a large number of subscribers, and the app subject is quite popular, you can create posts on your personal page.

6. Instagram Ads

By using an advertising account on Facebook, you can also create ads on Instagram, customizing their impression in the feed and stories. This social network focuses on the visual component and it is exactly what you need to advertise games.

7. Use Promo Codes

By using promo-codes, you can provide free access to your app or certain content for a limited number of users.

You can provide promo-codes for bloggers and journalists and make arrangements about reviews or overviews. Another option is to publish promo-codes on app pages in social networks.

Using this method, you will allow users to get acquainted with your app and increase loyalty to it.

8. CPA networks (affiliate programs)

There are a large number of mobile affiliate programs where “webmasters” (people who generate traffic to mobile apps) and customers meet.

You claim that you are ready to pay X dollars for one installation. The affiliate program takes over the work with webmasters and pays money to those who ensured installations of your app.

This is a fairly popular way to promote mobile apps, especially if you plan to attract an audience in the long run.

9. Search Contextual Advertising (Google Ads, Bing Ads)

Contextual advertising includes ad configuration and displays in the advertising networks run by search engines like Google and Bing. If your ad is correctly configured and the target audience’s interests are properly determined, the ads will be displayed only to interested users. Payments are made for clicks received.

This method has its drawbacks though. For example, there is high competition for impressions in several subjects because competitors can raise click fees. It is necessary to experiment in finding a balance between cost and efficiency and correctly identifying requests to attract the necessary target audience.

10. Ads on App Store and Google Play

Android and iOS App Store developers provide promotion services in the form of ads which are displayed in their respective stores: Apple Search Ads and Google Ads for apps.

It is important to note that such ads will only appear on devices compatible with the app and be made exclusively to users who have not installed this app yet.

11. Advertising on Thematic Resources and in the Media

Overviews allow users to understand whether or not they need the app. Add colorful screenshots and videos to your text overviews. Write to selection authors and ask them to include your mobile app on their list.

If you have created a really interesting product, some specialized periodicals will write about you for free. However, you cannot be sure who will release a story and when they will do it. Therefore, you can also order paid overviews.

You can choose websites to post paid ads taking your app subject, promotion budget, and market geography into account.

12. YouTube Promotion

A video review describing a mobile game is something like a trailer, game ad, and gameplay description all in one.

Reviews of non-gaming mobile apps are focused more on showing the product’s advantages and main virtues. There are also video guides explaining how to use the mobile apps.

The more interesting an app or a game is, the more users will download it after watching the review. Create your own YouTube channel to post videos and form agreements with other YouTube channels to share your videos.

13. Promo Website for Your App

This is the reference point where you have complete control over what you tell users about your product. Your website can tell users about the development process, report news, inform the audience about updates and their release date, and create a FAQ section (“Questions and answers.”).

A website created specifically to promote a new game or another type of app greatly facilitates promotion objectives. You can direct traffic to it from search engines or targeted ads to inform your audience about the app.

Add user reviews to your website and tell visitors about successful cases of your product’s use. Place a noticeable button on the same page to allow your visitors to click and download your app.

14. Influencer Marketing

Bloggers, media personalities, opinion leaders, as well as owners of large and medium platforms (pages and groups in social networks, chats in instant messengers, and other social media) can provide a quick promotional effect as well.

Do not contact the most popular bloggers if you are not the leader of your category. Offer cooperation with smaller players, especially if they have just started. Their prices will be much lower and the audience will be more loyal.

15. Email Newsletter

If you have a database listing your email subscribers, tell them about your app after adding it to stores. Devote a separate letter for your product: tell users about its capabilities and provide a link to pages in Google Play and App Store.

You can maintain interest among users by using e-mail newsletters in various ways: starting from obvious newsletters describing all the product updates and changes and finishing with fully-fledged content marketing with storytelling and sales promotion.

16. Thematic Forums/Communities

There are several platforms where you can promote your product. We are talking about dedicated web-communities committed to high-tech solutions. Pay attention to the following websites:

• ProductHunt. This is a community of “hunters” for interesting digital products. The visibility of your app on the service depends on votes from participants.
• HackerNews. Here you can draw attention to your app, as well as discuss it with specialists.

For example, if you have an app dedicated to parenting, try to find users on websites and forums where parents communicate with each other and solve their problems. To put it in a nutshell, your objective is to find places where your target audience hangs out and to figure out how to make yourself known.

17. Referral program

Start with people you know. Ask them to share your app with their friends. If you distribute your product as paid or shareware, you can devise a referral program. Offer discounts or hand outs of game currency to your customers to attract new users.

For example, when entering a market in a new country, Uber offered free trips to users who shared Uber’s app installation link with their friends.

Let us summarize

There are many ways to promote mobile apps. You can only determine what will be efficient and what will not through trial and error. In this guide, I have described the most popular and proven methods.

Bookmark this article. Using the recommendations described in it, you can correctly prioritize and begin to consistently implement a marketing strategy for your product.
It is not about doing everything all at once. Form your strategy based on your capabilities, track performance using different channels, and focus on those directions which provide the greatest return.

If you are looking for a partner to create or upgrade your app, write to us and Lvivity professionals will provide free advice on all issues!