Mobile App marketing
Mobile App marketing, as the name suggests, is the function of marketing a mobile application. It starts from the moment a user gets to know about your app to the moment they become a loyal user.
User Acquisition: Meaning and benefits
User acquisition refers to the activities conducted to gain new users for a given app. User acquisition for mobile is typically targeted towards inducing more installs through promotional campaigns. It is important for a mobile app company to have a well-formulated user acquisition strategy in place to continue to find and convert new users. The user acquisition process analyses the market and identifies trends and patterns that are prevalent. These identified trends are then translated into marketing initiatives to appeal to the popular customer needs and demands. Adopting user acquisition techniques can help a business gain an edge over its competitors by finding focussed leads timely.
Challenges of the User Acquisition method
The biggest challenge for the user acquisition method is the growing threat of mobile Ad fraud. Additionally, implementing a good user acquisition strategy requires experts which may spell into greater expenditure. Lastly, the lack of transparency characteristic of user acquisition can also result in difficulties in segmenting the customers.
Top strategies for User Acquisition
Some tried and tested strategies that are most popular in the field of user acquisition are discussed as follows-
App Search Optimization
App Store Optimization a.ka. Mobile App SEO is an approach to user acquisition that seeks to get your app amongst the top search results of an app store. This aims to enhance the visibility of your app on prominent app store search engines such as Google Play or Apple App Store. It also facilitates the meeting of the other primary goals of app marketing such as attracting more traffic to the app/platform. ASO is a simple technique and can be implemented through a series of steps. Recognizing how your consumers use an app, as well as a thorough understanding of your competition environment, are essential components of a well-formed ASO strategy.
With ASO your goal is to improve discovery in app store searches and target those keywords that drive the most traffic. Here, the importance of using appropriate keywords is highlighted. The content used is kept in alignment with what an average user searches for in order to increase its visibility.
Paid Marketing
The app market is overcrowded, at the moment. Luring organic traffic to your website or app is arguably one of the most challenging yet critical parts of app marketing. Paid user acquisition (UA) is one of the most effective methods of approaching additional users. Google Universal App Campaign (UAC) or Google App Campaign, is a paid advertising platform that will get your app in front of a vast audience. Paid marketing allows a company to appeal to its target customers in a way and on a platform that will appeal to them the most and thus facilitate getting generous amounts of organic traffic. Google will automatically adjust the creatives you currently have in your app store listing to meet the varied layouts. One thing a firm must keep in mind while opting for this method is to strategically diversify its marketing efforts. It is wise to advertise on several platforms instead of focusing on just one. Marketing to the audience of a variety of platforms allows companies to access a wider pool of probable customers and thus increases the chances of conversion.
Cross- Promotion
Cross-promotion refers to the technique of promoting one app on another, relatively established and popular app. This way the users of the latter app can be directed towards the former. This approach is especially useful as it capitalizes on existing users, is transparent and cost-effective. Cross-promotion can be based on an agreement between two different developers for their apps or can be done internally between two different apps created by the same developer.
Summing Up
Marketing is an inherent part of a product’s lifecycle. It is crucial to market all products and services strategically to help them attain their potential. Thus, mobile apps, too, need to be promoted carefully. One well-performing method of mobile app marketing is user acquisition. There are several ways to go about this technique, three of which, namely ASO, paid marketing, and cross-promotion, were explained in the scope of this article.
