- How do I make a strong landing page in an app store?
- What type of paid mobile advertising can I do?
- How can I use any of my own channels and assets to promote my app?
Let’s say a couple of entrepreneurs have a new, genius idea for a mobile app. They put a team together and after many months, they launch their app.
Now they can sit back, sip some champagne, and wait for all those downloads to happen. And they wait… …and wait…
An incredible 60% of apps remain dusty on app store shelves.
Launching a mobile app is just the beginning. You also have to get the word out and convince people to install it.
A good place to start is your app store landing page. Just like a website, it needs to be search optimized.
Why is optimization so important? Because there are plenty of people out there who need an app like yours and few of them will know your app by name.
Let’s check out how Munchery – a meal delivery app for major cities in the U.S. – created their app store landing page.
Munchery’s app store landing page title features their app’s categories: Food, Meal. It’s also short and sweet and doesn’t use irrelevant or repeated words.
Munchery uses keywords (hidden optimization tags they give to app stores), which help their app be discoverable – AKA Munchery will appear when people search for an app like theirs.
Keywords are vital to getting more app downloads. To pick effective ones, avoid repeating your title and use single words, not phrases. So instead of “fresh ingredients” use “fresh, ingredients.”
Munchery displays an attractive icon that matches their app’s design. It’s simple with solid colors and no words.
The first few description lines are persuasive, well-written, and quickly communicate their app’s value.
Finally, they have meaningful screenshots that show people how their app works.
So let’s say you’ve followed Munchery’s example and made a strong, searchable landing page.
Downloads are happening but you’re itching for more. You also have some ad budget to spare. What can you do?
You can try mobile install ads. They send people straight to an app store so they can easily download your product.
These ads help promote your app by using your app ID and info to customize targeting and keywords, featuring your icon and reviews, and finding potential customers who don’t have your app yet.
We’ll show you how you do this using Google – but other platforms and social media sites (like Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Tumblr, and Amazon) have versions of this, too.
You can choose to do display, search, or video ads. Let’s see how each of them works.
For display ads on the Display Network, your ad will show up while people are using other apps. You can feature your app icon and reviews, an app screenshot and custom text, or a video describing your app.
For search ads on the Search Network, your ad shows up when searchers use the keywords you bid on. So if you had a dessert delivery app, you can have your ad appear when people search “food app” and “dessert delivery.”
For video ads with YouTube TrueView, you can show your video ad to people who are watching related YouTube videos. When people click on your ad, they’ll be sent to your app store landing page.
There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to picking which ad network to use. It just depends on what works for you and your app.
Along with launching a mobile install ad on a network of your choice, you can push for more downloads by using assets you already have.
For example, you can add download links and install buttons to…well…everything. Put them on your blog, website, marketing emails, and social media accounts.
Also, encourage users to post reviews, and keep on top of people’s feedback. Make sure to respond to any issues and bugs promptly. This will not only help you get better ratings and more downloads but help you improve your user experience, as well.
Let’s find more ways you can promote your app. We’ll help you create a list of ideas you can explore.
- Have a great story behind your app’s creation? Share it on your landing page, social media, etc.
- Add an app page to your general website. Drive to it via SEO and banner ads.
- Promote your app on your social media pages several times a week.
- Make a creative/funny/thought-provoking product video.
- Pitch to app review sites like 148Apps, AppStoreApps, and AppAdvice
- Pitch to bloggers who cover niche topics related to your app.
After you bring your brainstorm ideas to life, keep monitoring your mobile app download rate. If you sense a slowdown, try switching gears…and tactics.
References: Google Webmasters, Think With Google, Google Primer
