When you’ve invested a significant amount of time and money into developing your own mobile app, you want to make sure that it’s getting downloaded by your targeted users. However, with millions of apps in Google Play Store and Apple App Store, this can be a difficult and challenging task.

Achieving 100,000 (and even a million) app downloads takes a combination of smart marketing and promotional techniques. Some may seem simple, while others take more time. In this blog, we will discuss 31 proven techniques that can help you increase app downloads and generate more revenue from your app.

What’s the key to getting 100,000 app downloads?

The key to getting 100,000 app downloads is to take a multifaceted approach for growth. Check out these app marketing techniques that have helped big brands to get millions of downloads.

#1 Implement App Store Optimization (ASO)

ASO is the process of improving app visibility within the app stores and increasing app conversion rates. It is the first and most effective technique to guide the most downloads in app stores. People can’t download and use your app if they can’t find it.

App store optimization helps you make your app discoverable to high-quality and relevant users. However, you need a good ASO strategy to boost your organic installs and ensure long-term results.

Follow this app store optimisation checklist:
• Establish a clear App Store Optimization strategy
• Pick the right name for your app
• Do keyword research for your mobile app
• Write an impactful app description
• Get the right app icon by A/B testing
• Prepare app screenshots &videos

#2. Create a website or landing page

An app landing page is a standalone web page designed to encourage users to download your app. The website or landing page should carry the same design and elements as your app.

It should include the app name, app logo, clear call to action, app features and descriptions, app promo video, app screenshots, user/blog reviews and contact info.

Here are some tools to create a solid app landing page:

• Unbounce
• Wishpond
• WordPress
• Blogger

#3. Work on CTA buttons

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are the place you want users to click in order to complete the desired conversion. Whether it’s about the CTA buttons on your app or on the landing page or social media.

In 2016, Glu Mobile, an American developer and producer of mobile games, wanted to increase the download rate for their new gaming app, Diner Dash. What they did is something that can take a cue from.

The company used images of a real-life chef along with food items on their Facebook Ads and added an “Install Now” call-to-action button. This resulted in 39% more downloads.

Similarly, Zoom created a CTA button that includes the word “Free”. This is a perfect example of how to incorporate this “magic” word into your copy.

#4. Be active on most popular social platforms

No doubt, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. Some 2.5 billion individuals log onto Facebook on a monthly basis. More than 90 million small business owners connect with their consumers through Facebook.

For example, TVibes, a cloud-based video streaming platform, found its success through Facebook.

But you cannot deny the importance of other leading social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

With a proper social media marketing strategy for your mobile app, you can turn these social media platforms into a profitable avenue for your business.

#5. Create interactive content

Content is king, everywhere. When it comes to marketing your mobile app, you want to reach a maximum number of users with interactive content such as images, quizzes, infographics, and polls, giveaways, surveys. This is what interactive content is all about.

Using interactive content, you can educate the users regarding how to use your app, tell them about the latest giveaway campaign, or conduct a survey to get feedback from real users about your app.

#6. Create a Facebook Ad

First, you want to set up a Facebook Page for your mobile app if you haven’t already. From there you can create an adverts page to promote app installs. Choose your target audience and set a budget. Facebook gives options for Daily and Lifetime budgets.

You can start with a minimal budget based on your goals. Optimize your ads to win the bidding wars for ad space. Here, you may need the help of a social media marketing company.

#7. Create a video tutorial

Video walkthroughs and tutorials are a great way to attract user’s attention. People don’t like to read lengthy articles, but they like to watch videos on their mobile.

Create a video tutorial and deliver this video through your site content, mailing list and, of course, through social media channels.

#8. Get more reviews

Ranking in app stores and Google search results is important for your app. One key to increasing your app’s ranking is positive reviews and ratings. Both the value and number of your reviews affect its ranking position. How you can get more reviews?

Simply, ask them. Encourage your users to leave positive reviews with contests. Or offer them incentives or in-app purchase discounts to leave reviews on your app’s page in the app store, landing page, and social media.

#9. Localize your app

Research shows that app localization is effective for improving downloads. There are many non-English-speaking nations where people tend to use apps in their native language.

If you can localize your app to languages other than English, it can result in up to a 7x to 8x increase in user traffic and help you get more downloads.

#10. SEO and Keywords

Search engine optimization (SEO) and quality keywords go a long way in your app’s discoverability. Imagine that you were looking for a photo editing app on Google and typed the best photo editing app for free.

Google will display the app landing pages using the exact or combination of phrases you typed. Optimizing your website for search engines using relevant keywords can help your app get found by users at the right time.

#11. Invite and invite some more

With the increasing number of apps in the app stores, users have an incredibly wide selection to choose from. However, people often trust their friends and family when it comes to using an app.

It’s for this reason that you need to do referral marketing or word-of-mouth.

According to Nielson, 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. Ask your existing users to refer your app to their friends and family. In return, provide them with incentives.

However, make sure to provide a great user experience to engage your existing users so they can refer their loved ones to your app.

#12. List your app in app directory sites

App directories offer an easy, streamlined process for app promotion. Once your app is live, a landing page is up and running, and all your promotional campaigns are working fine, go list your app in different app directories.

Some of these sites include:
• Product Hunt
• BetaList
• The Startup Pitch
• Launching Next
• Hacker News
• AppGratis
• App Store
• r/Startups
• Springwise

#13. Do email marketing

You may think email marketing is pretty old school. It may sound so, but it’s really effective. According to Adjust.com, 81% of businesses rely on emails for user acquisition, while 80% use email marketing to retain valuable users.

First, build a detailed mailing list of existing and potential customers. Then create engaging content and conduct A/B testing on your email campaigns.

Lastly, perform post-launch analysis to know if you’re getting ROI from your email marketing campaigns.

#14. Do Influencer Marketing

You have developed an amazing and if you want the world to know about it, do influencer marketing. It is all about increasing public awareness.

But “Who is an influencer?” To get your marketing right, you need to find a person who is well known in your targeted niche.

Micro-influencers usually have about 2,000 to 50,000 followers. Macro influencers have 50,000 to 1,000,000 followers, while mega influencers have more than one million followers.

According to Single Grain, 49% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations. 74% of them use social media platforms to decide whether to buy something.

Your influencer marketing campaign will be successful when you work with someone who has credibility, authenticity, and authority in your niche.

If you choose the right influencer and social platform, you can get a 5x return. According to Influencer Marketing Hub research, 90% of marketing professionals believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing.

For each dollar businesses invest in influencer marketing, they get an average $5.20 return. (Image source: X-Cart).

#15. Create a YouTube channel for your app

YouTube is the second-most visited website in the world behind Google—YouTube’s parent company. Luckily, creating a YouTube account and making it successful isn’t difficult.

You can easily create a YouTube channel for your app and grab the attention of billions of YouTube users.

This is going to sound very obvious, but you need to provide good videos to your users in order to be successful as an app owner. Viewers want to watch good videos. This way you can get some extra downloads via these videos.

Three things you need to do:

1) Provide attention-grabbing intros 2) Background music 3) Clear audio with each video.

#16. Experiment with YouTube advertising

YouTube advertising is another way to reach your targeted audience. Catch their attention right when they are watching their favourite videos on YouTube.

YouTube ads are available in these four categories:

• Skippable in-stream ads
• Non-skippable in-stream ads (including bumper ads)
• Video discovery ads (formerly known as in-display ads)
• Non-video ads (i.e., overlays and banners)

For example, Monday.com has a clear CTA overlay placed over a video. The ad banner looks prominent and the ad copy makes people click on it.

Depending on how much you want to spend, YouTube Ads have a vast reach and powerful targeting capabilities, making it an undeniably valuable platform to increase app downloads.

#17. Prepare great app screenshots

Quality app screenshots give you an opportunity to demonstrate the functionality of your app. Hire a professional designer to get quality screenshots and show them off to the users, everywhere.

50% of app users base their download decision on a first impression. So you must pay attention to how you design visuals. Here are the four things to consider when taking app screenshots:

• Show how your app looks like
• Highlight the app’s main features
• Tell a visual story
• Pay attention to layout & size requirements

#18. App install advertisements on app stores

If you have developed an Android app, go for Universal App Campaign (UAC) for Google Play Store Advertisement. This Campaign is composed of ad placements in Search, Display, YouTube, and Google Play (Exclusive for Android App).

You can configure your target CPI and effectively control costs. As for Apple Search Ad, you can get specific ad placements in the Apple App Store.

Promote your iOS app with a decent budget and get shown to people right when they are searching for apps similar to yours.

#19. Online and Offline giveaways

People like free gifts. Online and offline giveaways are a great way to promote your app. Conduct online contests and provide free gifts to users when they have completed specific actions like downloading your app and registering.

Offline campaigns are pretty successful. You can invite passer-by in a mall or popular places to download the mobile app in exchange for a small gift.

One notable example includes the Offline marketing campaign of WeChat in Hong Kong.

#20. Get featured in App Store and Google Play

This is a free method to get your app to reach a maximum number of users. But it is not easy. Your app will get featured by app editors at App Store and Google Play only when it meets all requirements and have eye-catching functionalities.

#21. Engage users via SMS

SMS has a massive 98% open rate with 90% of messages being read within 3 minutes. If you have a database of your targeted users with phone numbers, send them an SMS by offering personalized communication, incentives and offers.

If your users like your app, they can share the message with their friends and family and bring more word-of-mouth referrals.

#22. Leverage Facebook Video ads

As we said earlier, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. As an app advertiser, you can insert ads that are 5 seconds to 10 minutes long. We generally recommend a 15-second maximum, with both non-skippable and skippable options.

For marketing your app, run in-stream ads that play in the videos people watch. Feed ads help you reach people when they are checking their newsfeed to view ideas and inspiration.

Ads in Facebook Stories help you create and engage just like your users do.

#23. It’s time for a content roadshow

Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko, has found a great technique called content road show. It’s about reaching influential bloggers to review your app.

First, list down the names and contact information of influential bloggers in your niche. Send them an email telling them everything about your app and how it is better than your competitors. When influencers in the blogging niche write a review for your app and post the review on top sites, your reach becomes wider and app installs increase.

#24. Get an award

If you believe in your app and think your app is the most unique app in your niche, you can apply for awards in the app category.

Various organizations host award competitions. Contact their team and get your app nominated for different awards.

Some of the app award websites are:

https://www.awwwards.com/websites/mobile-apps/
https://shortyawards.com/category/7th/mobile-app
https://bestmobileappawards.com/
https://www.businessofapps.com
https://www.mobile-webaward.org/mwa/
https://www.horizoninteractiveawards.com
https://www.browz.com/

#25. Write and publish a press release

Press releases are a great way to generate app publicity. Right from launching your app, adding new features to getting an award, create and publish press releases around your app to get more downloads for your app.

Cision is the best platform to publish a press release as it is used by millions of people to stay up to date.

#26. Building links for your app landing page

More backlinks to your app landing page mean higher ranking on search engines and better visibility. Get links from relevant web pages or blogs to your app page.

You can contact the top website and send them information about your app. It could be paid or free, deepening on the websites you’re requesting links from.

#27. Get on mobile ad networks

Paid user acquisition campaigns can exponentially increase your app downloads. Mobile Ad Networks help you distribute your ad creatives.

• Check the best ad networks available in your niche and determine the best option for yourself.
• Analyze how your competitors are placing their ads in these ad networks.
• Create ad creatives and publish them to attract users and get more downloads.

#28. Become a speaker

You’re an app owner. Your business developed an app that could change people’s lives. Establish your authority in the domain and become a speaker in top events.

When people will get to know about you, they will know about your app and business.

#29. Promote your app on social groups with Social Media Marketing 

There are various groups on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram with tens, thousands, or millions of members.

Search for groups that are relevant to your app’s category.

Reach out to the page admins and give them a compelling reason or incentive to share your app with their members.

#30. Focus on the user experience and analyze

Focusing on app user experience (UX) involves understanding users, what they need, what they value, their abilities, and also their limitations.

If your app offers a compelling user experience that delivers value for people, users will definitely tell other users.

So focus on the app’s accessibility, discoverability and efficiency to offer interactive experiences. Once you’ve designed seamless user experiences, keep an eye on app analytics.

This data can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your app.

#31. Do content marketing

Don’t think content marketing is only for website promotion. Content marketing involves the unique combination of creating engaging content and promoting it on relevant platforms.

Content marketing can help you increase app awareness, tell a story, drive engagement rate, build trust, increase app landing page traffic, and achieve higher rankings.

So regularly create and share engaging content and don’t forget to include a Call to Action at the end so your audience knows how and where to download your app.

Conclusion

There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to increasing app downloads. We have listed down the top 31 techniques that you can use today to get 100,000 downloads for your app.

However, you need to have a clear understanding of your app market, build an app marketing strategy, and hire professional experts to get things done in the right way.

At Fuel4Media, we understand building an app is a challenging task but marketing it shouldn’t be. We specialize in a wide variety of mobile app marketing strategies that can help you increase app downloads and improve the retention rate.

We use innovative, out-of-the-box marketing tactics to increase your app user base and get more downloads. Connect with us today to find the right app solution for your business!

About the Author

Naveen Gupta is the founder and CEO of Fuel4Media Technologies. Fuel4Media is India’s fastest growing Mobile App Development, App Store Optimization, Mobile App Marketing, and Digital Marketing company. His forte lies in developing and executing innovative mobile and web technologies, digital marketing and mobile marketing strategies, and everything related to digital.

 

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