Effective Ways to Encourage Users to Download your App
- Mobile
- May 31, 2019
Close your eyes and revisit your day. Think of all the apps you were exposed to. The chances are you can name quite a few. From the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the moment we sleep, apps surround us.
Whether it be for communicating, working or leisure, the app development industry has an offering for every part of our day.
The Stats Say it all!
When you consider the app usage statistics of 2019, you will be awestruck. Currently, there are 4.1 billion people with an active internet connection.
In 2018 alone, there were 205.4 billion app downloads. An average American spends 130 hours on applications in a month and uses 9 applications daily.
What it All Means for You?
One thing is for sure if you are planning to develop your app, the market potential is quite lucrative. But, just because people are downloading and using apps and a high rate doesn’t mean your app will get the same response.
After all, there is a lot of competition in the market. It is no longer a blue ocean. Therefore, you will have to put in the effort to encourage people to download your app.
Here are some ideas that will make all the difference.
1. Promote and Market Your App
Merely making your app available on your website or App stores won’t seal the deal. Why? Well, because there are a plethora of apps already present on the web. Unless you tell your target audience that your app has been launched, they won’t even know about it!
This is why you need to invest in marketing. Create an integrated marketing strategy. Use your digital presence along with conventional routes to ensure awareness and interest among users.
Don’t just do so at the time of the launch of the app. Instead, keep investing in marketing to make sure that you grasp the attention of any new user that might seek the type of app you offer.
2. Create a Solution, Not an App
Nothing encourages customers to download an app as relevance does. A lot of companies make the mistake of creating products/services rather than solutions.
Keep in mind that customers are not interested in the features of your app. They wish to know about the benefits the features bring.
Rather than following the herd and making a similar app to ones already present, think of what your customers need. If you create an app that solves an underlying issue or satisfies a need, the buzz will be created, and people will download your app.
3. Leverage Your Social Media Presence
Whether your app is on an app store or your website, you shouldn’t just depend on people directly accessing the platform.
Instead, you need to redirect them to it. Unless your app is very well known, it is quite unlikely that people will search for it.
This is where your social media presence can come in handy. It can allow you to both build brand equity and resonance for your product as well as act as a redirection tool.
A significant chunk of the global population is on social media. And through an advanced tool, you can send communications to your target audience only. Use such tools and your presence to engage your target customers on your social media accounts.
Communicate your app’s unique selling point and differentiating features. Be creative and attention-grabbing while you are at it. The quality of your copy writing will govern your brand image. And the more favourable associations’ customers have of you, the more inclined they will be to download your app.
4. Conduct Tasteful Telemarketing or Email Marketing
If you are an app development company or a business with a pre-existing customer base, you don’t just have to focus on getting new users on board.
You must also make sure that each of the current customers has downloaded the app. You will be surprised to know that not all do so. This can arise when you don’t market your app well.
A great way to increase app download among current brand users is through direct marketing. Send them a personalized email or text message. Don’t be intrusive or annoying. The purpose of this email should be to create awareness and drive downloads.
5. Give Your Customers Incentives
If your app is worth downloading, the only resistance you face is in getting people to hit the download button, to begin with. The quality of your offering will easily do the rest of the job. Sometimes, people need a little more than product benefits to download an app.
Reward their effort of taking out the time to download your app by offering incentives for downloading.
Whether it be trial service (if the app has a premium pricing model), coupons, or discounts, incentives almost always work in getting people to download the app. To retain them, you must ensure that your application is seamless, smooth and high quality.
6. Ensure Compatibility With an Array of Devices
You can’t just create an app that works on desktop or tablets. You need to tap into the mobile segment as well. After all, most customers download apps through their mobile phones.
Now many app developers are shifting their primary focus to mobile app development.
People will be encouraged to download your app if it is compatible with the device they are viewing it on. So, make sure you offer a smooth experience in an array of mobile devices as well as tablets.
7. Write a Blog Post
Are you unsure about your product description? Do you think it doesn’t do justice to how great your app is? Considering how concise app descriptions have to be, this can b e true.
A great way to highlight all the useful features of your app in detail, and offer potential users a proper insight, use your website to write a blog post about your app. Talk about its features. Link them to benefits and showcase how those benefits fit into the life of your customers. Include high-resolution screenshots of your app.
This helps in showing visitors what they are in for, rather than just telling them. Visual content always has a lasting impact.
Which bring us to our next point.
8. Post a Demo Video
In today’s world, where the masses are hard pressed for time, videos are preferred by many. While blog posts have their own merits, in terms of details and technical descriptions, videos help in encouraging those who want demonstrations.
Make a demo video about your app. This is particularly helpful in encouraging downloads of premium apps. This is because it reduces the perceived risk of the investment and helps in resolving conflicts.
9. Add Call-to-action Buttons on Your Website
Blog posts. Videos. Landing page.
Every touch point can be the point where visitors are convinced about downloading your app. Don’t make them search for ways to download your app.
Add appropriate call-to-actions in all your content so that they can download your app directly from the touch point. Do so in your social media communications, banner ads, and website pages.
Keep in mind that you need to close a deal when the interest in the product is at a peak. And strategically placed call-to-action buttons are an excellent way of doing so.
10. Offer Trial Runs
This idea will work specifically if your app requires a subscription fee. Here, the reason most visitors don’t download your app is because of the risk of making a bad investment. It doesn’t matter how less money you are asking them to pay, what matters is that your app is paid while others offer solutions for free.
Does this mean premium apps don’t work? Of course, they do! You just need to reduce the risk involved by offering trial runs or money back guarantees for a specified time. Make sure to provide a tutorial as well at the start.
Together, this ensures that customers download your app to give it a try. Once they are in, it is the job of your app development team to retain them.
11. Paid Campaigns Can Help
Display ads, banner ads, PPC campaigns. Digital marketing can do wonders for any company, especially one whose product is online as well.
While content marketing, through videos and blog posts will help you get downloads in the long-run, short-term success can be guaranteed by paid digital campaigns.
This way, your app gets promoted to the right people at the right time, thereby encouraging downloads.
12. Drive Word of Mouth
If you can get enough people to talk about your app, downloads will automatically increase. Encourage current users to leave feedback on various web platforms.
This way, when web visitors peruse the positive reviews of your app by enough people, they might be tempted to give it a try.
Testimonials and word of mouth marketing are much more credible than traditional marketing.
Conclusion
Use these twelve ideas to boost your app downloads. The app industry is expanding with every passing day. Get a significant share in it by encouraging the visitors to download your app.
