As the number of mobile users continues to grow at an enormous rate, the mobile app industry is also thriving. However, with several millions of apps available for downloading, it becomes quite difficult to attract users. Building a high-quality app with zero flaws and superior performance isn’t enough. You also need solid marketing strategies. The task becomes even trickier if you are low on budget. In this blog, we will learn about different low/zero cost ways to market your app through digital platforms.
Social media ads and sponsored posts for targeted reach
Social media plays enables business growth of any app developer. Reaching the most relevant audiences maximizes the RoI of your social media posts. You can achieve that through Sponsored posts where you can set criteria-based visibility. It filters out the irrelevant views and shows your posts only to the audiences who align best with your customer persona. It builds interest, increases engagement, and strengthens your brand proposition. Over time, it also increases the conversion potential of your product.
Strategic use of social media for free and organic promotion
Apart from paid ads, the social media platforms also have built-in options for promoting your products and services or gaining better visibility without any charges. It is up to you how best you utilize those options for marketing your app.
For instance, on Facebook, you can create a group of your targeted audiences and carefully direct the communication for enhancing visibility and sales. Likewise, Instagram allows you to tell impressive visual narratives to gain the best exposure. On Linkedin, you can utilize the power of pure content to engage quality audiences. However, such options may not always be visible easily. Many times you need to dig into these platforms to find out such tools. Also, you need to think innovatively about how to use seemingly simple tools for building interest and gaining visibility.
UGC or User Generated Content for higher conversion rate
The User-Generated content- generally called UGC in short, can almost triple the impact value of your marketing strategy. So, encourage your users to share their experiences on social media and other relevant platforms. To further enhance the genuineness, request them to share media like images and videos depicting the real-life applications of your app at work and home. So you can persuade your users to produce videos and Image rich material on their real life user experience of your product.
Rewarding your customers is the best way to get such content. Think of arranging a contest, quiz, or takeaway to get a good volume of user-generated content.
Moreover you can also utilize this opportunity to prompt your existing customers to add their family and friends to the activities as well. It will further boost the overall impact of UGC and multiply your brand reach.
Influencer marketing for better influence
A majority of viewers possibly wouldn’t be familiar with your brand. This unfamiliarity works as a trust barrier thus minimizing the impact of your marketing communication. You can overcome this through influencer marketing. Influencers have a decent community of loyal followers who trust their expertise and take their recommendations seriously. If an influencer directly recommends your app, it boosts the conversion/sales possibility by up to 40% (Source: Twitter reports).
While it is good to do some brainstorming on the promotion strategy, the best option is to leave it to the influencers. They share a strong rapport with their followers and know the right ways to influence them. The best advice is to communicate with influencers and tell them about your objectives/strategies. However, as far as they sound reasonable influencers should have the last say on the strategy as they know their job and audiences better than you.
Reviews/Ratings for informed decision
Ratings and reviews play a decisive role in-app downloading. As per a survey, 60 out of every 100 users consider ratings and reviews before deciding to download an app. Another study says that 60% of users come to know about apps through non-playstore platforms like social media etc. So, carefully shortlist the best customer reviews and promotes them on social media platforms using the right strategies. You may also want to add the CTAs like download now or send an inquiry to prompt instant actions.
YouTube and prominent app review sites are also the biggest sources where people go to find and learn about new apps. If you have got appreciation from such genuine sources- it could be a certification, letter of acknowledgment, etc., do share that prominently on different social media handles with the right hashtags and mentions to multiply your reach to the relevant audiences.
Conclusion
With a sharp rise in the number of mobile apps worldwide, the industry presents massive opportunities but the question is how to acquire users in this crowded market. While the bigger players have right influence and enough resources to make that happen, the smaller companies and start-ups have limited resources. However, with some wise strategies and smart marketing plan, they can gradually build their user base. In this blog post, we presented some of the ideal ways to use social media for marketing your apps at negligible or no-costs. You can create a checklist based on these tips and consistently follow it. While it will not result in any overnight success, with time it will help you build a good traction in the market while increasing your user base as well.
