The Play Store and App Store are incredibly crowded. Even with useful sections like overall and genre-specific charts, finding new apps isn’t exactly easy. The aim for new apps has to be to generate interest beyond the app stores initially, and then allow that to naturally get the app into a more noticeable spot in the stores.
Given that, in the UK, most adults keep a lean collection of apps, mostly not surpassing 30 downloads, a new app has to prove itself worthy of installation. To achieve this, it needs to appease both the potential users and the systems that dictate discovery.
That Little Extra Incentive to Engage
The path to prominence in mobile apps is downloads and engagement. With apps essentially being free-to-download by default these days, this won’t work as a selling point anymore. What does still work to help encourage a download is a special offer, promotion, or bonus for new users.
To then achieve the latter, engagement, you can keep the offers rolling. In competitive online industries, this has been a proven approach for a long time, which is why the slots with welcome bonus offers now give away more than they used to. Here, £10 on bingo gets a £40 bonus, while £10 in the casino gets 50 free spins without wagering.
From there, those who’ve played their welcome bonus can get daily free spins, free bingo, enter into jackpots, and get other bonuses, like spin boosts on Fridays. With the product being gaming, it’s natural for the platform to gamify many of its promotions. Elsewhere, we see non-gaming apps gamify their promos and boosts.
This is exactly how Temu rose to prominence. The app’s approach to promotions is incredibly potent. Spin-to-win wheels, first-order discounts, rewarding referral schemes, and quizzes all feature. In each case, they encourage engagement and purchases, propelling the app up the charts. Loyalty offers encourage a return, after all.
Optimizing for Discovery
App store optimization is the path to increasing discovery and downloads. The key to this is to put keywords in the title and to target the longtail keywords. This way, you won’t find yourself in such a competitive field of the most explicitly high-value keywords.
Going from “women’s fashion” to “Bohemian cotton fashion for women,” for example, can make a big difference to your rankings and discoverability among users who’ll be more likely to become customers as they seek that niche. On top of this, consider optimizing the description for voice searches as these are on the rise with voice messaging.
Finally, adjust your marketing approach. Your paid ads should pivot to prompt app downloads rather than trying to get a purchase or a website visit. This is because free-to-download apps are popular, many are happy to download to have a look if convenient, and it’ll help to increase engagement levels.
App stores are incredibly competitive for just about every industry. It’ll take time to find your audience and rise the ranks, but optimizing for discoverability and building in engaging promotions will all help you to get more downloads.
