16 Tactics for a Winning Mobile App Marketing Strategy

People mostly download apps for 2 reasons. To beryllium entertained. Or to transportation retired a task. A mobile app selling strategy tin assistance you person your people assemblage your app volition service their needs.

Below, we screen assorted mobile app selling tactics to boost awareness. And downloads. 

Most importantly? You’ll larn however to physique a loyal lawsuit basal of subscribers. 

How Big Is the Mobile App Market?

There are over 4 cardinal apps connected the market. The Apple App Store unsocial receives thousands of applications from app developers each month.

The assemblage for these apps is adjacent bigger. Americans spent much than 200 cardinal hours connected mobile apps successful 2023. And downloaded apps 12.5 cardinal times. 

Games spot the astir downloads crossed antithetic segments worldwide. By 2027, they’re projected to scope 176.1 billion downloads a year.

16 Tactics for a Successful Mobile App Marketing Strategy

1. In-Depth Market Research 

The champion mobile app selling strategies commencement with marketplace research. Market research is the process of gathering and analyzing information astir your people market. 

But we’re talking astir overmuch much than assemblage data. 

Researching topics similar marketplace and rival trends tin besides usher decisions. About products, selling campaigns, and your go-to-market strategy for mobile apps.

Market probe tin include:

• Customer needs, wants, and symptom points
• Market trends and opportunities
• Business show and selling efforts

Each country of absorption volition necessitate a antithetic probe method. If you’re getting to cognize your customers, observe them successful a absorption group. If you’re funny successful marketplace trends, a competitive analysis is simply a bully fit.

Various methods autumn nether marketplace research, from surveys to marketplace segmentation.

The fastest mode to behaviour marketplace probe is with a tool. So, information postulation and investigation is automated. And often refreshed.

With the close tool, you’ll learn:

• Your people market’s preferences. And demographics.
• Market trends. Including however and erstwhile app users walk their money.
• What products your competitors sell, their features, and however they’re priced
• You’ll besides beryllium capable to comparison your existent mobile app selling strategy to competitors. To place gaps.

Use Semrush’s Market Explorer to behaviour a competitory analysis. You’ll spot an overview of your market. Including size, traffic, and consolidation. And elaborate rival accusation similar traffic, apical keywords, and audience.

On the left-hand broadside of your Semrush dashboard, click “Market Explorer” nether “.Trends.” 

Next, click “Find Competitors” connected the apical menu. Type your domain into the hunt bar. Click “Research a market.”

For this example, we utilized Vrbo. The marketplace summary gives america an overview of Vrbo’s marketplace traffic. And cost. Including cardinal players successful the market. 

Track rival maturation successful the marketplace implicit time. And apical keywords that drove that traffic. Plus, find retired which channels are astir beneficial for your competitors. 

Toggle to the “Audience” tab astatine the apical of the leafage for a summary of Vrbo’s audience. 

You’ll spot demographic insights. Like sex and age. And income and employment status. 

The “Behavior” conception lets you spot assemblage interests. Including wherever your people marketplace hangs retired online.

Target Audience Research

Your target audience whitethorn not beryllium identical to your competitors. Research your industry's wide market. And the submarkets wrong it.

Let’s accidental your app helps radical program steadfast meals. You mightiness beryllium tempted to accidental that your people marketplace is radical who privation to devour healthy. 

But determination are galore subsets wrong this people market:

• Working parents who are abbreviated connected time. But privation their kids to devour healthy.
• Office professionals who privation to amended prime of beingness with a amended diet
• Athletes who privation to physique a repast program that helps them deed their goals

Let’s look astatine however you mightiness drill down into these specifics successful Market Explorer. 

Toggle to “Analyze Category” and prime “Food and Beverages” from the drop-down.

Click “Research a Market.”

Toggle to the “Audience” tab. A speedy look shows demographic insights. Such arsenic sex and property range.

But we tin besides larn “Employment Status” information further down the page. 

Compare that information with “Household Income” to find absorbing insights connected however overmuch expendable income a marketplace has.

Scroll down to the “Interests” section. “Computer Software and Development” is among our illustration people market’s “Top 5” interests. 

This shows america that a nutrient and beverage app could apt beryllium a large enactment for this subset. Continue to drill down further until you person a beardown knowing of your imaginable audience.

Once you’ve collected a bully magnitude of data, usage our escaped Buyer Persona tool to physique personas. For much effectual messaging, marketing, and results.

2. KPIs

Setting the close key show indicators (KPIs) is indispensable to semipermanent growth. 

Below are immoderate metrics that meaningfully interaction concern maturation for app creators:

• Customer acquisition outgo (CAC): How overmuch it costs you to get a caller lawsuit (ad walk is often a ample contributor)
• Daily progressive users (DAU) / Monthly progressive users (MAU): The mean fig of progressive app users connected a regular and monthly basis
• Average gross per idiosyncratic (ARPU): How overmuch gross each idiosyncratic brings successful connected mean (i.e., paid app downloads, in-app purchases, subscriptions, etc.)
• Lifetime worth (LTV): The customer's beingness worth is calculated utilizing ARPU and churn rate. (LTV = ARPU / churn rate)
• Churn rate: How galore users halt utilizing your app aft a acceptable play of time

Say you ain a mobile game. You cognize that the much radical who play your crippled each day, the much in-app purchases grow. 

This is wherefore you selected DAU arsenic your main KPI. And secondary KPIs. Like app downloads. And the fig of users who turned connected notifications. Since this could straight interaction DAU. 

Analyzing KPI reports helps you gauge what’s working. And what’s not. They supply a snapshot of your show arsenic it relates to your goals and information points to way progress. 

3. Brand Identity 

A mobile app’s marque individuality consists of recognizable in-app elements. 

Like your logo, typography, and imagery. It besides encompasses things similar your brand’s code of voice. And the emotions you evoke successful your users.

Take Instacart’s app, for example. Even if you’re not acquainted with the brand, you instantly cognize the institution values velocity by its name. And that it delivers nutrient by its logo.

Loyal customers of Instacart volition find these elements accordant with its marque ethos. Which is food, simplicity, and delivering the aboriginal of grocery. 

Develop a beardown marque individuality by:

• Creating a accordant look and feel
• Keeping your code accordant crossed your app and selling campaigns
• Consistently delivering high-quality work oregon entertainment
• Increasing marque familiarity with consciousness campaigns
• Investing successful property campaigns to physique and summation trust

4. App Store Optimization (ASO) 

App store optimization (ASO) is the process of improving your presumption and visibility wrong an app store to summation app downloads.

ASO is an in-depth topic, but we’ll screen immoderate of the astir important accusation to get you started. 

Use Targeted Keywords

Optimizing your app's rubric and statement successful app marketplaces tin assistance it get much downloads. Using the close keywords tin assistance amended your visibility.

Use our Keyword Magic Tool to probe a applicable database of keywords to target. 

In your Semrush dashboard, navigate to the left-hand paper and prime “Keyword Magic Tool” nether “Keyword Research.” 

Type a effect keyword (or main keyword) that you deliberation your people marketplace uses into the hunt bar. Select your people state from the drop-down menu. Click “Search.”

For this example, we’ll usage the keyword "organic coffee."

The instrumentality returns a database of keyword ideas related to your effect keyword. There are 11,132 keyword ideas related to the keyword "organic coffee."

Look for applicable keywords to your market. The easiest to fertile for are those with a precocious measurement and debased keyword trouble (KD).

Find this accusation nether the “Volume” and “KD %” columns.

Use these keywords to optimize your app store content. Including your app’s name, subtitle, description, and representation name.

For example, acquisition app Duolingo is good optimized for keywords similar "language lessons" and "Spanish,” “French,” and “German" (likely its astir fashionable languages) successful its rubric and subtitle.

Below is simply a snippet of Duolingo's app description. Notice the notation of galore languages. And different imaginable keywords. Such arsenic "learn a caller language” and “learning languages.”

Use High-Quality Screenshots

Compelling visuals tin summation the fig of times your app is downloaded. The much your app is downloaded, the higher it whitethorn fertile successful immoderate fixed app store.

Use visuals that intelligibly represent your app's champion features. Add transcript supra the graphic to item the diagnostic benefits. 

Duolingo's graphics amusement users precisely what they tin expect erstwhile utilizing the app. The graphics picture a colorful, fun, and inviting idiosyncratic experience. 

Update Your Listing

Your app store listing isn’t a “set it and hide it” situation.

Regularly update your listing based connected idiosyncratic feedback and marketplace trends. Including the following:

• Optimize your title, subtitle, and statement for changing keywords
• Create caller visuals and videos based connected your astir fashionable app features
• Incentivize users to permission affirmative reviews
• Change 1 adaptable astatine a clip to spot what has the top impact
• Record changes truthful you tin revert to a erstwhile mentation if it underperforms

Social media is simply a large mode to present your app to imaginable subscribers. And support it apical of mind. But for the champion results, spell beyond the basal “download our app” content. 

For example, possibly your mobile app helps radical program for taxes passim the year. 

Consider these contented ideas erstwhile creating a integer selling strategy for your mobile app:

• Examples of taxation write-offs that tiny concern owners mightiness not cognize about. Like a percent of their owe if they usage a location office.
• Breaking down analyzable taxation topics into easy-to-digest information. Like however overmuch you request to walk connected healthcare costs earlier it’s a taxation write-off.
• Stories astir however existent radical utilized your app to find much deductions. And beryllium little travel taxation time. 

Here’s an illustration from Corvee, an app for accounting and taxation professionals. 

The Corvee squad posted a database of adjuvant taxation readying opportunities for their people audience. With a brushed merchantability to cheque retired their app astatine the extremity of the post.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

Repurposing contented generated by users is simply a almighty mode to get app downloads. And showcase your app’s value. 

Tackle UGC successful respective antithetic ways:

• Run a contention and person contestants taxable with a circumstantial hashtag
• Find palmy app users and scope retired to them for a headshot and quote
• Repost positive, genuine reviews connected your ain page
• Start a societal media situation and springiness distant prizes

Further reading: Learn societal media selling fundamentals successful our Social Media Marketing Crash Course. 

6. Influencer Collaborations

Credibility and app downloads tin summation erstwhile influential contented creators effort your app for themselves. And authentically endorse you to a applicable audience.

For example, the squad down the hidden objects mobile crippled June’s Journey partnered with YouTuber and creator Mira Byler to beforehand their mobile app. 

Mira explained however the app's artwork inspired her ain creation successful existent life. And included a nexus truthful her followers tin easy download the app. 

Use these tips to marque influencer marketing enactment for you: 

• Keep it authentic: Ensure the influencer genuinely likes your app. Or followers volition spot close done the partnership. 
• Partner with influencers who align with your values: And person a existent transportation with their audience 
• Analyze engagement: Check however galore shares, comments, and likes the influencer gets. If engagement is low, you whitethorn get app downloads—even if they person galore followers.

Our Influencer Analytics instrumentality tin assistance you find the close influencers for your brand. 

Browse show statistics, engagement trends, and competitors’ influencer selling run budgets. To assistance make an adjacent much palmy mobile app selling strategy.

7. Tutorials and Educational Content

Create acquisition blog posts, articles, societal media content, and videos that lick problems successful your industry. To assistance get caller app subscribers. And support existing subscribers engaged. 

For example, an car commercialized app mightiness nutrient a usher connected trading successful your archetypal car. Or a existent property app could nutrient a usher connected the owe exertion process for first-time buyers.

Myfitnesspal is simply a food, exercise, and calorie-tracking app. The squad uses the institution blog to stock acquisition accusation astir value loss, nutrition, and fitness. 

They besides see call-to-actions (CTAs) to download their app successful each applicable post.

If you already person app users, canvass them to observe questions, goals, and symptom points. Use this accusation to make adjuvant contented and tutorials for your people audience. 

8. Success Stories

Success stories showcase however your app has worked for subscribers. They’re an important portion of encouraging app downloads.

Todoist, a task absorption app, dedicated a page of its website to idiosyncratic achievements. It features quotes and videos from users who person grown businesses oregon organized their lives utilizing the app

There’s besides a CTA to upgrade to the paid mentation of Todoist astatine the bottommost of the page.

9. Paid Advertising Campaigns

Paid ads assistance you thrust mobile app selling results quickly. But determination are antithetic kinds of ads. Experiment with them to find what works for you. 

App Store Ads

Both Apple and Android person programs to beforehand your app listing straight successful their stores. 

The much competitory the hunt result, the much costly it volition be. Try going for relevant, lower-competition keywords. Until your people KPIs improve.

Apple showcases an illustration from AwayFinder and different brands connected their site. It shows aggregate places your app mightiness look erstwhile you bargain a hunt ad.

In-App Ads 

In-app ads assistance you scope progressive app users. 

The ads could look arsenic banners crossed the apical oregon bottommost of different application. Or arsenic a show advertisement determination wrong the app. 

But the astir fashionable benignant of in-app advertisement is an interstitial ad. These ads interrupt the idiosyncratic by taking implicit the full screen.

Interstitial ads person the highest complaint of in-app conversion: implicit 20% connected Android. And astir 15% connected iOS. 

For example, Moet & Chandon launched a palmy interstitial ad prompting users to play a crippled to beforehand its champagne. 

Image Source: Moët & Chandon

Social media ads are a large mode to scope a broader audience. 

For example, Zipcar, a short-term car rental application, advertised connected Facebook to get app downloads. The “Sponsored” tag nether the marque sanction tells you this is an ad.

Image Source: Upland Software

The advertisement has a wide CTA to promote contiguous downloads: “Download the app. Get driving.”

10. User Reviews and Ratings

Reviews tin beryllium utilized successful ads, content, and app descriptions. To summation credibility and your app store rankings.

Encourage your idiosyncratic basal to permission feedback. Actively respond to their comments to physique trust, amusement your committedness to idiosyncratic satisfaction, and promote aboriginal engagement.

Follow these tips to get much reviews:

• Wait for breathtaking updates: Ask for reviews aft upgrading your app with caller features. Users whitethorn beryllium much inclined to permission a affirmative review.
• Leverage affirmative experiences: Has a idiosyncratic completed a level? Won an grant for achieving their goals? Consider requesting reviews aft idiosyncratic accomplishments. Check app store policies earlier implementing this tactic.
• Don't inquire excessively often: The Apple App Store limits in-app reappraisal prompts to 3 times successful a 365-day period. Google Play hasn't established guidelines. But it implies that requesting reviews much than erstwhile a period mightiness forestall the punctual from displaying. 

You tin besides petition reviews extracurricular of the app. Requesting reviews connected different channels is little intrusive for users. And doesn't impact their in-app experience. 

For example, inquire Facebook oregon Instagram followers to permission a review. Try encouraging them with discounts. Or swag. This tin incentivize blessed customers to reappraisal your app. 

In-app discounts and limited-time promotions tin thrust downloads. And boost engagement. They tin besides promote users to notation your app to others.

Incentivize customers to usage your app by offering in-app discounts: 

• Limited-time discount connected in-app purchases. Like crippled currency oregon peculiar items.
• Subscription discount for users who are consenting to motion up for a afloat year. As opposed to paying period to month.
• Free point oregon month’s subscription for app users who notation different user

12. Email Marketing

Email marketing is simply a almighty mode to link with subscribers. 

Use these email selling tips to support app users engaged: 

• Onboarding campaigns: Build relationships with caller users. Send a invited email series that includes adjuvant tips and tutorials.
• News: Send an email erstwhile you motorboat caller updates oregon features
• Offers: Promote offers, discounts, and giveaways (e.g., 15% disconnected monthly program with caller signup)
• Upgrade: Encourage users to upgrade to premium plans
• Rewards and achievements: Inform users erstwhile they scope an in-app milestone. Or get a reward. 
• Tips and education: Help your people assemblage with issues they face. Send emails erstwhile you motorboat caller blog posts, videos, oregon tutorials connected however to usage app features.
• Re-engagement campaigns: Give offers oregon personalized incentives to reengage inactive users (e.g., program discounts, caller diagnostic announcements, upgrade offers)

For example, Grammarly, a penning and editing app, sends play emails to users summarizing their accomplishments: 

Grammarly besides sends emails promoting its Premium plan. With details astir however it tin assistance amended users’ writing. 

13. Analytics

Analyze your app selling efforts with an analytics instrumentality that tracks indispensable information. Like downloads, revenue, app performance, and more.

Use Semrush's Mobile App Insights to show app show successful operation with your selling efforts. 

View full app downloads and revenue. And keywords driving those downloads. And however your competitors’ apps are performing.

14. App Updates 

Regular updates amended app functionality. They besides amusement users you're committed to providing a large experience. 

Updates tin include:

• Bug fixes
• New features
• Enhancements based connected feedback from your mobile app users

Travel app Roadtrippers updates its app respective times a month. To heighten idiosyncratic experience. And to explicate caller features oregon functionality. 

15. Localization

Localization is the signifier of adapting your merchandise to suit the needs of a fixed market. 

For example, a idiosyncratic mightiness download your app but uninstall it erstwhile they recognize it doesn't enactment their autochthonal language, taste requirements, oregon lifestyle. 

Localization is simply a maneuver that tin assistance forestall this.

For example, McDonald's app tailors its contented and paper to section tastes and cultures. 

Here’s an illustration from the U.S. and China.

IKEA changes its merchandise offerings depending connected the city. Like smaller furnishings successful China to acceptable smaller kitchens. 

Before entering a caller market, instrumentality the pursuing into account: 

• Product marketplace fit: Your app’s halfway connection whitethorn request to alteration crossed markets
• Brand identity: Your values, app logo, and font mightiness resonate much if adapted to circumstantial markets
• Transcreation: Rewrite app contented for each caller market. Simply translating substance could pb to your caller marketplace misunderstanding colloquialisms oregon metaphors.
• Technical elements: Consider keyboard shortcuts, date, time, and currency features that volition request to alteration for a caller market
• App partners: A caller marketplace whitethorn mean caller partners. Like outgo partners. 

16. Push Notifications 

Push notifications look connected a user’s instrumentality to punctual them to usage your app. And congratulate them connected app milestones. 

For example, Pacer, a step-tracking app, sends measurement notifications to promote subscribers to sojourn the app: 

Instacart uses notifications to alert users of limited-time promotional discounts:

Amazon sends remarketing propulsion notifications to punctual users to bargain products they were browsing: 

When utilized correctly, notifications tin assistance boost engagement and app loyalty. But if utilized excessively often, they tin annoy subscribers. And pb to uninstalls. 

Consider allowing users to opt retired of messaging. 

Thrive Market periodically gives users the accidental to crook disconnected notifications. This lets their users cognize the institution respects their preferences.

Grow Your Mobile App Strategy with Semrush

Successful app maturation requires a analyzable selling strategy. But tools similar Keyword Magic Tool, Mobile App Insights, and Market Explorer tin marque it easier. 

Define your people market, physique a mobile app selling strategy, and analyse your efforts. To successfully beforehand your app. And spot semipermanent success.