The mobile apps downloaded by users, probably haven’t found them by coincidence.
People see or come by different mobile apps every day, but they only use a few. According to TechCrunch, users interact with about 30 apps in a month. Also as another study provides, users are profoundly selective when they’re installing apps. Our time is limited, and the digital world is too busy and fast. An app we decide to download should be exceptional.
In a survey made with 1.000 smartphone users, 55% of the users said they “rarely install new apps” and only %16 of consumers said they install apps frequently. But there are ways for apps to be discovered and installed, even in such a competitive atmosphere.
Making an app “discoverable”, reaching out to more users, and positioning your app to be accessible is key. But before diving into technical necessities about discoverability, let’s understand consumer behavior and the psychology behind app discovery habits.
A survey from Google & Ipsos shows us that most of the time, people hear about an app by word-of-mouth.
After Word of Mouth comes other ways of discovery such as browsing, ads, etc. As madduck Publishing, we can not dictate what friends & family will suggest but we are experts in all of the rest! Here are some key steps to make your app more discoverable.
6 Methods for Making a Mobile App Discoverable
1. App Store Optimization (ASO)
According to Apple, 65%of App Store downloads came from search which is why ASO is paramount to succeed in your app marketing efforts. For IOS, it’s critical to have a good presence and layout to reach the standards of Apple and be discovered by more users organically.
According to Yoast, people have basically two main ways for making searches on search engines, as well as on the App Stores.
a. Informational intent: this is when people have a need and are looking for information about that need. For an AppStore search, we can think of someone needing to scan a document a typing “scan” to search in the AppStore.
b. Navigational intent: this is when people search for a specific app and know the exact or approximate name of the app they are looking for. This would be the case of a person getting a suggestion by the famous Word of Mouth.
To get the best out of ASO, you need to consider both intents and make your keyword choices accordingly.
What’s the main service or solution your app is offering?
If you have a weather app, knowing what keywords people use when they’re searching for weather apps, will help you to position your app accordingly. This information should be considered also when you’re creating a title, subtitle, and description for your app.
To summarize, here are the main elements to succeed in ASO:
- An exceptional app name
- Relevant keywords in the subtitle and the app description which gives relevant information about your app, updated regularly
- Proper categorization
2. Apple Search Ads (ASA)
This is how Apple Search Ads is described on Apple’s website. By choosing the right and relevant keywords and bidding on them; you can get your ad placed in the App Store. For instance, if you have a sticker app and make an advertisement for it, whenever a user searches a specific keyword (such as “sticker apps” etc. ) your ad gets highlighted in blue on the results page. Strategically positioning your ad with the right keywords, can bring tremendous success.
3. Google Ads
Your attention span is short, thanks to screens we spend our time in front of, every day. So it is very critical to explain how your app offering will help its potential users in a very short and attractive way. And this is where you need great copywriting and design skills, since they’re inseparable for the desired result.
However, for both ASA and Google Ads budget is very crucial. Even with all the skills in the world, if you don’t have a marketing budget, your success will be limited.
4. Mastering Your Acquisition Funnel
From search to subscription, there are many steps. First, comes clicks i.e: visits on your AppStore page: how many impressions gather how many clicks; are your keywords expensive and visuals attractive to generate those clicks?
Then comes the conversion of those visits to installs, are your app description, and screenshots optimized to convert the maximum number of visitors?
Last but not least comes the Install-to-Subscriber (ItS) ratio, how is the UI/UX of the app, and how appealing is the paywall?
5. Maintaining Ongoing Communication On Reviews
As mentioned above, the conversion of people who visit your app page to people who install it is one of the major steps in the funnel. Besides the visuals and descriptions used on your page, reviews have also a very important effect. Below a certain threshold, people just won’t download your app. This is why you need to follow up on reviews on your, understand your user’s feedback, and make sure you upgrade your app regularly.
By reading reviews and answering them; you should develop and nurture your communication with users. Also always keep in mind “What’s next?” for your mobile app. The design, the solution you’re offering, bugs, and all problems whether they’re big or small, should be removed and improved on the next upgrade. And you should always strive for the better.
6. Mobile-Friendly Design & User Experience
Once your app is downloaded, it is the in-app journey that determines if the user will become a subscriber or not. Does the user understand what should be done to use the app, what is the problem that it solves, and how it solves it?
The experience before the paywall should be convincing and the paywall inviting enough to maximize your subscriber numbers.
These are some of the major steps to maximize the discoverability of your app and the number of people who become subscribers. madduck Publishing is an expert in delivering all these solutions and more as well as the financing to help you unlock the full potential of your app.
