The day has come: your app is finished, it’s proudly displayed in the store, and you’re ready to watch the installs and purchases begin to roll in! But then after days of waiting and watching, you’re not seeing the great results you anticipated. At this point you may be panicking, but hope isn’t completely lost. You can still save your mobile app from failure and we’ve got the steps to do so. The great news is that it’s never too late to go back and cover a step that you missed, you just have to be patient enough to put in the time and effort to reroute and get your mobile app back on track to achieve success.
Don’t Skip Your Mobile App CRO Audit
Once you’ve come to the end of the mobile app development stage, it can be tempting to rush into marketing and advertising. But, it’s important to take a step back and check your work, so to speak. This can be done through a CRO (conversion rate optimization) audit. The purpose of the audit is to identify any possible problems or deterrents that could lower conversion rates. For example, is there a glitch in the sign-up process or is an advertised feature missing? These are important details that can cause audiences to give up before they even begin experiencing your app for all it has to offer.
It’s essential to establish a baseline for your audit, and the most straightforward way to do so is the use of a checklist. The list might include important points such as accounting for tone of voice in relation to your audience, use of buyer personas, sign-in options, and more. While you’ll still need to engage in post-launch optimization of your app, conducting a CRO audit can help you get ahead of that step so that there is less to optimize in the first place.
Make the Most of ASO
ASO, or app store optimization, is the backbone of a strong strategy for increasing app visibility. Keyword optimization is a large part of ASO – you’ll want to be sure that you have the proper keywords in your title, subtitle, and app description in order to maximize visibility. But there are other aspects of ASO to pay attention to as well.
Screenshots, or app imagery, are a core part of ASO. Your app imagery is the first impression that users have and you only have about 3-6 seconds to make an impression that causes users to look at more instead of hitting the back button. There are three styles of screenshots you can use to advertise your mobile app:
- Lifestyle – this screenshot shows your app in a real-life setting. This is a great way to show potential users what it’s like to use your solution.
- Feature – these screenshots depict specific capabilities of your app. These kinds of screenshots are ideal when attempting to show the usefulness of your tool.
- Hybrid – this screenshot is one that mixes multiple screenshot styles together. For example, you could show a person using a specific feature of your app in real life.
The type of screenshot most useful to you depends on the type of app you’ve created. Is it a gaming app, a lifestyle app, or a finance app? This only scratches the surface of the considerations you need to make about your imagery. Text size, font, and orientation of the screenshots are all factors that come into play as well.
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to use all the space! While it’s unlikely that everyone will read the entirety of your description or scroll through every screenshot in the deck, filling up the space available to you will actually help your app rank higher in the store. A higher ranking means more visibility and more visibility means a higher chance of success!
Analyze the User Journey After Mobile App Installs
Once you successfully have your mobile app up and running in the app store, you get to begin the journey of post-launch optimization. This is the point at which you work to ensure continued success by analyzing what is and isn’t working for your users in order to solve problems and make the user journey more smooth. But how do you know what factors to pay attention to when analyzing your app performance? This is where KPIs come in – by establishing key performance indicators for your mobile app, you give yourself a framework for monitoring its success. Some KPIs that may be of use include retention rate, sessions, and app uninstalls. By following these metrics, you can find out at which point users begin to drop out and why, and use that information to make updates to improve your app in the long run.
Take Advantage of MMPs
As the digital marketing industry continues to grow, campaigns continue to become more unique and complex. This is great news, but it can become confusing when you begin to work with platforms that weren’t originally designed with mobile app marketing in mind. This is where MMPs (mobile measuring partners) come in. There are two major ways that MMPs can aid your marketing efforts: mobile attribution and deep linking.
Mobile attribution refers to the ability to track the traffic that different campaigns bring to your mobile app. Whether users arrive through email campaigns, paid ads, organic social, referrals, or a combination of all these, you’ll know it. Essentially, the mobile attribution model accounts for the multiple touchpoints customers face and brings them together to make for a better user journey pre-install.
Deep linking is the process of linking directly to a specific page. If you send an email talking about the new store section of your mobile app, a deep link will take users directly to the store rather than to the app’s home page. When it comes to MMPs, deep linking also accounts for people who may see an ad or receive a newsletter without having the app. In this case, they will be routed to the install page before they are able to access the advertised content directly. This form of personalization helps to streamline the user journey in order to minimize drop offs and take people exactly where they need to be.
These features alone make MMPs worth a use. There are many options available including Appsflyer, Branch, Adjust, Singular, and more. Take time to check out each partner’s website and maybe even take advantage of a free demo or trial before deciding which one works best for you.
Put Your Mobile App in Capable Hands
If you’ve put in all the work of designing and creating an app, you want to make sure none of it goes to waste. That’s why partnering with a digital marketing company can be a huge asset. Having a team of professionals who can help you optimize campaigns and features, as well as sort through tools and strategies, can be a huge asset. The team is also likely to have expertise in an area that is foreign to you, whether that’s social media marketing, design, or the nitty gritty of running ads on a certain platform. The investment will be well worth it when you begin to see installs grow into an engaged community of app users.