INFLUENCER MARKETING

35 Actionable Mobile Marketing Strategies [Our Influencer Platform’s Playbook]

Picking the right mobile marketing strategy isn’t easy.

However, we’ll share 35 actionable strategies from our influencer marketing platform.

We’ll also share in-house case studies, real examples from different mobile apps, and our platform’s insider tips.

After each strategy, you’ll find a section called “mobile tactics to implement,” which will show you exactly how to leverage our tips, examples, and RANTS.

Let’s get started.

7 Mobile Marketing Strategies Based on Competitor Analysis

We always advise our clients to learn from their rivals' successes and failures.

That way, you can identify niches, adopt effective strategy, and tailor unique solutions to meet mobile users' needs.

We've done this too.

This comprehensive approach improves product and SEO strategies and enhances overall app performance, leading to effective mobile marketing campaigns.

Involving multiple departments or hiring an external agency ensures a thorough analysis so that you can differentiate your offerings on social media platforms and beyond.

Now that you know the theory behind this competitive analysis, let’s see how you can implement it.

1. Analyze Your Competition to Mimic Their Mobile Strategies

The first thing you must do is make a list of competitors using these variables:

• Category used on mobile app stores
• Mobile device users
• Features
• Keywords in app store listings and search engines

Apps that you overlap with are most likely your competitors.

Here’s an example if you’re searching by “budget planner” on app stores.

All the apps in this screenshot compete for this particular keyword:

Let’s analyze the keywords that the top two budgeting apps above are using in the “About this app section:”

• The Money Manager by Realbyte uses more generic, though relevant keywords: #1 financial planning, expense tracking, and personal finance management

• The Budget Planner by DigitLeaf uses more specific keywords: Monthly budget, daily expense tracker, and wallet app, which suggest a more personalized experience to potential mobile users

Here’s the most interesting keyword that the second app is using: “save money.”

This defines a unique selling point and simultaneously a benefit for the mobile audience.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Use long-tail keywords or include more low-hanging fruit keywords in your app description. This will help you rank better than your competition in a specific niche defined by those keywords.
• Choose keywords that express benefits and functionality.

2. Analyze Your Competitors' Messages to Find Unique Opportunities

Brand messages help you (among other things) to:

• Distinguish yourself from competitor apps
• Engage with your audience or persuade your prospects
• Create a better mobile experience

Here's how our platform uses mobile app competitor analysis to leverage our clients' competitors’ messages:

• More effective messages: Try to adopt their tactics
• Less effective: Learn from their mobile campaigns' mistakes
• Simply different: Find out the unique selling point they offer and then offer a different one

Specific elements to analyze within the message include:

• User-generated content, like testimonials and reviews from active users
• Brand voice
• CTAs
• Color schemes
• Characters
• Logos
• Buttons
• Special offers
• Movement

Insider tip: Some of these elements will help you grasp your potential competitors’ intentions.

For example, an “apply here” CTA clearly shows the campaign aims to increase conversions.

Similarly, some offers may indicate a customer retention campaign.

Let’s see how the Perfect Piano app communicates with its prospects right from the Google Play Store:

• The title is a bit vague and generic.
• The screenshots are very suggestive, highlighting the app’s benefits and functionality.

• The description is very precise, overcoming the title’s faults. People immediately understand how the piano simulator benefits users thanks to the relevant keywords included.

Real Piano: Electric Keyboard is one of Perfect Piano’s competitors.

This app has:

• A better name: Potential users immediately understand what the app can help them with from the name
• More colorful screenshots: These attract attention faster. By comparison, Perfect Piano’s screenshots look the same, and you have to read them carefully to understand the benefits:

• The description focuses more on user experience than on the app’s benefits: Basically, this app tries to entice users by showing what they’ll get out of using this app:

• The company that developed the app responds to user reviews in the Google Play Store, thus increasing engagement and customer retention:

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Focus on every aspect of the messages and every marketing channel you can find those messages on.
• When comparing your messages to your competitors, consider your audience and marketing goals. Messages aren’t just good or bad in themselves; they need to be judged in relation to more important variables, like whether you're doing SMS marketing or search engine optimization.

3. Analyze Your Competitors' Mobile Marketing Channels

We analyze the advertising channels our clients' competitors' are using to understand:

• The smartphone users they’re addressing
• Their means of persuasion: offers, selling propositions, etc.
• Social platforms that your active users are using and you didn’t know about
• Market trends on those channels

Here's how we'd do that analysis in real time:

Let’s see Asana Rebel Fitness App’s Instagram page. They offer actionable advice, such as real Yoga poses people can try for specific purposes:

* Note the abundance of yoga-related hashtags, the branded “Asana” hashtags, and the very specific #fatburn, which defines a benefit their audience craves.

Other posts include challenges (again, watch the array of specific hashtags that help the post break through the noise):

And their ads are filled with user-generated content to assure prospects the app will work for them too:

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Write down new ideas to implement for your posts – after thorough research to understand if these tactics work for your audience. For example, incorporating UGC for mobile apps has become widely popular.
• Analyze the communication between your competitors and audience: This gives you a better idea of how your prospects respond to different messages.

Pro tip: You can use our free mockup ad generators to test different ad creatives and devise better mobile marketing tools.

4. Look at Performance Data

When analyzing performance data, we focus on specific metrics:

• Impressions
• Click-through rate
• Views
• Shares
• Comments
• Average rating
• Conversion rates

Pro tip: Analyzing your competitors’ ads and social media messages regarding these variables requires specific competitor analysis tools.

Doing it manually increases the chance of errors and takes hundreds of hours.

But here's how our influencer platform would tackle that (yes, you can steal our plan):

For example, the Asana Rebel ad we posted above had 19,000+ views in just an hour at the time of this writing.

The Yoga-Go app’s ad below has barely 63 likes in one day:

One explanation could be that the Yoga Go app is less popular, with just 1.2 million followers compared to Asana Rebel’s 2.3 million.

But still, that is a small number of views, even in this competitive landscape.

Another reason could be that Asana Rebel’s ad:

• Looks more like user-generated content.
• Uses video, thus keeping viewers engaged.
• Feels less advertise-y, thanks to those reviews.

So, because Asana Rebel’s ad brings more value to people, more Instagram users interact with it.

As such, Instagram’s algorithm makes the ad more visible.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• To penetrate the mobile app market, focus on your customers' needs first.
• Derive as many insights as possible from the performance variables, but ensure those insights are rooted in facts.
• Always consider how long the ad has been running.

5. Compare Your Competitors' Unique Selling Points

After understanding all these, you should have a reasonable idea of your competitors’ selling points.

You should also understand your USP – aka the value offering you bring to your target users.

Remember: Your USP doesn’t just relate to your product. Variables to look for include:

• In-app purchases
• Loading speed
• In-app ads
• Response to customers
• Updates
• Data safety
• Communication (e.g., your competitors may connect to users by appealing to shared values)

For example, Joggo App’s unique selling point is that it allows people to calculate how much weight they can lose with this running app—for free.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Offering free tools to your target user base is a good way to create traffic to your website and social media channels.
• Besides, those who end up using those tools are more likely to convert. And that means those tools allow you to qualify your prospects too, not just attract them to your channels.

6. Analyze Your Rivals' App Reviews

Auditing your competitors’ app reviews allows you to understand how successful they are compared to you and where their business success stems from.

Look for:

• Common threads
• Recurring complaints
• Common praises
• The competitors’ responses

Use that information to improve your app’s existing features or develop new features to attract a new customer base.

For example, you may notice that your competitors reply with vague and generic comments instead of offering valuable help.

Or that they ignore their customers' phone calls.

Here’s one good example from The Walking Dead Survivor Game:

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Keep an eye open for interesting variables you didn’t consider important, such as devising comprehensive tutorials.
• Make a note to always give helpful replies to reviewers.
• Consider user feedback to adapt your product and content marketing strategy.

7. Do a SWOT Analysis

At inBeat, we make it a point to use both innovative tactics and tried-and-tested methods that have worked for decades.

That's why we love SWOT analyses.

Conduct a SWOT analysis based on what you learned for yourself and your competitors.

The purpose is to understand the overall performance of your app and the apps you’re competing with.

Pro tip: Writing it down in a report helps you focus on the best solutions for each mobile platform.

That means you will implement the right changes timely and in an appealing way for your audience.

Here’s another example from Joggo:

Joggo devised the new Heart Rate Zones feature for their Apple Watch users, and they’re announcing it on Instagram.

That channel is a great choice, considering the 79k followers they have.

Pro tip: Notice the comments.

People are commenting with other suggestions, such as Garmin and Samsung Health compatibility.

Someone even suggests a free trial.

Joggo can decide to implement new features and services based on these comments to attract an even larger audience.

As such, they can considerably reduce bounce rates and create personalized campaigns.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Stay objective when you analyze your pros and cons, comparing yourself to the competition.
• Try to transform those weaknesses into opportunities, listening to your users’ requests. That's how you can build long-term user loyalty.

7 Mobile Game Marketing Strategies

Mobile game marketing encompasses all the marketing strategies you promote your mobile game with.

These marketing efforts aim to increase the game’s downloads and get more ROI.

There’s a problem:

The gaming industry is an exhaustive market, with many quality games in app stores, each providing unique user experiences and incentives that keep people hooked.

There’s also a solution:

You need a customer-centric approach to increase sales.

If you adopt this mindset, focusing on your customers’ needs above all, the strategies will follow.

In the section below, we discuss 7 awesome strategies to promote your mobile game.

1. Understand Your Mobile Game Audience

Mobile gaming demographics eveal a diverse audience: 50% play in bathrooms, 63% are women, and 55% are over 55.

Daily engagement is high, especially among women.

Most don't identify as gamers. High earners and young users often make in-game purchases.

Asia leads in mobile gaming, with puzzle games being the top genre in the USA, where session lengths vary from 20 minutes to multiple hours.

But those stats aren’t the only variables that matter for marketing a mobile game.

To truly understand your audience, you must analyze

• Player motivations: Player motivations define the reasons why your specific audience plays your specific game. These reasons can include solving unique problems, exercising their thinking, unwinding, or passing the time.
• Archetypes: Gamer archetypes range from Expressionists, who see games as a canvas for self-expression, to competitive Kings of the Hill and community-focused Networkers. Skill Masters seek to learn through challenging gameplay, while Strategists and Thinkers enjoy games that stimulate their mental acuity with strategy and puzzles. Thrill-seekers chase adrenaline-fueled experiences, and Treasure Hunters are drawn to exploration and discovery within game worlds.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Understand player demographics and motivations to target specific segments starting from their interests.
• Find out which archetype best fits your audience. Adapt your marketing messages to showcase how your game meets their specific needs/interests.

Baba is You offers an interesting example of advertising with their audience in mind.

The mobile gaming app caters to Thinkers, Skin Masters, and Strategists.

Each level features the game’s rules as blocks people can manipulate to change the action.Pushing these blocks around transforms users into different objects and even transforms the gameplay.

This example is relevant because the Google Play Store screenshots, descriptions, and keywords are specifically crafted for these three archetypes.

Notice specific words like “puzzle,” “logic,” and “rules” – all these appeal to Strategists and Thinkers.

But the pixelated images are the most interesting.

Most people who want something light wouldn’t touch this interface with a stick.

But Skill Masters, Thinkers, and Strategists get a rush of dopamine just by looking at these images below:

2. Conduct App Store Optimization to Attract More Users

An app store optimization strategy is essential for marketing a mobile game because:

• It increases your visibility in the app store listings, thus bringing you new organic customers.
• It can boost your in-store ranking, giving you an extra visibility boost.
• It supports paid user acquisition so you can get more app purchases.

Mobile ASO tactics to implement:

• Hone your game title: Choose 2-3 words that convey the game's essence, match its genre, and stand out without using special symbols or inappropriate language.
• Choose a suggestive game icon: The game icon should align with your genre's popular styles, like anime or retro. Analyze your competitors to understand current trends and to ensure you stay unique.
• Write a compelling description: Cover game features, storyline, and updates with SEO-optimized, long-tail keywords.
• Leverage SEO keywords: Based on thorough audience and competitor research, select SEO keywords that highlight your game's unique aspects.
• Add an app promo video: An engaging app promo video can illustrate the game's highlights and resonate with viewers' interests, boosting their desire to play.
• Pick screenshots: Screenshots should visually communicate your game's key features and aesthetic, effectively reflecting your brand's identity.

The Lost Treasure is an adventure game that ticks all the boxes above.

• The app promo video is short and catchy, creating a mysterious atmosphere in just two seconds:

• The title is also extremely suggestive, showcasing the genre, style, and interest. Potential gamers understand immediately that this game’s purpose is to get them on an adventure to find a lost treasure.
• The screenshots are high-quality and feature specific titles that tell users what they can find inside the game:

• The description features specific keywords for the adventure game genre and the Treasure Hunter archetype (e.g., “adventure,” “quest,” “hidden passageways,” etc.).

• The added keywords further tell people what they can expect from this game:

3. Paid Search

Paid search is a non-organic marketing strategy, but it can bring you a massive boost of downloads quickly.

Use:

• Google: Create a Universal App Campaign so that Google can customize your campaign for you, testing different ads.
• Facebook: Automated App Ads from Facebook might be a good start if you want to start your campaign faster. The input you have to introduce is limited; machine intelligence will take it from there. If you want more control over the creative process, combine this strategy with classic, manual Facebook app ads.

Pro tip: Use our free ad mock-up generators to test how different ads would look for your game.

Here’s one intriguing example:

Rovio used Automated App Ads for its Sugar Blast Game, using a two-cell split test as follows:

• First cell: Standard ad campaign based on people’s interests and using lookalike audiences.
• Second cell: An Automated App Ads campaign using value optimization and a broad targeting strategy. This campaign pushed ads automatically, offering performance monitoring.

Results included:

• 33% increase in day 7 payer conversions
• 10% increase in day 7 return on ad spend
• 50% decrease in the number of campaigns run

Mobile game tactics to implement:

• Use Google's Universal App Campaign for tailored ad optimization and Facebook's Automated App Ads for quick, intelligence-driven campaign launches.
• Use Automated App Ads to increase payer conversions and ROI and reduce campaign management efforts.

4. Implement Content Localization

Content localization is essential for marketing a mobile game in a specific area.

This strategy is especially important if you want to rank in the top results within a certain geographical location.

You should translate and adapt everything on your app page, from videos to descriptions or titles.

However, ensure this translation considers the new country's cultural particularities.

Otherwise, use English if you’re targeting a global audience.

Basically, you must:

• Localize the keywords: Use nearby landmarks or shops, as well as local events or customs.
• Localize your app messages and content: Make sure your app’s user interface has the local language, time format, units of measurement, currency, and payment method.

Here’s one neat example: The French Belote app.

Notice that the game’s description, title, and keywords are translated into French.

But more interestingly, the cards are different in France.

The Ace (A) is 1, the King (K) is R (from Roy), and the Jack (J) is now V (from the French Valet).

Mobile tactics to implement location-based marketing:

• Adapt your app’s features to each specific culture you’re targeting.
• Use the local language.
• Follow the legal requirements of the countries/regions where your game operates.

5. Use Apple Search Ads

We love Apple Search Ads because they can:

• Increase your ranking and make your game more visible if relevant to your audience.
• Help you reach mobile phone users directly on their mobile devices.

Warning: Although these mobile game ads are affordable and have many benefits, people can turn off their Personalized App features.

In this case, you may not be able to target them with your ad.

Here’s how we at inBeat avoid this problem:

Use custom product pages in tandem with your Apple Search Ads.

If your ad is creative enough to raise people’s interest, they will tap into it.

And doing so will take them on an exciting product journey, with stunning visuals and convincing words.

Pro tip: Remember to localize the game features you present on the custom product pages.

Example time:

Here’s Voodoo’s original situation:

When they launch highly casual games, they get a high volume of organic downloads.

Voodoo leverages Apple Search Ads to get more customers when these taper off.

Voodoo decided to do things differently with their Helix Jump game to increase discovery and get ahead of the competition from the get-go.

This time, they used an Apple Search Ads campaign to increase discovery.

Voodoo’s Apple Search Ads campaign brought a 30% increase in installs, a 10% decrease in cost per acquisition, and a 5% higher retention.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Use custom product pages with Apple Search Ads.
• Make sure your ad is creative enough.
• Localize the game features on the custom product pages.

6. Use Social Media

Social media is an organic marketing strategy that helps you create a community around your game.

Pro tip: Integrate all your social media platforms with your game to ensure people can share their in-game results online.

For example, each time someone shares a high score, you get free word of mouth, boosting your mobile marketing efforts.

Besides, you can analyze this data and tap into their insights to hone your game and your app marketing strategies.

A neat example is the famous Kripparrian discussing the mobile game Art of Conquest:

This content creator has a lot of sway and credibility in the gaming niche, so he can be very influential, especially when he produces an in-depth app review like the one above.

However, the downside of partnering with a massive gamer is not reaching the correct audience.

Kripp’s fans are mainly old-school gamers who have a good dose of disdain for mobile video games.

Kripp experienced backlash from these fans and the Art of Conquest game publishers may not have reached the right audience.

Pro tip: inBeat has a wide database of content creators, so you can pick the right one(s) for your game.

We have hundreds of thousands of partners, but we’ve cherry-picked the top 1%.

You can leverage our influencer database or schedule a free call to set up your strategy.

Social media mobile tactics to implement:

• Post the type of content your users relate to. This can be user-generated content (UGC) like game reviews, teasers, game trailers, event-related memes – whatever you think useful. Use your own or affiliate websites to generate traffic for your game. For example, this website discusses Tyrone Unblocked Games and how users can enjoy them.
• Stay active. Post at least once each day to maintain an active social media presence.
• Answer people’s questions. Encourage comments and feedback. Adapt your product strategy, gaming experiences, and communication according to that feedback to reduce bounce rates and increase in-app active users.
• Mention your fans. Give them credit, ask them to create fan art, and welcome new users. Remember that your social media page is like a huge family, so act like it.

Keep your brand front and center. Although you are trying to create a community, your users’ ties should center on your game.

• Use mobile game influencer marketing. Gaming content creators know how to address their audience. Gaming influencers can market your game seamlessly, tapping into their knowledge of your potential customers. As such, they can improve your digital marketing strategies considerably. Besides, you can repurpose their content in your mobile-friendly email campaigns.

7. Attract Gamers with Ads

Video ads are the most effective type of ads to attract new app users.

To create an ad, you must go through three (main) stages: research, scriptwriting, and creative production.

It’s also a good idea to follow a production calendar schedule during each phase.

Insider tip: It’s essential to choose the correct video format.

Of course, a diverse target audience may benefit from distinct formats within the same mobile marketing campaign.

Ad tactics to implement:

• Video ads: The standard short, attractive video that promotes your game in a way that creates desire. Try to convey the in-game user experience as closely as possible to hook potential users.
• Playable ads: Studies show this format is best for increasing app installs because it allows gamers to play a bit of your game. That means people understand what’s in store for them while you get the chance to hook them with your best scenes.

• Rewarded video ads: This format is best for helping you drive revenue from your active users.

As such, these gamers can watch an ad to obtain a specific reward, such as in-game currency or discounts.

Pro tip: Complement in-app ads with Google ads to reach more prospective customers.

5 Micro-Influencer Strategies for Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Micro-influencers can help you drive conversions and reach your business goals fast.

Of course, you must first streamline your in-app experience, ensuring fast loading time and mobile screen optimization.

Here's how you can do that:

1. Build a Referral or Affiliate Program

A referral or affiliate program will allow you to identify your top-performing micro-influencers and build long-term relationships with them.

If you can address your influencers’ audiences multiple times in a given period, you will increase trust, which by itself will affect your bottom line metrics.

For example, Aaptiv, a mobile fitness app, pays out its partners for every sale they make:

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Incentivize your mobile app downloads to drive conversions. Give discounts or exclusive in-app content that can only be accessed through your network of influencers.
• Treat these ambassadors as your army of inbound salespeople promoting your app. Support them with the materials they need to promote and sell your app more easily.

2. Create Unique Influencer Ads to Power Your Media Buy

Creating new ad concepts is challenging.

When they see too much of the same old, your customers get bored and experience ad fatigue.

Combatting this phenomenon is a big part of media buying.

You can leverage micro-influencers as content creators to generate outside-the-box concepts that drive low CPIs.

After all, they can come up with something you and your competitors have missed.

Side note: Facebook's innovative feature enables advertisers to seamlessly partner with freelancers, injecting a burst of creativity into campaigns through diverse content strategies.

This is powerful.

Let’s say you work with 200 different micro-influencers, you have 200 different ad concepts, which will be displayed to your target audience through the page of your influencer.

To set this up, read this article.

To make this work, provide your influencers with the right content guidelines, and copywriting structure so that these ads convert.

Case Study Break: Greenpark App

Here is an example of a top-performing ad we have created through our mobile marketing agency by leveraging influencers in our network:

We collaborated with the Greenpark app to boost brand awareness and attract new users for their app launch.

Faced with the challenge of standing out amidst industry giants, our influencers crafted unique user-generated content by brainstorming creative concepts, hooks, CTAs, and scripts.

This approach led to superior content performance and competitive CPMs.

By implementing day-parting campaigns around game times, we reduced the cost per acquisition and attracted a more engaged audience.

Within three weeks, we successfully tripled our budget while keeping the cost per install on target.

Pro tip: Influencers with high engagement rates are likelier to create unique concepts for a variety of channels.

Side note: If you want to learn more about how our software or our DFY service can help you scale influencer marketing for your mobile application, feel free to contact us.

3. Leverage Influencers for Social Campaigns

Goodwill is the holy grail of influencer marketing.

If you’re helping the world in any way, make sure to communicate it.

Influencers are human beings who want to associate themselves with good causes.

For instance, Headspace, the meditation app, offered free access to their app for any healthcare professional amid the Coronavirus.

This good deed carried a lot of social capital.

Their Covid-19-specific page received over 30,000 shares on social media:

It also  received 568 new backlinks to their website in the same period:

With mentions from some authoritative sites, to say the least:

Needless to say, this love and compassion marketing play has paid off in every sense for them.

The consumer goods segment has also caught on to this, and many brands are leveraging it, such as Popsockets and their #poptivism movement:

Becky G has 24,5 million followers on Instagram and gets upward of 750k likes per post.

How did Popsocket connect with her? Well, she has an autistic brother, which probably made this collaboration a no-brainer.

By caring, Popsockets is opening the door for sizeable collaborations at a discounted price.

It makes sense on a human level and it’s even justifiable on a financial level.

Check their Instagram page to see all of their celebrity endorsements.

Caring for anything always makes it easier to connect with people.

Insider Tip from inBeat's Experience

If you’re doing mobile app marketing for a game, this tactic can be trickier, as the vertical gets a bad rep.

Having said that, I recommend you consider incentivizing your influencers by giving a fixed amount to charity for each download they generate.

Ironically, this will reduce collaboration costs while improving your influencer’s sentiment about your game.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Segment your audience very well.
• Incentivize your influencers with charity donations.

4. Streamline Your Micro-Influencer Marketing Efforts

If you choose to work with micro-influencers, you will have to manage exponentially more relationships than if you collaborated with macro-influencers or celebrities.

We work and manage 500+ influencers a month on some campaigns.

To succeed, treat micro-influencer marketing as a lead-intensive short sales cycle.

We recommend you to use:

• A robust CRM, such as Salesmate or Monday CRM to manage relationships
• Software like inBeat, an influencer database, to find influencers (full disclosure, our team has developed the tool).

To maximize the impact of these collaborators, consider narrowing your targeting to a specific sub-market (language, region, demographic, etc.).

This enables you to personalize your pitch for the target segment, earning more goodwill from the people you’re contacting.

The key is finding the right balance between personalization and automation.

5. Use Themed Pages For Traffic

This tactic is especially useful for mobile app games because themed pages will gladly repost your content in exchange for compensation.

A themed page is not an influencer in the typical sense of the term, because they don’t create their content.

They are reposting content from other pages. They are curators.

The opportunity lies in the fact that these profiles are not solicited like influencers are.

This means you can collaborate with them for 10% of the typical cost for an influencer.

You must consider that these profiles will not create content for you; this is a traffic play.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Theme your content around the topic of the profiles you are targeting. For instance, if you pitch meme pages, it is relevant to create memes around your brand, which will expand your engagement and relatability.
• When using this method, your only goal should be to drive quality traffic.
• Prioritize the Instagram Story with a swipe-up as your media format.

7 Strategies to Increase App Downloads

An effective marketing campaigns for your mobile app means more than increasing awareness and engagement with interactive experiences or building email lists of potential app users.

It means increasing app downloads and in-app users.

Here's how we advise our customers to achieve that:

1. Optimize Your App Store Listing

Research shows that 63% of iOS and 58% of Android app discovery is done through app store searches.

Therefore, optimizing your app store listing is essential because most users will find your app either on Google or Apple Play Stores.

App store optimization increases app store visibility, downloads, and retention rates.

Your mobile application's name should be short, catchy, and convey its function, helping it stand out.

Selecting the right keywords can also improve your ranking, but avoid overstuffing.

Besides, compelling description with a strong call-to-action is key to convincing smartphone users to download. Visuals like screenshots and videos can boost engagement and conversions.

Pro tip: It's essential to understand your audience and competitors thoroughly, considering cultural nuances, preferences, and local regulations.

So, figure out:

• Your customers’ language and cultural idiosyncrasies
• Their preferences and needs (including payment method)
• Local regulations
• Who your main competitors are for your audience, and what they are doing to stand out

The CNN app offers an interesting example here.

The icon is CNN’s logo, while the title is straightforward: “CNN Breaking US & World News.”

Besides, the red and white colors are specific to the brand and the screenshots show people how the CNN app would look on their phones.

These screenshots also use specific news and personalities from CNN.

We also like that the description is packed with keywords but still stays relevant (e.g., “breaking news story,” “reporting from across the world,” “updated and informed”).

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Craft a descriptive, unique title for your app to make a strong first impression.
• Integrate relevant keywords naturally within your app's description to improve search rankings without risking suspension for spamming.

2. Create Appealing Visuals

Creating appealing visuals is an essential step in the process because it makes your app look native and tells prospects what your app is about.

The visuals you will have to optimize include the icon, screenshots, app graphics, and videos.

However, your icon is particularly important because it helps create the first impression, and it’s how users recognize your app.

Besides, research suggests that icon design affects the rate of app downloads.

Here’s how Slack uses visuals on Google Play Store:

Notice how, above each image, they’ve highlighted a specific benefit for users.

Then the app store screenshots below reinforce that benefit, showcasing what people will get from using this app.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Go through the app development checklist and use the colors, shapes, and symbols that influence your target audience. Make sure these visuals represent your brand’s personality and voice.
• Leverage local culture. Use the images or symbols that your audience connects to. Also, don’t be insensitive to their pet peeves.
• Be simple and attention-grabbing. You’re not creating modern art that makes people wonder what’s really behind your visuals. You need your visuals to convey straightforward, persuasive messages that help you stand out from your competitors.
• Be consistent. Consistency helps people recognize and remember your brand. Besides, consistent messaging elicits trust. So, ensure your images stay in line with the rest of your messages, values, and entire brand personality.

3. Leverage the Power of User Testimonials and Reviews

UGC statistics show that user testimonials and user reviews convince 90% of shoppers to purchase.

UGC works because social proof creates desire, customers need proof especially if they must pay for an app subscription, and because positive reviews help you rank higher in your app store, thus increasing your visibility and attracting a wider pool of potential users.

Let’s discuss an interesting example:

Hallow.com is a Catholic prayer app that leverages the power of reviews to create desire and dim controversy.

Unlike a regular meditation app, this prayer app has one poignant problem to overcome: Catholic prayers and rituals are more rigorous.

Even slightly breaking these rules can lead to uninstalls and backlash in the community.

That’s why Hallow has to build social proof and alleviate people’s worries.

Mobile tactics to increase app downloads through user testimonials:

1. Repurpose this user-generated content. You can post reviews and positive comments on social media, marketing e-mails, or your app’s website. And if you need more help sourcing that content, inBeat can connect you with the top 1% of influencers that create authentic, engaging UGC.
2. Don’t ignore negative reviews. Respond politely and strive to solve the problems they mention. That way, you can build more engagement and prove that your customer service is top-notch.

Here’s how Rocket Money deals with negative comments on their Google Play Store:

4. Use Social Media Marketing

Whether you want to build an Android app or iOS app, social media marketing is an excellent way to promote your app, and there are several ways to go about it.

Of course, it’s worth equipping yourself to deal with the potential increase in engagement beforehand, too.

The last thing you want is to cause a bottleneck in your customer service pipeline, so be sure to draw up a detailed plan for managing an uptick in activity.

If you’ve got the budget, shared inbox software will help keep things organized, but provided you plan ahead, you should be just fine!

Mobile tactics to implement:

Create a social media presence: Figure out the social platforms that your audience is using, and start building your presence there.

Post relevant, informative content that builds your credibility.

At the same time, focus on building engagement by interacting with your followers. Respond and build up on their comments to truly create a community.

Here’s a neat example of fitness influencer Shaina Fata responding to her Instagram followers

• Leverage influencers: We already discussed this tactic above, but it's worth noting that influencer marketing can specifically help you boost app downloads by capitalizing on their credibility. They can produce in-depth reviews to explain how your app works, create desire with discount codes, or create interactive experiences.

Pro tip: It's essential to measure your campaign results, so create QR codes for app downloads and implement them in various places, such as sharing them on your social media accounts, websites, or even on print materials.

5. Do Not Forget About SEO

App store optimization helps your app stand out from the crowd in the app store; search engine optimization helps your app rank higher on search engines.

Therefore, you must build an online presence to increase discoverability and drive organic traffic.

There are a few ways to go about this, but you should mainly create a website, blog, and social media presence.

Team Viewer is another mobile app that inBeat has worked with, and they are also rocking the SEO part of their business.

One look at their website shows you a clean design, fast speed, and good organization.

You can also notice eye-catching titles, long-tail keywords, customer reviews, and images.

Mobile tactics to boost SEO and drive conversions:

• Post relevant content. Your aim is to build credibility and expertise to increase app installs. Besides, those people will come back to your website/social channels for new information. They can also recommend your blog posts and app to their peers, thus increasing organic traffic. And if organic traffic increases, search engines will rank your app higher, increasing discoverability.
• Use the right keywords in the title, meta tags, and subtitles. Give crawlers all the information they need to index your app website’s content. If these crawlers understand what your app is about, they can rank it appropriately and make it easier to discover.
• Use visuals. Just like with app store optimization, visuals help app SEO. One reason is that imagery helps crawlers with indexing. Another is that relevant images can create more engagement, increase organic traffic, and get more user downloads. All those factors suggest to search engines that your app is relevant and, therefore, worthy of being ranked higher.

6. Offer Incentives

If you can offer them an instant win now, incentives can help more people decide to download your app.

This strategy works best for more expensive apps or an undecided market.

Pro tip: After increasing your download rates through incentives, ensure your app’s features and content can keep your target users hooked.

Otherwise, you will face a massive number of uninstalls down the line.

Insider tip: The best incentives that have worked for us at inBeat and our clients include:

• Vouchers
• Points
• Discounts
• Freebies and prizes for referral programs
• VIP events

For example, The Walking Dead: Season 1 uses a freemium approach, offering a free install but with in-app purchases.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Segment your audience and research different incentives that would work for each segment.
• Create a free version of your app so prospective users can see how that application works. Once they fall in love with it, they’ll want to access premium features that lead to a more comprehensive use.

7. Build Online Authority by Starting a Blog

We know blogging is not the most popular tactic for app creators, but I included it here as nothing can help build credibility and authority more than a well-written blog.

If your app has a website, starting a blog is a sustainable method for acquiring traffic and, as a result, new users at a minimal cost.

A blog connects you to your users on a genuine and human level.

They read your insights and valuable tips and get to know you and your brand better. A blog is a great way to cut your acquisition costs and build user retention.

Mobile tactics to implement:

• Ensure that your content adds value. Learn about your user persona, their problems, and their questions.
• Pick a mix of top-of-the-funnel and bottom-of-the-funnel keywords to inform your potential app users, but also to drive conversions.

9 Push Notification Strategies to Attract and Convert Mobile Users

One quick note.

Mobile push notifications are not the same as web notifications.

While a mobile push notification is for apps on mobile devices, web notifications are messages sent through web browsers (Chrome, Safari, etc.) on computers or mobile devices.

Web notifications are a powerful and cost-effective way to engage with your users and customers if you don’t have an app.

Just like mobile pushes, web notifications can be used to deliver timely, personalized messages that drive user engagement and conversions.

Unlike mobile push notifications, web notifications don’t require any additional setup or coding.

All you need is a web hosting plan and domain, which you already have with your website.

With the right strategy, both web and push notifications can help you reach more people, increase customer loyalty and engagement, and boost your bottom line.

Now, let’s look at the best practices for creating a push notification strategy.

1. Use Actionable Alerts

Actionable alerts are notifications that entice the user to take some kind of action to access something of value.

Usually, this means clicking a button or link.

By sending actionable alerts, you can increase engagement and encourage users to take advantage of offers or features they may not have known about otherwise.

Here’s a pro tip. If you’re having trouble getting your app found, burst campaigns can help. A good burst campaign will include an enticing offer so more people will download the app. Once they do, you can start sending users actionable alerts.

2. Customize Content

By customizing your content, you can tailor your notifications to meet the needs and interests of each user.

Customizing content is an important part of creating a successful user experience.

Tailoring content to the interests and needs of each user means better engagement and happier customers.

Customizing content allows you to personalize the message or offer you are sending, which can increase click-through rates and engagement with your notifications.

This will (almost) guarantee your notifications aren’t received with an angry shout or, worse, a deleted app.

3. Maximize In-App value

If you want to make the most of your push notifications, it is important to make sure that they are providing real value to your customers.

Is it giving them exclusive access to a sale? A fun bit of trivia or knowledge?

Are you offering additional rewards in your loyalty program? Or maybe something else entirely?

Whatever it is, make sure that the benefit of receiving this notification is clear and also provides them with something that non-users won't have access to.

This incentivizes users to open and interact with alerts more often.

4. Align Your Messaging

To ensure that your strategy is successful, all your messaging must align with the goals of your brand.

This means creating content that resonates with your target audience.

How do you do this? Use language that’s consistent across all channels.

Craft messages that are tailored to each customer segment. And use data-driven insights to inform decisions about what type of content you should send.

Taking the time to build a cohesive message for each alert will drive engagement.

Here’s a great example from Headspace, an app to help with meditation and sleep. Compare their email newsletter with screenshots of their app.

Notice the beautiful consistency in messaging and branding.

5. Make Limited-Time Offers

Limited-time offers are a great way to get your customers to act quickly.

Offering exclusive opportunities for a limited time creates a sense of urgency. It encourages customers to take advantage of the offer before it’s too late.

You can use limited-time offers as an incentive to get customers to download your app or sign up for your newsletter.

Make sure to set a clear end date so that customers know how long they have.

Does your business have a social media brand ambassador program?

Influencers can promote your product or service and make those limited-time offers on your behalf.

6. Use Power Words

Power words are words that have an emotional impact on your customers.

They grab your readers’ attention.

They evoke a sense of urgency, excitement, or curiosity in your push notifications. Using power words in your alerts increases conversions and drives up revenue.

Power words will vary by industry, but you can use these to get your gears turning:

• Important
• Instantly
• Today
• Booked
• Only
• Quickly
• Imagine
• Reminder
• Become the first
• Fast
• Immediately
• Unlock

Power words also create a better user experience by providing more relevant content to users.

When used well, power words are a powerful (see what we did there?) tool for your mobile app notifications.

7. Use A/B Testing

A/B testing optimizes your notifications to make sure it’s delivering the best results.

It tests different versions of your push notifications on different users.

And it allows you to track alert performance so you can identify which one works best for your audience.

A/B test will show you what alerts are engaging, effective, and tailored to the preferences of your users.

This will help you drive more engagement and conversions from your users.

8. Segment Your Audiences

Segmenting your audiences helps you refine your target.

You'll send the right message to the right users at the right time.

Segmentation focuses on behavior, demographics, or any other criteria relevant to your goals.

By segmenting your audience, you guarantee that each user receives a personalized message.

The last thing you want is for a customer to receive an alert that doesn’t apply to them.

Segmenting is a tool that encourages users to take action. Analytics show that click-through rates across industries trend higher with segmentation.

9. Measure Results

Last but not least.

You need to learn what alerts are working and which ones need to be improved.

You should track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and user engagement.

These will give you an accurate picture of how your notifications are performing.

As you consider your A/B testing (see above), you should experiment.

Try different versions of your notifications with different users.

Measuring the results of your push notification strategy makes sure it's effective as possible.

How to Start Your Mobile Marketing Campaign

This guide has taken you through all the stages of marketing a mobile game.

First, you must understand your audience and pick the most persuasive approaches.

These approaches are based on each segment’s interests, basically what makes them tick.

Then, you will have to pick a strategy that works for your game and audience specifically.

Or, even better, blend multiple strategies.

inBeat can help you set a plan that will work for your mobile app.

Whether you’re going for influencer marketing, paid ads, or organic content, we can help you define a plan.

Book one free strategy call to help you get started – no strings attached.

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