With more than 2.7 million apps on the Google Play Store and 2.46 million apps on the IOS App Store, it is clear that just building an app is not enough.
Surely, you did your homework – your application is a solution to a million of problems of a billion people, you have played your cards right, you have researched your target audience well, but still, things do not fall in place, and you do not get the results you desired.
If those few lines made sense to you, you are at the right place reading the right piece of content.
Just think about it, there are millions of apps in your segment, and yours might have a USP – but the real problem is people are not aware of it. You need to do something to bypass the noise and drive people on your app.
But how do you do that? Don’t worry it’s not rocket science. In fact, it is just three words, social media marketing. Without wasting more time, here’s a quick guide that will explain how to use it to gauge the best results for your best interest.
Keep your audience engaged through content
The first one is a no-brainer, but still, people either forget it, take it for granted or don’t really bother about it. One-time sales is not a big deal, the real journey begins with long-term engagement and returning customers. Good promotion can surely fetch you immediate sales but to keep your target audience engaged you need an upstanding content plan.
I am sure you must have heard about it, but it’s results in the past have compelled us to specify its name on our point #1. And with 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, creating engaging content certainly justifies the top position. Craft content which is relatable to your application, that has the capability to keep your audience hooked up to your website for a longer time. And remember, content doesn’t necessarily mean long text-only blog posts, it can be eye-catching social media posts or interactive videos on Youtube. Just have a look at the social media pages of top apps and you will find how amazing and engaging their content strategy is.
A stellar example here would be ‘Angry Birds’. Their videos churned a storm in the virtual world
We all know they kick-started with a game, that mostly all of us were addicted to, at least once in our lifetime. Post that there was no looking back – episodes, movies, toys and everything else!
Get going with influencers
Influencers are people whom your target audience trusts, follows and believes. Recommendations from friends and family have a lot more weightage for the final purchase than a sponsored social media post. And influencers are your closest replacement of family who can deliver your message. Again content plays an important role. You can even choose to publish a guest post on one of these micro-influencer blogs(if they have any). The technique of guest posting can help you get some targeted referral traffic to boost your app installs.
The most commonly believed myth about influencer marketing is that it is a very expensive pick. While on the contrary, with respect to the ROI it generates, it is a lot cheaper than direct advertising. Infact, if you are aware of the tips and tricks to target micro-influencers – it’s cheaper than you can ever imagine (and generates higher results than even celebrities). A study by HelloStudy revealed that influencers were able to generate 60% greater engagement than any other marketing campaign.
Glossier, a beauty brand who believes in ‘every customer is a potential influencer’ proudly claims that 90% of their sales don’t come from direct marketing but rather influential and engaged fans.
Don’t just depend on Facebook
Gone are the days when Facebook was social media, and social media was Facebook. The reason why I started this pointer with the head that says, ‘Don’t JUST depend on Facebook’ is to motivate you to spread your roots.
Visuals play a great role when it comes to engaging a human mind. And Instagram is all about it. The platform gives wings to your overall content strategies that guarantees engagement. Moreover, the concept of influencer marketing has flourished only after the launch of Instagram. Having more than 800 million active monthly users, Instagram is definitely a platform one should look into it for promoting their mobile apps.
Use great free graphic tools like Canva, Pixabay or Unsplash to generate the engaging visuals for your mobile app. After all, we humans are visual beings and thus we are more likely to connect with the messages that are visually delivered to us.
Quora:
Spreading your roots can not be just limited to Instagram. Quora can also be your winning move for app promotion. However, It is different from the traditional sense of social media and more like a community with a Q&A platform. Practically, any user can ask any question irrespective of the niche and people who are insightful of the concerned subject can share their knowledge. The audience of Quora is basically interested in gaining powerful B2B insights and discover new tools that can help them grow. And that’s where you can create awareness around your new app.
Snapchat:
Snapchat? Like seriously? Yes! SERIOUSLY! The trend of 24 hours stories were initiated by Snapchat and it went so viral in the millennial generation that every business niche had to adopt it. The platforms you target highly vary on the basis of your target audience and Snapchat can be your lead to reach the youth. The constant updates keep them hooked to you and initiate the human connect since you share updates of your regular day. Its unique functioning is its USP. The way it works, is highly dynamic, and people under 25 just love it, so do not miss out on it!
The e-commerce giant, Amazon is killing it on Snapchat – right from launching Snapchat exclusive promotional codes to sharing behind-the-scenes updates. They also share exclusive partnership with Snapchat! Snapchat lets you take photos of an object, run a visual search and buy it on Amazon! Well, how cool is that? 
Take advantage of Built-in mechanism for within the app sharing
Make all your resources shareable within the app – this will not only generate engagement on social media but will also get you more customers. For instance, if I find anything relevant on your app that I would like to share it on Facebook with my community, there must be a hassle-free process to do that within seconds. And remember, the more social media-friendly you are, the better it is.
Here’s how Google Maps does it:
Provide referrals and show your users that you value them:
Entice your existing user base to get your mobile app the audience it deserves. Referral programs are a great way to encourage them. Almost every app these days from Uber, Airbnb to UpThere has an in-app option to allow users to share the app with their friends and family in exchange of exciting rewards in return.
While doing all these, don’t forget to show them you care for them. The best way to do this is to feature their opinions on your social channels. It could be anything, a photo they took, a video where they talk about your app, an achievement they got using your app or any screenshot.
User-generated Content is most popular these days on social media. It not only shows you appreciate your followers but also work as a credible recommendation from someone who is already using your app.
Work for better user experience with actionable data:
Optimizing your app’s onboarding experience is essential in order to create strategies that will work best for your app. knowing how many visitors you are attracting from one post is another thing but analysing which type of content your visitors are finding most attractive is now becoming more important. Qualitative analytics, unlike traditional analytics is about understanding user’s behaviour. It covers all aspects of end user interaction with your app and can be measured with the help of qualitative analysis tools. All your efforts are nothing if your app UX doesn’t meet the end user expectation.
To conclude, let me tell you that if you want to measure your success, measure it with your active users. That is the actual barometric. I hope this guide helps you to build an efficient social marketing strategy for your app and reaches as many phones as possible. All the best!
