Even if you’ve put in the work to create an awesome app, your business will fail if nobody knows about it.
So how do you stand out from the crowd of millions of apps to acquire users? Especially when nearly half of smartphone users don’t download any apps in a month, and the average user only downloads two?*
When it comes to mobile user acquisition, the only sure thing is that there’s more than one way to strike gold.
We’ll cover the most popular acquisition channels, examples of how successful mobile apps hit it big with that channel, and some pros and cons of each tactic. Plus, get expert advice from experienced growth marketers on how to acquire users for your app.
Here’s a rundown of the acquisition channels we’ll cover:
ASO
Organic
Paid
Influencer
PR
Video
Referrals
Traditional
Demos
Mobile User Acquisition Strategies
1. App Store Optimization (ASO)
App stores are still the #1 driver of app discovery. According to data by Statista,* approximately 561 million apps are downloaded from app stores every single day.
App store optimization is the practice of attracting users to download an app based on the title, keywords, ratings, and other ranking factors. Done right, ASO can drive a huge amount of high-quality traffic to your app.
Focus on key page elements. Including top keywords in the title tag, featuring a mix of eye-catching screenshots, creating a recognizable app icon, and writing an engaging app description can boost your visibility significantly within App Store rankings.
Localize app store pages for each target market, including search keywords. Only 31% of app revenue is generated by North American consumers, and localized search keywords and welcome pages can result in up to 767% more downloads.*
Optimize for both search discoverability and conversions. By A/B testing page elements, you can find out what works best to entice visitors to download and launch your app.
Check out our in-depth collection of App Store optimization best practices for more tips.
PRO: Low-cost and highly effective
CON: Takes time and testing to find a winning approach
ASO Example: Dark Sky Weather
When Dark Sky Weather changed their title from simply “Dark Sky” to “Dark Sky – Weather Radar, Hyperlocal Forecasts, and Storm Alerts”, their rankings skyrocketed. Including the right keywords in your title has a tremendous impact.
Dark Sky Weather Example of ASO
App Store Search for “Weather” Image: Dark Sky
Their current app store page is packed with keywords like weather, forecasts, radar, hyperlocal, and weather alerts. It features beautiful screenshots, a description that highlights the app’s key benefits, high user ratings, and even an Editor’s Choice award.
The app is currently ranked #1 in the Weather category and ranked in the Top 50 overall.
Dark-Sky
Dark Sky on the Apple App Store
2. Organic Mobile User Acquisition
Organic channels can be both an effective and cost-efficient way to drive app user acquisition. Building a website, maintaining active social media channels, and funneling traffic to your app store page are all tactics that drive organic growth.
Organic Colombia Phone Numbers List campaigns are especially effective when complemented with paid ads, which can boost organic app installs by 150%.* Which only proves the importance of diversifying your user acquisition efforts over several channels and strategies.
Use smart banners to take users from your mobile website to the mobile app. Include deep links to take visitors straight to a page within the app, or directly to your app store page to install.
Do content marketing. Create blog posts, infographics, videos, and ebooks around topics your customers are interested in and searching for. Don’t just create content for the sake of filling an empty blog — ensure that every single piece of content is high quality and provides unique value for readers.
Target the right traffic. Don’t neglect quality for the sake of quantity. Create marketing personas that include details like age, gender, income, educational background, location, job title, and interests to focus your efforts on the right audience.
PRO: Low cost
CON: A long-term mobile app user acquisition strategy that takes time to see cumulative benefits
Organic Mobile User Acquisition Example: Evernote
Since their inception in 2007, Evernote has focused on education and content marketing as a basis for its mobile user acquisition strategy. Fast forward to today, and the app has over 225 million users and a reported valuation of $1 billion.
Evernote’s content campaigns feature articles and videos on topics like productivity, goal setting, going paperless, app usage tips, and even interviews with high-profile users. Its content is both educational and engaging and designed to appeal to both current Evernote users and potential users whose pain points the app solves. Evernote Blog
3. Paid Advertising
Paid ads can put your app in front of a massive audience, not to mention create additional