According to Adjust, in 2020, the number of sessions in mobile apps grew by 30%, and in the first quarter of 2021, installs grew by 31%. Fintech projects, games with a simple and repetitive storyline, and online stores have become especially popular. If you have an idea for your own project or it’s already ready for release, it’s time to explore ways to promote it. We at AppCraft have been developing and promoting mobile apps for over 10 years. In this article, we share our experience and tell you how to study the audience, determine the key metrics of success, and which sites to choose.

Preliminary project analytics

Before launching, study your users – what devices they use, why they download, what functions they use most often, what updates are awaiting, and so on. This information will help you develop a smart mobile app promotion strategy.

Create a detailed portrait of your audience:

• Age, gender, interests, income, time zone, education;
• What problem / need a person solves with the help of your software;
• Software type and phone models;
• What user journey people go through, what features they like, how much time they spend, and how often they come back;
• How many purchases can one person make during the entire period of use;
• Which does not suit you. For example, a long download, an inconvenient shopping cart or support does not resolve the issue.

You can collect information on CustDev or with the analytics tools described below. Organize face-to-face interviews with people and divide them into segments to plan a campaign for each of them.

Product metrics and activity parameters

To measure the bottom line of your ad campaign, define your own success metrics. For example, get 5,000 downloads, 4,000 transactions from promotion, or get into the top three in your niche. Choose metrics, tools, and budget based on your goal.

Here are the parameters to help you measure your results:

• DAU (Daily Active Users) – the sum of daily active users.
• WAU (Weekly Active Users) – active clients by week.
• MAU (Monthly Active Users) – users per month.
• Session time – the period from start to close.
• Sticky Factor – Loyalty. It is calculated by the ratio of the number of visitors per day (DAU) to the monthly parameter (MAU).
• Retention Rate – the level of engagement.
• Churn Rate – refusals.
• CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – the cost of attracting customers.
• CPI (Cost per Instal) – the price for downloading the software.
• LTV (Lifetime Value) – the average profit for the time of use. The result is considered positive if the LTV exceeds the CPI.
• ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) – the average income that comes from each client. This parameter can be used to determine the loyalty to prices.

You can evaluate the effectiveness of a sales funnel by the following factors:

• percentage of downloads and registrations;
• the number of people who have studied the tutorial / completed the profile;
• the proportion of users who reached the cart / passed to level 2 in the game / bought a subscription.

Monetization can be assessed by the sum of the first and second payments, and to assess customer acquisition, consider the Retention Rate at 1, 7 and 30 days after downloading.

Analytics tools

They will simplify the collection of information, provide up-to-date statistics and help to adjust advertising for search engine queries. Let’s analyze the most popular services: Google Analytics, Firebase, Facebook Analytics and Apple Analytics.

Google analytics

Android, iOS

It will help you find all the necessary information about the user: where he lives and what he is interested in, how he finds, how much he uses and what he buys. Google Analytics 4 dumps data into one report. Cons: does not work with iTunes.

To start, add the Firebase SDK to the software and enable integration with Google Analytics. The program itself will start collecting data and generating a report.

Firebase

iOS, Android, Unity, C ++

This is a service from Google for software development and analytics. Firebase provides cloud storage, crash reporting, transaction information, connects to Google Analytics 4 and segments audiences even in narrow directions.

Facebook Analytics

Android and limited functions for iOS

Helps to collect reports within the social network. Examines the entire user journey in real time, maintains statistics, predicts trends and sends notifications if something changes in audience behavior. It will work with Android without problems, and in iOS there are limits and delays due to restrictions on the collection of information.

App-Analytics

iOS

Provides analytics from the App Store. Tracks the amount of impressions in the store, counts user engagement and analyzes their behavior, displays sales data.

Appsflyer

iOS, Android

Shows which channels people come from, what path they take and how many people remove the product, calculates the cost of new customers. Analyzes the success of re-engagement, profit from banners within the project.

Test promotion

First, do a “soft-launch” – test the project on a small segment of the target audience to quickly get feedback and fix bugs.

In the process of soft-launch, you can understand how quickly a person gets to the functions he needs, whether monetization works well, at what stage people fall off and what they write in reviews.

For the test, select

• A statistically sufficient number of consumers for which you will customize the offer.
• Customer segments.
• Soft-launch duration. Usually 2-3 months are enough.
• How much of the total marketing budget can you allocate for tests.

What metrics can you track?

• Amount of attracted applications and traffic sources;
• CPI – average price of one download;
• Organic growth – dynamics of growth in the number of people attracted through “organic” traffic;
• Engagement;
• Retention rate;
• How much time a person spends on one session and for the entire time of use.

Did the soft test live up to expectations and perform well? Finish the little things and head to the main market. If you find many flaws, postpone the start and come back with an updated product.

Platforms and methods for promoting mobile applications

Google Play, App Store

Optimize product descriptions and banners for each site, this will help attract more people and avoid problems during moderation.

• Explore the titles, descriptions, and reviews of other projects in the niche.
• Find keywords and phrases that accurately describe the software’s functions.
• Upload high quality and informative screenshots, videos.
• Set up a pop-up asking for feedback and ratings in the marketplace.

After optimization, banners can be launched.

Universal App Campaign (UAC)

Android

UAC is used to run advertisements on the websites of search partners, Google Play, YouTube, Google Search, recommendations in Google Search and other placements.

To run you can use:

• Banners with animation of fixed size
• Images with static graphics. You can create combinations for different ad sizes.
• Video banners. More effective than other formats, but not at every site.

Most often, all three types of ads are used to get the maximum response.

Features of Universal App Campaign

• Determine the purpose of the ad: to increase the number of installs, to perform certain actions, or to increase the value of actions.
• The system does not translate banners. The language must match the targeting language.
• It will be easier for the program to generate effective ad combinations if you add as many descriptions, banners and headlines as possible.
• Create as many formats as possible during tests.
• It is better to increase the budget gradually, up to 30% per day.
• To train the system, you need to receive at least 100 conversions per week.

Apple Search Ads

iOS

A platform for advertising in the top search bar of the App Store.

You can work in two formats:

• Basic. The system will configure everything by itself, so it is suitable for beginners. Payment for installation only.
• Advanced. There is an advanced toolkit for campaigns, but only experienced users will be able to evaluate. Pay per clicks.

A typical card or your own version of the description is used as an advertisement. After the start, you can monitor the effectiveness of each keyword, adjust the bid and banners.

Tips for Apple Search Ads

• For large coverage, study the market and competitors’ offerings to highlight the principles of search in marketplaces.
• Divide keywords into segments.
• Make personalized offers for different types of keywords.
• Use auto-targeting Dynamic match – it performs well with unique queries.

Facebook

To get started with Facebook, sign up and set up your campaign. To do this: register a project on the Facebook for developers platform, install the SDK (Software development kit) and choose a strategy.

Possible strategy options:

• increase the number of installations;
• increase the amount of clicks on links;
• increase activities within the project.

Recommendations for writing an effective ad:

• Show the benefits with facts and compelling statistics;
• Describe the benefits visually;
• add a call to action button;
• test as many ad variations as possible;
• avoid narrow audience segments;
• choose pay per click only if you are sure of a high conversion;
• set a minimum price for installation on a limited budget.

Promotion through VKontakte

VKontakte integrates with the myTarget download tracking system, which can launch campaigns in Odnoklassniki, Moi Mir and Mail.ru services. In general, the algorithm of action coincides with the Facebook format: you need to specify deep links, create and set up an advertising campaign, and in the process analyze statistics and adjust to the results.

Google ADS

iOS, Android

The platform has generic tools for every operating system. The advertiser only needs to calculate the budget, determine the location and language of the target audience, and launch targeting. Ads will appear on AdMob, Display Network, Gmail, SERPs, and partner sites. Through ADS, banners can also be launched on GooglePlay.

To connect an advertising campaign, use the most conversion words, dividing them into clusters. Then select the resources and types of publication impressions.

Promotion of mobile applications through YouTube

The most effective way to get the word out about a product is to reach out to a blogger. He already has a loyal audience to whom he will be able to convey all the benefits. Unlike advertisements, there is more space for creativity. Bloggers can be found in almost any direction: business, games, learning, creativity, science, etc. and order a review.

How to choose a blogger

Choose a blogger by topic, reach, popularity, and engagement. Use independent services WhatStat and LiveDune to evaluate statistics, watch videos on his channel and comments. Choosing the right blogger can reduce the installation cost.

Promotion and placement plan

1. List bloggers. Choose the one that suits your performance and budget.
2. Start negotiations with a blogger, draw up a technical assignment, agree on a video release date and posting format: review, selection of TOPs, native integration.
3. Agree on the scenario.
4. Check the output of the video and analyze the statistics.

Efficiency can be assessed using a universal formula:

Installs 7 days after the advertisement – (traffic on the link 7 days + organic orders a week before the video)

You can work with bloggers on your own or contact an agency. Specialists take a commission, but noticeably shorten the approval period and take on all stages of cooperation.

To develop a product is 50% of success. The remaining 50 depend on the effectiveness of the advertisement. The AppCraft team will help you create a useful mobile application, build a marketing strategy and find your target customers. The cost of the work will depend on the terms of reference and the scope of work. Contact us – we will discuss the details and understand how to tell about your product.