Promoting the app: Top 10 customer mistakes

27-04-23

Developing and publishing a mobile application is only the beginning. In order for the product to become popular, generate downloads and reach a large audience, you need to promote it. Without this, a large number of users will simply be unaware of the app’s existence.

The best option is to have a professional do the work on a turnkey basis and monitor the results. However, this is not always the case. For a variety of reasons, clients take control of the promotion and order individual services that they find useful and necessary.

Our experience shows that it is easy to make mistakes with this approach that have a negative impact on the development of the project. Let’s look at the top 10 such mistakes and give recommendations on how to avoid them.

Error 1 – No plan

The lack of a clear plan leads to chaos in the promotion process. Work is done intuitively and on a whim, and there are no well-thought-out tactics. One thing is done in a hurry, another stretched out over months. If you happen to hit a target and have a temporary success, it has no impact on the long term.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Each application has its own characteristics, so there are no universal promotion algorithms. There is a specific set of techniques and channels for promotion, but the sequence of actions is individual, taking into account many nuances:

• The purpose of the application and the target audience – what the product is for, what the target audience needs and how to reach them;
• The level of competition – how much effort competitors put into promoting and developing their projects;
• The client’s objectives and expectations – what they want to achieve and what the objectives of the promotion are;
• Timing and budget – how much the client is prepared to spend and when they want results.

Before you start, you should carry out a preliminary analysis, decide on a strategy and create a step-by-step work plan:

• Choose the channels of promotion;
• Identify the most promising methods;
• form a sequence of actions;
• Create a detailed timetable;
• Calculate a budget for each stage;
• Define the parameters and frequency of the analysis;
• Make a preliminary prediction of the results.

Error 2 – Competitor analysis not performed

Promotion takes place without considering the strategies of competitors. You don’t see the pros and cons of competing applications and their promotion methods. You don’t understand who you’re up against and how hard it will be to get to the top. It is difficult to assess your chances and predict the outcome.

How not to make a mistake?

Users will only choose your product if it compares favourably with the competition. If a competitive analysis has not been done before developing the app, it should be done before promoting it.

• Analyse competing apps, identify their organic traffic, reviews and key queries.
• Find areas where you stand out from the crowd and where it is worth putting in the extra effort.
• Spend the time and effort to improve the product if you see it falling short of the competition.

Error 3 – incorrect ASO optimisation

The focus is on advertising or SMM, but no attention is paid to optimising the page on Google Play and the App Store. The app fails to reach the top due to a lack of proper description and keywords, poor audience perception due to weak presentation.

Alternatively, page optimisation in the App Store and Google Play stores follows the same principle, without taking into account the indexing and ranking algorithms in each store. Rules that work on the App Store may not work on Google Play, and vice versa.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Get professional ASO (App Store Optimisation) to design your app page according to Google Play and App Store requirements. What a professional should do:

• Create a concise and attractive text description that will appeal to your target audience;
• Optimise headings and subheadings;
• Choose keywords that people will use to find you;
• Precisely define the categories in the catalogue;
• to process the feedback and neutralise the negativity;
• Develop a unique icon;
• Create the necessary number of screenshots to demonstrate the interface to users;
• Create a promotional video that explains the benefits of the app in an engaging format.

With ASO, you can get to the top with minimal investment, stand out from the competition, engage users, drive organic, targeted traffic and get more reviews.

Error 4 – Only one transport channel is used

For economic or other reasons, a single promotional channel is chosen and all hopes are pinned on, for example, advertising, ASO or SMM. As a result, many opportunities are missed, effective techniques are not used and instead miracles are expected from a single channel. Miracles don’t happen, you become disillusioned with advertising and think it’s a waste of money.

How to avoid making a mistake?

There are many different ways of advertising today. Whether they should be used in your project should be decided by an experienced specialist. The best results can only be achieved through an integrated approach using multiple channels, such as

• Contextual advertising on search engines and partner sites;
• Targeted social media advertising;
• SMM promotion with active page management on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok;
• The launch and promotion of a branded website;
• Advertising on Google Play and the App Store;
• ASO optimisation and in-store search engine promotion;
• offline advertising;
• Integration with bloggers, opinion leaders
• Maintain a Youtube channel;
• SEO promotion of a multi-page branded website;
• Content promotion by mentioning the app on third party resources;
• Advertising banners and promotional videos in other applications;
• App indexing – promoting an app in search engine rankings.

Mistake 5 – Setting unrealistic goals

Expecting too much from promotion: instant results, huge numbers of downloads in a short period of time, the app’s popularity and constant presence at the top, all at minimal cost. Excessive expectations can result from a lack of understanding of mobile app promotion, underestimating the competition and the demand for the product.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Consult experienced experts who will not only teach you the basics of mobile app promotion, but will also immerse themselves in your project and assess its real prospects. What you can expect by analysing the product, the niche, the competition and the audience:

• The approximate number of installations of the application;
• Minimal promotion time to get the first results;
• the costs required by the project;
• The financial investment that delivers the best results;
• the real competitiveness of the application, the need to modernise it.

Error 6 – No application support during promotion

Promotion continues, large budgets are invested in advertising campaigns, users download the app but are frustrated by bugs, crashes and instability. The percentage of bounces, deletions, negative feedback and low ratings increases. This has a negative impact on further promotion, lowers search engine rankings and damages the project’s reputation.

How to avoid making a mistake?

While the application is in use, it must be supervised by a technician who

• Corrects faults in a timely manner;
• Tests for errors;
• issues updates as required.

This is the key to ensuring that quality advertising gets results, attracted users do not delete the app and leave more positive feedback.

Error 7 – No analysis

The effectiveness of app promotion is not monitored, and results are assessed superficially – for example, by the number of new downloads and reviews. You don’t see the big picture, you can’t assess the true effectiveness of your promotion channels and you can’t adjust your strategy.

How to avoid making a mistake?

A professional promotion team always keeps detailed analyses and regularly reports to the client on various indicators:

• the number and dynamics of downloads;
• Views;
• The number of times the application has been deleted;
• behavioural factors;
• positions in the rankings;
• Conversion;
• Types of equipment;
• The average time spent using the application;
• Average score, rating change;
• The cost of switching and downloading;
• Monetisation income.

Data is calculated by specialised analytics services such as Firebase, Play Console, Apple Analytics and presented in the form of tables, graphs and charts. The structure and composition of reports may vary depending on the project strategy.

Error 8 – Progress stopped after first results

The first downloads are coming in, users are giving feedback – it seems the goal has been achieved. Why spend too much when the application is starting to gain popularity? The promotion stops, the result is that there is no progress, the project fails to reach greater heights and it stagnates or loses ground.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Promoting the app is an ongoing process and should not be stopped altogether. You can only optimise your budget and change channels as the situation demands. For example, temporarily suspend paid advertising but maintain social media activity. Or slow down SMM, but activate the promotion of the band. There are many options, but the best plan should be developed by a specialist, based on the actual results of the promotion and taking into account your budget.

Error 9 – Customer does not provide feedback

The client receives ‘dry’ reports, but does not go into detail or share his observations on the project’s progress. In the absence of feedback, it is difficult to communicate, for example, the advisability of adjusting the strategy or the need to upgrade the application.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Promoting an app is a team effort and a constant interaction between the client and the contractor. If a business mobile app is to be promoted, the client must do it:

• Provide information and comments on the quality and relevance of leads;
• Respond positively to suggestions for product improvement and technical work;
• Make them aware of your plans and expectations for promotion;
• Actively discuss ideas and strategies proposed by the implementer.

Only in this way will we be able to work not for the sake of the process, but for the sake of real results.

Mistake 10 – Different professionals are involved in the promotion

There is no centralisation – for example, contextual advertising is set up by one agency, targeting by another, social by the client, ASO by the developer. It looks like everything is being done, but there is no consistency, the analytics for one channel are not taken into account in the other, and it is impossible to optimise the strategy because each specialist only sees his or her own area of activity.

How to avoid making a mistake?

Delegate the maximum amount of work to a team that covers all the necessary advertising channels. Why it’s beneficial:

• A single actor has overall responsibility for the outcome;
• Action on all fronts is agreed;
• Tactics are instantly adjusted to suit the situation;
• General analytics are maintained to show the current state of the promotion across all channels;
• If necessary, you can quickly refocus and change your advertising strategy.

This is the approach of our studio. Not only do we develop mobile apps, but we also do all types of turnkey promotions. We understand the intricacies of mobile development and can respond quickly when the product needs to be updated, corrected, scaled or upgraded. If you’re looking for this kind of developer and don’t want to make any mistakes, contact KitApp.