13 Tips To Make Your App Go Viral

There are  millions of apps available on app stores. The bar for standing out is exceptionally high, which is why it’s necessary for mobile app developers and businesses to have a strong mobile app marketing strategy so that their app gets the desired success.

Here  are few  strategies to make your app go viral.

1. Create Something Truly Valuable

Unique apps that provide a relevant purpose are more valuable than generic applications with no clear target group. In the world of mobile programming, few developers are able to come up with truly original ideas and execute them well enough to draw a dedicated user base.

Apps should be created keeping the target audience in mind. Apps should add value to the customer’s life, then only chances are there for it to go viral. If an app is valuable to the target audience, then automatically it will generate word of mouth promotion.

In this regard an example can be quoted that of Uber. Uber has made the business of car rental or booking more simpler and safer. Now people need not stand in queue and book cabs. One app does it all. Users just need to download an app and feed their details like location and pick up point. Users can also get an estimate price of the ride. So create an app which will add value to your user’s life.

2. Know Your Audience  

Clearly defining your audience makes all the difference when you are creating an app. Creating an app without a clear understanding of your audience is like a chicken without a head.

Envisioning your app also involves preparing your app requirements, which need to include a clear definition of your exact target audience. This usually refers to the special characteristic that your target audience might have, which may include culture, language, age (whether they are kids, adults), the user’s web ability and several other criteria. These characteristics are very  important as they help you understand how to convey the app requirements into a set of functionalities that are prioritized within your app as features that are geared towards fulfilling your target audience’s needs.

By getting a clarity on targeted audiences, it becomes easier to capture someone’s attention because their needs and goals are front and centre.

3. Promote Your App Aggressively

Mobile app marketing is a big factor behind the success of any app. Marketing your app is critical, given that there are many mobile apps belonging to the same genre that just differ in name, but are developed for the same purpose and in the same form.

Here are a few ways to promote your app in an aggressive manner

4. Maximize Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites are a large area for mobile app ads. Facebook ads have grown by 500%. This is because Facebook is seen to be a good avenue for app advertisements because there are millions of Facebook users all over the world who visit the site.  Therefore, there are more chances for your app to be seen by prospective downloaders.

5. Monitor Your App’s Download Activity

Monitoring the download activity will give you an idea on which platform or blog your app gets more downloads from. Identifying the traffic source will give you an idea over which app marketing avenue is the most effective, and where you should be investing more money.

6. App Store Optimization(ASO)

ASO is the process of optimizing mobile apps to rank higher in an app store’s search results. The top your app ranks in an app store’s search results, the more visible it is to potential customers. That increased visibility tends to convert into more traffic to your app’s page in the app store.

These are just some of the most suitable and simplest ways to make your app popular and make it known to all downloaders from across the globe.

7. Keep The Customer On-Boarding Simple

A 2015 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that more than one-third (33%) of potential customers are lost due to complex and inefficient customer on-boarding processes. The effort put in by marketing departments and sales in acquiring new customers is mostly lost in the process of on-boarding the customers.

Most of the on-boarding processes requires unnecessary details which can be easily organized on the digital front.

More than 60% of the customers abandon signing up process due to its complexity and time consumption. So keep the on-boarding simple and fast by using social media credentials or email ids instead of making your user fill-up a long form.

8. Make It Easy To Share

Apps should be easy to share. The app should support all devices.

Provide the ability to share to several social platforms in one or two taps. Sharing apps on the social platform gives more visibility to the app. If the app is visible then it will garner interest of the users and ensure maximum downloads. Make it possible to post to multiple social networks at one time.

As a business owner, you would want to have an mobile application which is adaptable on different platforms so people can use it on the go, wherever they go, however they go. It is easier to maintain and deploy changes in apps that run across all platforms. Updates would immediately get synced across all devices and platforms. This will save you money.

Place sharing channels that are relevant to the app’s content. If you share the app on a platform which is relevant to your app content, then it will be advantageous. It helps internal communicators and managers decide on the best way to deliver their message. Practitioners and managers should match their choice of communication channel to the intended outcome, for example, whether they wish to raise awareness or gain commitment.  

9. Reward Users For Marketing Your App

If you want to encourage a certain behavior, reward it. Inviting friends and connecting with others should be a part of their daily usage. Inviting friends should be a core process in your app, rather than a second thought. Experiment with ways to encourage the customers to invite friends at different points in the app.

Rewarding customers for their referrals can make them feel a little guilty that they are making money off of their friends. The best way around the problem is to also reward the friends who receive their invitations. Rewards could be: extra storage, a free upgrade, free a character, discounts, free themes.

Sneak in secret rewards and surprise people, then watch as the app goes viral.

10. Monitor User Behavior

User behavior of those who download and use app is highly diverse.  There are users who like engaging with the apps. They like tapping, pinching and swiping. There are users who will abandon an app if they don’t get what they want. Tracking user behavior can open wonderful opportunities for marketing an app.

It is post launch of the app that mobile user behavior has the most impact on app marketing since this is where users engage with an app. Studying how users behave and interact with an app can help support an improved user experience through a refinement of  app marketing strategy.

Essential as air, this feature allows to track users, and get the full information about their behavior. On the basis of this information you might see, in which way to upgrade the app.

11. Keep Your App Fresh  

To get mobile users to download an app is a challenge in itself. Keeping them engaged and coming back to that app is an even higher one. The reason is simple – mobile users tend to have incredibly high expectations. They’re quick to delete or simply ignore the apps they’ve downloaded, if the experience doesn’t meet their standards.

So how do you drive app loyalty with new customers and keep your existing loyal customers coming back?

Keep your app fresh by the following methods

12. Dynamic Updates

In the mobile world, change is consistent. It happens fast and it happens unexpectedly. These changes may come in the form of market trends, or they may be changes in user expectations and behavior. Regardless of the nature, adapting to changes and constantly providing a better feel of the app, means you need the ability to make dynamic updates quickly, on the go. This means no waiting for IT, and no waiting for an approval from the app store. Just like the web world, you need the ability to make changes to your app in minutes so that you can respond quickly to the changes and constantly drive improvements that make users happy.

13. Send Relevant Messages

Push notifications and in-app messages have the ability to increase app awareness and drive more app engagement. However, if implemented wrongly, your users will likely see these messages as annoying spam. Include push notifications and in-app messages into your overall app strategy.

Viral marketing is the way app marketers are resorting to win the tough app race. Thus to be ahead on the race, you need to go viral. Being viral is the new vitality.