Breaking Down Mobile App Acquisition
The best strategies of mobile app marketing are primarily about increasing the awareness of your app and getting potential users to install and interact with it meaningfully. In order to achieve these goals it is essential to dial in on your ideal audience, their online behaviors, their primary interests, where they may be geographically, and how to get your app in front of them.
Think of mobile app usage as a “funnel.” There are many funnel stages, but here’s a simplified view:
- Acquisition is the first stage in a user’s interaction with your app. How do you get them to download and install your app in the first place?
- Activation is next. The exact meaning of “user activation” differs from app to app, but in general, activation refers to a user’s first actions, such as adding their email address or making an initial purchase.
- Engagement begins when brands are personally and respectfully able to engage with their customers and begin to monetize the app.
- Loyalty is earned through relevant experiences that drive satisfaction and advocacy.
The funnel concept is useful, but in reality users often go back and forth between stages. So you may also hear this referred to as the mobile engagement loop or customer app lifecycle. Each phase of the lifecycle requires different strategies and tactics for engaging your customers.
Each stage of the funnel deserves in depth treatment. In this article, we will focus on acquisition.
Mobile App Acquisition
The first part of building a successful app is getting people to download it. From a messaging perspective, you need to convince a prospective user that your app can solve a problem they have. Some of the most common channels for sending these messages include:
- Social. It’s one of the most popular app acquisition channels. Unless you already have a large audience, paid social advertising is likely to be the most effective channel. An even more effective channel, once your app has traction, is getting users to recruit their friends.
- Real-world incentives. Offering a product giveaway, sweepstakes entry, or some other tangible reward in exchange for an app install is a common strategy. One pitfall of using real-world incentives is that users who sign up this way may end up immediately removing your app as soon as they’ve received their reward.
- Search advertising. Ads appear when users search for specific app keywords. For example, ads for mobile payment apps might appear when a user searches “send cash.” You can also purchase search advertising through platforms such as Google AdWords, so someone searching “buying a home” sees an ad for your real estate app. The link then goes directly to your app store page.
- App cross-promotion. If you have more than one app, a good way to acquire users is to use one app to promote the other. For example, if your company produces a restaurant database, you can put ads in it that refer to your travel app, since users who are interested in one might be interested in the other.
- App store listing. App stores require text and picture descriptions of every app. Writing your listing thoughtfully is critical to convincing users to download it. The text in your listing influences, among other factors, whether users will see it as they look for apps in your category.
In determining an acquisition strategy, it’s important to keep track of your cost per acquisition, or CPA. Some channels — such as your app store listing, a web page or organic social posts — don’t cost anything, but are time-consuming to manage. Others — such as paid ads — can be expensive, but are easier to optimize and scale. Determining the right balance of acquisition activities is critical for the long-term success of your app.
Comparing the CPA to the lifetime value of your customers will tell you whether an acquisition strategy is worth the money and time you’re putting into it. And the lifetime value calculation depends heavily on whether you can activate, and then retain, the users you’re acquired.