4 tips to double your mobile app downloads

The mobile app, whether you’re thinking about it or have already developed it, is only useful if it gets downloaded. This mantra may seem crudely obvious, but it is no less true.
Many mobile applications, rather well developed (graphically as well as ergonomically) fail to develop in a sustainable way over time. Sometimes this failure is due to a mismatch between the offer and the need, sometimes it is due to a lack of means, or differentiation from the competition.
However, in many cases, this application lacks visibility and users. To benefit from their support and their potential “virality”, it is necessary to give the desire to pass the fateful step of downloading.
This is what we will discuss in this article, through several tips to increase your number of downloads, and therefore users.

1. Does the mobile application correctly meet a need?

This is THE question that needs to be asked.
Normally, it is necessary to ask it at the beginning of the project, in the design phase, to make sure that the idea is good and that the application concept will meet an existing need for a set of stakeholders.
However, sometimes an application may have been developed without asking this question at the beginning. It is therefore necessary to ask yourself about it, to think about the added value it generates and its real interest.

Also read 11 KPIs to track to measure the performance of your application

If some modifications are to be made, you can trust a developer specialized in mobile applications to support you and make it evolve.
In the question that it is necessary to ask, in addition to the logic of need, there is the term “correctly” that we have voluntarily integrated. The “correctly” refers to a functional, fluid, and bug-free application.
Because where the added value will give a reason to download the application, its correct functioning will allow “newcomers” to quickly access its content, and especially to use it over time.

Warning : A bug, even the smallest, can cause discomfort to the user, who can use it as a reason to uninstall your application. In the end, having 100.000 downloads but 90% uninstalling after 1 day, is not very beneficial for you.

Plan to organize regular test sessions (on all devices and operating systems) to ensure that certain updates do not disrupt the proper functioning of the application.

Read also: Mobile app: 4 reasons why your users will install another app

2. Give your users a reason to share the application

How about giving your users a good reason to share your mobile app with their loved ones?
Let’s start from a simple principle: sharing information and good tips between friends and family is often motivated by the prospect of “shining” in society through unique information that the other person will find interesting. It is in this sense that sharing is generally created.
For your application, you will have to create this desire to share, because not every application has the chance to be considered as a must-have to be discovered.

In fact, to motivate sharing, different tricks are possible.

Propose sharing

Sometimes it doesn’t take much. Some applications don’t even think about proposing to their users to share it with their friends or on their social networks. If you don’t offer, then how do you expect users to share?
On the other hand, be careful not to interfere with browsing and not to harass your users, as this can be a reason for uninstallation, as well as too many ads.
You will have to analyze the “normal” behavior of a person on your application, and find the right moment to propose a share. By taking the time to analyze and understand, you will maximize your chances of virality while protecting your users from a “spam attitude”.

Explain sharing

Proposing sharing is good, explaining it is even better.
Even though it may seem obvious to you, humanizing the relationship and explaining what’s behind a share and how it will help the application grow and improve, may make people want to follow you in the adventure and give you a boost.
Don’t hesitate to value this sharing and explain more about what’s behind a tweet or email to a loved one.

Rewarding sharing

Rewarding can also give more weight to the willingness to share.
Through sponsorship rewarded with discounts (if the application is paid or in the form of a subscription), through access to additional content or premium options for free (if the application is on a freemium model), it is possible to reward its users for their involvement in the application.
This can motivate those who are less interested in the “brand” as such, and who are essentially looking for a benefit for themselves.

You can think of a reward plan based on each person’s contribution, and possibly gamify it to make it fun and engaging.

3. Take care of your mobile app SEO

The natural referencing, it’s important for your website for example.
For a mobile application, this referencing will be just as important because it will allow you to be visible to potential users who are looking for an application that meets their needs on Google or in the application stores (AppStore or Google Play among others).
Taking care of the natural referencing of its application is a real job, where some of our experts can accompany you.
It is necessary to work well on its reference file on the stores, through the visuals, descriptions, keywords but also the response to positive and negative comments.
It is then that you can benefit, in the medium-long term, a good SEO and therefore increased organic visibility.

4. Build an adapted communication plan

In addition to your SEO work, you will need to make the application visible. To do this, it is essential to go through a communication plan that will allow you to orchestrate what you are going to say, how you are going to say it, to which targets and especially, through which channels.
Are you going to do media buying, Adwords search, advertising on social networks, or affiliation? These few ways to publicize your application must be included in an overall communication plan to ensure the relevance and consistency of your distribution.
It is only through this plan that you will be able to develop your visibility, your credibility, and the number of downloads of your application by an audience that is interested in you!

If doubling your number of downloads should not be an end in your work of dissemination and conquest, it can still be a goal in the short to medium term.
As you have understood, this work takes into account all the stages of the life of your application, from its design to its communication through the small additional elements that you can integrate.
If you need advice and guidance from one or more experts, go to Coder.com and discover the many talents available to you