A report by Statista reveals there are 2 million apps in the Apple App Store and 2.1 million apps in Google Play Store as of January 2019 and December 2018 respectively.
By looking at these impressive numbers, one can easily conclude that the mobile app ecosystem is expanding like never before!
But if you think all apps are able to receive substantial downloads, you are sadly mistaken. The mobile market is saturated to the core, and today it is quite a challenge to get discovered beyond the top 25 charts on App Stores!
Increased competition has made app discovery tough in App Stores
It’s quite shocking to know that 17% of individuals are unable to find an app in the App Store, and 43% of the downloads happen due to word of mouth! Imagine: there are so many health apps you wouldn’t even know about unless a friend or a colleague uses and tells you about them!
While some apps fall behind in the race in terms of fixing advertising budgets, others lose out in App Store Optimization. And, the overall customer experience also plays a role! Basically – there are different reasons for different brands that call out for different strategies. The unfortunate bit is not all brands think of giving their mobile marketing a major overhaul!
How do people discover apps?
There used to exist only one way to find an app was to look for it in the app store. This introduced app store optimization strategies (further in the article) that looked aimed at increasing your app ranking through keyword and conversion optimization.
A recent report by Statista states that app store search accounts for as much as 67% of actual app discovery. But, the role a particular search plays in the discovery of the app often depends on the motivation a user has to download the app in the first place.
Without wasting much time, let us explore solid tactics to overcome the app discovery challenge with ease:
1. App Store Optimization (ASO)
It is the process of optimizing mobile apps to rank higher in an App Store’s search results. According to Forrester, 63% of apps are discovered through app store searches. So if the brand is not using ASO to up its app’s search ranking, it is basically missing out on the largest discovery channel available to apps!
So pick a nice title for the app and stick to it. Pay special attention to the keyword as a solid keyword will result in 10.3% rise in ranking. Make sure the app description is written well because that’s also taken into context while getting ranked. Don’t worry about app ratings – ‘coz that matters less than we might think!
Lastly, ASO takes time to prove to be effective. But it is effective!
2. Personalized app recommendations
Facebook has taken an excellent step to make undiscovered apps visible on the user screen with the option “Find Apps”. Obviously, it has benefitted many mobile apps and App Stores can also use this technique to increase the discovery platform of apps.
Additionally, it is now possible for the user to see the apps while someone types in the search bar of any of the App Stores – that’s called the visual search. Mobile app ratings and reviews are a great way to encourage users to download and install the app but for this, a proper marketing strategy needs to be put in place.
3. Horizontal and vertical distribution
The world has gone digitally global! It is easy to make something go viral beyond barriers – if done in the right manner. To increase app visibility in the App Store, the brands can create different versions of the app. For instance, Udemy.com, a platform for online learning, has created varied apps for its courses.
So when the user looks for programming apps, (s)he will find its programming course. When the user looks for business apps, (s)he will find one of its business courses. The only drawbacks is that the apps will lose out on a bit of ranking, but the brand will get maximum visibility in the app ecosystem!
4. App bundling
Apple allows developers to include their apps in up to 3 bundles of 10 apps. The biggest advantage is that bundles feature in a separate section of the featured apps page – which means higher app discovery. Bundled apps also offer a better value deal which makes them more appealing to at least a certain demographic.
Moreover, app bundling not only gives a big enough boost to rank higher but also reaches out to more users and hence, increases app adopt-ability.
5. Progressive web apps
According to a Gartner study, less than 0.01% of all mobile apps will be considered commercially successful through 2018. That’s where Progressive Web Apps come into the picture. Unlike mobile apps, a brand can immediately start using a PWA, thus eliminating the downloading and installation stages.
PWAs have a better loading experience, function offline, and are discoverable by search engines! They can be optimized just like a website URL. They are still linkable that can be promoted, just like websites – which makes them such an awesome feature to use!
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Conclusion
Don’t think creating an app is essential for everyone. It depends on the spectrum that a brand is functioning in. So if it is really that important for the business venture, then take baby steps to ensure the app gets discovered and doesn’t get lost in the sea of mobile apps. You can always get in touch with experts such as Wigzo to find apt solutions to the app discovery challenge. Good luck!
