Developing an app is one thing. The problem is that App Stores are flooded with miscellaneous apps and cutting through the noise can be very hard. That is why we offer you only the most relevant and important content to help you with an app promotion.
With almost every aspect of our lives turning to the small screen to set up inventive presence, success in the field is taking on numerous new implications, understandings, and interpretations.
But, how is it possible that mobile app developers are making record profits while, at the same time, the number of free apps on the market continues to grow? The answer’s simple. Most app developers don’t make very much money.
But when we are talking about startup beginners, they are considering themselves as extremely ambitious personalities on their first steps in this field. My tip is to layout your startup on the business model canvas first.
This is what business people naturally do, and a unique idea will take more time to be developed into something tangible, something that will have definite value for future users.
So, what does success look like in the mobile space? Sadly, there’s no distinct answer. Above all else, it depends on who’s inquiring. In case, you’re a startup, displaying a new application or a worldwide brand hoping to build up an overwhelming mobile presence. Your goals will be distinctive, and as a direct result, so will your meaning of success.
Though years, prior speculators looked for after applications with a substantial client volume and neglected those with a moderately little after, today’s existence is an alternate story. Industry insiders know the force of an in number client base, paying little respect to its volume – a dynamic group with intriguing practices and examples demonstrates that the item is promising. Engagement is critical, not the amount.
It’s all about realizing what your product requires. It is a picture of the product, and how the startup will function. You can figure out your ways of mobile application monetization, the value of the product, the target audience, and the value of the product, to exude it during marketing campaigns.
Or there is another view, if your product is a transportation application, it doesn’t help when clients download your application but don’t book rides. A quality client for you would mean one that connects into their credit card information and orders a cab. That’s what success looks like for you.
The main truth is that for apps, tons of installations may not be as successful as the numbers lead people to persuade. A strong base of users who are dynamic, contribute to the community, and make in-app purchases, ought to be your main purpose, and harnessing more of those users is your new understanding of mobile prosperity.
But then again, if you’re a traditional, non-digital brand, your definition of success and achieving goals may differ. It shouldn’t be a challenge for you to make a name in the marketing field when you have already a consumer base.
For brands, succeeding in the mobile sphere means applying an improved experience:
by using everything that mobile devices have to offer.
by providing customers an alternative platform to cooperate with the brand in a way that will hold them coming back for more and more.
In a recent discussion with a partner, she mentioned that she uses an app for an American food chain that doesn’t have an affiliate in her country. She explained, that this source recommends not only food products, but also offers free music and other entertaining content.
It is a perfect example of a label that succeeded in creating a strong mobile experience that provides consumers demand for value-added tax.
Whether you’re a mobile startup or a well-established brand, accurately defining your goals is a significant step on your way to mobile success. Start testing them with upcoming customers. You have a team. But have no strategy? That is a serious question.
Just having a team without a clear understanding of its strengths and weaknesses doesn’t mean much. Don’t rush into creating a mobile strategy without first taking the time to understand clearly where you should go.
The main difference between successful and mediocre mobile app marketing is the correct goal setting. If your aim is getting downloads, you will hardly enjoy significant success. On the other hand, if you are looking for returning users, you are on the right path.
Experts say that notifications boost retention by several times. In this article, we are going to provide a few tips on how to make your push notifications amazing.
Push Notifications Best Practices
1. Permissions
If you ask your users for permission to send them to push notifications, you are trying to manipulate them. However, most apps fail here. Most users do not want to allow any apps to get access to their personal data. For example, Android’s permission system has some permission requests and clients feel uncomfortable about confirming personal data sharing.
How it works: to make privacy concerns less problematic, marketers should address the value of notifications they send making their push notification mobile strategy more user friendly. Ask your users what updates they are interested in to send them only relevant information and ensure their compelling experience.
Some marketers decide to send a request later. For example, if you have a messaging application, ask your users whether they want to receive notifications when their friends respond.
2. Clear Marketing Strategy
A marketing effort without a clear strategy is going around in circles. Mobile is the most performance-based platform, so you don’t have to speculate, but everything starts with creating a good plan. Mobile app marketers know that, but more often they fail to create a thoughtful push notification strategy for your app and, therefore, miss an opportunity to boost retention.
How it works:
think about various push triggers
user-behavior types you are looking for
the goal you aim to achieve with push notification marketing and more
The smarter triggers you create, the more chances you get to receive user’s responsibility.
For example, if your app helps users register for contests and events, make a notification that reminds a user when the registration period is nearly over to let him/her have a chance to be on time.
3. Types of Push Notifications
Text notifications are things of the past because you can get to a brand new level today. Modern technology allows you to use more eye-catching messages including images to view in one single tap. It is a great possibility to turn a call-to-action into an action using interactive notifications that attract attention to what are willing to say, and the retention level will grow. Isn’t it great to create interactive and funny apps to ensure entertainment for users?
How it works: you can produce a stronger social aspect and increase user engagement by informing users that their friends use the application. A push notification that informs users of their friends’ moves and offers a further action such as “like” or “share.” It gives your push notification more value and creates a better engagement.
4. Timing
Time is everything. The right timing of your push ensures your app to have delighted users and less annoyed ones. Choose the most comfortable time for your notifications. That is, you have to avoid sending notifications at times when your users are probably busy or asleep.
Avoid disturbing your users, but also chooses the best time to connect them. To do that, you have to know who your audience is and what you are going to send them.
How it works: some experts say that the best time to send notifications is the afternoon. Thus, as has been mentioned above, the effectiveness of your push timing depends on your goal, the industry you are in, and your target audience.
5. A/B Testing
In the mobile app world, you have to test out and develop some options to every parameter described in this article. Obviously, to learn which method is the most effective, you should experiment and measure results. It is a never-ending process to become a regular part of your notification strategy.
How it works: it is crucial to test different approaches to push notifications and try different content, tones, and timing to understand what interests your audience the most. Realizing what makes your users respond to your offers may help you to develop the most effective communication strategy.
6. Content. How to write best push notifications texts
A simple fact is that the content of your notification should be engaging and very specific.
Follow this advice:
Make sure to keep your text short and informative
Include a clear call to action in your push messages
Try to spark the interest of your users with a catchy joke or phrase.
Use an element of entertainment, it holds the attention and remains in the memory.
In addition, one of the most important things to include in the message is personalization. Send personal messages that catch attention.
How it works: take a personal approach by using names and including details about the last activity user performed in the application. If you sell merchandise, and your audience is interested in specific items, note when they are going on sale.
For instance, the text of your notification can say the following: “Hi, Susan! The bag you have added to your wish list is on sale! Buy it now at a discount!” It is important to be soft. Be personal, but avoid treating them with scant courtesy.
7. Push Notification Segmentation
If you are going to provide personalized communication to your users, this is where you should start. Dividing your audience into groups, focus on certain characteristics and types of people you are appealing to groups can be focused on gender, age, interests, location, and any other personal data.
If you are going to take it to a higher level, you should address user behavior. Specific push notifications are used to learn the way users react, interact, and respond to them to find out how frequently and actively they use your application.
How it works: inert and engaged users should receive different messages. If you want to draw the attention of the inert users to your app again, you should send them notifications that include special deals to evoke their interest.
8. Frequency
Some marketers find push notifications very effective and, therefore, become too enthusiastic. Sometimes, it leads to sending an oversize amount of notifications in a short span of time. Unfortunately, this may irritate users and bring negative results.
A good strategy helps you to discover a perfect balance that will allow you to connect users without becoming an “overly attached girlfriend.”
How it works: you have to divide push notifications into 2 groups. The first group should contain messages that inform users about the action of other users (“Your friend Judy liked your photo”).
The second group should contain messages that information directly about the deals within the app (“Check out the new special offer!”). Users like to receive the messages of the first type, so you should be careful about how often you send the messages of the second type.
9. Prioritizing
If you have too many similar push notifications you want to send to the same user in a short period of time, and you try to avoid over-spamming your user, make sure to prioritize them and choose the most important ones. When creating a push strategy, a segmentation process could help you in this process and detect the issue in advance.
How it works: begin with separating specific notifications from the general ones and choose those messages that adhere to the users’ needs to the maximum extent. In case if you cannot decide which of them are of higher priority, try creating several seasonal versions of the general strategy.
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Obviously, the main aim of sending notifications is to get maximum users’ attention and engagement. For that reason, it makes sense to take your time and produce some creative and entertaining content. Come up with something unique and you will be more likely to amaze your audience. Don’t make your message very long, but try to make it memorable.
How it works: the ideas are endless. Make your content funny or rhyme to generate retention and communication.
This list is a checklist for beginners in the world of push notifications. To make sure that you are on the right way, we recommend you review this article from time to time. Keep on adjusting, testing, and measuring your results!
In conclusion
Push notification marketing is still growing and can bring significant benefits to your business. Try our best practices to gain the desired results!
The United States is known worldwide for being a country that spends huge amounts of money on healthcare. This is not just a stereotype of the country but something that is based in fact with the highest GDP on healthcare in the world.
With so much more being spent, surely there would be better outcomes for patients? Sadly this is not exactly the case. The reason for the high costs and seemingly normal outcomes as related to the rest of the medical world are the direct results of high insurance costs, high staff salaries, poor access to all of the right procedures and supplies as well as poor lifestyle choices. Though these are not the only factors, but ones that play a major role.
How Do We Remedy This Problem?
Hospitals and healthcare centers are independently trying to improve their care and keep their own costs down, hoping to pass the savings onto their patients. Some facilities have been quite successful while others have remained the same or have even failed.
These varied results have made it difficult to know what aspects of each facility were helping keep costs down until modern technology was introduced. Using technology, patients and healthcare professionals are able to interact in a more effective way that benefits everyone involved.
The Benefits Of Modern Devices In Hospitals
Devices like the iPhone and iPad, in particular, have had a huge impact on how doctors and patients interact, how information is stored, how forms are filled out, how labs are accessed and so much more.
These devices hold all of the information that it would have previously taken hours to write and then sort through later. This has increased productivity all around, from the medical professionals to the administrators.
Size
Not only are these mobile devices able to hold all of the information needed, but they are also easy to slip into a pocket or lab coat. Rather than having hundreds of bulky folders, the provider will have just one device to worry about.
Access
The electronic information held within the device on a medical server can more easily be accessed and compared against normal ranges of health. This helps to eliminate human error and will also help health professionals to assess patients quickly.
When the provider has access to the information immediately, it means that in case of emergency they are able to quickly review medical history and treat the patient accordingly. This is a great example of technology changing healthcare in a totally beneficial way.
Wait Time
The lab results that would have taken hours to receive are now sent directly to the device of the provider in the patient’s file and can be immediately analyzed. Patients and providers getting results quicker is always a good thing.
Data Entry
These devices not only hold the information, but they are also extremely effective when it comes to information input. Rather than complicated forms, these devices have forms that will auto-fill pre-known information and provide drop-down menus. The information is then immediately stored for the provider to access. This electronic data storage also means that no files will be lost in the daily activity of a hospital.
Time-Saving
The main thing that mobile technology in healthcare has helped to cut down on is the time wasted by patients, administration employees, and providers. There is no time wasted filling out forms, waiting for results or reviewing a patient’s file. In cutting down on the time wasted in these aspects, providers are better able to focus on their patients, dedicating more time to each. This also cuts down on the need for such extensive administration staff, therefore cutting costs there.
Mobile Healthcare Apps For Doctors
Healthcare providers are using applications to access patient information. This makes doing routine checks, such as rounds, much faster. Apps like Epocrates and UpToDate keep the information well within reach of the health professionals on their mobile devices. EMR systems like Epic also make having patient information easy with a mobile application.
Doctors are not only able to access the patient’s current information and history more easily, but they are able to have access to entire medical journals and resources that will assist them in making a diagnosis. This combination has led and will lead in the future to there being fewer mistakes in terms of care.
Using mobile devices can also give doctors access to one another to share information, ask questions, and workshop particularly difficult cases. This also allows them to request patient information as well as scheduled appointments.
The Changes And What Is To Come
That’s basically how technology has changed healthcare so far and this is only the beginning. While the market for creating healthcare applications and programs has been lacking due to unclear regulations for information sharing through applications, more developers are discovering what medical professionals need to make their services more effective and how to work with the privacy laws and regulations to make that happen.
These apps can help with anything from information storage to diagnosis assistance. Mobile application development cost is nothing compared to benefits. Using these apps to gather information and teach doctors more about the patients will only result in better care, less time wasted, and less money spent.
Customers always wonder how much does it cost to create an app. Some vendors say $50 000. The others say $500 000.
Indeed, many companies claim: “We are the best application developers. Work with us.” That’s why choosing an outsourcing app development company may be challenging for you.
In fact, an expensive service is not a guarantee that your app will be great. High prices do not always mean good quality. At the same time, lower costs don’t always mean poor results.
Let’s discuss the key factors that determine the cost of mobile application development.
Design approach
There are companies that suggest a mobile application project requires months of research, including research trends in application development, journey creation, concept testing, visual design including interactions design and mock-ups, UX design, and mobile app prototypingcreation to test the mobile UX with real users.
Others work on assumption that the instructions received from a customer are enough, that the details could be clarified as they go along, and apply minimum effort in creating the designs. The cost can vary from low to high depending on the approach developers take.
Effort and time
Effort and the amount of days it will take to create a solution is one of the biggest reasons that determine the price. As a rule, more experienced teams go into details and make an exact estimation for every case.
They have vast experience in developing the same solutions or apps and can provide an accurate estimate including potential risks and errors. The effort can vary from one company to another based on the method used to evaluate the effort and time.
The type of application
It is true that the price can vary accordingly to the type of app you need. A standard application with basic functions will cost you less than a custom developed solution with difficult processes and advanced tools. We have already discussed the number of hours needed for the implementation.
It is obvious that custom solutions need to be scrutinized, and the developer will spend more time working on them. Just like any other product or service. One needs time to make research unless he is a real expert.
Location
It is obvious that an agency from New York, London or San Francisco will be a great choice. On the contrary, a team based in China, India, or Mexico, therefore, will perform your task for a lower charge. The prices can vary from $200 per hour to $15 per hour.
The location issue is also connected with choosing between local companies and outsourcing. Of course, it makes sense to find local app developers. At least, this is how you can avoid communication problems because face-to-face communication is a chance to understand what you are going to pay for.
On the other hand, you can always find application development outsourcing. As it was mentioned, the communication with the foreign team may be more challenging. There are experienced teams and proficient developers across the ocean costing less and able to perform even better than a local agency. All you have to do is to find outsourcing that you can trust.
Change management
Once the company overcomes the first challenge of landing customers, it faces the other challenge of making a profit on them. The most common method of agencies is to do everything to underprice the project and minimize the scope. Later they will offer a change request to make a customer pay more for the extra functions they originally suggested were included.
The other way is to base the estimate on the suggestion that there will be a necessity to change something (redesign functionality, add something, etc.) based on the final user feedback. Sometimes change requests can double a price.
Be attentive if you might need to include some changes as the creation of an app goes. Make sure that a planned budget you have includes extra expenses coverage. In some cases, the initial rates can grow higher than you expected but if the agency is reliable it will prove its value.
Size of the company
This is not a key aspect. However, as a rule, bigger companies with 200+ of team members have higher rates while small ones with 10-20 people set lower prices. However, agencies of a certain size sometimes have some scale advantages that give them a lower quote.
The code quality and the ability to hand it over
Over the past years, we have reviewed the code quality for more than 100 developers. Some of them are really good, but most are poorly structured and developed. Sometimes it is about the quality of the developers, but this could happen simply because of stress or other factors that don’t depend on them.
Sometimes the reason is that there is no proficient technical lead of the development process or because they are trying to make it more difficult to take a hand over the code. Other companies solve this problem with the help of internal developers who review the code or even performing an outsource code review to avoid any issues connected with the code quality and make sure that it is well-structured.
Proficiency of the developers
It is quite obvious that the difference in the effectiveness and productivity between a professional and a poor developer is significant. A professional developer can simply cope with a task in a couple of days while a poor one needs weeks to resolve everything. For that reason, the number of people you get for your budget is not a guarantee. A small team of 5 people can produce much more than a large team of 20 people in the same amount of time.
So, which agency you should choose as your application developer? Focus on the one that fits your needs in all terms including quality, prices, location, timelines, guidance, and experience.
Do you have some troubles with sales in the iOS and Android App stores? Other sellers just get their success right away from the very start, but you still sold a minimum after a year of business? Well, you came to the right place to solve the problem. We have some interesting and helpful tips for you to help. These are the 5 main reasons why you have poor app sales.
1. No app marketing
The common and very often mistaken for fresh app producers is the conviction that their app is fantastic, and people will find it immediately after sharing it online. However, in a real-life everything is much more complicated. You should realize that there are billions of new apps and other stuff rolling in every new day.
Thus, the customer will never find, like, and pick up your app among thousands of others. Without a marketing strategy, you are just a drop in the ocean. So, you should find some effective way to present your product to the world and get the needed attention. For example, you can cooperate with other companies to start promoting your product and let people know and talk about it. Then, you can start a big sale to bring heat to the sales.
Not using proper mobile analytics tools is also a big mistake.
2. Not enough social media promotion for your app
Nowadays social media is a huge part of our everyday life. Everyone knows that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and dozens of other social networks can hit big when it comes to your business promotion. They can be also a perfect way to build your communion with customers all over the world. You can find here some new clients, devoted fans, and regular clients too.
So, try to build some serious community with your social network page to turn these people into your regular customers and fans. Do not forget that these guys will bring their friends to your app shop too. Using Twitter, for example, you will learn how to communicate with modern customers and make your business grow like mushrooms after the rain.
So, if you know something about the world of the app business, you as an IOS developer, probably, dream about featuring your app by Apple. While you are looking for some special magic formula to make it happen, we should tell you that there is no formula. You should realize that Apple will get interested in your product only if there are a lot of positive reviews and feedback on your app.
No magic, business only. You can find a lot of various websites that can write great reviews on your product. Even if their review is not very positive, you will get the attention you desire and it is the most important thing.
4. No design attention
You might invent a really great and useful app that can be very popular around the world. However, what’s about its design and usability? If your app is difficult to navigate with the pale interface, it is likely to be a flop. People don’t want to use programs that are not clear and simple enough. Everything should be done fast and easily.
Moreover, the look of the app should be really beautiful, stylish, and useful. If your design skills are too poor to make your app perfect, you should hire an expert. A professional designer or even a team of designers is the solution to your problem. Do not try to save your money with that, just make everything possible for your app to start selling as quickly as it is possible.
5. Your app is simply a bad app
There is no guarantee that your app is perfect and useful. You could spend weeks or months to develop it. However, it can turn out to be a failure. Yes, there are thousands of apps released every day. Most of them are just nothing special. And a typical customer will always see that something is wrong.
So, to avoid such situations, you should ask yourself a few important questions. Ask yourself about the problem your app is designed to solve. Are there any other apps that can do the same job? Is your app better than others? For example, you can invent a cool calculator. It is great. However, there are thousands of such apps on the market. Thus, your app needs to be unique to be a success. You should make something really revolutionary new in this field to get the deal.
If, in your opinion, mobile applications are exclusively for worldwide corporations and big-name brands such as Bank of America or Walmart, you’re totally mistaken. Nowadays, more and more midsize, and even small, companies are following mobile application development trends. Market conditions make the businesses think that an efficient mobile strategy requires more than just a user-friendly website.
Today you can mark that the biggest part of small companies you cooperate with in your day-to-day routine and have their personal mobile application. Be it a beauty salon downtown or a cozy corner coffee shop. These businesses hold leading positions in a particular field when it comes to getting their marketing strategy to the next level.
If you’re still confused about why building your own mobile platforms for business became so popular, here’re TOP 9 benefits of joining this club sooner rather than later.
1. Be visible to the clients constantly
Recent statistics say that the average American spends more than 2 hours using his/ her mobile device every day. In fact, only a handful of all mobile apps constitutes the main part of total usage. On the other hand, to find the application the user is looking for, he/she still needs to unlock, scroll, and glance over the device.
As humans mind record unconsciously every text, image, or catchy app icon, such simple scrolling down and up can be an advantage for your business. It works – even if this process happens unnoticed.
2. It provides you with a more direct connection
It’s simple. The application always displays on the device desktop. Moreover, in contrast with the website, the app can be opened with one easy tap. To find your page in the net, the user needs to open the browser and find the appropriate URL to bookmark it.
The app makes it much easier for clients to leave feedback or call you. Furthermore, all negative comments left on the site are visible to everyone. What about negative feedbacks submitted with the help of an app, they give you a chance to deal with client dissatisfaction before his/her opinion goes public.
3. Connect with on-the-go clients
The smartphone is one of the most personal technology tools we can have. Sometimes we keep it close to ourselves twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Statistics show that approximately 80% of the time spent on the phone is spent using applications.
4. Create a useful marketing channel
An application wears many hats: it can give general information about your company, show prices, provide users with booking forms, personal accounts, search features, news feeds, messengers, etc. And, what is the biggest benefit of creating an app, all this info is right at clients’ fingertips. With the help of push notifications, you have an opportunity to advance even closer to direct cooperation by reminding customers about your special sales, new products, and services.
5. Show customers that you appreciate them
When it comes to on-hand data and digitalization, in place of old-fashioned point-collection cards, provide your clients with the possibility to collect loyalty program bonuses via the mobile app. The result won’t take long, and you’ll get more downloads and more regular clients.
6. Increase your brand recognition
A device application for your company can contribute to your brand recognition. A created app is like a billboard sign: you can do with it everything that you want. You have all the needed tools to make it functional, user-friendly, stylish, and informative. But what your primary goal should be is to build an application that has all the necessary features your client will love. At the same time, it has to be well-designed and branded.
The more often users get involved with your application, the sooner they will decide to order your service. It’s called “effective frequency” in the advertising field: hearing and seeing your business brand about 20 times is what will get you really notable.
7. Improve your connection with clients
All the same, whether you’re selling a spa service or flowers, your customers need a resource to reach you without effort. Having a help desk or messenger in the application can change the way you communicate with the clients. For example, if you create a mobile app for your restaurant, the users have a chance to book the table with 5 clicks on your platform. No doubt, instead of phone connection the majority will choose communication via text. Building your business model around this principle – your key to success.
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It’s hard to believe, but today device applications at the small business level are still infrequent. Because of this, you can stay one jump ahead of your competitors. Be one of the first in your area to offer an application to your clients. Be sure, they’ll be amazed by your wise and farsighted approach.
9. Cultivate loyalty of customers
One more significant reason to create your own mobile application is customer loyalty. With all this information noise around like billboards, roadside banners, magazines ads, flashing signs, coupons, flyers, website banners, email marketing, and Facebook advertising we, as businessmen, slowly lose our influence on clients because there is a huge amount of commercial on every corner. On the other hand, it’s an auspicious time to make a true connection with customers. It leads them to become loyal users of your service.
And last, but not least, I don’t mean that a device application will save your company. However, it can be an excellent tool that helps you stay close to the users and be a “fingertip” away all along. I hope, with all these weighty reasons, you’ll look at your phone as a perspective for successful business management and effective client experience.
It usually requires a lot of hard work to create an app, but nobody can say if it will be successful or not. Even with ample money and time invested, app developers cannot guarantee a successful mobile app. The reason is that app developers just can’t know exactly what their potential clients want to have in their mobile app.
Don’t try to create something you think people will like to use, you need to create an app you know people will like and use for sure. Actually, your idea doesn’t have to be perfect from the very beginning, but you have to be open to any further improvements and fixes in your app, if necessary.
But how to know what to improve and what has to be fixed or what do your customers want now? The only answer here is getting feedback.
Feedback is crucial. It will help you build an outstanding mobile app.
Why Feedback is Important?
It might be challenging to know what your customers will need from a mobile app. But no matter what your customers need now, the only way to know it for sure is to listen to their personal opinion.
And that’s true: only an active user can tell you what doesn’t work and what could be better in the app. Companies that ignore their customers’ feedbacks usually lose. Feedbacks left by your customers help drive your product roadmap to apply changes that are the most important for your customers. Everything related to mobile moves fasts and limiting the number of guesses you benefit from into a better product’s development.
Asking and replying to feedback is another great way to build a strong relationship between you and your app’s users and develop a community. When users see that their feedback is taken seriously, they are more interested in providing it and feeling more connected to your app.
Finally, always try to provide value. Show your customers that you’re listening to them. They should realize that you are attuned to their requirements and needs and will do your best for them.
How to Get Feedback for your Mobile App
There are various tools and ways you can use them for feedback inside your app. The first one is to include an easily accessible function inside the app that users can find and use anytime.
Another awesome way to ask your customers to leave feedback for you is to let them know that you want to hear it. Those guys who are really interested in your app will definitely read the release notes of each version. Include a message in your release notes that encourages the users to reach out and talk to you.
Your customers should know where they can leave feedback for you. You may consider the pointing method inside your app if you have it available. If not, point them to all the places where you are ready and listen.
Both of the above tips are great but they are more likely to work for a small group of your customer base, which is actively searching for release notes or just like to get in touch. Whether your option is to reach a bigger part of your users’ base, you should become really proactive and encourage your clients for leaving feedback.
But before discussing the best tools for reaching out to your clients, you should remember that there are places and times that are always better than others when it comes to asking for feedback for your application. Understanding the right time and place for promotion will help you to avoid the bad experience of using the app for any niche (community app, for instance).
You should realize that it’s not a good idea to prompt a new user to leave feedback after he’s just launched the app or he is in the middle of using it (i.e. checking out, playing level, writing a message). Otherwise, finding moments of possible confusion or moments of success can be the best times to encourage your customers to share their thoughts with you.
Once you’ve found the confusing moments, you can promptly fix them and if your customers are already happy with the product, you can enjoy more positive reviews in the app store as well. A win-win situation, isn’t it? Asking general feedback is good, but sometimes you might need your clients to answer specific questions, which can build more structured feedback for you. Explore surveys, as this is the best tool for getting structured feedback.
Surveys are very popular because they help you to analyze the market as well as drive customers’ insight. Have ever noticed that many auto shops and restaurants have such surveys as “Did you find everything you were looking for?” or “How did we do today?”
These questions may seem very simple for a consumer, but for businesses, they are extremely important for understanding what to do to improve.
Speaking about mobile apps, the possible questions are:
What’s your opinion about the new feature we’ve just released? (include a few possible answers).
What new feature would you like us to include in the next update? (include a few possible answers).
How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend? (include a few possible answers).
The above suggestions can become a super way to receive reviews for your app, but that’s just the beginning. Think about going further by replying to the feedback and adding it to your product roadmap.
Responding to Feedback
Remember that all customers who leave a review drive your business forward and you should value any feedback, even if it’s full of criticism. It’s crucial to let your users know that they’ve been heard and their time and suggestion have been appreciated. Aim for turning your customers into loving fans.
When there are any changes or updates made in your app, give a credit. A credit may be thanking your clients in the update notes. You can even go further by reaching out to those who shared their opinion and thank them privately. Always leave your conversation open and encourage your users to share feedback at any time.
Improving your app regularly increases the number of downloads. And otherwise, if your enthusiastic users become unhappy one day, downloads and ratings can go down.
If you’ve ever released an app before, you should know that the task is not finished once it’s published on the store. You have to constantly keep your users engaged and your app always improved by updates. Once you put hard work into these, you’ll as well get the word out.
Keep Your Users Engaged and Happy
You need to regularly update your app in order to keep your customers always happy and engaged. And even if you think that you’ve put all your care into developing the first version of the application, there are still chances that you didn’t make everything right.
Of course, the first thing you should pay attention to is fixing the bugs. You might also want to add or improve some features users and bloggers complain about when leaving their reviews. But don’t go crazy with updates, releasing a new one every 2 or 3 weeks. Steer a middle course: don’t let your current users get bored and don’t make your potential users think that your app is dead.
Updates Play a Bigger Role than App Store Optimization
Did you know that release of iOS6 had big impact on App Store Optimization? Among the biggest benefits is the new feature on the details page named “What’s new?” The new section becomes equally important as the general app description does.
The metadata for every update appears directly on the user’s iPad. That means you’ll have to use the first couple of your app description to describe your product and then use the first few lines of the “What’s new” tab for promotion and showing that your app has been recently improved.
Why not to use that additional space, where you can encourage users to download the app? Don’t limit yourself just to “new features, bugs’ fixes” when writing the metadata for your application’s update. Straight after the first lines you may embed the list of new features. You can also use special symbols or characters in order to make these more visible.
These can be asterisks or anything else you prefer. Try not to be too techy when talking about the bugs or features: most users will not understand that entire technical staff, so keep it simple. In the end do the same thing you do in your description, inserting call-to-action offering users to download the updated version of your app now.
You may think that some of these are just small details but it won’t take lots of your time to get this part right. In case you’re doing an update just to fix some bugs, you can also include info on what’s new is there in this version.
How and Where to Promote Your Updates
When releasing little bug-fixing updates, you may do it quietly. But when it comes to completely new outstanding features of your app, you have a great opportunity to talk with your favorite users as well as reach out to new customers. Here are some things you can do right now to start promoting your app’s updates.
Promo Codes Giveaway before Your App Update
In case your app in not brand new, you are not likely to use all those promo codes each time. But try to apply some of those promo codes before submitting your app’s updates to Apple Store. When announce about an update coming, give a link on Twitter/Facebook, where anybody interested can use the app promo codes. In case you have more than 1 app you can also consider a cross-promotion.
Control the Release Date
As well as for an app launch, if you want to communicate with your audience about an event, it’s better to set a time for that. Make things easier both for you and your customers. We recommend you to plan to do your submission 3-4 weeks before the moment you’d like to officially release your update.
Promote Your Update
If you have a blog, write a small post about the update.
It shouldn’t be difficult as it has to be a detailed version of what you submitted in the “What’s New” section of the App Store. Try to describe each feature you added and explain why. It will be also nice to insert a couple of screenshots, provide the link to the App Store, and motivate users to get the update.
Use Facebook/Twitter to tell about the app update
You can start talking about the update even before you start working on it. Just let people know when you’re going to prepare the new release (check promo codes info above). After you’ve released the update you can once again tell about it in the “What’s new” section, giving a link to the app’s page or your blog post.
Having a push notification system you can alert your users as well. But make sure to use it only for big updates that really improve your application and/or fix any major issues. People shouldn’t feel spammed. Trying to be less intrusive you may consider the small popup that appears at first opening following the updates with friendly explications of what’s new there is for users who automatically download the updates.
One more thing you can consider for major updates is contact journalists and bloggers who can be interested in them. But make sure to do this only if your update is newsworthy, as otherwise, you’ll just spoil your relationship with your contacts.
If some bloggers reviewed an earlier version of your app and talked about something he didn’t like, make sure to let him know about the improvements you made to correct some features and you’d like these people to try and review the new version of your app once again.
Remember, updates are crucial for keeping your app alive on the market and are a perfect way to show your users that their opinion is important for you and you do your best to improve the app. Use this amazing opportunity to talk about your work and discuss what benefits your users can have by using it.
Let me just outline, that currently there are over 2 million apps in Google Play Store. That is quite a good deal of applications, isn’t it?
Sounds like a piece of great news for all smart gadget users out there, but not as good for app developers.
Getting to ASO itself, which is basically app optimization for improving its’ ranking in App Store search results, the surprising thing is going on. A large amount of publishers still doesn’t invest in app store optimization.
But here is one thing – before people use apps for diverse purposes, they tend to search for these. Consequently, everybody wants the highest rankings in Android App Store, because you get more app downloads. It can sound simple in theory, but in fact, takes a while trialing and fixing mistakes.
While nobody really knows the exact algorithm of Google ranking, there are a few well-tried tricks that work to lift your app up in Play Store. Google Play Store algorithm seems to be more complicated when comparing to Apple App Store.
Here is a list of primary Google play store app ranking factors:
Number of ratings
Number of installs and uninstalls
App involvement (frequency of use)
Growth of downloads in the nearest 30 days
Backlinks to your app
In fact, there are a lot of common things in app optimization for Android and iOS. But let’s dive more into specific features of ASO Google Play Store, shell we?
7 game-changing tricks for Android app optimization
1. Find and track the keywords
This basic, yet deciding, step means EVERYTHING on your way to Google app store search optimization. Without this information, you won’t even find out whether your google play search optimization is working or not.
Apparently, it’s important to choose the words according to your target audience.
The keywords in Google Play Store you select should properly describe your app, so people are encouraged to download it once they find the app in the search. Besides, you want keywords to be as relevant to your application core as possible.
And to hit a maximum of your target audience, these words better be the most requested, at the same time overlapping competition as little as possible.
There are cases in-app publishing when particular apps gained about 300% downloads raise only from keywords optimization.
Remember not to overplay with this part to really improve Google Play ranking.
Tools for keywords research:
Google Keyword Planner
Wordstream
Sensor Tower
Wordpot
AppCodes
Ninja Search Combination Tool
You can also dig for more keywords either in users’ reviews (check Review Mining), or survey your target audience on Social Media, through e-mail newsletters, etc.
First and foremost – keywords placed in the title of your application should be with the most massive search traffic. Take time to search for this essential, because once you decided on the title, it becomes a staple. And you really want the head of the app to be descriptive, unique, sharp, and appealing.
This way you create the most comfortable and “easy to figure out” experience for the searchers.
Once your app is published, starts getting downloads and reviews, it will be also spread by word of mouth. So it’s not the best idea of switching and trying different names at that stage.
Mind! Your title should not exceed 25-30 characters. Otherwise, you risk losing users distracted by not seeing a complete name in a search list and shifting to a bunch of other apps out there.
3. Description really matters…for Google
Here goes a major difference between Google Play Store and Apple App Store search optimization principles.
Google picks up the keywords from a description of your application. Obviously, we need to get the most out of it.
Experience shows that using keywords 4 to 5 times throughout the app’s definition will improve your rankings up to 20 spots. But again, do not stuff your description with the whole range of keywords straight – that’s a way to turning it into spam.
4. Now visuals – App’s Icon, Screenshots, Promo Video
Looking for an appropriate application, a lot of searchers will “window shop”. And the app’s icon is the first thing to pay attention to. It should be of high quality, utterly informative, and attractive design. There are also clear specifications Google expects your icon to include, so you can, obviously, Google it 🙂
Killer name and icon might be not enough for catching your prospect’s full attention. So make sure to use all 8 available screenshots for different types of devices – phones, tablets, TVs. You need a set of high-resolution screenshots with the descriptions on them to show the most goodies of your app.
To make these pics even edgier, use various dynamic tools (Promotee, Adobe Photoshop, PlaceIt, Screenshot Maker Pro) to simulate running the app on the device.
A stunning Promo Video is a cherry on the top of your cake. That is why Google Play is so awesome. You simply upload it to YouTube in a matter of minutes.
Make your video short and on point to respect your people’s time, they will appreciate that a lot! You wanna highlight only major features and advantages within your app.
5. Work those reviews and ratings up
The truth is it takes a number of downloads to get displayed. So asking for reviews and improving ratings of the app is a significant scope when doing a qualified ASO.
Zendesk claims in its’ recent survey that around 88% of consumers are mostly influenced by online product reviews before they make a decision to buy an app.
So again, head to your customers and ask to leave favorable reviews. As far as your app is satisfying and involving, it won’t be a problem for them.
For Google Play Store there is also a great chance to avoid negative reviews from users.
You can simply provide them with a clear direct channel for giving feedback to developers within the app. This way you can ask users for reviews (Important! Only when they are the most engaged, not really when they are busy performing tasks on the app, ok?). Just preface by asking a simple question – are you enjoying the app?
6. Localize your app
You always want to translate the application to the languages of your target regions. It’s a true must to offer a localized version of your product, except a common international option.
7. Backlinks are going to make wonders for your app
It’s the same as with a normal web search when links from reputable A list resources increase spreading the application over the net. You don’t wanna deal with low-quality Z list link farms for getting optimal results.
Therefore, it will be great to promote your app on some popular websites, asking them to write about your application and providing a link to your app page. You may also consider starting your own blog and contact press for people to get more opportunities for exploring your app.
Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches In Project Development?
A global trend is all about the growing price of each app installation and the same rising number of downloads required to appear in the featured ratings of Google Play Store. So promoting the app can become a truly challenging activity for the narrowed budget companies.
At the same time, Google Play Store optimization can complete your whole marketing strategy at a lower cost and give tangible results already in the short-run. Don’t waste that chance and absolutely try it.
There are tons of money to be made from app development. This ranges from the paid apps’ initial sale to in-app purchases. Several companies find it suitable to utilize a mobile advertising platform to monetize their apps in order to multiply their investment. You probably have several advertising platforms for your app to select from; however, the challenge to this is that you have no idea where to begin.
This happens often to most app developers and budding entrepreneurs, which is why some professionals shortlisted top-notch information to offer those who are facing trouble choosing, to make a decision. Here is a list of the top 9 best app advertising platforms guaranteed to bring you optimum revenue.
1. Tapjoy
All top mobile game developers might want to consider Tapjoy. This is because it has experience with in-app purchases, which is among the most utilized way of achieving optimum app monetization. Undoubtedly, Tapjoy takes the lead in the gaming domain. What do mobile gamers do when they are asked to pay just to finish a game? Some pay up, most gamers quit. In order to avoid this, Tapjoy has introduced incentivized downloading by providing gamers the prospect of earning virtual currency by partaking in real-world actions.
This in turn enables them to get awarded in the virtual world through access to premium content in over 20,000 games to the present day in the Tapjoy network on more than a billion devices.
2. AdMob
AdMob is among the most commendable advertising platforms presently available. It is sometimes referred to as ‘the child of a search engine giant, Google’. It has gained its reputation from its enormous advertisers’ network. Also, the fact that it is owned by Google, which is also reputable and renowned, is a major plus for this platform.
With the vital part to Google’s success being coding, AdMob SDK offers coherent software development tools for app developers to link popular mobile programs such as Windows Phone, iOS and Android. To top it up, AdMob has an elevated CPC to aid users get the leading ROI.
3. Aditic
Aditic is a prime mobile advertising network that was established and is owned by a mobile marketing company called Sofialys. Aditic offers support in various platforms including Blackberry, Android, Java, iOS, and Samsung Bada.
Millennial Media is renowned for being the chief mobile advertising network, which climbed its way to the next level via the first public offering. Millennial Media acts as both a campaign platform and marketplace. For someone looking to quickly and easily structure a campaign for advertisers to rival for their business, the Millennial Media Platform offers affluence of intelligence and research for that particular use. In addition, it also provides users with a systematic dashboard from which they can obtain reports of all transactions such as date ranges, pacing, targeting, and pricing.
Millennial Media offers enormous deals to mobile developers, individual development teams, and game publishers. It allows advertisers to display ads from other networks via their Ad Network Mediation support system.
One can assign traffic across networks based on CPM. This is doable by utilizing location, revenue, and percentage. Through this platform, one has the ability to cross-promote their apps within its own application. Millennial Media is by far the best combination of advertising and monetization for your app according to experts. This is due to its flexibility.
It was initially known as Adfonic but was recently re-branded to Byyd. Byyd provides approximately 95% fill rate for iOS and Android platforms. With their main focus on rich media ads, Byyd provides advertising platforms for big brands and corporations such as ESPN, Samsung, and Amazon. One great major advantage to Byyd is that one has the means to structure and manage several accounts.
6. Chartboost
Most gaming app developers opt for the Chartboost ad platform because of its commitment to serve gaming ads with integrated serves and built-in analytics ads, basically to accomplish your cross-promotional marketing campaign needs. This means that you can obtain more particulars on what a user is doing with your game.
Chartboost platform has several creative solutions that are intended for the heavy utilization of app marketing in a professional manner. Since the targeted audiences are already present and playing the game, and are always looking for the next fun gaming app, the ads displayed are basically about the downloading of new gaming apps and cross-promotion. The best thing about Chartboost is that it only takes 5 coded lines to begin.
Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches In Project Development?
AppLovin serves requests for over 7 billion ads every single day together with 10 terabytes of user data. It allows you to provide your users with personalized recommendations as well as selected promotions and other benefactions.
The main vision of Flurry is to make your app flourish in these new economic times. Their main goal is to generate as much revenue as possible for your app based on app monetization. Its crew Flurry has assembled a magnitude of user data set in relation to global consumer usage, from over 700 million smartphones and other mobile devices as well.
Furthermore, it utilizes cutting edge analytics to elevate your ad to the right position and at the right time. Flurry is used for takeover, video ads, and interstitial on Android and iOS. However, do you know what is Android Boilerpale?
9. Vungle
Contrary to what the majority of people believe, users don’t find all ads are boring. For instance, think about all the people who are attentive to the astonishing ads that air during events such as the Super Bowl. Vungle is committed to aiding you to convert your app into engaging and captivating video ads, which will keep your end-users fixated on it.
With so many app monetizations and app advertising platforms out there, mobile advertising can sometimes become daunting. However, the above-compiled list of the top 9 app advertising platforms should make the selection process easier. Each of them offers a unique take on app monetization to increase revenue for developers.
