How to make your app go viral

Reaching out to as many people as you can is the main goal of any development. If you design an app, it is very important to reach out to the users in a huge number so that you can have an audience. It is one of the prime motto of the app developer to have monetary gains along with the performance of the app.

Thinking and expecting millions of downloads is what every developer thinks of, but not every app achieves it. If you wish to attain a viral app, you need to quit using traditional methods and switch to some out-of-the-box thinking to make the app go viral. There are numerous marketing strategies in the current market, but you need to use the best ones. Here we are giving you a list of the best methods to get your app recognition amongst the millions of apps available on the stores.

Social media buzz

One of the most capable ways to get your app an audience is through social media. People these days check onto their social media accounts a lot and thus we can involve social media sharing in our app’s functionality. We need to make our app capable of sharing links to various social accounts without going through the category it falls under. This is very much possible by developing a sharing option or button in your app.

For example, when we play a game, after the completion of a stage there comes an option of playing further or quitting the stage. On this screen you will often find an option that asks you to share the game with your friends on various social media platforms. They also offer options such as giving an extra life for sharing them among friends, which makes it more reasonable for a person to further share it. This kind of marketing strategy gives app and organic exposure.

Linking to contextual matter

This is a concept where the link that you click on enforces the person to download the app by constantly showing the notification. Once the app is installed the app can collect information such as user data involving personal information such as the browsing pattern. This data is passed onto the mobile app and to the company that further uses it.

It stores the data regarding the person such as where the person wants to go in-app, what they want to search, who shared the linked and other data. The app develops powerful features with the help of this collected data by analyzing it to a further level. It also enables the app to provide a better experience to the user.

User reviews

Asking for a reason gives a reason for the audience to appreciate the app. When you ask for reviews increase your knowledge about the customer’s expectation and bugs that they feel are present in the app. Positive reviews will push the ranking of the app on the store to a better level whereas the negative reviews collected will give you feedback that will help you to fix a bug.

Some practices to keep in mind while asking for a review

• Ask for reviews in limited value. Ask audience about a way to create impact and not ruin it. Don’t overwhelm the users by asking too much for their experience.
• Try to ask for reviews and not greed for 5-star readings.
• Ask for reviews only for the part of the app where you assume to get positive reviews.

Increase user curiosity

People are always curious about the ongoing in any field. We are always trying to find out what is going around in our neighborhood and within our own lives. Developing curiosity among your audience is an important part of the game. 

Creating a mystery among the users can seal a good profit. You can withhold some information and reveal it later. Say an app has divisions in stages, a person as moves over gets features unlocked with time. You can also try gifting your users. A person is more attracted to an app through the features it provides at a lower cost. Offer the users a gift on doing a certain number of tasks and thus making your app exclusive.

Also, you can try making an app exclusive and give certain deals to the user for a certain period of time. Say a person is offered a product at a lower price for a limited course of duration in the installing period. This kind of ideas helps your app to acquire a space in the users' community and get a name for itself.

Get influencers talking about it

The time of social media has given a large following to the influencers. Just get the right person to influence the users for your app. Influencers are present in all the fields that can help you. You just need a right tweet or video or message from the right person telling the best features of the app or telling the app is quite cool. A mention by the influencer will convince their followers to know about the app. They will get the app and download it. A single message from this person is social credibility to the users.

Say you want to launch an app of video making and you contact any celebrity that works in film. If they promote your app people will surely get drawn towards it, giving your app a larger audience. But, the influencers also have their image at stake so they only promote the product that is worthy enough. The first step is to contact them and convince them that the app is worthy and carries some true and good qualities.

Also getting the right person is very important if a strategist advertises about the finance related app it will create more impact then a sports person doing it. So you always need to keep this in mind while making choices.

Fear of missing out (FOMO)

If a person feels that they can miss onto something they are more drawn towards it. They look for deals that can be missed. Even if a person doesn’t want to get into a trap, they never want to miss out on a deal that others are attracted to or that is available for shorter span of time. Thus when you create a fear amongst the users you get to attract more of them.

Design an attractive icon

The first impression of any app on the user is through its icon. When you visit any app store you get an eye-catching icon of the app and we instantly get attracted to it. We at least visit the app and look for the features and use. You need an icon that attracts user and just binds their sight in order to once visit the app features. Also when you start a marketing campaign on any site the icon if attractive, draws more audience towards it. In short, icon is very important for any app.

Showcase the features well

A strong and influencing layout of the features of the app is very important when placing an app on the app store. The better you describe the features, the more is the chance of engaging the audience.  Try to maintain pointers. Also, try to mention points very effectively in language as well as presentation. Try to use more bullet points and emphasize the positive reviews thus achieved. You need to maintain the delicate balance while working in this direction as well. Also do not forget to follow the marketing strategy of the app.

If your app is collecting user data, make sure that you keep user information secured and have special emphasis on privacy - think Apple keynotes and privacy

Selection of keywords

Try to select the keywords that are very commonly used on the app store. Appropriate keywords can help your app. Suppose a person types some query and you have used the appropriate keywords your app will surely gain light and pop up on the screen, thus it will draw the attention towards itself. Your usage of `keyword must be relevant also. Try to apt the keywords based on app search popularity and also are used much in the competitive market. Try to use relevant phrases as and when needed.

App video showcase

Try to upload the demo videos about the working of the app in the description bar of the app. This will help people to understand the working of the app along with its features. Not everyone is interested in reading. Also try to keep the video short and crisp, just allowing necessary details.

Regular updates

Updating the features of an app is very import for the user's point of view. It inculcates a sense of worth that app holds amongst the user. It creates an image of a good team behind the app which is interested in user’s benefit too.

Apart from using these strategies, it is very important that your app follows certain key criteria and is either addictive or solves a real problem for users. Without either of those, any marketing will not lead to your app going viral. Need help with your smartphone app or its marketing? Get in touch.