How extensively you can boost your ranking is influenced by various factors evaluated by the algorithm of the respective app store.

One key factor is the number of installs – the more people have installed the app, the higher the algorithm will rank your app.

In this article, we present different app promotion strategies and how you can combine different types of installs in such strategies to make your app rank as highly as possible.

Installation Types: Incentivized vs. Non-Incentivized

There are different app promotion strategies you can use to increase the quantity of installs for an app. You can buy installs and choose between incentivized and non-incentivized ones, meaning:

• • Users will either receive a reward for installing your application (incentivized) or
  • they will download your app out of true interest and won’t get rewarded (non-incentivized).

Both types have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Incentivized Installs: Exchanging Installs for Rewards

In general, you can choose between two app promotion strategies when driving incentivized installs for your app. One of them is based on the amount of installs generated in a certain time whereas the other one considers loyalty of your users.

Burst Campaign

With this app promotion strategy, you can give your application a real push to increase its ranking in a short period of time.

This will lead to a higher ranking, which means more visibility in the charts. If users search for certain apps, the chance that yours will be displayed among the search results will be higher.
As a consequence, you will receive organic installs as well, which is an important factor for your app.

Loyal User Acquisition

This type of app promotion strategy stays in competition to campaigns based on non-incent installs and consequential costs per loyal user. One main factor influencing this concept is the so-called retention rate. In the chart below, you can see some numbers regarding retention rates of users, so you will better understand this term.

Example for retention rates (Day 0 = 1000 downloads) © ayeT-Studios

Advantages and Disadvantages

As mentioned before, one advantage is the mass of installs you can receive very fast and the resulting boost of ranking. Another important factor you should keep in mind are the costs you need to spend for each kind of install:
The CPI (= Cost per install) for incentivized installs is way cheaper than an app promotion strategy only based on non-incentivized ones. The downside of incentivized installs is that users might download and install your app only for the reward, resulting in less user engagement, lower lifetime value and smaller retention rates.

According to mobyaffiliates, who refer to a study by Fiksu, 57% of users from non-incent installs converted to “loyal users” in contrast to 24% from incent installs. (It is not stated clearly what a ‘loyal user’ actually is – this set of data might define it as users with a Day3-retention.)

How ayeT-Studios Improves User Retention

To counteract these factors, one app promotion strategy at ayeT-Studios is the so-called high-retention install. With this special high-retention service, users have to keep an app for at least 3 days before receiving a reward, which leads to much better results for customers and their app promotion strategy.

Retention Rates for high performing apps by app category © ayeT-Studios

Non-Incentivized Installs: When You don’t Reward Users

The advantage on one side is the disadvantage on the other: Since users won’t receive a reward for installing your app, you have more costs in order to receive the same amount of installs compared to an incentivized campaign. If you just started your app business, this could take a big chunk of your marketing budget if you mainly base your app promotion strategy on this element.

Additionally, you won’t be able to get huge amounts of installs in a short period of time.

But it’s worth it. Users will interact and use your app because of their true interest, which is a good basis for a loyal user base and a huge advantage for this type of app promotion strategy.

Either… Or?

Now the most important question needs to be asked: Which type of install will be suit your app promotion strategy more?

Can you choose a method where you will only deal with the benefits and leave the drawbacks behind? The answer is:
Take advantage of both of them. This mixture of rewarded and non-incent installs will let your app promotion strategy shoot up and your app will climb up the charts.

2 Steps to Success

It seems to be common practice to start app promotion strategies with incentivized installs, which won’t take long to deliver results and leads to a higher top chart position of the app.

The next measure is to receive non-incentivized traffic to increase user engagement and enlarge user retention. In this part of your app promotion strategy, you don’t need big amounts of installs as you probably did before.

Dividing your promotion strategy into these 2 parts will cause your app to rank higher in the charts regarding various key factors.

Why You Need an App Promotion Strategy

It might not seem obvious for some app developers or marketers to implement a certain promotion strategy. There are many advantages when running such promotions.

For example, you can get a vital amount of downloads in a short time frame, where most of the installs arise from other sources:

1) Organic installs due to the ranking in the Play Store
2) Recommendations of users (mostly via a referral system integrated within the app)
3) Media-driven attention, leading to users searching for the brand directly

Organic iOS app installs as a result of paid app installs © TUNE

Is There a Plan C?

Is this the only choice app developers and marketers have when planning an app promotion strategy? Or is there an option available which can bypass disadvantages and give a mixture of the advantages in one bundle?
In fact, there is the option of incentivized installs based on Cost Per Action (CPA). By this, you can persuade many users not only to install your app but also to engage with it at the same time.

It’s killing two birds with one stone  – for little cost. The type of action can be anything realistic that won’t take too much time, otherwise users are not interested in achieving the respective goal:

• • Registration
  • Reaching a certain level
  • Completing a tutorial
  • and many more

These are actions users can and will accomplish in order to earn a reward.

Conclusion

There isn’t one formula for the perfect app promotion strategy when buying app installs. Results are still dependent on your app as well as users who are getting in touch with it.

According to the category your app belongs to, your game plan can change in comparison to other apps.

But if yours is developed properly, appeals to your major user base, and fulfils all conditions and functions it offers – then buying installs as your app promotion strategy will create a proper user base and lead to future organic traffic.

How paid campaigns for app promotion lead to more organic downloads © ayeT-Studios

If you are not sure how your app promotion strategy should look like: Don’t worry. There are many mobile marketing companies available that will give advice about possible solutions.

ayeT-Studios is an experienced company in this business and offers a personal customized app promotion strategy to give you the best results, no matter if you have an Android or iOS application.

If you are a developer of mobile games, we are sure you know one thing: There is a huge amount of games out there! Anyways, in order to be successful you have to do a solid job at mobile game promotion.

Firstly, you need to know exactly how much money you can spend on marketing tools. The best way to calculate your budget for your mobile game promotion is to have a look at

• Cost per Active User (CPAU),
• Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and
• Lifetime Value of your User (CLTV).

With these three numbers in mind, it will be easier for you to plan a marketing campaign that suits your budget.

Key Figures for Your Mobile Game Promotion Budget

In the following, we will explain some of the numbers that you need to be aware of to calculate your mobile game promotion budget.

Cost Per Active User

The Cost per Active User measures the cost to acquire an active user for brands who market their apps. In this case, every company needs to define for themselves what active means.

For example, some companies might say that an active users is a customer who returns to the app at least once a month. In this case, you might also hear the term ‘retention rate’.

You will find more information abour retention rates in this article.

Average Revenue Per User

The Average Revenue per User is the amount of revenue each of your active customers (on average) contributes. It can be used to calculate the budget for your mobile game promotion (together with the Cost per Active User).

Lifetime Value

The Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) indicates the user’s worth. With this information in mind, you can calculate how much you can spend for one customer in order to make a profit.

The CLTV depends on three factors:

• Monetization (how much do customers contribute to your mobile revenue),
• Retention (level of engagement a customers has with your app) and
• Virality (sum value of additional users, which a customer will refer to your app)

Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is the value that measures the monetization:

Paid Mobile Game Promotion

Now that you know your numbers and how to spend your ad budget most efficiently, you should know more about different types of paid mobile game promotion.

Incentivized vs Non-Incentivized Mobile Game Promotion

There is a great difference between incentivized and non-incentivized app marketing, but both can be used to promote your mobile game.

Incentivized app marketing consists of rewarding users with something in exchange for downloading and trying an game or engaging with an app.

Non-incentivized app marketing, on the other hand, is marketing that convinces the user to download and try the game without any reward for it.

Basic information about incent and non-incent installs for your app promotion can be found here.

Incentivized Mobile Game Promotion

Typical rewards of your mobile game promotion would be upgrades on the game, discount codes, virtual currency within the game, coupons or other giveaways. This kind of marketing will deliver many downloads for a very small investment.

On the other hand, as a marketer, it is very important to analyse the exact costs to acquire an active user. You can expect retention rates to be much lower compared to non-incentivized campaigns. So make sure to take that into account when calculating your CPAU.

Non-Incentivized Mobile Game Promotion

With non-incentivized mobile game promotion, users decide to download the app out of interest. Non-incentive app marketing could be banner ads through ad networks, advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook, an app review on a blog or even offline promotion.

With this kind of marketing you can reach a particular group of users that is naturally interested in your product.

Pricing for that kind of mobile game promotion is much higher than for incentivized mobile game promotion. Even though you can expect high quality traffic and a higher retention than for incentivized campaigns, please make sure to calculate the CPAU.

In the end, higher prices and higher retention can amount to the same CPAU or even be worse than for incentivized campaigns.

To reach a humongous amount of users and to have a high-quality user base a mixture of both ways of marketing could be the key.

No matter which tools you use for your mobile game promotion: authenticity is essential. After all, your marketing measures should fit your game in order to contribute to a successful marketing campaign.

10 Effective Tools for Successful Mobile Game Promotion

Now that you have set up your marketing budget, it is time to think about different ways to promote your mobile game. We have gathered 10 tools that might strengthen your mobile game promotion strategy.

1. 1. Create a Landing Page
      To inform the user in the most optimal way, it is essential to create a landing page with the game’s essential information. In addition, you should include a download link of the game so that the user does not have to leave the website to download the app. This could lead to a potential loss of users. Furthermore, you should make it easy for your user to tell friends about the game by including a sharing option on different social media channels.
   2. Optimize Your Presence in the App Store
      A cost effective way of getting more downloads is to optimize the game’s appearance in the different app stores. You can start by creating an eye-catching app icon and by giving the app a short and creative title. Furthermore, you need to add an informative description. (For Android, it must contain your keywords; but be careful: If you use too many keywords it might appear as spam, which you definitely want to avoid. The App Store offers a separate keyword field to put yours into.) Finally, to show users what they can expect from the game, you should include great screenshots that show all features of the game.
      

      Mobiles Games are the Most Popular App Category by Impressions © ayeT-Studios

   3. Use feedback
      A great way of constantly improving your game is to ask for feedback from users in the app store or on your social media channels. By using users’ experience with the game, you will be able to adjust your game and think about factors you have never noticed before. It is also important that you respond to user feedback so that they will feel valued. Another way of using feedback for your mobile game promotion is to present your app through startup communities or app review sites and ask for opinions.
      
   4. Be social
      In order to get people to talk about your game, you need to give them a space to talk. You could either create a forum for users to discuss the game or open a game-related group in different social media channels. There, users can share their experience, their achievements, and some tips and tricks to enhance their performance. If possible, also integrate social media within your game so that your customers can share their achievements directly through the app on social media.
   5. Be visual
      Users like to consume videos rather than plain text. Consequently, introducing your game with a video is always a good idea. A video offers various ways of presenting your game, for example as a preview or a short demonstration – there are no limits. You can share the video on numerous social media channels, for example YouTube, Facebook or Instagram.
   6. Include Influencers
      Influencer Marketing is a great way to make your game more visible in the internet and to attract many potential users. You can let a YouTuber play your game in a video that will be published on his channel, or you could let a blogger test the app and review it on his/her blog. Either way, many users will become aware of your game due to influencer marketing. We at ayeT-Studios can help you find the right social media influencer -> click here!
   7. Make Potential Users Interested
      Offer users an incentive in order to make them interested in your game. You can do that by offering giveaways or coupons – everyone likes goods for free.
      

      Minutes spent per session by games (Android & iOS) © Adjust

   8. Promote Your App Offline
      Next to promoting your game online, it is also crucial to do so offline. You could, for instance, collaborate with game stores. By placing a QR code, stickers or posters on windows traffic light posts, you’re raising awareness for your game.
   9. Prepare a Media Kit
      Public relations is also a part of mobile game promotion. Of course you want to be prepared for the press, in case they take an interest in your game. Hence, you should arrange a media kit that includes all the relevant information about your game. For example, an app summary guide, a press release, great screenshots of your game, a design collateral, great videos, founder bios and some nice pictures.
   10. Apply for Awards
       A mobile game promotion tool that will make your game interesting not only for users, but also for the press is to participate in app awards. The coverage of the award, as well as reviews of the different apps will also raise awareness for your game, which will lead to an increase in app downloads.

ayeT-Studios is an ad agency specialized in mobile ad solutions and offers customized mobile app promotion for both Android and iOS.