Mobile apps are now a staple in the modern world and are even key for most businesses to operate. Whether a business pushes content solely through an app or uses it to provide additional services, apps are now one of the main ways that we consume content.
According to Statista, global app revenues will exceed $935 billion by 2023, due to paid downloads and embedded marketing. Marketers constantly analyse their target audience as well as their marketing strategies in order to find new and effective ways to attract users. The traditional method of marketing apps, through ad banners and blanket advertisements online, is no longer efficient in comparison to new mediums of marketing. Influencer marketing is the perfect tool to replace the traditional ways of marketing and reach audiences more effectively.
According to the Mediakix Influencer Marketing Survey 2019, 89% of marketers believe that the ROI from influencer marketing is superior to other promotional tools. The impact of influencers on their subscribers can significantly increase attraction and demand for a brand's product.
So, how can developers and publishers use influencer marketing to promote an app?
Identify the appropriate format for promotion segment
It is important to first identify the most appropriate format and platform for reaching target audiences. Once this is done, an influencer can be used to reach an already established audience in order to promote a product.
Reviews
Influencers can create a product review of an app to promote its use and key features. By doing this, they can provide an insight into the functionality as well as review it for their audience. This can help to not only gain new users, but to also promote new features to existing users.
Let’s plays / Gameplay integration
Gaming influencers promoting mobile games can use “Let’s plays” and gameplay videos to show-off games. This is perfect for engaging a target audience as it is more tangible than a targeted ad. For example, to promote Plarium’s Raid: Shadow Legends, HypeFactory recruited a total of 2160 influencers, each with tens of thousands of subscribers to show off the game. Gaming influencer Dude Perfect got over 26 Million views alone for the game and Plarium has had a view count of over 635 million for their games since March 2019.
Streaming and online broadcasting of events
Streaming and E-Sports championships, such as Fortnite tournaments, attract millions of gamers and viewers to platforms such as Twitch. By marketing with streamers, providers can have a huge amount of interaction with audiences and are guaranteed a great return as there is a great level of viewer trust with streamers.
Draw attention to the content or product that can only be found in the app
One of the biggest challenges with apps is encouraging people to use them. Whether it’s getting less accustomed audiences to use apps, or building an initial user base, a good way to increase the number of downloads is by moving functionality and content so that it is not available elsewhere. For example, HypeFactory took this approach with getting users onto TikTok from YouTube. For this, it tasked YouTubers to create a few short videos which could only be viewed in full on TikTok. This encouraged the audience to move across to TikTok to see the full content.
Test hypotheses and analyze data
When planning a campaign, it is important to determine the key parameters for measuring success, and to create forecasts. Marketing campaigns can be divided into two types: performance and image campaigns. For the first type, it is important to evaluate specific data. Here the main indicators of success will be CPM, CPC, CR, CPI or CPA. For the second type, it is important to evaluate the turnover of users, engagement, number of downloads and overall growth of users.
App promotion also brings organic uplift: app stores will push apps that have an increase in audience interest and number of downloads etc. leading to more downloads.
Work through criticism
A well-built influencer campaign will attract target audiences to an app. Some applications use traffic flow for load testing, in-app research, and user behavior mapping. Influencer marketing gives them enough influx to evaluate the app properly. Failing to find a place for complaints or suggestions, a user can always remove the application or express objections in other ways, which can be hard to track. An interesting solution to this is IBM, the company thanks users for complaints and suggestions. They use this to improve products and turn customers into “ambassadors”.
Monitor competitors and work on new "features" for improving an application
One of the key factors when choosing a bank is the convenience of a mobile application. Fewer people go to branches, preferring to carry out all transactions from their smartphone. This trend can be seen in other industries such as online shopping and signing up for online services. Comments from users and analysing competitors can suggest what functionality is missing. This helps marketers, product managers, and developers with future improvements.
An influencer marketing campaign is an incredible way to promote an app. From influencer reviews to demonstrations, it allows developers to grow an app as well as market their brand effectively.