One of the main concerns when creating your app is how you’d be able to make it stand out from the rest. There are about 2.87 million apps on the Google play store and around 1.96 million on the Apple store. This can seem not very comforting at first, but I promise it gets better once you learn how to market yourself out there.

The following are great examples to make you stand out from the rest:

1. Word of Mouth
2. ASO
3. Email Marketing
4. Social Media
5. Eye-catching icon
6. Advertise on your website

7. Referral system
8. Influencer Marketing
9. Content Marketing
10. Popup
11. Pre-launch

1. Word of Mouth

Did you ever download an app one day and get so invested in it that you wanted everyone else to know about it? This is one of the most excellent strategies to market your app. Not only does it not cost you, but it spreads the word like wildfire! Great tactics such as this one is one of the key ingredients to creating viable growth. It also gives great motivation to take action.

2. ASO

Another way you can get your app to increase in downloads is by using app store optimization (ASO). The most important factor in app store optimization is your app’s title. You have to be very spot-on with your title. If your app is like a form of a stopwatch, that needs to be the title for it. People have to know what your app is about straight away. They will likely skip over it if something they are looking for it’s not named.

3. Email Marketing

Email marketing can also be another great form to gain exposure. This is one of the best ways to gain more traffic and build relationships with users/customers. You may say this is very outdated, but the number of people that check their emails nowadays makes it easier to have them view its content. This can be considered more professional to some users, who’ll be more inclined to click on it and download it.

4. Social Media

With at least 4 billion people on social media, you have a greater chance of reaching many more people there. Of course, you can’t just randomly post about it anywhere. You have to do your research to see what platforms have the audience you need to download your app. If your app is related to anything with beauty or fashion, you’ll likely find the audience that best suits it on Pinterest or Instagram. If you haven’t noticed, many companies take their products to TikTok now. If you can grab the attention of people there, you are good to go! They do the rest of the work for you by continuing to spread the word about your app.

5. Eye-catching Icon

Studies have also shown that creating eye-catching app icons can increase downloads by as much as 34%. You want to make it unique and easily recognizable as soon as you see it. Don’t be scared to add some color or change the design overall to make it look according to your product. You also want to ensure you aren’t using images or symbols that may be offensive to certain cultures.

6. Advertise on your website

You not only want to advertise your app on other platforms, but you should also advertise it on your website. People may think it doesn’t help as much, but it does. It is said that Israel Post saw quite an increase in their app downloads when they posted popups on their site. Of course, you can’t just post them whenever and wherever you feel like it. Think about if the person viewing your site was you. Would you want a big popup out of nowhere with no way to exit it? Of course not!

7. Referral System

Have you ever gotten excited upon seeing the phrase “refer someone and get money off!” I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for a way to get some money off! One great way of exposing your app to other businesses’ use is by setting up referrals and even app download promotions.

8. Influencer Marketing

Finding the correct influencers to promote your app has to be one of the most accessible marketing strategies. This is one of the best ways to gain more downloads on your app. Has someone ever influenced you to buy something or to get a new game because everyone else downloaded it? The power influencers have these days can be scary but very helpful to people trying to get recognition on products or apps.

9. Content Marketing

If you haven’t noticed, many marketing strategies exist to gain the app recognition and downloads it deserves. Apart from the previous marketing strategies, one can also do content marketing. It has been said that marketers spend at least half their day creating one piece of content each day. This one isn’t always going to work out, though, as it has become very competitive.

10. Popup

You can get people’s attention towards your app in many different ways. Popups are among the leading marketing strategies people use to promote their apps. This can help your app gain significant exposure for up to 40%. If that isn’t starting somewhere, I don’t know what is. Popups can happen anywhere, from social media platforms to websites that have something similar to what your app is doing.

11. Pre-launch

Lastly, another great way to increase app installation is by pre-launching it. Apple’s App Store allows developers to offer the option of pre-ordering the app ahead of its release date. This is a great way to have an audience download the app on your release date. You wouldn’t want to release it and not have anyone download it, would you?

Who knows, maybe the next thing going viral can be your app!