How to promote and operate APP in 2019?

What is the correct way to promote APP? What should I do if I want more people to download my APP? I believe that this will be one of the most mainstream issues related to the operation of the entire Internet for a long time. I believe there is no need for me to repeatedly emphasize how important the mobile terminal is in 2019. APP, as the strongest entrance to the mobile terminal, is naturally the top priority.

So how should we promote APP? There is no doubt that this is a systematic project. There are countless ways to spend money and a few free ways with high barriers. What is the best solution for our APP? This obviously requires starting from the overall structure of the APP download market.

01. Changes in the overall market structure

In 2011 and 2012 when Android and iOS phones were just emerging, we were able to achieve quite a good number of downloads just by relying on app store recommendations. On the one hand, this was because smartphones were still a new thing for users, and apps of decent quality were enough to satisfy users' curiosity. On the other hand, users lacked knowledge about apps themselves, which led to users not knowing what they should download and would download whatever the app store recommended.

It can be said that it was the pioneering era and the vanilla era of APP downloads. Everything was so original. However, with the development of the times, more and more application developers have noticed the value of app stores, and various optimization methods have followed. From traditional keyword coverage and display induction, to various points walls and task-based downloads, to all kinds of gray-flavored downloads, comments, and searches, the ranking mechanism of the app store is constantly being played with and even destroyed by everyone. In 2014 and 2015, when the entire industry was at its peak, if you didn’t do app store search optimization, you would have lost all opportunities.

The above picture shows the reviews of a well-known comic-adapted mobile game on Apple AppStore. Please pay attention to the content and user ID.

In order to cope with such changes, major application markets have returned to basics and launched various manual recommendation resources and mechanisms. Although manual recommendations are always less efficient and less objective, at least they will prevent low-quality applications from reaching key positions. At the same time, they also create a large number of tradable resources. Currently, all homepages of major application markets are manually controlled, which completely commercializes the top resources and reduces the impact of various optimizations on download results.

Today in 2019, simple optimization can no longer achieve the same results as in the past. On the one hand, the official control of app stores over resources is getting stronger and stronger, making it difficult for us to obtain high-quality resources through optimization. On the other hand, today's users are much more mature than they were back then. They not only have a deep understanding of what kind of apps they need, but also have a strong sense of vigilance against various app charts. After all, who hasn't had their money taken away by a chart for a few games? So optimization is no longer the mainstream in 2019.

02. Trend changes of Apple and Android

After talking about the optimization of the app store, let’s talk about the system. Due to various ecological reasons, iOS and Android have very different download strategies. Although both currently have application markets with similar functions, they have completely different choices in APP promotion ideas.

iOS itself pursues a concept of comprehensive equality. No matter which country or region on the earth you are in, the unified 30% commission, consistent ranking strategy, and the same display method always run through the Apple APP Store. This means that if you want to achieve good results on the iOS platform, it is very important to deeply explore the gameplay of the platform. Last year, Apple opened up ASM, which brought the entire ASO to a new level of complexity. Every keyword strategy will affect all CPx indicators.

The reason why this seemingly simple official website can be ranked first in the country is that WeChat has a closed management system for application downloads.

As for Android, it is divided and ruled. There are currently more than 400 Android stores in China. The only ones that have enough downloads are the following: Tencent App Store, which is strictly tied to social software (it monopolizes social channels by controlling WeChat jumps, and is also the store with the largest Android traffic), several major companies that provide various mobile phone service tools (360, Baidu, Sogou, PP Assistant, Wandoujia), mobile phone manufacturers' own stores (Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi, VIVO, Meizu), telecom operators' own stores (China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom), and the "distant" Google Play.

Each of these Android platforms has its own set of optimization and delivery rules (basically a simplified version of iOS). In addition, they also have pre-installation and joint operation mechanisms that are very different from iOS but play a decisive role. The existence of pre-installation and joint operation mechanisms has changed the relationship between software developers and the application market, binding the two more closely. So if you want to do well in Android, you must understand these.

In terms of market share, due to the high pricing of the new products XS, XS Max, and XR in winter 2018, iOS's market share has declined significantly, from 28% in Q4 2017 to around 23% in Q3 2018. Although higher phone prices have reduced the total number of iOS users, they have increased the average spending power of iOS users. Therefore, for software developers, fewer iOS users can actually earn higher incomes under proper guidance.

03. Overall relocation of online traffic

Having said so much about the app market, what other opportunities are there outside the app market? There is no doubt that there are many. Although it is undeniable that the application market is still the most mainstream and direct download channel, full commercialization means leaving room for other models. After all, the essence of downloading is still traffic. As long as the traffic of the application market is expensive, there will naturally be other things to supplement it.

So who will supplement it? Where did the cheap traffic go? This brings us to the fastest growing type of application in 2018 (or more precisely a content model): information flow. 2018 was the year when content applications were fully transformed into information flows. Comprehensive information flows mean that the platform itself has the possibility of obtaining a more accurate portrait of the population. WeChat subscription accounts, WeChat Moments, Toutiao, and Tencent News are obviously the most outstanding ones.

The core advantage of the information flow platform is that it can accurately grasp users through content.

When it comes to downloading information flow products, there is no saying that a certain platform is definitely good or bad (except for vertical information platforms like Autohome). Although Toutiao (and group applications), Zhihuitui (led by Tencent News and Tiantian Kuaibao), and Guangdiantong (led by WeChat system and QQ system) occupy the vast majority of traffic, it does not mean that they have the best CPx (cost-effectiveness) indicator.

If you want to lower the price of a single download as much as possible, then it is very necessary to have a clear understanding of the 20-30 information flow advertising systems currently on the market. Purchasing only the most cost-effective traffic (words, categories) from each company is the key to low prices. When there is no demand for large downloads, you can even give up the remaining traffic of the large platform and use it exclusively for the small platform. I believe the price will be a pleasant surprise.

04. Diversification of offline traffic

In addition to online, offline is also a very critical traffic entrance. We can see the attitude of traffic operators towards offline traffic, from abandonment 10 years ago, to calmness 5 years ago, and then to rebound support in recent years. The core point is that due to the increasing demand for online traffic, the price increase rate is far beyond the imagination of most operators, while offline traffic, due to a major decline in demand, has shown a high cost-effectiveness.

So is there a panacea solution for APP promotion? The answer is simple. Just find the scene or group that best suits your APP users. For example, 2D mobile games can choose major comic exhibitions and university clubs, real estate applications can cooperate with major second-hand housing transaction companies and sales offices, travel apps can choose major airports, railway stations, and bus stations, catering apps can follow major business districts, and health apps can combine with the previously popular QR code scanning weight scales and body measurement devices.

Onmyoji’s booth at Tokyo Comic Exhibition not only brought in users but also promoted the brand, which is also an important advantage of local promotion.

The principle of ground promotion is believed to be very easy to understand, but whether ground promotion is cost-effective requires a full understanding of the ground promotion venue (traffic & crowd portrait). Most software developers do not have a mature ground promotion team, and they often consider relying on ground promotion companies to complete the ground promotion. Once they are faced with the relationship between Party A and Party B, one party, the layman, will make demands, and the other party, the insider, will make black profits, resulting in various pessimistic situations for CPx.

So is it impossible to do ground promotion? In fact, software developers not only know people who understand the ground promotion scenarios, but also know a lot of them, that is, our users. We can use various means to understand the intersections between users and APP in real life, and then use this as a clue to conduct ground promotion, which will naturally achieve twice the result with half the effort.

05. The application market is still the mainstream, but opportunities are all over the network

Having said so much, I believe everyone is tired. In 2019, the traffic structure of the entire network is so complex that it is hard for us to imagine. To promote an APP, we have to consider various channels (application market, advertising platform, content implantation, tool display), keep abreast of the prices of all channels (to ensure that CPx is as low as possible), understand the policies of each platform that may change at any time (such as iOS 11-iOS 12), and consider the possibility of making a small profit with a big investment (through word-of-mouth communication through various Internet celebrities and big Vs). Everything is changing, and the only thing that remains unchanged is that you need to keep abreast of the times.

No matter how the environment changes, Apple App Store is still the core of the entire promotion

Looking at all channels, the application market is still the mainstream among the mainstreams, and Apple APP Store is still the largest single traffic market (accounting for about 25%-30% of the overall market, and the actual market share of the second-tier App Store, 360, Baidu, and Huawei is slightly lower than 10%) and the market with the most consumption potential (the average price of mobile phones is the highest, and the average income level of users is the highest). Therefore, in the following content, we will focus on Apple APP Store and explain how we should promote APP through 20 articles. Stay tuned.

Related reading:

1. APP promotion and operation: How to maximize the effect of your activities?

2. APP promotion planning: 60,000 paying users increased within 7 days of beta testing!

3. APP promotion activities: How to plan a screen-sweeping event?

4. A complete list of APP promotion methods in 2019, take it and don’t thank me!

5. How to carry out APP promotion and marketing? What are the common methods?

6. APP promotion case: How to go from 0 to millions of users?

Author: Aibi Data

Source: Aibi Data