Two important channels for APP to attract new users: ASO promotion + old user retention

1. ASO optimization : internal and external integration, no need to worry about lack of users

ASO optimization has existed for a long time, but it was not until the end of 2014 that ASO was really taken seriously and developed. If an APP wants to get a good ranking on the search platform, it can increase the number of app downloads, brand awareness and popularity. Of course, improving the ranking of APP applications is inseparable from ASO optimization and promotion , and it needs to be assisted by some ASO optimization work.

1. Ranking factors of ASO optimization

(1) APP icon

The logo image must be clear, intuitive, and highlight the brand. Image design is also an effective way to influence users.

(2) Subtitle setting

It is as important as the website Title and Keywords. Implanting keywords in the title will help the ranking of the website's main keywords. However, it is not so easy to modify the APP application name title and keywords. Therefore, when uploading the application, you must do a keyword search popularity analysis in advance and standardize the title content.

Note:

1. The distribution relationship of keyword search weight in the title is subtitle>keywords
2. The title should be natural and smooth, without piling up words
3. Try to keep the title to one or two sentences, and don’t use short words to make up the title

(3) Description (brief description and detailed description)

The brief description is usually displayed on the application list page, and the detailed description is a detailed introduction to the APP application. Description is also very important for ASO optimization; when users see your app in the search list page, the first thing they see is your icon, subtitle and brief description. Therefore, it is particularly important to use short sentences to arouse users' interest and click to enter the APP product details page. This can increase the click-through rate of APP search results in the app store and is also a factor that affects rankings.

(4) User ratings/evaluations

The importance of real user reviews is unquestionable, as reflected in:

1. Not only APP, but also website operation , Taobao operation and other platform operations, user reviews and ratings all play a big role in ranking.
2. Many apps will trigger pop-up windows to invite users to rate other users; and there will be a rating entry in the personal center or settings section in the navigation. It can be seen that user reviews are important for APP.

However, when Hezijun looked through some app reviews on app stores, he found that most of them were from so-called scams and there were very few real reviews, which made Hezijun feel very embarrassed!

(5) APP application update and iteration

In APP operation, everyone pays attention to the user's activity, including daily activity, weekly activity, and increasing activity. Similarly, in the app store rankings, APP updates and iterations are also a kind of activity rate. Many apps are rarely updated after they are launched, which is a big taboo; regular updates and iterations of apps are very helpful in improving rankings.

(6) Application category selection: Red Ocean/Blue Ocean

I majored in marketing , and the blue ocean strategy and red ocean strategy were often discussed in professional courses; the two strategies are also related to the ranking of APP in the app store.

The Red Ocean Strategy means that the market competition has reached a white-hot stage, and the homogeneity of products and services is very serious. If you do ASO optimization in this environment, although it is very popular, the competition for keyword rankings is very fierce and it is difficult to improve; for the latter, there is no need to fight with powerful competitors.

The blue ocean strategy refers to a way of bringing users more experience and enjoyment through innovation, and making users willing to accept it; the blue ocean strategy means opening up new markets, where there is little competition at the beginning, so it is easier to rank higher.

(7) App installation volume: the top priority of ASO optimization

The number of APP installations is a very important factor. Basically, the top-ranked APPs are those that rank among the top in terms of download and installation volume. "APP ranking manipulation " is to increase the number of downloads and installations. Its popularity shows the importance of application installation volume to ASO optimization. Although app stores are now very strict about ranking manipulation, its importance still exists.

2. ASO optimization is inseparable from data analysis

Only by speaking with data can you be convincing; the hot words, subtitles, descriptions, red ocean/blue ocean and other factors that affect rankings mentioned above all require good data analysis (competitive products, industries, users).

(1) Competitive product analysis

Competitive product analysis is not only needed in the ASO field, but also in traditional industries, product design, and platform operations. For ASO, you need to know what words your competitors are optimizing for? What is the popularity of these words? How are their subtitles and descriptions set? How are their keyword rankings?

By understanding your competitors, you can better understand your own products, make your ASO optimization plan more detailed, and avoid the pitfalls that their competitors have encountered.

(2) Industry analysis

Regarding industry analysis, it is more about red ocean and blue ocean strategies. It is more about understanding the competitive situation, development direction, etc. of the entire industry.

(3) User analysis

The selection of keywords and hot words is based on user search behavior. Popular words are searched more by users, and if the hot words can be optimized and their rankings improved, it will not be a problem to increase the number of user downloads and installations.

(1) Increase download volume: Local promotion and task recommendation are both good methods

When it comes to APP promotion , many methods such as ground promotion, cooperation, task recommendation, and trial play are adopted, which can also have a significant effect in increasing the number of application downloads.

The most common box fungus is

1. A financial APP: Scan the QR code to download the APP, and get a box of Jiaduobao after registration; this cost is relatively high, but if the gift is not attractive, how can users download your APP?
2. Scan the QR code, download the APP, and drink Gongcha for free. By cooperating with some physical service stores, it can bring a win-win situation. This method is also what many apps will try to do when they are initially promoted.
3. Trial APP: There are now some third-party trial service platforms. After users download and register, they can get a certain amount of money as a reward after staying in the background for a certain number of minutes. This method is quite effective in increasing the number of app downloads.

(2) Social marketing : more about building the APP brand image

For social marketing, operators usually choose platforms such as WeChat public accounts , Weibo, SEO soft article promotion, and self-media platforms ( Toutiao , Zhihu platform, NetEase self-media , Jianshu , Sohu media platform, etc.).

Social marketing needs to be supported by high-quality content to increase readership and brand exposure. For APPs, the content must be more interesting, and of course the direction of content type selection should also be diversified.

For example, the TaQu APP that I have been paying attention to recently is an APP about the relationship between the sexes. On the Zhihu platform, you can often see "Huang Lao Shi" answering some rather embarrassing questions, using dirty content to arouse users' interest in the author and the product.

For social marketing, without content, various platforms cannot survive.

(3) Use SEO/ SEM to expose the brand and increase downloads

For users, most of them use PC to search during work, and they will definitely use mobile phones to browse various pages after get off work, so SEO/SEM optimization is also very important; most APPs have their own official websites, but they are generally simple and just guide users to download APPs; you can optimize the keywords in the app store, and perform official website SEO optimization and SEM promotion on PC and mobile.

2. Maintain old users and generate self-propagation effect

Maintaining old users is actually very important not only in APP, but also in e-commerce , offline stores, and traditional industries. To put it simply, they are "repeat customers." From the perspective of APP operation, maintaining old users can achieve word-of-mouth communication and drive the growth of APP users . Hezijun will share how to enable old users to generate self-propagation effect from two aspects: " cold start stage" and "stable retention stage".

1. Cold start phase: attracting seed users

During the cold start phase of the APP product, you don’t need many functions, just make sure that the main function chain runs smoothly! During the cold start phase, retention of the first batch of users is very important; those who retain your app and continue to use it and offer suggestions are your seed users.

In the cold start phase, what can retain seed users is that the functions you design just hit their needs; whether it is fun can only be a highlight of the product. What seed users need is the most core thing that can best solve their pain points.

Seed users have their own dissemination properties. Word-of-mouth communication through seed users can drive new users and increase user growth!

2. Retention stability stage: active users, stimulating secondary dissemination

APP user retention is generally divided into three time nodes: churn period, distillation period, and stable period. After the sedimentation of the first two time nodes, the retained users are your loyal users, so you can carry out targeted operations for this group of old users to stimulate their secondary dissemination.

(1) In-app activity operation : stimulating users to actively share

For APP operation, event planning is essential. The operation of in-app events is more to activate users, arouse their interest and encourage them to share, thus attracting new users. The types and implementation forms of in-app events are quite diverse, and they are usually inseparable from the following aspects.

Common types of in-app activities include:

① Invite with gifts: Commonly used in APPs in e-commerce, financial management , service and other industries

Example: "PPmoney friends invite you to make money"

PPmoney uses invitation-gift activities with large-denomination rewards to leverage the participation of old users; PPmoney invitation-gift activities are operations whose purpose is to stimulate old users to continue to invite friends, thereby achieving the effect of attracting new users through old users.

②Share and get rewards

The activity form of sharing gifts is more often used in lottery activity scenarios. For example, if you trigger an activity of probability events such as shake and roulette in your APP, you can set it up so that users can get extra chances to draw prizes after sharing the activity. Of course, your activity prizes need to be attractive so that users will be motivated to share your activity. When users share the activity, it also plays a role in brand communication.

③Creative activities: Generate creative pages with personal attributes to promote user self-propagation.

The TV series "Three Lives Three Worlds" was very popular a while ago. Many photo-taking apps launched crazy face-changing activity functions to help users travel through three lives and three worlds. Through the APP, you can freely switch the special effects of the characters in Three Lives Three Worlds, photoshop yourself into the characters in the play, and share them; through this form of activity, a large number of users are attracted to download the APP.

Activity implementation form: trigger (pop-up window), delivery, push

1. Activity triggering: The most common is triggering an activity notification after launching the APP, triggering a lucky draw when you complete login, triggering an activity after completing registration, completing payment and other user scenarios. You need to set the triggering rules according to your own APP's business.
2. Activity placement: Common ones are startup pages, banner images, information flows , focus images, and other operational positions. The purpose of activity placement in operational positions is to expose the activity and increase the opening rate of the activity.
3. Activity push : Users are not using your app all the time, so you can push activities to users as soon as possible through message push. Of course, when pushing, it is very important to use copywriting to attract users to participate in the activity.

(2) Deeplink: Achieving viral user growth

Deep link technology is deeply integrated with the APP application to attract new users. When your old users share activities and content in the app to platforms outside the app, users who have installed the app can call up the sharing page with one click; and users who have not installed the app can return to the shared page with one click by downloading and installing it and opening the app. The implementation of Deeplink technology enables seamless jumping between APPs, making it more convenient for those being shared to participate in APP activities, greatly shortening the user experience path, and driving APP user growth.

The Deeplink function allows old users to share H5/lottery activities within the app, which activates old users and helps increase user growth.

Final Thoughts

As for attracting new users online for APP, Hezijun summarizes it into two aspects: ASO promotion and attracting new users with old users. ASO is mainly about optimizing the app store, and using social platforms to expose the brand, increase APP downloads, and drive rankings; "using old users to attract new users" refers to more active users, stimulating users to conduct secondary dissemination, thus achieving the effect of attracting new users.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

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