How to use free resources and means to operate and promote your APP?

With the rapid popularization of mobile terminals, various types of APPs have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, but there are only a few products that are truly successful . In the process of dividing up channel resources and grabbing users, many peers have clearly felt that the volume brought by the channel platform is decreasing, but the publication price is rising again and again. Just like what a friend in the circle mentioned to me in a chat: "It is really getting harder and harder to get close to the channel nowadays."

As we all know, not all APP application companies have enough capital in the early stages of their business to acquire users by spending money (for example: CPA, CPC, CPD, CPS, CPT, etc.). Or purchase a large amount of offline advertising for brand promotion (buildings, subways, bus stops, LED videos, etc.). So for startup companies or companies with weak capital foundation, how can they use free resources and means to operate and promote APP?

1. Don’t rush to launch your product

When discussing the launch of products, many colleagues have more or less given feedback that due to unclear planning, the product has major bugs, major flaws in the UI art, and the usage process does not conform to user habits. In this case, the company requires the product to be launched as soon as possible, which leads to a low level of channel positioning of the product. The application library level is obviously behind that of similar competing products, causing the product to lose at the starting line as soon as it starts operation and promotion. In order to avoid this situation, I personally suggest that products and operations should cooperate well enough to formulate a launch plan that is in line with the product. A good start is the key to subsequent healthy development.

In the first half month before the product is launched, I personally suggest preheating the product in: Jifeng Forum, Android Market Forum, Anzhi Market Forum, and Mumayi Forum. These four major forums are used to warm up product promotion. In addition, the company’s WeChat public account , Weibo, etc. cooperate in promotion.

2. First Release

When launching a new product, do not rush to upload it to major assistants, application markets , shopping malls and download sites, because if you are "eager for quick success" to cover all major channels, you will lose the opportunity to "launch a new product first." For example: Baidu 91 Android Market, 360 Mobile Assistant , App Store , Huawei App Store, Xiaomi, Le Store, etc., all have new product launches, so when your product is ready to go online, you must first understand the rules of new product launches in each major channel and collect the number of channels for new product launches. The first launch of a new product will bring the first batch of " seed users " to the product, and the results have been confirmed by many peers to be good.

3. Channel coverage

After the launch of new products, the next step is to cover all major channels, such as: Baidu Mobile Assistant , Android Market, 91 Mobile Assistant, 360 Mobile Assistant, Tencent App Store, Wandoujia , Xiaomi, Lenovo Le Store, Huawei App Store , Meizu, OPPO, Gionee EasyShare, Youyi Market, Nduo Market, MM Mall, Wo Store, App Store , Anzhi Market, Mumayi , Jifeng Market, Sogou Mobile Assistant, Sogou Market, UC/ PP Assistant , Suning App Store, etc. These channels with relatively large volumes must be covered first. There are also some good download sites, such as: Huajun Software Park, Zhongguancun, Feifan, etc.

"Self-recommendation of new products" is essential to obtaining important channel recommendation resources after covering all channels. For example: 360 Mobile Assistant, App Store, Lenovo Music Store , Meizu, Huawei, etc., all have new products to recommend. New products that are applied for through self-recommendation will be displayed in the recommended position of the channel's new product section. The recommendation time varies, and the longest can be up to 7 days, such as Lenovo Music Store.

4. Product Optimization

After you have covered all the free collection channels, the next thing you need to do is to optimize them, which mainly involves three aspects:

① Application for official label

Many channels, such as 360 Mobile Assistant, Huawei App Store, Wandoujia, etc., as long as the application is uploaded with an official account, it will come with the official label, but many channels. For example: Baidu Mobile Assistant, 91 Mobile Assistant, Android Market, App Store, Lenovo Music Store, Gionee EasyConnect, etc. You need to apply for the official label. If you do not apply, the official label will not appear. Whether there is an official label or not, from the perspective of user psychology, users tend to trust apps with official labels.

② Application for Quality Mark

For the application of quality logo, each channel has its own rating method. Many colleagues know that when you open some application stores or mobile assistants, some applications will have "quality" logos, such as Baidu Mobile Assistant. It is not so easy to obtain such logos. Generally, the judgment will be made based on the product design, user experience, UI art, features, user ratings, downloads and usage. For products that do not receive good ratings when they are first launched, you can continue to apply for improved ratings later. If you get "high-quality" products, the channels will generally display them in a better position, and you will also get many more natural users than other methods.

③ ASO optimization

ASO optimization is a relatively advanced operational method. ASO optimization in app stores or mobile assistants is actually similar to Baidu SEO . The main factors that affect ASO optimization are: keywords, descriptions, number of downloads/users, user reviews, etc. As for how to choose keywords, you can refer to the keywords of your competitors, but you must know how to avoid their edges. For example, for a medical APP, many people may choose keywords such as: doctor, medical, registration, finding a doctor, buying medicine, physical examination, etc. However, popular keywords (keywords with large traffic) are basically divided up by apps with very high rankings. If you are also a medical app and you follow the trend and choose popular keywords, then your chances of being on the homepage will be slim, and you will not be able to bring in accurate users through natural searches.

My personal suggestion is that if the product has just been launched, try to choose some keywords with less competition and high popularity. You can check the popularity of keywords through appannie and asou. In addition, "one-sentence description" APPs will also have weights, such as 360 Mobile Assistant, Xiaomi, Wandoujia, Android Market, etc. Therefore, when operators use a sentence to describe their APP products, they should avoid casual introductions, but write based on the characteristics of their products and combine hot words. Finally, user comments, download volume, etc. all affect the ranking of the APP in the channel, so it is also very necessary to have good reviews and download volume.

5. Improved channels

When the product rankings in major channels continue to rise, the number of downloads and positive reviews continue to increase, and the channel coverage continues to improve, the next thing to do is:

① The first release of a new version every month

The first release of a new version can be applied for on major channels basically once a month. That is, when there is a major version content update of the APP, you can apply for the first release of the version update on major channels. This is an important means to obtain a large number of free users. This requires that the pace of product improvement must be well controlled, and the time for releasing the new version should be as consistent as possible with the time for the first release of the operation application. The best time for the initial application is from Friday to Sunday. Research data shows that the most APP downloads occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

② Application for channel topics

Application for special topics in major channels is an essential topic for operators every week. Special topics can be applied for individually or in groups. To apply on your own, you can just register based on the topics published by major channels. When applying in a group, you combine products of the same type together, come up with your own special topic and copywriting, and after the application is approved, you also have to issue special promotional advertisements. Because channels like Meizu, Gionee, Sogou Mobile Assistant, Sogou Market, Lenovo, OPPO, and Xiaomi basically open special topic applications every week, and any APP applications that meet the requirements of the topic can apply. Many colleagues have said that the volume of special topics is more than the first release of the new version, and the effect is also very good.

The above are some of my personal experiences during the operation process. Although it is very expensive to operate and promote APP, you can get a lot of users without spending money. If you don’t have strong channel relationships, then we should start with the details of the operation and seize every opportunity to recommend resources for free.