It is a fact that consumers want applications that add value to their lives. With app stores becoming more and more saturated, a good app with an excellent rating is no longer enough to get a user to go through the trouble of downloading it. You may need to buy app installs.
So, it is worth asking: what can a marketer do to attract the attention and interest of users?
Typically, an incentive drives users to try a new app. These can be a free trial period, a discount on the first purchase or even free delivery, and they have many benefits. For example:
- Increased Product Adoption– Once users receive an in-app-only benefit, knowing that they are likely to receive another in the future increases the chances that they will stick around.
- Brand Differentiation: Allows showing the benefits of the app and how it differs from its competitors.
- Brand Positioning: allying with other brands helps improve the perception and concept that users have.
Here are some ideas to keep in mind when creating an incentive strategy to attract new users to your app.
Table of Contents
Offer a relevant incentive
Does that reward make sense to the user? Users of a finance app might be interested in a cashback while users of a gaming app would probably prefer a few extra lives before buying a membership. For that, marketers must understand the context, the type of product we offer and the preferences of our audience. For example, if an app’s audience consists of users with a relatively low average income, it makes sense to avoid luxury brand deals.
If you’re not sure if an incentive is relevant to your audience, you can approach them directly. You can try a simple and casual survey on social media where you will get answers quickly, or you can conduct a focus group to get more detail and depth on their interests. Just be careful not to overload with tedious questions to avoid poor answers.
Stimulates user interest
Every day, consumers are exposed to a large number of advertisements and promotions, so you have to think carefully about how to get their attention. A good starting point is to offer something different from your competitors. The challenge here is that benefits are often very similar within the same category, so to stand out, you have to be effective at communicating them. I saw many brands get it in the following way:
- Emphasizing that the benefit is unique and that it is only redeemable in the application.
- Expressing limitations of time or availability of the incentive, such as “valid only during Super Bowl times”, or “for the first x people who answer”. The fact that there is a limitation motivates users to take action right then and there.
- Highlighting the simplicity of the process to receive the benefit.
The incentive becomes juicy and attractive enough through a combination of messages and channels.
Make your budget work
Like any start-up, we have to make every dollar (or peso) invested worth it. While it is tempting to offer an expensive gift, we must be realistic with our available budget.
Take care of brand identity
The values of the company should never be compromised for the sake of getting more users. When working with other brands, make sure their values and business goals are compatible with those of your company.
- Be clear in communicating incentives. Avoid misleading or false advertising.
- Make the messages align with the values of the company. As a financial services app, we usually have promotions during sales seasons, but we also share recommendations on how to spend money wisely or raise awareness about the importance of setting aside money for unforeseen events.
Assess risks from the start
Incentives increase the possibility of attracting deal hunters – or promotion hunters. In our case, a while ago, we had a referral program that brought us many users that were not of the expected quality. Although we acquired a large number of users, we were not entirely happy with their long-term value of them.
Taking this action as a learning opportunity, we take some measures:
- We improve the onboarding process
- We changed the rewards and when we gave them to users.
Now, instead of rewarding them immediately, we expect them to take an action, like a purchase or a deposit. In general, risks can be minimized by acting quickly to optimize the incentive program or else you can boost your users and get app installs here.
