10 Ways to Increase Your Downloads with Almost Zero Budget

For making your app visible on the market you need downloads and for convincing people to download your app, you must increase its visibility. To break this circle you need a budget for promoting your app. The problem is that you don’t have money to invest in advertising campaigns. But, as shocking as may sound you don’t need great sums for talking to possible users about your app. Keep reading to discover which are some free methods that will make your app successful.

10 Ways to Increase Your App Downloads for Free

Here is what you need to do in order to increase the number of downloads with almost no budget at all.

Start Before You Launch It

Maybe you are asking: When is the best time to start promoting my app? The answer is: Yesterday. Now, joking aside, there is never too early to spread the word about your app. Talk to your friends and family about your ideas. Speak about your app when you are invited to parties and events. Start building your online community. Almost everything we will mention next it needs to be done before submitting your app on the market. If you already have your app approved by app store and you discover that nobody knows about it, then it will get very hard to move things around.

Choose The Right App Category

When you are about to select the category for your app you need to think twice because some categories are more competitive than others. Maybe they look similar but it will bring you different chances of reaching your goal, like Health & Fitness or Medical. On the other hand, statistics show us that some categories are popular by their nature.

Optimize Your Description, Keywords, Screenshots, Icon And Video

When it comes to the app store page there are a lot of things for you to do. You must realize that this is a permanent work. The entire environment is very dynamic, rules are changing frequently and you need to modify your approach according to every movement in the system. Concentrate your efforts on quality for screenshots and app icon and don’t forget how effective can become a preview video. Make A/B tests for your keywords and when you have the best solution add them to your app title and app description in relevant context.

Improve Its UI/UX and Make It Bug – Free

It is crystal clear that you need to check your app 1000 times for errors before uploading it on the market. Why don’t you use some of the Crash Reporting Tools presented in a previous article? Remember that a bad review is the worst thing that can happen to your app. Now that we agreed that your app’s functionality must be perfect, take a look at UX Archive to understand what features and effects made these apps reach their triumph. Let their layouts inspire you in choosing the right direction for your app.

Hold Small Contests to Encourage People to Give Feedback

Reviews from users will not only help your app ranking higher, but it will give you a sense of how your app is seen by the large audience. If users don’t share their opinions as easy as you hope, maybe some prizes or incentives will convince them to give their feedback. And no, you don’t need to spend a dollar. You just need to get very creative and to find a solution for rewarding your ambassadors with some facilities inside your app. It is easier for games, because you can increase their interest with a new character or some extra premium levels. But with other types of apps you can consider offering some discounts for your products or some other bonuses which won’t cost you money but it will make your users happy.

Post On Facebook Groups, Reddit, Product Hunt And Quora.

Social Media Platforms have huge potential for promoting your app for free. But you need to avoid transforming everything in boring and annoying pitches. Sharing worthy content will create bridges between you and your users that will last for a long time in the future. Choose the favorite platforms of your users and give them what they really want to see there. For Facebook Groups you can offer insights of your app, like interesting videos or some special features. On Reddit or Quora you can provide some valuable solutions from your experience for other members of the community. In the same time don’t ignore the great effects of posting your app on Product Hunt. For more details on how to do that check our previous article, 10 Do’s And Dont’s Of Product Hunt Success To Increase Your App Downloads.

Send Your App to Review Websites

A method to present your app in front of customers when they are looking for a product like yours is to send pitches to app review websites. It is not easy to convince them to consider your app but if you will send them an impressive documentation about your app which will prove its originality and its brilliance you will reach your goal. BuildFire gathered a huge list of sites that can help you to promote your app. Take a look and choose some of them that resonate with your ideas.

Send Your App to Influencers (YouTube, Instagram, etc.) For Review

A review made by Social Media Influencers will have a bigger impact in users’ eyes than any other type of promotion. Impressions created by those experienced people in mobile apps are solutions that will bring you results on long term. And for this you don’t need necessarily money. Offering them something unique through your app will delight them and they will be more than happy to share their experience with millions of followers. Again, be innovative and find something that will inspire them to convince possible users to try your app.

Add Friend Reference to Your App and Reward People To Use It

Between all these free solutions it is impossible not to mention the power of Word Of Mouth. Offering your users an option inside the app to share their impressions with their friends will create a chain reaction that will have a positive effect on your strategy. The right timing and some promotional giveaways will make users to reach the persons they know and to take advantage of your app together.

Sleep Less, Listen Your Users More

This is a metaphor, of course. You need your sleep. But really listening to what users have to say about your app is the secret of success in any technique you choose. You are developing the app for them and they know best. We already mentioned when you need to start your strategy but every step must be done from users’ shoes. Observe their behavior, their preferences and all the elements related to your app. After you know their characteristics you will be able to complete your plan.

Final Thoughts

If you are developing a new app which solves a real problem, you probably are thinking how you will make it visible for people interested by your solution. Better saying, you should be thinking about a method for increasing the number of downloads. We listed 10 ways that will bring your app in front of possible users without spending your money. Go on and try them all. It will cost you just a lot of time and energy.