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How to market a mobile app

By James Lord · Updated · 1 min read

Getting an app downloaded is only half the job. The users who matter are the ones who open it again next week. Here's how to market an app so the installs you pay for turn into users who stay.

Get the store page right first

Your app store page is where most people decide. The icon, the first screenshots and the opening lines of the description do most of the work.

  • Show the app doing its main job in the first screenshots.
  • Say who it's for and what it does in plain words.
  • Keep ratings healthy by asking happy users for one at a good moment.

Make the first session count

Most people decide quickly whether to keep an app. Get them to the first useful moment fast: fewer sign-up steps, permissions asked for when they're needed, and an obvious next step.

Measure the users who stay

Installs are easy to buy. Track how many new users come back after a day, a week and a month, and what it costs to win a user who's still there. That's the number to grow.

Where to find users

  • App store search ads, for people searching for an app like yours.
  • Social ads on Meta and TikTok, where people discover apps while scrolling.
  • Networks that show ads inside other apps, such as AppLovin.
  • Communities, partners and creators in your niche.

Try a few, compare them on what each retained user costs, and move budget to what works.

Keep the ads fresh

App audiences see a lot of ads and tire of them quickly. Plan for a steady flow of new ads so results don't fade.

Questions

Should I pay for installs?

It can work, as long as you judge it on users who stay and spend, not on the number of installs.

When should we start advertising an app?

Once the first session and early retention are in decent shape. Paid users magnify whatever happens after the install.

Do app ads need video?

Not always, but a short video of the app in use often explains it faster than still images.

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