Thomas Kriebernegg, Managing Director and Co-Founder, App Radar discusses the key trends and tactics for app marketing success in 2022
For many businesses the performance of their app can be the difference between commercial success and failure. However, it isn’t enough to have great features or excellent functionality – you need to be able to get your app from the store and into the phones of your customers.
As the app market is arguably the most competitive sector in the world this can be a huge challenge. Thankfully, app store marketing and optimization has really matured as a market over the past few years and there are now more tools and data available to help you get a competitive edge.
So if you’re looking to get your app ahead of the curve, here’s the top five trends in app marketing for 2022.
- Embracing testing and optimisation tools
Apple is bringing native A/B testing to its App Store, which is great news for marketers. The changes allow you to test up to 3 different product page treatments against your original product page. Switching up your icons, videos and other imagery is a great way to understand what converts new users and what doesn’t, so make sure you try this one out.
Another change on the horizon is custom product pages, which means you can be even more targeted in how you can customize messaging for the App Store. For the first time ever, you can create up to 35 additional App Store Product pages with different promotional texts, screenshots, and app previews. Each product page will receive a unique URL that can be used within your campaigns to drive specific audiences.
Even if you don’t use the App Store, you can still embrace this approach by A/B testing on your website, content and other marketing strategies. Optimizing user acquisition is key for success in 2022. There are some great tools and platforms on the market that can help you approach this strategically, and monitor your apps performance over time.
- Don’t get caught out by privacy policy changes
2021 saw a lot of changes in the world of data privacy – in April last year Apple’s iOS 14.5 update caused big headaches for paid advertising as users chose not to allow apps to track them. 2022 has a lot more changes on the horizon.
First, Apple is going to provide users better control of their personal data. Starting from January 31st, 2022, all Apple users will have possibilities of data deletion from within the apps. This option definitely gives users more rights and control over their personal data. For app developers, it means that they would need to review the data collection process in their apps.
Google is also more likely to start enforcing restrictions more seriously on apps that breach the policy updates it brought in during Q4 2021. Therefore, if you haven’t yet optimized your app metadata according to the new Google Policy update, it’s an absolute priority for this year.
- Build a brand outside of one specific app store
App stores are the connection point between your app and your users, but with so many changes in the market apps that rely too much on just one store can miss out on new user opportunities. In 2021 for example, Huawei AppGallery had over 530 million active users. And these numbers are increasing tremendously. Huawei has high ambitions not only to increase the number of users but also to enter the new markets. In 2022 we could observe the ‘battle’ between major app marketplaces in Europe. If you’re not building apps for multiple app stores you’re missing out, and putting all of your eggs into the proverbial basket.
- Using organic and paid app UA and expanding acquiring channels
The best formula to increase app user acquisition is to use both organic and paid strategies. If you’ve resisted investing in paid app store marketing until this point it’s time to make that a priority for 2022.
App marketing must sit within a holistic approach to marketing – whether that’s supported by channels like Facebook and Instagram to drive downloads from your existing audience, or creating high-quality content for ads and targeting the right users on the right channels.
But you also need to look beyond just download metrics to understand the ROI for these channels. Paid might drive a lot of downloads, but are the users converting? Do organic downloads keep using the app or do they just download out of good will to the brand?
- Experiment with future technology like 5G and mobile commerce
While day to day downloads might drive your revenue today, keeping an eye on future app trends can unlock future streams. The invention of 5G technology is opening up new opportunities. The mobile gaming industry could be a major beneficiary of better streaming in real-time. Streaming app Shudder is able to generate greater revenue in the European market. Apps such as Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon streaming have also introduced seamless performances over the year 2021. Stats show their consumer usage is up to 80% in the UK and US.
Similarly, mobile commerce leads to potential benefits in raising the money for your business. Its functionality can be considered as a significant benefit for increasing your revenues and sales. Shopping apps and trading apps will carry mobile apps marketing trends to other paradigms. Mobile marketers are waiting to spread the mobile marketing apps around the world.
