When you’re up against millions of other apps in the app or play store, you need to know how to successfully launch and grow your mobile app, even when you’re strapped for a budget.

This can be achieved through growth hacking tactics which can support in building your mobile app user base, improve your app store visibility and ensure user retention.

What is growth hacking?

Growth hacking is a term applied to activities, which have allowed startups to blossom at accelerated rates. Decisions made within the growth hacking process are made solely based on, and with the aim to achieve, growth. For startups, a period of fast growth is crucial to surviving, which can be achieved through inexpensive and innovative means.

Growth hacking for mobile apps

We’ve rounded up some key growth hacks for mobile app creators that can be implemented right now. They don’t cost the world and don’t usually require the help of external support or skill sets.

1: Perfect your landing pages

Create a killer landing page that showcases the app, includes a brief description and the launch date. You should include any video or multimedia that might support the user decision-making process and include a singular call to action, such as a link to download the app.

2: Think Android first

Initially launching on Android allows you to better test your first version of the app due to a lower cost per install compared to iOS.

The CPI is often over 60% cheaper, making traffic easier and cheaper to acquire in your initial stages. Google Play updates publish within around 4 hours, making the store a more favourable option when looking to cheaply acquire users, gather data from them and run tests to fix bugs, resulting in a much more stable app when launched into iOS.

3: Design it right

So long as you’ve sunk plenty of time into ensuring app stickiness, you should look to then invest time in design. Perfect features, optimise the user interface and ensure that the navigation flow is simple and makes sense. Hubspot recommends avoiding a green CTA button, whilst ensuring that your button stands out from the rest of the page colour scheme clearly.

4: Use deep linking to increase conversion rates

One of the key barriers for apps is the high interaction rates required on the part of the user. They must download it, register and undertake a number of steps before they can actually use it.

Deep linking is the process of linking through to the app when a link is clicked in a browser or ad, and this can take you to a designated part of the app if you have it installed already.

For those without the app installed, they will be taken to the download page. This reduces the number of steps between searching for and finding the app and can inspire higher conversion rates.

5: In-app referrals

Incentivising your users to share your app, through a great referral scheme, is a key growth hacking strategy. It’s measurable, scalable and allows you to identify growth patterns during the campaign period.

With reviews and recommendations from friends overall more trusted than traditional marketing materials, incentivising users to share with friends is a very affordable and effective manner of rapidly growing your conversions.

6: Make it exclusive

One of the best ways to make people want something is to deprive them of it. Using an invite-only approach to early-access or beta builds a sense of exclusivity. Offering invite-only beta access to only a select group of people, such as key influencers in your market and journalists you can generate buzz and build interest.

7: Chatbots to support CTR

Integrating chatbots such as MobileMonkey, into your PPC activity can support in achieving higher CTR. Chatbots allow you to engage with people who have clicked on or interacted with your ad. Within this could you send a deep link to download your app, give them more information and create a personalised response to reveal the value it offers to them specifically.

8: Get pally with influencers

By building relationships with influencers early on, offering them early access and providing them with additional or exclusive content, you can build rapport with these valuable individuals. Through ongoing relationship management, you may be able to convert an influencer to become a brand advocate if the app provides them with genuine value.

9: Snapchat geofilters

A Snapchat filter can be much more affordable than a billboard but offer similar results. Geofilters offer you the capability to advertise anywhere in real time for an exceptionally low cost. Custom geofilters can cost less than £20 and are relatively simple to put together but have the potential to expose your brand and app to millions of people.

10: Reviews, awards and discovery sites

Entering your mobile app for awards and reviews is often very cheap or free. It can boost the awareness of your app through exposure and support in generating hype. Not to mention winning awards can boost your customer perceived value and create an excellent selling point on your landing page or app store page.

You should also consider listing your mobile app on sites such as Product Hunt and which curate the best and newest mobile apps (amongst other startups). This allows your app to get in front of the trend-setters and early-adopters, in a place where they are likely to already spend their time, whilst receiving ‘upvotes’ to distinguish popularity within the forum.

Is growth hacking right for your mobile app?

Growth hacking is a collection of often fairly straightforward actionable activities that you can implement to boost the user-base of your app. Through enhancing your visibility and brand awareness, you can quickly grow your app user base through highly cost-effective means.

If you want to take your mobile app to new heights through growth hacking, but you simply don’t have the time or resources, we’ve got you covered. Why not get in touch to find out how we can build a growth hacking strategy that will take your mobile app to new heights.