Grigoriy Misilyuk
Anna VintsevskaA good app marketing strategy is the backbone of your product's success. The problem is that there are too many factors to consider while preparing such a strategy. With fierce competition peculiar to the market of mobile software, you need to combine strong planning with sparks of creativity in order to make your product stand out.
Read this article to understand how to market an app properly.
What makes an effective app marketing strategy?
The main goal of an effective app marketing plan is to attract the right users to your product. Not all members of your campaign's audience will actually install your application. That's why you should be focused on app marketing techniques that bring real conversions. This conversion becomes a definitive factor, and you can achieve it with the following:
A clear picture of your core audience
Messaging that resonates instead of sounding generic
A mix of organic and paid acquisition
Creative testing that doesn’t stop after the launch
Strong communication between the marketing and the product team
How to market an app: Core components
Marketing an app is a bit like tuning an instrument. Here are the essentials:
App Store Optimization (ASO)
Your store listing is often the first real moment of truth. Keywords, visuals, and reviews decide whether a user hits “Install” or swipes away.
Paid acquisition
Used responsibly, paid ads can scale installs quickly. Used recklessly, they just burn your budget and distort your metrics.
Retention and engagement
Marketing shouldn’t stop with the install. Onboarding, push notifications, emails, and in-app content keep people coming back.
Analytics and measurement
Teams that don’t measure tend to guess. Data clarifies where users drop off and what channels actually deliver value.
Experimentation
No campaign works forever. Creative testing—messaging, visuals, audiences—is where big improvements often hide.
App marketing plan: step-by-step framework
Marketing strategies for apps may differ drastically. However, here is a universal approach that might fit most cases.
1. Define your audience
Sketch your “ideal” users. What problem are they trying to solve? What annoys them? What else do they use?
2. Position your app
Decide what makes your app different—sometimes “simpler” or “less annoying” is already enough.
3. Build your foundation (ASO, messaging, creatives)
Before you run ads, clean up your store page and make your intro materials consistent.
4. Launch user acquisition campaigns
Paid ads, programmatic, app networks, social platforms—mix and match based on goals and budget.
5. Create retention loops
Onboarding tutorials, notifications, drip emails, and in-app events.
6. Collect feedback and optimize
Watch your analytics closely and adjust. Does traffic from one platform uninstall immediately? Fix it.
7. Scale what works
Once you know what converts and what retains people, push it harder.
Key mobile app marketing channels
These are application marketing channels that we at TeqBlaze, a team with significant expertise in the adtech domain, can recommend to you.
Social media advertising
This approach is rather cheap yet efficient. Use popular platforms like Instagram or TikTok to help people remember your product and explain its value to them.
Search ads
Search ads will help you find people who already show the right intent. You can enhance this approach with the right tooling.
Programmatic advertising
More on this in a separate section, but think of programmatic as “precision targeting at scale." This approach is based on adtech technologies like DSPs and SSPs. It is typically ideal for larger budgets.
Content and SEO
Organic traffic takes longer to build, yet it pays off for years once established.
Email and CRM
Even though this approach is often viewed as outdated, email campaigns can still help you. At least, you can use such an approach to collect user data for your CRM.
App marketing tips to increase installs
Here are some app marketing tips and best practices that may come in handy.
Put your best creativity first. The first three seconds of your video ad decide everything.
Use real screenshots, not mockups. People trust authenticity.
Refresh creatives regularly. Ad fatigue kills performance in days, not weeks.
Simplify the onboarding flow. Fewer steps equals higher activation.
Run A/B to stay in control.
Make your CTA painfully clear. “Start your free trial” beats “Learn more.”
Examples of app marketing
Here are some examples of app marketing best practices implemented by the providers of different software types.
Fitness apps
Seasonal bursts (January, September, early summer) combined with influencer partnerships work well for fitness apps like Strava or MyWhoosh. Such solutions use dynamic reminders and provide personalized messages to the users.
Finance apps
Trust-building is the key. Educational content, testimonials, and secure onboarding features typically beat flashy visuals. Some notable examples of such applications include personal budgeting software like Mint or Acorns, a beginner-friendly investing tool.
Programmatic app advertising
Programmatic advertising lets you reach users with precision. They have functionality for filtering out users based on age, interests, behavior, device type, and even their likely buying intent. The real magic is in automation, which applies to multiple features, like smart floor setting or targeting. Campaigns learn which users convert and adjust bids automatically.
App companies use programmatic to:
Scale installs beyond social and search
Target users across thousands of apps and sites
Retarget people who visited the site but never installed
Serve different creatives depending on the user profile
It’s a powerful channel, especially once your app starts growing and you’re ready to explore larger budgets.
Creative fatigue and poor onboarding are very common factors that make your apps marketing strategy fail. Programmatic solutions can help you prevent these problems as they bring you excellent workflow automation.
Illia Ponomarenko, CDO at TeqBlaze
Measuring success: what KPIs actually matter
Everyone loves vanity metrics, but here are the ones that actually matter for app growth:
Cost per Install (CPI)
Useful, but only in combination with deeper engagement metrics.
Day-1 and Day-7 retention
If users vanish after the first open, no amount of advertising will save the app.
Activation rate
How many users complete the first key action?
Lifetime Value (LTV)
The only number that justifies ad spend at scale.
Uninstall rate
Helps spot mismatches between ad promise and in-app experience.
ROAS / ROI
Return on ad spend—simple and brutally honest.
Summary
Crafting a marketing strategy for apps that brings actual value might be a challenging task. You need to approach it with rigorous planning and focus on the right audience. You will also need the right tooling that will help you reach the best mobile app marketing channels. TeqBlaze, a company with exceptional adtech expertise, is ready to help you cover the technical side, whether it goes about getting the best curated deals or finding help with large-scale strategic planning. Contact us to get the right tools and tech practices tailored to your needs.
FAQ
What is the most effective app marketing strategy for increasing installs?
We suggest that you combine ASO, strong creatives, and paid acquisition to achieve maximum efficiency.
How can I reduce my CPI without losing install quality?
You can do the following:
Refresh your creatives from time to time
Tighten your onboarding
Exclude poor-performing audiences.
Which app marketing channels work best?
Ideally, combine social ads, search ads, and programmatic advertising.
How do I increase engagement after users install the app?
To do so, ensure:
Clear onboarding
Campaign personalization
Useful notifications.
How long does it take to see results from app advertising?
It will, most probably, take you 3-6 weeks to start witnessing the impact of your mobile app marketing strategy.
