An organic install takes place when users install a mobile app as a result of their interest in it. In other words, app development companies position their mobile apps so that they could be discovered with interest and drive more conversions. This term is the opposite to a paid install when an iOS and Android mobile app development is installed due to paid marketing campaign. Organic installs are considered to be more effective since they deliver long-term goals and drive more organic users with a better ROI (return on investment).
Why organic installs are more preferable?
Firstly, app development companies get more loyal users who stay active within an app longer than paid ones. Secondly, it means a better ranking within app stores. Thirdly, this high lifetime value can be used for subsidizing further steps necessary to maintain the mobile app at the top of the app stores.
However, in iOS and Android mobile app development, mobile ads with calls to action became also very popular among app developers as a means to get mobile apps into people’s mobile devices. Paid installs do more than that. In most app categories, there is a correlation between paid app installs and organic ones:
Figure 1: Correlation Between Organic and Paid Mobile App Installs Worldwide, by OS and App Category
Source: Emarketer.com, August 2014
So, iOS and Android mobile app development benefits from the paid marketing campaigns in two ways: higher app rankings and automatic increase in organic installs. Obviously, having a strategic balance between paid and organic marketing efforts is what makes mobile apps go.
However, when app development companies stop investments in paid campaigns, the mobile app story can go into recession.
How to receive more organic installs due to high Apple App Store and GooglePlay rankings? The question is a challenge because supporting high Appstore and GooglePlay rankings sometimes seem to be more difficult in-app promotion than achieving these positions.
iOS and Android mobile app development have a very special phenomenon with improbable success. The phenomenon is known as Flappy Bird, a video game that was reported to have 50 million downloads and 47, 000 reviews. App developers and analysts still dispute the reasons, which made the game so popular. Since the worst speculations about the game are simply speculations, everything one can say is that the mobile app gained an edge on the competition through organic installs in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It is game qualities, due to which the app drove many organic installs and high rankings. Users played a non-timewasting game for just a few minutes, got scores, and felt like they had achieved something. Other players‘ higher scores got them intrigued into playing. They showed off to their friends‘ The creator of Flappy Bird denied any paid mobile app promotion. Organic installs looked like a never-ending chain in the Flappy Bird success story. What can app developers learn from it?
App development companies will definitely add more value to a mobile game if the app is short and simple. Organic mobile app promotion will also benefit if an app is free and is easy to share like the Flappy Bird app. These things are important for business apps, too. On the one hand, iOS and Android mobile app development should give users an option to share a free mobile app with their fellow students or coworkers while drinking coffee, or having dinner. On the other hand, users are more likely to install a free app even if they have not read positive reviews. Many users follow the install-now-investigate-later principle, i.e. it doesn’t make any trouble to delete a free app if a user is not satisfied with its functionality just because it’s free.
The next important thing for app development companies to start the viral process of mobile app promotion is highlighting positive reviews, both in terms of quantity and quality. It is a deciding factor for many users who make up their minds whether to install Android and iOS mobile app development. Some figures show that 15% of users would download a 2-star mobile app, while the respective figure for a 4-star mobile app is 96%.
Apart from it, iOS and Android mobile app development should take user feedback on board as a current data source. To make a mobile app self-sustaining, even though with the high Apple App Store and Google Play rankings, means to improve to a standard that will make users return and recommend it to their friends. Organic installs are based on proper user experience. Consequently, reviews are a benchmark of user engagement, their new demands for new app features. Whether it’s positive, or negative, it’s the feedback that app development companies can use to improve the app and understand their customers better.
Mobile app development companies take advantage of social media to get more organic installs. There are plenty of options for app developers to drive organic installs. Just some of them:
- Give users an option to like or follow your product through the most important social networks. Integrate social media directly into an app.
- Create a Facebook or Twitter page for an app.
- Give users an extra reason to connect to a mobile app due to a virtual reward.
- Make a long-term commitment to a mobile app community in social media. Add more valuable content to keep users engaged (screenshots, provocative questions, new versions of apps, tips, tricks, jokes, videos, relevant articles, etc.). It is worth reminding that if users join a Facebook community, it means they are interested in iOS and Android mobile app development.
- Encourage users to generate their own content and post their own videos, comments, reviews, etc.
- Make a YouTube video for a mobile app.
The latest survey from Gartner, the 2015 Gartner Multichannel Marketing Survey, says that social media was cited by marketers as „one of the most effective channels across all phases of the customer buying journey“. According to the research, social and mobile share a unique bond: 26% of time spent in mobile apps is spent on social as evidenced by 30% of Facebook’s users using mobile only.
Besides, another report states that the average person has five social media accounts and spends around 1 hour and 40 minutes browsing these networks every day.
Figure 2: Growth in members and active users of social media in 2014
Source: GWI (GlobalWeblndex), 2014
Today, iOS and Android mobile app development is a subject for constant improvement in order to be competitive and self-sustaining when it comes to mobile apps with high rankings in Apple App Store and Google Play. That is why it is extremely important to use analytics tools to determine how effective app promotion is. MobileDevHQ, SensorTower, AppAnnie, APPlyzer, AppRankCorner are very helpful for tracking app performance and re-evaluating it. Software development companies who keep an ear to the ground are more likely to reap benefits than those who don’t figure out app metrics.
Industries and Technology Areas:
Industries: IT
Technology Areas: software development, mobile application development, iOS, Android
