4 Psychological Hacks To Boost App Downloads

How to increase my app downloads?

Every online seller with a mobile app would have pondered over this question at some point in their business life. The mobile app domain is extremely competitive and with millions of apps to choose from, what are the odds of a customer choosing your app over your competitor’s?

Quite often, a mobile app is seen as a differentiator, something that sets you apart from others. But with a low entry barrier and diminishing cost of development, the mobile app landscape is slowly becoming trickier and tougher to succeed.

To overcome this challenge, many online sellers have started tapping into marketing psychology.

The human mind is a labyrinth of emotions. But, if you look closely, you can find certain patterns, traits, and psychological triggers that will help you understand what goes on in your user’s minds. If you are trying to market an app, this information is crucial for you.

So, here are 4 psychological hacks that you can use to boost your app downloads.

Offer A Rich Visual Appeal

As you might already know, an average customer has an attention span of eight seconds. That is, you have a very small window to catch their attention. So, when a user is scanning through the app store, it is important that your app has the best visual appeal in all aspects like the icon, screenshots, images, and colors.

Colors can trigger certain emotions in the human mind and even influence purchase decisions. It can impact the user’s perception of your app and many app marketers have taken advantage of this simple psychological fact.

For example, blue echoes stability, and it is used by financial institutions extensively. Similarly, red triggers appetite, which is perfect for restaurants. And, black evokes a regal aura, which many high-end retailers use. Therefore, to boost your app downloads you must always use the right colors.

Also, ensure that your icon reflects the functionality of the app effectively so that the user is able to understand how that app is going to help the customers with their requirements.

Likewise, while capturing screenshots for your app, always use high-quality images. If these screenshots are bland, it might create a negative impact on your user’s mind. These screenshots can be used to showcase your app’s most impressive features, thereby helping the user understand your value proposition easily.

Create Urgency

Scarcity increases the perceived value of a product or service. Yes, our minds have a tendency to think that when a resource is limited by quantity or time, it is extremely valuable. The FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) effect starts kicking in and it triggers our purchase decision. It is the same in the case of a mobile app as well.

Use words like ‘Download Now’, ‘40% off', ‘Don’t Miss Out’, or ‘Limited Period’ in your copy and create a sense of urgency in your users. While launching your app, make sure to roll it out at a discounted price or make it free for a limited time. It will push the users into completing the purchase instantly, thereby boosting your app downloads.

Encourage User Ratings & Reviews

In today’s digital world, users crave social proof before making any decision. They want to hear what others have to say about a particular product or service, before making the purchase themselves. So, it is vital that your app page has a dedicated section for user ratings and reviews. Just having a section is not enough, you must constantly engage with your past customers and encourage them to post a review.

If your app has a rating of more than 4 out of 5 in the Play Store, it means that the app is doing well, and it has helped numerous users with its functionality. This form of social proof is a testament to your app’s performance, which will trigger a greater number of downloads.

Like ratings, user reviews also create an influence on users’ minds. But it is extremely difficult to obtain reviews unless you can nudge your customers towards posting one. You need to come up with strategies like incentivizing reviews, follow-up emails, post-purchase emails, and much more.

But then again, you need to be careful when you are trying to build your review repertoire. Some users might have had a bad experience with your app and end up leaving a negative review. And, if you are unable to rectify their problems effectively, this negative review might have an adverse effect on future customers and their purchase decisions.

Be Omnipotent

If you are an app marketer, you must always ensure that your app is present in all the channels. There are numerous avenues through which users can discover your app, and your job is to make sure that you have a strong foothold at all these places

If your app has an active presence on the web, mobile, and social platforms, the chances are high that it will get noticed by your target audience, eventually urging them to download it. Therefore, create a website for your app, make vines and videos, engage with the press, start a blog, collaborate with influencers, and maintain a strong social media presence, and then you will start witnessing increased download numbers for your app.

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Summary

When you are marketing an app, you must understand that it’s not only important to collect data, it’s also important to humanize your app. The psychological hacks that we have mentioned above will give life to your mobile app. They will help you create an app that is more likable and human-centric.

But you must also remember that the human psyche is extremely complex and diverse. Each human thinks differently, and something that might appeal to one might not work on others. But you can always observe, trace out patterns and apply these psychological hacks accordingly. If you are able to influence the human psyche, on top of boosting the app downloads, you can also develop long-lasting relationships with your customers, drive engagement, and improve customer retention, which will help your business succeed in the longer run.

Vajro is here to help as well. Our instant mobile app factory will deliver your dream mobile app within a short span of time. Our app designers and marketers have conducted in-depth research on the human psyche, helping us develop apps with an intuitive design, better flexibility, and rich visual elements that will help you set yourself apart from your competition.

Book a demo to know more.