How to Leverage Mobile App Influencer Marketing to Get More App Downloads

Driving downloads in 3 stages, with examples

Daniel Troesch
Better Marketing

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Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Did you know that there are 2.57 million apps available on the Google Play store and almost 1.84 million apps available on Apple’s app store?

The mobile app market is a crowded one. If you want to get more app downloads, you need to guide your potential customers through the sales funnel.

That’s where influencer marketing can come in handy. Not only can influencers help you create buzz on social media sites, but they can also help you boost your brand awareness, visibility, and drive downloads.

You can argue that you can get all of that with paid social media ads as well. Sure, you can. However, influencer marketing can give you an edge.

Influencers can start a conversation around your mobile app on social platforms. Through sponsored content, influencers can directly send their audiences to the download pages on iOS or Android. Through influencer marketing, you can spread the word about your app, get authentic reviews, and get more leads.

It’s also more effective because you can cover all of the stages of your sales funnel with influencer-generated content.

Not sure how to go about mobile app influencer marketing? Let’s take a look.

Pro tip: You can use social media to launch an influencer marketing campaign during your mobile app development as well.

Understanding Mobile App Influencer Marketing With Examples

Before making a purchase, consumers go through different stages of the sales funnel. Even before they download a mobile app, they go through similar phases.

Here are the three main stages:

  • Awareness/interest: Consumers may be looking for a solution to a particular problem that they face. In this stage, they become aware of your mobile app solution.
  • Consideration/decision: In this stage, consumers are likely to consider and compare various products or mobile apps available in the market. This is the stage where they need to familiarize themselves with the product and its features.
  • Action: Prospects turn into customers in this stage of the funnel. User acquisition is the prime goal of this stage, and to motivate users to take action, marketers usually provide special incentives, like discounts.

To get the best results, you need to align your mobile app influencer marketing efforts with your sales funnel.

Not sure how to work with social media influencers for mobile app marketing? For inspiration, let’s take a look at some mobile app influencer marketing examples.

Stage #1: Create Awareness With Mobile App Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing enables brands to reach out to social media users to promote their mobile apps. If you find social media influencers on the right platforms and collaborate with them, you can reach out to a diverse yet targeted audience.

For instance, Groupon collaborated with multiple local beauty influencers for the launch of their new app, Beauty Now. Their influencer marketing strategies involved rolling out the app city by city.

For their influencer marketing campaign, Fourstarzz Media reached out to over 50 beauty, fashion, and lifestyle social media influencers.

For mobile app marketing, influencers posted engaging videos, blog posts, and photos on social media. These were then repurposed to leverage Instagram and Facebook’s targeting capabilities.

Image via Instagram

Key takeaway for small businesses

By partnering with social influencers from different backgrounds, you can reach out to different buyer personas. Also, you can partner with local influencers to boost brand awareness in a specific region.

To amplify your brand awareness, you can also use influencer-generated content for your PPC campaigns. It’s a great combination.

For mobile app marketing, social media influencers can create personalized content for you. PPC campaigns can also help you showcase such personalized content to a targeted audience.

Stage #2: Lead Prospects Through the Consideration Phase With Mobile App Influencer Marketing

During the consideration phase, prospects want to know more about your mobile app. They want to understand how to use your mobile app, what it offers, and how it can help them. Thus, your influencer marketing strategy must outline what you need to do to lead your prospects through the consideration phase.

The right influencers can simplify your brand messaging with the help of tutorials. They can highlight how your app solves customer pain points and why it’s a great solution. A cleverly made tutorial can outline the main features of your app in a conversational manner. Make sure you give your influencers enough creative freedom to create content according to what they think will work best.

For instance, Colorado-based tech company Ibotta collaborated with influencers to explain how users could get cash back with their mobile app. Through tutorials and reviews, influencers explained how they could save money while shopping with Ibotta.

Image via YouTube

Key takeaway for small businesses

To explain your product features, text guides may be a bit too bland. Instead, influencers can engage viewers with explainer videos, tutorials, or even product reviews.

This type of influencer content makes it easier for your target audience to check out the interface of your mobile app and absorb what it can do for them.

What’s more?

An influencer’s endorsement also provides social proof. This can make a world of difference in driving them to download your mobile app.

Stage #3: Incentivize Prospects With Mobile App Influencer Marketing to Drive Action

Here’s a golden rule of marketing: Nobody can resist a good deal.

For mobile app marketing, it holds true. If you want users to download your mobile app, it’s a good idea to give them an incentive for doing so.

Wondering how to implement this in your influencer campaigns?

It’s simple.

Influencers can provide promo codes and discounts to encourage users to use your mobile app. For instance, restaurant reservation app Eatigo collaborated with influencers to promote their mobile app.

As you can see in the screenshot below, lifestyle influencer Yen Woon shared an offer code with her followers, and the followers who used this code had a chance to win a pair of plane tickets to Thailand.

Image via Instagram

UberEats took their mobile app promotion strategy one notch higher. Their influencer marketing campaign with Twitch influencer Tyler Blevins received an overwhelming response in just one day.

It was a unique collaboration — for every kill that Blevins made in Fortnite, his viewers would receive 1% off on their UberEats orders using the code “EATSNINJA.”

The influencer marketing campaign received such a huge response that UberEats had to roll back the three-day offer just in a single day.

Image via Twitter

Another great way of encouraging your prospects to engage with you is by promoting a social cause.

By partnering with the right influencers, you can take a bold stand on social issues that highlight your brand values. This social media marketing strategy can help you attract your target audience that also believes in the same cause.

For instance, Bumble worked with tennis world champion Serena Williams for the #InHerCourt campaign to promote women’s empowerment. In a 30-second video, she called on women to make the first move in love and in their lives.

Image via Instagram

Key takeaway for small businesses

Influencer marketing can help you boost engagement and drive app downloads with promo codes. Also, don’t be afraid to have a strong opinion on social causes. Support issues that are related to your mobile app or brand, and collaborate with influencers to create impactful content.

Ready to Promote Your Mobile App With Influencer Marketing?

When it comes to mobile app influencer marketing, you can think in terms of the sales funnel. People have short attention spans, and to get their attention, you first need to boost your brand awareness.

Next, you need to familiarize them with your brand and explain to them how your mobile app works. Finally, to get them to download it, you need to give them an incentive.

From the awareness stage to the consideration and decision stages, influencer marketing can help you guide your prospects through the entire sales funnel.

Do you have any questions about mobile app influencer marketing? Please share them in the comments section.

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Daniel Troesch, a former Groupon executive, is Co-Founder and COO of Fourstarzz Media | Forbes Agency Council | Influencer Marketing Technology & Services