So you have a working app in the app store. Congratulations! However, having a working app published in the app store is just the first of many milestones you have to cross on your journey towards app success. Perhaps the greatest of these milestones is maintaining continuous app growth. The key to this app growth is a growing user base. Your app needs to maintain its relevance over time if it is to continue growing.

In order to achieve this growth, there are several methods that you can use. These methods are collectively known as your App Growth Strategy. Remember, the end goal here is a continuously growing user base.

6 tips you to employ to your advantage to achieve app growth:

1. Partnerships

The right partnerships can be a huge asset to you and your business. When you work in partnerships, you combine your abilities with that of your partners, creating an even more powerful entity. Try to find strategic partners. This means they should benefit from your work while you benefit from theirs. Finding ways to loop such partners into your business can be an effective way to gain a wider user base and increase revenue.

2. Push Notifications

Push notifications are something everyone has to respond to, whether it is to take action or to ignore them. You need to integrate push notifications in your app design. Your push notifications need to be tailored to individual users. Timing, frequency and specifications can all be adjusted to achieve the maximum results. Figure out what works and what doesn’t, and use this data to your advantage.

3. Subscriptions and Paid Memberships

These are a great way of retaining customers. By committing to your service in cash, they will have a tougher time abandoning your service for that of a competitor. When you choose to offer subscriptions, make sure to offer several options for people who can’t afford your priciest deal. People love variety. If you have several options, you open your product up to more markets and revenue sources.

4. Email

Do not let your communication with your app’s users end at the app design level. Go a step further and reach out to them through email. Reaching out to your user base regularly is one of the best ways to convert non-users or non-paying users into paying customers. These little by little conversions add up and have a huge impact on your overall app growth.

5. Make It Personal

It is important not to forget that you have existing paying customers. You need to take care of them as opposed to neglecting them in your pursuit of a new client base. Be good to them. Make your product so good and engaging that your existing customer base loves it too much to lose it. Do not ignore user experience. Invest in your customer support team, and make sure that the people who are the first to contact your company that you have put their best feet forward.

6. Word Of Mouth

People trust recommendations from people they know more than any other source of these recommendations. Ever been to a restaurant you loved or used a new product that was just so good? The first thing you think about is sharing this new discovery with the people that matter to you. In the same way, if you have a wonderful product combined with excellent customer service, your user base will love using it. If they love your product, they will become the most effective marketing tool you can have in your arsenal. Sharing their experience with people they know is the perfect way to get the word out about your product. It may be a little slow, but word of mouth is an effective way to get the most loyal customer base you could ever ask for. This translates to more revenue and better app growth.

 

In designing your App Growth Strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. The design of your app should be simple and streamlined. Your users should be able to access what they need within a few seconds of launching the app. By making your user experience simple, unique and enjoyable, your app will stay installed and therefore, relevant, for a much longer time. If people enjoy using your app, they will definitely spread the word about it.
2. Frequent app updates are essential to app growth. Consistently add value to what you already offer to keep users hooked to your app. Analyze your user data to make sure everything you add and every new feature is useful to them. Take your users’ feedback into account in your app design. Make them know that you care about what they think. This will improve loyalty and retention levels.
3. Analyze your app deeply. You need to know the features of your app that are drawing your users in, and you need to know how you can make these features better. Similarly, what is not working for you? What can you do about it? It is more than just about the number of downloads.
4. Experiment. You need to take advantage of every tool available to you. In-app messages, push notifications, and new cards are some potential ways to increase your user engagement. Try each one out and analyze the results. How can you use them differently? How can you make them add to your growth?
5. Take note of your users’ efforts. It is really hard to get users to do anything these days, so reward them whenever they take any action. A simple reward system such as a check mark or a thank you after filling out a form, a badge after subscribing to something, or a thank you email after making a purchase, will go a long way in helping you put your best foot forward and gain a more loyal client base.
6. Do not rely on social media. Most apps today rely almost entirely on social media to spread the word about themselves. Be different. Sharing buttons take up too much space in the already limited screen space your app has. Sometimes being social is not even the core activity of the app. The option to share through social media is just included everywhere you look because it is in vogue. Be different. Have a reason behind your actions. Make sure these social media buttons are adding some value to your product before you include them in your design. Today, users ignore sharing buttons because they are so commonplace. If they are not essential, do not include them.
   Related: How to Make a Social Media App Successful

Final Word

In the end, simply publishing your app in the app stores is never enough. It needs to be marketed so that people can learn about its existence. Once you have a customer base, you need to figure out how to take care of them and make them feel like they are part of your community. This will drive word of mouth referrals, and make you gain more loyal customers. Next, you need to find new avenues for gaining new customers and maintaining an even greater growth rate. Keep your up updated and running perfectly. Get the word out there by using every avenue at your disposal, and your app will continually grow and stay relevant even as its industry’s landscape changes.