The ability to talk is definitely one of the best and worst traits of many human beings. From the moment a baby is born, and we are pushing them to say mama or dada to when they are teenagers, and we are begging for some peace, the ability to talk and communicate freely is what makes this world the place it is today.
It may come as no surprise to many that the ability to talk can make or break your business. How many times have you asked your family, neighbor, or friend to recommend a product or a service? We always ask someone if they know a good restaurant, which school is best for my child, have they heard about the new supermarket in town and what they think about it. Communicating is a vital part of human nature. People like to share their experiences, and this is why word-of-mouth marketing has become paramount for the success of businesses.
Why does Word of Mouth marketing work?
Apart from the fact that everyone talks, there are two simple explanations as to why Word of Mouth marketing can turn your Android app business into a success.
1. Trust – It is right to think that friends will trust the opinion of their friends. Building a relationship based on trust is something that takes time, and time isn’t something a company has when it comes to acquiring new clients. However, friendship circles would already have built this trust and are, therefore, in a more stable position to ‘sell’ your brand to a different audience than you can as a company. It’s the case of having one audience member selling you to others to help build trust and loyalty
2. Freedom of choice – People do not like to be ‘sold’ to. They do not wish to be pushed a product or a service that they themselves have not enquired about. Yet, they will be willing to listen to a friend talk about a product or service that they have received, which may and usually does, entice the listener to look more into the product or service themselves. Websites such as stumbleupon that are based upon Word of Mouth recommendations have enabled many unknown or small businesses to flourish. This is because recommendation is not being sold to the audience, but it is being chosen to be viewed by the audience through friendship circles.
How You Can Create Word of Mouth for Your Android App Business
So, how do you get people to talk about your Android app business? There are a number of ways in which you can encourage people to talk, including:
1. Organic Reach
This simply means people are talking to each other without any input on your behalf. Although this is the most natural form of word of mouth marketing, you, the business, have no control over this. All you have to do is create a high-quality and intuitive app that people couldn’t resist talking about.
2. Leverage Social Networks
Getting people to share your posts on social media is the modern form of Word of Mouth advertising. Your users will pass information to their friends and family via social networks if your message is newsworthy and is not sales orientated. We also find that humorous posts are more likely to go viral.
3. Organize Competitions
The trusted competitions engage people and boost brand awareness. People get excited about winning and will share the good news with their friends. The more people talk about your app, the more likely it will become popular and be installed.
4. Give Reward For Referrals
Biggies like Uber and Swiggy not only offer the best services but also reward users that persuade their friends or family to download their app. Rewards encourage users to share positive thoughts about your app, making them your partner in success. Thus, incentivizing every user who persuades others to install your app can help you expand your user base significantly through word of mouth – the best ever marketing tool.
5. Add Social Sharing to Your Mobile App
Once users find your app valuable, make sure that they have an easy way to share it with their friends. Suppose you wait for them to close your mobile app and open another app for sharing. In that case, you might lose those recommendations because users often find one or the other interesting thing when they visit their social media accounts. Thus, they can forget to share your app. However, integrating a social sharing feature into your app will allow users to spread the word about it effortlessly.
Look, for example, at Pipes, a news app that allows users to create channels of news (pipes) focused on specific topics. It helps its users to share their favorite news with the people they know through their social accounts, and, at the same time, it follows best practices of Word Of Mouth Marketing.
6. Use Boost Campaigns to Go Viral
A boost campaign is a surefire way to create word of mouth about your app in a short period. This campaign serves as an engine that drives your app at the top of its category on the play store, resulting in organic growth. Boost campaign is way more efficient than other campaigns that last longer but do not always bring positive results.
Before organizing a boost campaign, make sure your app runs smoothly and has interactive graphics. If your app fails to work or live up to the users’ expectations, all your efforts to spread the word about your app and attract users organically will go in vain.
Besides, you should know the personas of your potential users and monitor their activities to get the intended results from your campaign. Keeping an eye on your metrics will help you know what kind of audience can turn into your lifetime users and share your app with their kith and kins.
7. Create Buzz Through User Generated Content (UGC)
UGC, as the name implies, is the content received from the users. If you make your app users feel valued, they will eagerly talk about your app with all the people they know, leading to a considerable increase in the installation rate of your app. Convince users to share a success story related to your mobile app in the form of comments, pictures, or videos through a discussion.
For instance, Mint, an application for personal budgeting, ran a user-generated content campaign named My Mint Moment on Instagram. The campaign encouraged users to share their mint moments on Instagram, which helped the company create a buzz about their app.
Final Words
User-to-user conversation happens everywhere – online and offline. You can’t control it, and you don’t even need to, especially if you have a high-quality app that deserves global recognition. Following all the above-mentioned tips can help you drive word of mouth marketing of your app and turn our users into your brand advocates.