Cross promotion is a key part of an app growth strategy, especially when it comes to mobile games. Not only does cross promotion help apps overcome challenges and constraints brought about by the deprecation of the IDFA and SKADnetwork, it can grow your overall user base. Companies that implement cross-promotion strategies have reported an increase in revenue of up to 30%.
Cross promotion is a common strategy used by mobile app developers to increase the visibility and downloads of their apps. Here, we discuss why cross promotion supercharges app growth and how marketers can integrate this tactic into their overall strategy.
What is Cross Promotion?
The basic idea behind cross promotion is the leverage of a user base of one app or game to promote another app. Cross promoting is especially effective for developers with large portfolios of games as they can move users across titles and use the opportunity to scale each of their apps.
Cross promotion is most commonly used by hyper-casual publishers who have relatively low retention to keep users within their app portfolio. Brands that have common interests and audiences that don’t compete with each other can also use cross promotion for mutual benefit. Over half of companies report that cross promotion partnerships drive more than 20% of total company revenue.
The main goal of cross-promotion is to keep users playing games within the same portfolio of an umbrella company. For example, a gaming developer might have five games that are performing well, but a newer title that has just been introduced has a high churn rate. They can leverage their successful games by serving ads for the newer game on those platforms.
Why Cross Promotion Works for App Growth
Increased User Retention and Engagement
Cross promotion can help increase user retention by introducing users to other apps that fit their interests. This keeps users engaged with the developer's brand for longer periods of time, versus switching over to other competitor apps. The average American has 80 apps downloaded on their phone and uses about 9-10 apps per day. Additionally, 85% of time spent on smartphones is spent using apps. App marketers want user to spend those minutes switching between their brands' various apps rather than the apps of competitors.
For mobile gaming companies, advertising titles within other owned game apps increases retention. They are reminded of other games from the same developer as they switch from game app to game app.
Targeted Marketing
Cross promotion allows developers to target users who are likely to be interested in their new app. App developers with multi-title portfolios can create lookalike audiences from high-performing segments from their previous games. They also have a captive audience of users who have already engaged with one of their titles and have a high likelihood of engaging in others. App marketers can take advantage of the data they have gathered from their existing apps and make informed decisions when it comes promoting their other titles. They also have full control of their ad funnel and can tailor ads being promoted in their other titles, customizing the messaging and the timing of the ads to fit an audience they’re familiar with.
Increased Visibility
With cross promotion, developers can increase the visibility of their apps to a wider audience. This drives more downloads, higher rankings in app stores, and ultimately, greater revenue. When an app cross promotes with similar apps, users of the first app are introduced to a platform that they are likely to enjoy. Making sure that cross promoted apps are aligned is extremely important for this advertising strategy to work.
For example, cross promotion with a competing app could lead to a loss of users. Being strategic about the channels you cross promote your app in is the first step in the process.
Cost Effective
Cross promotion is a cost-effective way to acquire new users, as it involves leveraging an existing user base to promote a new app. This eliminates the need for expensive user acquisition campaigns and helps app developers save money. Cross-promotion lets app marketers tap into the existing user base of another app and access a new audience without spending on user acquisition. By promoting their app to an existing user base, marketers can generate downloads and engagement at a relatively low cost.
User acquisition costs can be a significant expense for app marketers, especially when relying on paid advertising. Cross-promotion can help reduce these costs by providing an alternative channel for acquiring users at little to no cost. Instead of paying for ads or other forms of user acquisition, marketers can leverage cross-promotion to gain visibility among an active, relevant audience.
While cross-promotion can save app marketers money, it's important to note that successful cross-promotion requires careful planning, alignment of target audiences, and mutual benefit for all parties involved. Effective collaboration and clear communication between app marketers are crucial for achieving cost savings and maximizing the impact of cross-promotion efforts.
Takeaways of Implementing Cross Promotion for Your App
Cross promotion is a powerful strategy for app growth that can help developers increase their visibility, acquire new users, and retain existing users, all while saving money on user acquisition campaigns.
- What is Cross Promotion? The basic idea behind cross promotion is the leverage of one app’s user base to promote another. Cross promotion is especially effective for developers with large portfolios of games as a means to move users across titles and use the opportunity to scale each of their apps.
- Benefits of Cross Promotion:
- Increased User Retention and Engagement: This app growth strategy can increase user retention by introducing active users to other apps that are related to their interests. This keeps users engaged with the developer's brand for longer periods of time, versus switching over to competitor apps.
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- Targeted Marketing: Cross promo also lets developers target users who are likely to be interested in their new app. App marketers can take advantage of the data they have gathered from their previous apps and make informed decisions when it comes promoting their other titles.
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- Increased Visibility: By cross promoting their apps, developers can increase the reach of their apps to a wider audience. This driver downloads, higher rankings in app stores, and ultimately, greater revenue.
- Cost Effective: Cross promotion eliminates the need for expensive user acquisition campaigns and helps app developers save money.
