Social MediaFebruar 3, 2022

How to use Social Media for App Marketing: Tips for App Marketers

The importance of social media is heavily increasing these days with more app marketers approaching social channels. We can’t deny the fact that social media app marketing is one of the key factors for a successful user acquisition strategy. 

social media marketing for mobile apps

The following article is revealing the importance of using social media marketing for mobile apps. As an app marketer, you will get an overview of how to use social media channels for promoting your apps.

Why Social Media App Marketing is so important for app marketers

What differentiates a great app marketer from an average app marketer? Creativity and thinking outside of the box! Social media app marketing gives you a chance to show your skills and most importantly to show the potential of your app. You can address app users in an entirely new way.

Social media marketing for mobile apps enables interaction with potential users. App marketers can show their app from a completely different side. About 45% of internet users between 16 and 64 years of age worldwide use social media for brand research. It is important to understand that a brand presence on social media platforms gives customers the feeling of being reachable. Moreover, social media marketing can lead to a strengthened customer relationship.

primary channels for brand research datareportal
Primary channels for brand research. Source: Datareportal.com

What is Social Shares

An important part of social media app marketing is social shares. App marketers can share their web content on social media or someone else can share your web content. It is important to highlight that social shares positively contribute to the Google algorithm. In other words, Google sees this action as a ‘trust’ that your web content is valuable for people and they are willing to share it. As a result, the content about your app will be faster indexed and has more chances to rank better. 

As marketers say, when potential customers interact with your brand 7 times, they are more likely to install your app or talk about your app. Social shares are a great way to reach customers from different sides and angles more often. So social media app marketing makes a lot of sense when your main purpose is to drive traffic to your app.

Social Media Platforms to consider for App Marketing Strategy

There are many different social media platforms around the world. However, not all of them are relevant for your app business. Depending on the country and audience that you want to target, you need to choose which social media channel is more beneficial for your app marketing strategy. Let’s go through the most well-known platforms!

Facebook (Meta) for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 2.89 Billion

CPM: $11.54 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $86 billion

Launched: 2004

Industry Impact: B2C

Facebook is the biggest performer out of the social networks with almost 3 Billion monthly active users.  15% of Facebook users are on the platform to find and shop for products. Facebook is a great social media channel for app marketing because it is easy to scale and can get you a lot of volume. Yet if your organic traffic is increasing to a certain level, Facebook will notice it. They will put an end to it simply because they want to get you to do paid ads. The same is happening on Instagram since it's owned by Facebook too. Nevertheless, it is still a great platform for running ads for mobile apps.

organic paid ua facebook
Examples of a business profile and Facebook ads. Source: Hily, Pleo on Facebook


Learn more insights about organic and paid Facebook marketing for mobile apps.

LinkedIn for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 310 Million

CPM: $6.59 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $8.05 billion

Launched: 2003

Industry Impact: B2B

Although LinkedIn is a business-oriented social media platform, it brings a lot of opportunities for app marketers. When starting to dive into social media marketing for mobile apps, it is simple to get reach on LinkedIn compared to many other social media channels. Going viral is still a possibility there too. The reason for this is that only 3% of people who are on LinkedIn are creating content themselves. In other words, as long as you create engaging content, your LinkedIn users will be more likely to share it.

organic paid ua linkedin 1
Examples of business profile and ads on LinkedIn. Source: Banxy Bank, Canto on LinkedIn

YouTube for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 2 billion

CPM: $3.53 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $19.8 billion

Launched: 2005

Industry Impact: B2C

With 3 Billion searches per month, Youtube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google. Since Google owns YouTube, it's always a good idea for app companies to be presented there and include this platform into social media app marketing strategy. When a video performs well in the first hour, it will get you ranked much higher on Youtube searches. You only have to include the right keywords. Finding the right keywords for your app is an easy task with the help of the App Radar Tool. With the right social media strategy, already after 24 hours of uploading a video, you will be able to see results.

organic paid ua youtube
Examples of brand account and ads on YouTube. Source: Tinder, RAID on YouTube

Twitter for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 353 million

CPM: $6.46 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $3.72 billion

Launched: 2006

Industry Impact: B2B and B2C

When thinking about social media for apps, Twitter is always a good option to go for. Despite its 15th anniversary in July 2021, it is still one of the top-ranking public networks out there. According to Twitter, over 60 % of Twitter followers of small and medium businesses have bought something on the platform. Moreover, 93% of those followers intend to buy from the platform in the future. These are definitely three valid reasons to consider performing social media app marketing on Twitter.

organic paid ua twitter 1
Examples of business profile engagement and ads on Twitter. Source: Gopuff in Twitter

Instagram for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 1.16 billion

CPM: $10.17 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $6.8 billion

Launched: 2010

Industry Impact: B2C

Instagram app marketing can be a huge success because the engagement rate with brands is 4 times higher than on Facebook. It is the perfect place for B2C products, lifestyle brands, and demonstrating the personality of your app brand.  81 % of Instagram users choose this social network to research products and services. Thus in general Instagram has a lot of potential for social media app marketing. Although bringing in a lot of customers for high-priced B2B services isn't as likely, it's not out of the question either.

organic paid ua instagram
Examples of business profile and ads in Instagram feed & stories. Source: Tinder, Vacier and Crypto.com on Instagram

Learn more insights about organic and paid Instagram marketing for mobile apps.

TikTok for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 1 Billion

CPM: $10 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $35 billion

Launched: 2016

Industry impact: B2C

TikTok's average users are rather young, about 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z. But even if your target audience is a bit older, don’t underestimate the impact of TikTok marketing. This social media platform is growing tremendously fast. It can be a strong marketing channel for your app promotion. A study shows that 61 % of TikTok users globally favor buying brands that they see on the platform. Tiktok makes it possible to reach plenty of people without high costs. There are still only a few strong app brands on this rather young social media network in comparison to the competition on other social platforms. Taking the time to get onto this social media site can be a huge competitive advantage for you.

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Example of ads on TikTok. Source: Ulike app on TikTok

Snapchat for Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 500 million

CPM: $2.95 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $911 million

Launched: 2011

Industry impact: B2C

Snapchat is another strong platform for social media app marketing. This platform is great to build relationships with your customers since you can show more personal and exclusive content. Snapchat Business account enables you to filter the audience for your ads. Moreover, ads are in full screen and more than 60% play with the sound on. So the chance that users install your app is twice as high. According to a Snapchat users report, 60% of snapchatters are more likely to make impulse purchases.

organic paid ua snapchat
Examples of a public profile for business and ads in Snapchat. Source: Snapchat for Business

Pinterestfor Mobile App Marketing

Monthly active users: 444 million 

CPM:  $2 - $5 per thousand impressions

Revenue: $1.693 billion

Launched: 2010

Industry impact: B2C

Pinterest is a constantly growing platform that functions like a social media network and search engine. Interesting to highlight that 97 % of searches are unbranded on Pinterest. This gives a lot of opportunities for new app brands to get discovered. Also, if your main social media marketing goal is to drive traffic to your app listing, Pinterest is a noticeable platform for that. Users are 3x more likely to click through the advertised pins to learn more about the app than on other social media platforms. So consider Pinterest for your organic and paid UA as this platform is worth your social media app marketing efforts.

organic paid ua pinterest
Examples of paid ads and brand profile on Pinterest. Source: Kartne&Son and Piscart on Pinterest.

Tips how to use Social Media for App Marketing

Make a Social Media Persona

The first thing you should know in social media marketing for mobile apps is your users. What people do you want to reach, what do you want them to see and what are they interested in. You may know your customers but expectations and needs on social media are different. That is why a social media marketing persona comes in handy.  

Decide on Social Media Channel

Social media app marketing can consume a lot of time. Deciding which platforms are most beneficial for promoting your app is one of the most important things an app marketer has to do.

You have to find out which social media platform the majority of your target audience is using. Also, vital for social media app marketing is to know on which social networks your competitors are. There are many ways to decide which network is the most valuable for you. However, we suggest testing as much as possible. Try to test different content on different platforms and find your unique way of communicating with your audience.

daily active users on the social media
Daily active users on the Social Media Platforms

Make a time schedule

People on social media platforms get used to the frequency of channel posting. For that reason, consistency is a very important factor that you should include in your social media strategy. Decide upfront how often you want to make a post on the various social platforms. 

The time you publish a post is also significant for your social media strategy. You have to consider the different time zones your users live in. As well as the times your followers are on the particular social networks the most. Therefore, a content calendar and scheduling posts for a specific time will structure your work. 

Create unique content

Content is no longer only a tactic, a channel, or a tool. It’s a part of the experience. As mentioned in the list of important social media platforms, some are better for B2B and some for B2C. Some networks are for more business-related topics. On others, you can go crazy with your creativity and show the personality and philosophy of your app brand. You can post the same content on different platforms but in a different way. Using various layouts, structures, shapes, and tones of voice.

However, remember that social media platforms are not sales platforms. Focus on your users' interests and what they want to see. Social media app marketing is the perfect way to show them why your app is unique and why they need it. Once users have an interest in the content you put out there, they will come and check out your app. Therefore, always optimize your app store listing to not lose potential users at the last stage of the funnel.

Analyze insights

To know how your followers are perceiving and reacting to your content, you have access to analytics and insights on every social network. They are essential for social media marketing for mobile apps. You should check the numbers regularly. Adapt your social media app marketing plan due to the information you get out of there. Stay with your plan when you see good numbers and change the whole social media app marketing strategy when numbers are bad. Low numbers don't always have to imply that your content is bad. They also don't have to state that your social media app marketing isn't working. Sometimes posts are not making it to the right audience. Try to predict what people search for and then adjust your keywords. So that people who might like your content can find you. Also, listen to your followers on social networks and by that find keywords to use on your app store listing.

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Download Trends in the category Social from Google Play Store. Source: App Radar ASO Tool

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Social Media Strategy: Organic Social or Paid Advertising

Organic User Acquisition for app marketers

Organic social is the free content that social media platforms are providing for every user. For those posts, stories, pictures, videos- you don't have to pay any money. Who or how many people will see your content is up to the algorithm of the social network itself. this is one of the most challenging parts of social media marketing for mobile apps.

However, organic social plays a big role in social media marketing. It is mostly for communication with your customers and for relationship building. Keep in mind, the people who see your organic posts will be either your followers, the followers of your followers, or people who follow the hashtags that you use.  Therefore, up to a certain level, organic content is great. But if your focus is to get new customers or followers, it's necessary to bring paid ads into your social media app strategy.

For paid advertising, you need to have a budget and a specific goal that you can reach with running ads on social platforms. You as an app marketer can control who you want to reach with your paid ads. Also, you need to know with what content you would like to reach your users.

Unlike organic posting which stays on the social networks as long as you want them to, paid ads vanish as soon as you stop paying for them. In social media marketing, paid ads are more for sales pitches and to promote your app. Also to gain more followers and customers, raise brand awareness, and drive up your downloads.

If you want to get the most out of your social media marketing for mobile apps, using both promotion methods is what you should do. By integrating organic and paid advertising, you will get the best results in your social media app marketing strategy.

Learn more about Leveraging Social Media to grow Your Mobile Apps.

Summary of Social Media App Marketing

Is social media marketing for mobile apps worth it? Absolutely yes!

In order to successfully implement social media strategy for your app, you need to remember:

  • Choose the right social channel for your app promotion
  • Test different content and find the most fittable for your audience
  • Plan and schedule your posts in advance 
  • Consistency is highly appreciated by social media algorithms 
  • Always analyze your organic post and paid ads

Now that you know more about the power of social media app marketing and the difference between social media platforms, don't wait too long! With these tips and facts, your social media app marketing strategy will bring you more users and increase downloads.

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iryna lukashuk app radar
Iryna Lukashuk
Marketing Team Lead
Iryna is marketing team lead @App Radar. She is fond of creating content for app marketers and developers to help them succeed in the app business world.
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