Whether you’re vastly familiar with the Salesforce AppExchange or have only recently dipped your toes in the water of the CRM software and all the features it has to offer, the resource remains a valuable tool for companies to access, create, share, and sell custom apps designed to make business processes easier and employee tasks more manageable. With thousands of enterprise and small-business apps designed for a variety of Salesforce uses, the AppExchange is the world’s leading business app marketplace. It’s also a powerful way for marketers, publishers, and app developers to gain recognition and experience, turn a profit, and expand into new territories.
Yet, understanding exactly how to proceed can be challenging. With so many apps available, standing out requires creating a solution that creatively meets a business need in a way that’s not only different from competitors, but sets your solution apart and urges users to peruse your other offerings.
The process of striking this exact balance is so multi-faceted (and so important), that it’s gained its own name: App Store Optimization (ASO). Yet, just as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) runs deeper than simply plugging in the right keywords and titles, so too does ASO. Successful developers are those who leverage available analytical data, including behavioral stats and popular mobile trends, to determine an appropriate target audience and ensure the solution they design is suited to meet their needs. Industry experts share the following tips for optimizing the ASO experience:
Match Your App’s Features to Your Desired Market
What appeals to one market, such as Millennials, may not be as useful or exciting to another demographic. To this end, once you’ve determined the key features of your app, research your intended audience. Is there a trending volume for those features, or is attention being diverted in another direction? Simply looking at data from search results is a great way to get started, as is reading user reviews. Often, hearing how consumers “speak” about apps similar to yours can shed light on how they perceive, share, and consume such products.
Localize Metadata to Maximize Appeal
The language you use to describe your app is critical. The keywords, title, and description you select can shape how your solution is seen, and to ensure local and global impact, it must be carefully crafted. Targeting a word in a foreign language, for example, is an excellent way to tap into new markets, yet, consider the implications if you start ranking for the same keyword in English. Similarly, global markets may differ in the features and use case scenarios they consider important. To boost appeal, consider adjusting your language for different territories, highlighting specific areas tailored to each market. This is another place data and research comes in handy. Researching the metadata used to describe apps similar to yours can help reveal how users are searching for the app, and what features are important to them.
Keep Researching and Learning, Even After the App Launches
Once you’ve done your homework, launching your app into the world is exciting. Yet, some of the most important work you can do to ensure your app’s long-term success starts now. Continually monitor which keywords are indexing, which are crossing from one territory into another, and stay aware that trends are just that—trendy, and subject to change. Update your optimization tactics regularly to stay ahead of the curve. This might look like removing keywords that are no longer striking a huge volume, or even adding keywords based on seasonal trends and movements. Either way, staying on top of your app’s progress then using that data to drive it forward is essential to growth.
These localization techniques, driven by data provided from right within the AppExchange, are valuable tools that can be used to ensure the hard work, money, and time that goes into creating an app is rewarded in full—encouraging the development of more and more solutions that make every workday a little easier.
Source:
Bell, Dave, “Why Data Should Guide Every App’s International Growth,” November 11, 2015, Salesforce Blog, https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2015/11/data-guide-app-international-growth.html?d=70130000000tP4G.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
