How and why competing application analysis can help promote your own application.

Ideas for the development of your project, in particular, applications, you need to draw from everywhere. Including watching interesting things from competitors. App Store Optimization (ASO) and analytical tools can tell a lot to the application developer how to promote their program, increase the number of downloads, make it more visible in the search results of the catalog. And it can be very beneficial to analyze applications similar to yours, released by other developers.

What should I look for in this analysis? We will talk about this in the sequel.

The target audience

True, it would be interesting to know what kind of audience is the target (CA) for a competitor? Knowing the age, gender, income and educational level of users of successful applications in your category can be a decisive factor in making decisions to promote your own program. For this information, you can use a number of excellent tools. An example is an excellent appfollow service.
')

Demographic data can confirm your assumptions about the audience of the program or, conversely, refute them.

How to use this information:

• Demographic data can help you position the application correctly in the most saturated ecosystem. For example, using data on the age of users will allow targeting to an audience with which your competitors do not work;
• The age and education of the audience will help to understand what kind of content to use. It also implies the complexity of the presentation of information and its format;
• Similarly, these data should be used to develop appropriate design and device functions. For example, for the “millennials” this is one style, for the younger generation it is completely different. Navigation, social functions - all this will be different for applications with an audience of different ages;
• Studying the income level of the audience will allow you to decide on the monetization scheme: In-App Purchases (or in-app purchases) or a paid application. If you want to get a first-class solution for monetizing with advertising, programmatic mediation Appodeal is the best choice.

Rating categories

In the application catalogs, an important role is played by the categories in which the applications with similar functionality are placed. Usually, when placing a new application in the directory, the developer must specify several suitable categories. If you work according to ASO, you need to study the rating, the relevance of each category of applications from users. Accordingly, it is necessary to post your program in suitable categories with the highest rating / popularity.



List of Airbnb analogues in Google Play and the App Store
If you know similar applications already placed in the catalog, it is worth looking at what categories they are in.

Why do this?

• After reviewing the information about the category in which the competitive application is placed, it is worth knowing the popularity / rating of this category. If this figure is high enough, you can think about using this category for your program. You can do this by looking at the number of applications in the category and the popularity of top applications, as an example;
• As a result, it is possible to achieve an increase in the position of your application both within one category and in the list of applications of the entire catalog.

Keyword Rating

The influence of keywords on the ranking of the application in the organic output of the catalog is very large, and we have already written about it here . Therefore, it is necessary to study the keywords that will be used to promote your program using special tools. The more popular a keyword is, the higher its influence on the position of the application in the search results of the catalog may be. But the competition among high-frequency keywords is large enough, so that a beginner can find it difficult to advance. Therefore, you need to choose a middle ground - popular keywords in a certain niche.


How to use this information:

• Learn the keywords used by competitors to optimize the application description page;
• Decide on the relevance of the main keywords.

Screenshots and previews

Screenshots play a very important role - successful screenshots make the application more noticeable in search results, and accordingly, the level of downloads increases. In addition, the preview is also important. We told about it already in our blog on Habrahabr.



Let's say you have already decided on what screenshots and previews you will use for your application page. But in order to make sure that the choice is correct, it is best to look at what competitors are using. We highly recommend spending your time on this.

As an example of how to take screenshots, let's take as an example the application “ Good morning - a smart alarm clock with sleep phases ”. This example is mentioned by Anatoly Sharifulin, CEO Appfollow in his Facebook . The program itself will not be discussed, let's look at the screenshots posted on the App Store.

Here are a few positive points:

• Large, legible text;
• Only two text lines;
• A full battery and the absence of the operator does not distract the attention of users;
• Successfully selected background, one theme for all screenshots;
• Selection of the most important elements of the application interface using a magnifying glass;

How to use this information:

• See what works and what does not for other applications in your category. This can help make the right decision;
• Improve the materials themselves - they must be of high quality and visible. It may be worth hiring a designer, rather than using the usual screenshots made on a mobile device. Or ask for an audit by professionals .

Monetization strategy

This is one of the most important points for the developer. After all, most applications are considered by their creators as a source of income (at least potential). Of course, it is worth thinking about the monetization model even before the development of the application itself. And here it is also worth looking at what competitors are doing.



Study the price dynamics and the model of application monetization by competitors.

How to use this information:

• Are most applications in your category free or paid? Try to go against the trend, perhaps it will help to stand out;
• Study the prices set by your competitors. Also, watch for price changes of competitors' applications;
• What model of monetization does the application use in your category - advertising, in-game purchases or something else? Understanding how your competitors make money on applications will help meet your own expectations and develop a robust monetization strategy for your program.

Reviews and Ratings

This is an important point, because the reviews and ratings greatly affect the downloadability of the application, the user's confidence in such a program. In this case, people usually indicate what they like / annoys the most. Pay attention to these points in reviews related to competitors' applications, and it will be easier for you to catch the expectations of users.

How to use this information:

• What is the nature of reviews and reviews of users of competitors' applications? This is important information that will help determine the direction of development of its program. Bugs, problem areas of the interface - usually all this is indicated by users in the reviews;
• Browse and suggestions of users, often come across great ideas that can be implemented in their program;
• Evaluate how the developers of a competitive application communicate with their audience, and how users react to developer feedback.

Updates and releases

Regular app updates let you get into the “New and Updated” section on Google Play and “Best New Apps” on the Apple Store. This is your chance to be free on the main page of the catalog! You should not abuse this technique, remember - the main purpose of updating the program is to make it even more user-friendly.

At the same time it is desirable to be in trend, and update your application no later than competitors. Otherwise, competitors can drag your users themselves by adding some interesting features to their program.

How to use this information:

• Observe when competitors release an update to be in trend;
• When updating your application, keep in mind that updating takes as much time to download to the directory as the first version;
• View your competitors' application update schedule;
• Many developers launch campaigns to promote their products with the release of an updated version of the application, so pay attention to this - all such information may be useful for you.
• In conclusion, it should be said that competitor analysis can be your powerful secret weapon to help you create and improve your own application. And if you already have such an application, we can help monetize it, turning it into a source of permanent income.