How To Boost App Downloads with TikTok Influencers in 2022

Between 2016 and 2020, the number of mobile apps downloaded globally hit a colossal 218 billion. The industry is now worth over $295 billion and conservative estimates expect it grow by 11.5% each year until 2027. However, there are over 7.3 million apps available for download across both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. So for new app creators, this is a very competitive market to enter. What worked in 2020 or 2021 will not work in 2022. Figuring out how to boost app downloads in 2022 is key for ambitious brand marketers.

The following article discusses the benefits of using TikTok influencers to promote your mobile app and also provides some key examples of companies that are getting it right. By fully reading the following insight from the House of Marketers team, you will be well on your way to smashing your cost per installs in 2022.

Mobile App & TikTok Usage

As the technology behind mobile applications becomes more advanced, their usage becomes increasingly integrated into the daily lives of consumers. The average person now uses over 9 mobile apps every single day. But app usage is not consistent across all demographics. According to App Annie, 13-24-year-olds spend nearly double the amount of time in apps each day than those over 45.

This younger generation — usually referred to as Generation Z (Gen Z) — are early app adopters, spend more time on apps overall, and consume more app data than any other age group. Companies that want to promote their mobile apps need to know how to target this key demographic in this latest era of digitisation. Gen Z are rejecting older social media platforms. Unlike older generations, they are less interested in apps like Facebook. Logically, if you want to reach them, you need to target them using the media they are most likely to consume.

And that’s where TikTok comes in. According to a Forbes report, in the first quarter of 2021, TikTok had more downloads than any other app in the world. And who uses TikTok the most? You guessed it — Gen Z. Let’s take a look at some key statistics for TikTok usage worldwide:

• 167 million TikTok videos are watched in an Internet minute
• The app is available in over 141 countries
• 63% of TikTok users are under 29 years of age
• The user base is skewed. It’s 59% female
• In the UK, users spend an average of 60 minutes per day on the app and in the US, it’s 68 minutes
• Interestingly, only 5% of marketers use TikTok

What Are the Advantages of Using TikTok to Boost App Downloads?

In 2022, one of the best ways to boost app downloads is through TikTok influencers. With their massive reach and engaged younger following, TikTok influencers can help promote your app to a new and diverse audience. By partnering with the right influencers, you can see a significant increase in downloads. So if you’re looking to take your app’s marketing strategy up a notch, consider some of the benefits of using a TikTok influencer.

1. It’s easy to reach your target app audience

TikTok makes it super easy to reach your precise target market when they are most engaged and alert.

Promoting a dating app that connects tattoo enthusiasts? Head straight over to the #single #tattoocommunity. There are TikTok influencers that live at the heart of nearly every niche market and they know how to speak their language. They grew successful in their niche by knowing what makes their audience tick and what they’ll most enjoy watching. These insights can be used to your advantage, allowing you to reach very specific audiences in a way that will draw their attention and gain their trust.

Our TikTok marketing agency experts even assesses current trends and the colloquial language audiences are using when commenting on the highest engaged content in niche markets. By doing this, they can produce influencer content that is more likely to drive conversions for our clients.

2. TikTok users are more likely to use mobile apps in general

As mentioned, TikTok’s key demographic are under the age of 25. This is a generation of digital natives, and they are the age group most likely to use mobile applications. In 2019 41% of 18 to 26-year-olds switched to mobile payments in the UK. In the same year, 48% of people under 29 used a dating app at least once.

Comparing that to just 19% per cent of people aged 50-64, it’s clear that Gen Z is far more likely than their grandparents to look for love digitally. From loneliness to personal finance, TikTok’s young user base is ready to use an app to improve any aspect of their lives.

“With digital privacy concerns growing worldwide, social proof is more important than ever when it comes to marketing your application. Using TikTok influencers is a powerful way to gain the trust of your potential customers.”

3. TikTok influencers create social proof within the right demographic

Let’s face it, there are plenty of dodgy apps out there. When you download an app, you’re handing over your personal information and allowing a company to have some form of access to your device. With digital privacy concerns growing worldwide, social proof is more important than ever when it comes to marketing your application. Using TikTok influencers is a powerful way to gain the trust of your potential customers. Influencers put a familiar human face to your brand. Their audience knows and trusts them, and this trust transfers to the brands they promote.

4. TikTok users are more engaged compared to other platform users

The average person has a whopping 80 apps downloaded on their phone. But if they only use on average 9 apps per day, that means a lot of those apps are left gathering digital dust. But that’s not the case with TikTok.

Chances are if someone has downloaded TikTok, they’re actually using it. TikTok’s user engagement has now surpassed that of video-sharing rival YouTube. As of June 2021, TikTok users watched over 24 hours of content per month, which overtook YouTube’s 22 hours and 40 minutes. YouTube might still have more overall users, but they’re not actually spending as much time on the app. And if you think about it, promoting your app brand to people who clearly like to use apps makes a lot of sense!

 

How To Use TikTok Influencers to Promote Your App

We’ve covered the why. Now let’s get into the how. Due to its Vine-like format, TikTok is perfect for sharing short videos that can demonstrate the benefits of downloading your app. TikTok is a lot less saturated than Instagram, however there are still floods of brands moving to the platform in their drones. But with so many other brands competing for attention on TikTok, how can you make sure that your content is seen?

The best way to stand out is to work with TikTok influencers. Some brands just use TikTok ads, but you can get ahead by tapping into influencers on the platform. You can tap into their large active followings and they will help to convincingly promote your product in their videos.

Here are useful tips on some of the best ways to use Tik Tok influencers and In-Feed ads. We’ll also show you some examples of successful collaborations between app brands and TikTok influencers.

Ad Hooks

People’s attention spans are getting shorter. Have you ever wondered what makes people want to click on an ad? What hooks them in and keeps them watching? If you catch the attention of your viewers within the first 3 seconds, 43% of them are more likely to watch the whole video. By understanding and using ad hooks, you can create more successful ads.

“Compared to other platforms, TikTok is primarily a happy place. 58% per cent of viral videos express happiness. That means viewers are coming to TikTok to be entertained, so your ad hook should match their mood.”

An ad hook is a short, informative, and engaging message delivered right at the start of a brand’s advert. Effective ad hooks speak directly to your audiences’ needs and trigger an emotional reaction. Feel-good and surprising ad hooks generate the best response, according to one Semrush study. So avoid eliciting emotions such as anger, sadness, fear or embarrassment.

Trigger happiness and laughter in the first 3 seconds of ads

Compared to other platforms, TikTok is primarily a happy place. 58% per cent of viral videos express happiness. That means viewers are coming to TikTok to be entertained, so your ad hook should match their mood.

Resonate with their needs

So how do you use a TikTok influencer to create an effective ad hook? There are many ways to create funny and interesting hooks, but one method is to address a need or a problem directly. For example, you could open with a line like “Do you wish you could control your spending habits?” and then the influencer can present the app that will solve their problem.

Suprise your target audience

Another method is the shock factor — the influencer can show themselves in a surprising or shocking situation in the first three seconds. This encourages viewers to keep watching so that they can see what the video is all about.

You can learn a lot more about ad hooks in the following article – The Importance of TikTok Ad Hooks (The First 3 Seconds). We give you a comprehensive guide on TikTok ad hooks.

Call-To-Actions (CTAs)

There’s a reason why CTAs are omnipresent in online marketing. A call-to-action instructs the viewer to do something, such as make a purchase, download something or sign up for a service. According to a report by Ad Roll, when businesses included a CTA on their Facebook page, they increased their click-through rate by 285%. But what about TikTok influencer ads?

In a bid to develop new revenue streams, TikTok piloted a new format that integrated a call-to-action button within influencer content in 2020. This means that not only can you provide a verbal or text-based call to action, but now there’s a dedicated button that can direct your potential customers to download your app. CTA buttons drive conversion rates through the roof, so you can use this feature to your advantage. TikTok has long been perfecting the user experience for users, but now they are really becoming a platform geared towards advertisers like yourself.

Get Creative when marketing on TikTok

The beauty of using TikTok to boost app downloads is that your ads don’t need to look like ads at all. Influencer marketing on TikTok will fit seamlessly into your target market’s “For You” feed. At the same time it won’t make them feel like they are being forced to watch an advertisement. Successful influencers are highly skilled at making quality, funny and engaging content that speaks to their audience, with a genuine, human touch. You can leverage this creativity, opening smarter ways to market your app to a receptive community of followers.

And besides influencers, you can also display traditional advertisements in people’s feeds. They will appear as normal videos, so your viewers may not even initially realise they are watching an ad. This reduces the irritation factor of advertising on other platforms such as YouTube. On YouTube, users are forced to watch ads before they can view the content they really want to see. TikTok ads integrate into the user experience, without annoying your potential customers.

On top of that, companies can create their own TikTok profiles, where they can create content centered around their brand. For example, Tinder’s brand account, which has over 434.8K subscribers and 2.5 million likes, regularly posts entertaining content that fosters engagement and brand awareness within their key demographic.

@tinder we need someone to do their thesis on this 🧪👩🔬 @kateglavan ♬ original sound – Tinder

6 Brands That Used TikTok Influencers to Successfully Boost App Downloads

Here are six examples of brands that have successfully used TikTok influencers to promote their apps.

1. Mint App’s Winning TikTok Strategy

 Mint’s money management app grew its TikTok followers from 0 to 11,300 in just six weeks, amassing their brand nearly 33 million impressions. How did they do it? Their positive and playful marketing campaign directly targeted millennials between 25 and 35.

Believing them to be chronically over-worked, debt-ridden and underpaid, the creators of Mint saw an opportunity in the market. While speaking to Marketing Dive, Varun Krishna, senior vice president and head of Mint, stated, “We believe finances don’t always have to be such a grave, taboo topic. We want people to have hope, against any odds”. He continued, “So many financial brands put goals up on a pedestal and leave you with no help to get there, leaving real change feeling out of reach. We wanted to challenge [that notion], empowering individuals to embrace the possibility of success and coach them toward making it real one step at a time.”

@mintapp No judgement, which one’s you? #Halloween #costume ♬ CITY OF ANGELS – ALMIGHTY WATCHING

2. Klarna’s Buy Now, Pay Later App on TikTok

Buy now, pay later app Klarna was valued at $46 billion in 2021. This is partially thanks to their ability to capture the Gen Z and Millennial market through powerful TikTok influencer promotion. #klarna brings up an endless stream of videos where creators show off their clothing hauls, all purchased on Klarna. Much of this content is organic, which demonstrates just how effectively their initial marketing strategy was able to raise brand awareness. Their personal TikTok account boasts 53K followers and 636.1K likes. The brand frequently posts entertaining content by a number of regular creators.

@klarna how cute is @Ajahzi Gardner ♡ AND BONUS, on 12/2 only, get your 4th payment free when you check out with Klarna on the @victoriassecret ♬ original sound – klarna

3. Snack Dating App Excels on TikTok

Snack is a video-dating app that markets itself as the love-child of Tinder and TikTok. The app aims to shape the future of online dating for Gen Z. So logically they used TikTok as their primary marketing platform. In February last year, Snack received $3.5 million in seed funding, so they must have gotten something right!

The app even took the innovative step to integrate TikTok’s new Login SDK for third-party apps into their platform, allowing users to directly share their TikTok videos with potential matches.

“I fundamentally believe now that the right opportunity is the distribution on TikTok, as well as influencers. I think that combination of TikTok being the new distribution channel is going to be a massive opportunity — and that’s what we’re trying to leverage,” – Kim Kaplan, CEO of dating app Snack

Snack’s founder Kim Kaplan is no stranger to dating apps. She created the old-school desktop dating platform Plenty of Fish, which was later sold to Match.com in 2015.  “I fundamentally believe now that the right opportunity is the distribution on TikTok, as well as influencers. I think that combination of TikTok being the new distribution channel is going to be a massive opportunity — and that’s what we’re trying to leverage,” Kaplan stated.

@getsnackapp “i am loving this date “i need to leave” “#OKPerfect” 🛍 @faraibennett #dating #firstdate #storytime #shopaholic #giftideas ♬ original sound – snack video dating

4. Bumble’s TikTok Approach

Popular women-first dating and friend-making app Bumble originally gained popularity by utilising Facebook ads. But things really began to take off when they set their sights on TikTok. Due to rising costs on other marketing channels and interest in diversifying their user base, they decided that TikTok would be the right medium for them to connect with a new emerging demographic.

Bumble chose to pair with popular creators David Dobrik and Brittany Broski to create native-looking video content that caught the attention of their communities. They also ran in-feed direct response ads, which were shown to their target demographic based on in-app behaviours.

They directly contributed a 5X increase in App Install Volume and a 64% decrease in cost-per-registration to their TikTok campaign.

@daviddobrik Let me know if i meet your standards hahaha. And plz match with me on @bumble #bumblepartner ♬ WHATS POPPIN – Jack Harlow

5. VYS Games’ TikTok Approach

French app developers VYS Games created Vakarm for friends to gossip and duel each other either together or apart. To drive downloads, they decided to create a series of In-Feed Auction Ads that targeted their key demographic using TikTok’s sophisticated algorithm.

Their funny and creative ads were able to directly show potential users how much fun it could be to play the game with friends. The phenomenally successful campaign saw a 55.97% conversion rate, costing only €0.18 per app install and €0.10 per click.

@vakarm.app On répond à quelques questions sur #vakarm 😈😇 #questionsreponses #WakeUpChallenge #summervlog #prank #ete2021 #bougedela ♬ The Magic Bomb (Questions I Get Asked) [Extended Mix] – Hoàng Read

6. Playa Games’ TikTok Strategy

Playa Games, a leading mobile games publisher based in Germany, wanted to promote their new release called Shakes and Fidget. Not only did they want to boost app downloads, but they also wanted to encourage more in-app purchases (also called App Event Optimisation). They decided to use TikTok’s In-Feed Auction Ad feature to raise brand awareness with a series of augmented reality clips that showed people playing the game.

TikTok Ads Manager was able to increase the quality of traffic generated by their campaign through clever algorithm-led targeting. This resulted in an impressive Return on Ad Spend of more than 130%. The entire campaign yielded a cost-per-click rate of €0.06, which fit well within Playa Games’ marketing budget.

@shakesandfidget Spiele jetzt Shakes & Fidget! #shakesandfidget ♬ original sound – Victoria Linnen

Boost App Downloads Using TikTok Influencers

If you want to directly target the most app-savvy generation creatively and cost-effectively, then TikTok is the perfect medium. The platform’s popularity is snowballing at a tremendous rate and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. While other video sharing platforms are saturated with content and intrusive ads, TikTok is still early in the game. It provides a far more organic way to reach your audience.

If you want to take advantage of the incredible marketing power of TikTok influencers but aren’t sure where to start, enlist the help of an expert. Our TikTok marketing specialists can help you develop a Gen Z-ready marketing strategy that pairs you with the most suitable influencers who can speak directly to your niche market. Want to learn more about how we can help you boost app downloads through TikTok? Get in touch here with our team today.