Originally published at thinktank.personagraph.com.

Many app developers struggle with attracting new users for their app. The sheer amount of existing apps today heavily obscures your presence and you will need to be smart and work hard to get more users. In essence, having an app is no different from having any other ordinary small businesses. Even if you don’t develop apps with the intent to make money, you can take lessons from what small businesses are doing. One such lesson is to take advantage of the realm of possibilities that social media provide.

What’s so special about social media?

Social media are arguably the most convenient way to establish an online presence outside your app. A Facebook or Google+ page or a Twitter or LinkedIn account is set up within 10 minutes. This means that people browsing the internet have a lot more opportunities to come across your app and can easily learn more about it. For example, Google ranks posts on Google Plus higher in its search results than other websites. Especially when someone already follows your Google+ page and is searching for something related to what you have posted, you’ll almost be guaranteed to show up high up the first search result page.

Furthermore, social media websites are – as the word says – social. They are built to encourage interaction between people. This means people can effortlessly share whatever thought is on their mind so you just have to make sure that thought is about your app. Admittedly, this is easier said than done but everyone has to start somewhere. Promotional activities are easily implemented and a small prize can form enough incentive for people to share your message. As with your app, high engagement is what you want to have with your social media fan base.

The key is to find a highly specific segment of people that are interested in your app and tailor your message accordingly. Does your Personagraph data say that your app is most actively used by women between 20 and 25 years old that like skiing, hiking, dogs and are avid news readers? Tweet about the best ski resorts and hiking trails, share funny pics of dogs and hook into current affairs with making it relevant to your app. The amount of people on social media makes that you can just be yourself (meaning sharing and posting what you like, find interesting, etc.) and still get a huge following. No need for bells and whistles, a little patience and a lot of persistence gets you a long way. Use analytics to compare how your social media audience is developing alongside your app’s audience. Websites like Buffer and Kloutare great to track what impact your efforts have plus it lets you manage several accounts at a time. Additionally, you can buy your way to a bigger audience. Paid app install ads have become widely popular in recent years.

When you decide to start an account or a page (or several), make sure to follow these simple rules as the base of your social media presence:

• Find your niche. Tailor your tone and selection of social media to this niche.
• Stimulate interaction with your audience, ask questions, opinions, etc.
• Blatantly advertising your app will not be appreciated so do it subtly and make it relevant.

The rest is up to you.

Choosing a social network

Everybody knows Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest but there are many more social networks out there that focus on various niches. These networks are a lot less populated which means less potential customers but also less competition. See what you can do on these less obvious networks:

Quora is a place where questions are asked and answered. It is also a network that allows people to blog about what they know. By writing about what you know you build up credibility and a follower base. You can also respond to questions and (subtly) work your app in it.

Reddit covers a wide variety of different topics (subreddits) but is hugely popular with developers and other tech savvy people. It is a great network to connect to peers that can give you solid advice on all the different elements of your app.

Meetup brings back the old fashioned way of networking: actually being in the same physical space as like minded people. Talking face to face to people about your great app greatly increases your impact compared to online promotion. If your app is really good, and you’re a bit lucky, others will jump on board and spread the word about your app.

Gentlemint is basically the guy version of Pinterest. If you have an app that is targeted towards the manliest of men this website is definitely the way to go. Although still in beta (invite only) mode, this social network has received significant attention.

Kaboodle is a hotspot for anyone who is interested in fashion, design, and shopping in general. Members can put together styleboards, write blogs, create polls, and more. If your app fits these topics you can find your audience here!

Social Moms is an online community of influential women which makes it a well defined audience. Is your app relevant to modern women that are interested in health, work, parenting and food? This is the place to reach your audience.

Behance caters to all the people who appreciate beautiful and innovative design. If you’d like to show off your app’s beautiful design you can upload it where members are able to upvote it.

Slideshare is gaining more and more popularity and can hardly be called a less obvious network anymore. Although not suitable for every app, a great looking presentation impresses viewers and can increase your online visibility.

Picking one of the major social networks is always a safe choice and can give an excellent return on your invested time. However, the smaller niche networks have a bigger potential to establish a more dedicated fanbase. The last advice we’d like to give you is to balance your efforts. Unfortunately not every page can grow to be a success so know when to call it quits and try your luck elsewhere.