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How to Target Different Generations with ASO
July 27th, 2017
by David Bell
CEO at Gummicube, Inc.
Mobile apps – a growing market that affects nearly every person in the world. On top of creating an app, developers must market their apps to a specific audience. For an app to advance, keeping their audience in mind throughout every step of the optimization process is crucial. As technology continues to grow and the app market progresses, developers need to continually market their app to their target audience. Recently, as more and more developers crowd the marketplace, some have started adjusting their app’s metadata toward millennials. Smart phone users around the world run into the billions and within the US alone 85 percent of smart phone users are millennials. For the most part, once an app goes live on the App Store or Google Play Store, roughly 25 percent of the world’s population can access the app. Even though 25 percent seems like a small number, it still adds to an app’s overall visibility. Should developers really focus their efforts on targeting just millennials, or should they broaden their scope and target everyone? Generations of Users In today’s society, it is a commonly known fact that millennials have grown up with technology more than previous generations. For most, their daily life consists of staying connected through their mobile device, which strongly includes the use of mobile apps. Even emerging markets such as India have millennials making up the largest population group, meaning there are rapidly growing markets with easy to target audiences. While ASO best practices highly suggest targeting your app to a specific audience, targeting only millennials can limit your app’s visibility in the app stores. By focusing on only one group of individuals, your app can never reach its full potential or become relevant to other generations of users. Instead of focusing on just one generation, it’s important to look at what your app does and understand who the app is intended for. Once you understand who your target audience is, it will be increasingly easier to optimize your metadata.
1. Kids
Apps for kids have been rapidly appearing on the app stores in recent years. Developers are looking to target kids because newer generations are being born with instant access to technology. When optimizing metadata and creatives for apps targeting kids, it’s important to keep things light-hearted, fun, and most importantly colorful. Make the app name catchy and the description informational and entertaining. Since kids are most likely to install the first app they see, it’s crucial for the screenshots and preview video to be bright and colorful to instantly grab their attention. 
2. Teenagers While the majority of mobile users are millennials, roughly 45 percent of those users are less than 24-years-old, meaning they are considered “teenagers.” Teenagers tend to be pickier on what apps they download. Often times, however, their decisions are based on the current popular app featured on one of the app stores, or an app they learn about from friends. While it’s important to get featured on the App Store and Google Play Store, it doesn’t always guarantee that teenagers will be interested in your app. When targeting teenagers, it’s valuable to explore Search Ads or even look into online influencers through social media to help promote your app. Teenagers are impressionable; take advantage of their ties to social media and watch as your app’s popularity grows. 
3. Young Adults Young adults, or “millennials,” are often glued to their phone for work, school, relationships and more. If developers want to target young adults, they need to optimize their metadata by highlighting how important the app will be to a young adults’ busy life. While young adults are more likely to be drawn to recognizable social media apps like LinkedIn or Facebook, users in this age group utilize search more. Make sure that you’re following ASO best practices and take advantage of Search Ads so your app will appear first in user searches. 
4. Adults Adults are the generation where there is overlap between those that are advanced with technology and those that are still apprehensive to learn. This generation was not born with nearly as much technology as kids, teenagers or young adults, but that does not mean they should be forgotten. This generation knows exactly what type of apps they’re interested in, which means your app’s name and description need to be straight forward and to the point to gain these users. Developers need to keep in mind that their description will most likely be read by adults more than other generations. Having an easy to read description that utilizes bullet points would be incredibly beneficial when targeting adults. 
Key Takeaways It’s crucial to know who your target audience is when creating your ASO strategy. Does it mean that you have to target just millennials? No, but it’s important to understand that millennials make up the majority of mobile users. Not all apps should target millennials alone, but instead developers should take the time to understand who their audience is and develop their ASO strategy around that specific type of consumer. Take the time to understand your audience and their needs, then make sure to target their wants through your app’s metadata. Taking the time to understand your audience is just one essential part of your ASO strategy that will greatly aid the progression of your app in the long-run.
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