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Why Popular Brands Need ASO
August 5th, 2017
by David Bell
CEO at Gummicube, Inc.
Popular comics, TV shows, movies, and celebrities have recently made the shift to mobile by recreating their content into mobile apps. While developers are struggling to get recognized on the App Store and Google Play Store, well-known names such as Gordon Ramsay, Marvel Comics and more, have found an instant groove, reaching a new audience, and increasing daily downloads. Transitioning into the app world with a recognizable and popular brand is great, but to remain relevant, you need an ASO strategy. Games like Pokémon GO have proven that they need an ASO strategy to continue success in the app stores and retaining users. 
While Pokémon GO proved that it could attract loyal fans without having a great ASO strategy, many of those fans ended up abandoning the game within six months due to monotonous gameplay and no new updates other than one-time bug fixes. With an ASO strategy, Pokémon GO could have gained new users that were unaware of its brand or popularity. Having a built-in fan base is great and automatically guarantees a number of downloads, but understanding ASO and why a strategy is important, can do wonders for continuing an app’s success.
Why Does Having Brand Recognition Help?
A key reason behind popular brands’ success is due to having a well-known name and loyal fan base. Companies like Nintendo, and EA Sports have been rapidly growing their presence on the mobile, making a stark transition from being well-known console games. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Gordon Ramsay have also entered the app stores, and have seen mild-success in their categories. It only makes sense that celebrities like Kim Kardashian will have some success due to their fans. Her social media following is astronomically huge, which means she has a built-in user acquisition campaign without doing much optimization or marketing.
How Brands Can Attract More Users
Popular brands have a head start over other apps because they have already done the hard part; gathering fans. These popular brands, however, still need to use ASO to attract new users and continue attracting new users for ongoing growth. Recognizable brands cannot rely solely on their fan base. They need to attract new users, and improve visibility in the App Store and Google Play Store, by working on optimizing their metadata (app name, description, and creatives). Developers can continue targeting their current audience, but need to expand their reach using high-volume keywords that are carefully placed throughout the app’s metadata. These keywords are needed to expand on general gameplay terms such as “create,” “adventure,” “battle” and more to not only address the app’s core features, but to build relevancy for user searches. With ASO, developers will be able to build relevancy for these keywords, which are closely tied to how their current and new audience searches. While brands like Family Guy or The Simpsons do rely on their brand name, they also make sure their metadata is optimized to target their audience. Comparing descriptions of the three apps: Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff has the best-looking description. This app uses high-volume keywords such as “create” and “battle,” along with character names and locations, which are closely tied to the brand. These keywords are carefully placed throughout the app’s metadata to address the app’s core features and improve visibility in the app stores. 
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, however, has a description that mostly uses quotes from popular magazines or other celebrities, meaning the app isn’t taking an opportunity to become relevant for more keywords like “create” and “celebs.” When apps mostly use quotes, it gives competitors the chance to become relevant for keywords, which pushes the app further down in user searches. 
A well-known name does not automatically guarantee its success. Having a recognizable brand and a well-built app does help, but it’s imperative an app’s metadata is optimized with ASO to extend its reach past its loyal fans.
ASO Tips
There are always ways for apps to improve their metadata, regardless of its popularity among fans or within the app stores. Developers can see success by following these tips: 1. Using the Brand in App Name First and foremost, popular brands need to use the brand name in the app name. This establishes the app or game as part of the brand and makes it more likely to appear in user searches. 
2. Recognizable Characters/Logos These apps or games need to use a well-known or recognizable character or logo so fans and new users instantly know this app or game is tied to its brand. Using popular characters or logos within the screenshots or preview video is also encouraged. 
Having well-known or recognizable visuals will greatly help improve conversion and entice users with the opportunity to play as their favorite characters.
3. Don’t Forget the Description
Regardless of how popular a brand is, they cannot forget about their description. Users still need to know what they can do with this app or game, and the description is the perfect place to name-drop key characters, gameplay and more.
Key Takeaways
In the competitive app market, it is always key to have something about the app and its metadata that helps it stand out among its competitors. While having an app or game based on a popular brand may seem like an ingenious idea, using an ASO strategy is vital to determining an app or game’s continued success. A popular brand may earn some initial downloads but that does not guarantee an app will be first on “Top Charts” for multiple weeks. Instead, developers want to insure their brand is displayed properly throughout the metadata to attract not only loyal fans, but new users.
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