Goal guide · 23 examples

App marketing ideas

How apps got people to download, sign up and come back, grouped into 5 formats you can copy. Each has a one-line version for your app and a budget guide.

23examples
5formats to copy
9with stated results
9small-budget ideas
Format
Budget
Showing 23 examples
Small budget
Doable with a small team, gifting or a simple partner swap.
Mid budget
Needs a paid creator, some production or a co-branded product run.
Big budget
Celebrity fees, TV airtime or a large custom build.

Budget is our estimate of what it would take to run the same idea yourself, not what the brand spent.

Build the share into the app

6 examples

What it isUsing the app, or waiting for it, creates something that spreads it: a referral, a result, an invite.
Why it worksGrowth happens as a side effect of normal use, so it keeps working without ad spend.
Template: Build the share into the app
Moment: when a user [FINISHES / WINS / JOINS / WAITS]
Share: a [RESULT / INVITE / REFERRAL] that shows your app
Reward: both sides get [SPACE / ACCESS / CREDIT]
Measure: invites sent per new user

Budget: Small. It's product work, not media.

2021WordleMedia & entertainment

The share grid

X / Twitter

A daily word game let players share a spoiler-free grid of coloured squares.

Result The New York Times bought it in early 2022.

Copy this Give users a spoiler-free result they can paste anywhere, with your name on it.
Why it spread

The grid was a brag and a curiosity hook at the same time.

Small budget
2013RobinhoodFinance

The waitlist you climb

Landing page

Before launch, Robinhood's sign-up page showed your place in the queue and how many people were behind you, and every friend you referred moved you up.

Result About a million people joined the waitlist before the app opened.

Copy this Show people their place in your waitlist and let them move up by inviting friends.
Why it spread

Showing people their position turns waiting into a game, and the only way to win is to share. Source

Small budget
2004GoogleTech & apps

Invite-only Gmail

Invites

Gmail launched on April Fools' Day with 1GB of storage, but only to about 1,000 people, who could each invite a few friends.

Result Invites sold on eBay for $150 and more, per TIME.

Copy this Launch to a small group, give each person a few invites, and let demand build.
Why it spread

Scarcity made an account a status symbol, and every invite was a personal recommendation. Source

Small budget
1996HotmailTech & apps

The email signature

Email

Every email sent from Hotmail carried a line inviting the recipient to get a free account.

Result Millions of users within about a year and a half. Microsoft bought it in 1997.

Copy this Add a line to everything your product sends that invites the recipient to sign up.
Why it spread

Using the product was the distribution.

Small budget
2016SpotifyTech & apps

Spotify Wrapped

In-app + Stories

Every December, users get a personal recap of their listening, formatted as shareable story cards.

Copy this Turn a year of [CUSTOMER DATA] into a personal recap people want to post on Stories.
Why it spread

The ad is the user's own data. Sharing it is self-expression, not promotion.

Big budgetRead the breakdown →
2010DropboxTech & apps

Free space for referrals

In-product

Users earned extra free storage for each friend who signed up, and the friend got bonus space too.

Copy this Give both the inviter and the new user more of what your app offers when someone refers a friend.
Why it spread

Both sides got paid in the one thing they actually wanted.

Small budget

Make the app the stunt

5 examples

What it isA limited-time feature in the app is the campaign: a new button, a strange discount, a ride you can book.
Why it worksPeople have to download or open the app to join in, so the stunt drives installs directly.
Template: Make the app the stunt
Feature: a one-off [BUTTON / DISCOUNT / BOOKING] in the app
Trigger: [LOCATION / SELFIE / DATE / CODE]
Window: [ONE DAY / ONE MONTH]
Story: the headline press will write

Budget: Mid. Needs product and legal work, plus PR.

2020Dunkin'Food & drink

The Charli

TikTok + app

Dunkin' put Charli D'Amelio's usual cold brew order on the menu as "The Charli".

Result Sold hundreds of thousands of drinks and app downloads spiked 57% on launch.

Copy this Name a menu item after [CREATOR]'s actual order and sell it through your app, so every order is trackable.
Why it spread

Her fans could buy the exact drink they'd seen her order in her videos. Source

Mid budget
2018Burger KingFood & drink

Whopper Detour

App + geofencing

The BK app unlocked a 1-cent Whopper, but only if you ordered while standing near a McDonald's.

Result The BK app climbed to the top of the App Store charts.

Copy this Unlock your best offer only when customers are at [RIVAL'S LOCATION], then send them to you to collect it.
Why it spread

Trolling a rival gave the press a story and gave people a reason to download the app.

Mid budgetRead the breakdown →
2026UberTravel

Uber Drift

App

For a month, visitors to Tokyo could book a ride-along in a Nissan drifting sideways, through the Uber app.

Copy this Make one unusual ride, tour or service bookable only through your app, for a limited time.
Why it spread

A bucket-list experience inside a utility app gives tourists a story to tell. Source

Mid budget
2023Burger King BrazilFood & drink

The hangover discount

App

Over the holiday season, a facial recognition tool gave people a Whopper discount based on how hungover they looked in a selfie.

Copy this Give a party-season discount based on a fun selfie check.
Why it spread

A selfie mechanic people want to try and screenshot, tied to a feeling everyone has in party season. Source

Mid budget
2013UberTravel

UberKITTENS

App

On National Cat Day, Uber users in three US cities could request kittens to their office for 15 minutes, with the money going to animal shelters.

Copy this Add a one-day button to your app that delivers something delightful, with proceeds to a local cause.
Why it spread

A silly new button in the app gives people a reason to open it and tell everyone they did. Source

Mid budget

The mascot with a personality

4 examples

What it isThe app's mascot has a personality people love, and it shows up in notifications, ads and merch.
Why it worksPeople share a character. A mascot turns reminders into jokes and ads into episodes.
Template: The mascot with a personality
Mascot: [CHARACTER] with one trait users already joke about
Use it: in [NOTIFICATIONS / SOCIAL / ADS / MERCH]
Moment: a [DEATH / ALBUM / FASHION LINE / 5-SECOND AD]
Rule: stay in character

Budget: Small to big. Social posts are cheap; a Super Bowl slot is not.

2024DuolingoTech & apps

The five-second butt

TV + push

Duolingo bought a five-second regional Super Bowl slot showing Duo's cartoon behind, and timed a push notification to hit learners' phones as it aired.

Result Notifications reached 95% of eligible learners within 3.9 seconds of the ad, per Duolingo.

Copy this Buy the shortest ad slot you can and time a push notification to land as it airs.
Why it spread

A tiny ad that joins up with the app on your phone makes five seconds feel much bigger. Source

Big budget
2026DuolingoTech & apps

The Phonetic Collection

Fashion Week

At New York Fashion Week, Duolingo and designer Megan O'Cain showed a seven-piece collection that spells out how to pronounce names like Hermès and Givenchy.

Copy this Put your product's core job onto a partner's product, at the event where people need it most.
Why it spread

It ties the app's core job to a place where people mispronounce things constantly. Source

Mid budget
2025DuolingoTech & apps

The death of Duo

TikTok

Duolingo announced its owl mascot had died, leaned into the memes for weeks, then brought him back.

Copy this Give your mascot a storyline (a disappearance, a rivalry, a death) and let fans follow it across your channels.
Why it spread

Years of unhinged mascot content meant followers were primed to play along.

Small budgetRead the breakdown →
2024DuolingoTech & apps

Owl on the Prowl

Spotify

Duolingo released a four-track Christmas album built on its owl's reputation for guilt-tripping notifications.

Copy this Release a short Christmas album or playlist in your mascot's voice.
Why it spread

It extends a character people already know into a new format, so fans share it as part of the running joke. Source

Small budget

Right message, right moment

4 examples

What it isThe app shows up exactly when people need it, or joins a habit they already have.
Why it worksRelevance makes people laugh, screenshot and download, with no hard sell.
Template: Right message, right moment
Moment: when your audience feels [STRESSED / BORED / BROKE / LOST]
Placement: [SPONSORSHIP / REPLY / GIVEAWAY / IN-APP LIST]
Message: what the app does, in that moment
Timing: the day it happens

Budget: Small to big. A giveaway is cheap; a TV sponsorship is not.

2020CalmHealth & wellness

A moment of Calm on election night

TV sponsorship

The meditation app sponsored CNN's "Key Race Alerts" during the 2020 US election count.

Result Rose to No. 1 in the US Health & Fitness chart, per TechCrunch.

Copy this Sponsor the most stressful moment your audience watches, with a message that offers the opposite feeling.
Why it spread

A calming app next to the most stressful TV of the year is a joke people screenshot without being asked. Source

Big budget
2017Cash AppFinance

Cash App Friday

X / Twitter

People had started posting their $cashtags on Fridays asking for money. Cash App joined in, giving away cash to random repliers every week.

Result One January 2020 giveaway drew more than 56,000 replies, per Money.

Copy this Pick one day a week to give something away to people who reply with your app's name or code.
Why it spread

The brand adopted a habit users invented, and every entry is a post with the app's name in it. Source

Mid budget
2026Google Maps x Dua LipaTech & apps

Google Maps lists

App

Dua Lipa filled Google Maps with 12 shared lists of her own travel recommendations.

Copy this Get [CREATOR] to publish their real recommendations inside your product, not just talk about it in a post.
Why it spread

A celebrity's real favourite places are useful and personal, which makes fans save them. Source

Mid budget
2026Peanut x Tommee TippeeTech & apps

Matrescence

Print

A full-page New York Times ad campaigning to get "matrescence", the transition to motherhood, into the dictionary.

Copy this Campaign to get a word for your audience's experience into the dictionary.
Why it spread

Giving a shared experience a name gives people a reason to talk about it. Source

Mid budget

Take the app offline

4 examples

What it isA physical place or object that shows what the app does: a shop, a poster, a hotel.
Why it worksApps are invisible until someone opens them. A real place gets photographed and covered.
Template: Take the app offline
Place: a [SHOP / POP-UP / POSTER / ROOM] that acts out your app
Try: people use the app there to [UNLOCK / PAY / BOOK]
Share: one thing worth photographing
Link: a QR code or code to download

Budget: Mid to big. A poster is cheap; a permanent space is not.

2026AudibleMedia & entertainment

The bookstore with no books

Retail space

Audible opened a permanent New York space for browsing and sampling audiobooks.

Copy this Open a space where people can try your digital product in person, like a shop for something you can't hold.
Why it spread

A physical place for a product with no physical form is a story in itself. Source

Big budget
2026MonzoFinance

The 1p pop-up

Pop-up

To bring back its Saving Challenge, Monzo ran a 1p pop-up stunt for Coventry City fans.

Copy this Run a one-day pop-up where everything costs [TINY AMOUNT] to launch a feature about [SAVING / PRICE].
Why it spread

An almost-free offer tied to a local club gets fans queuing and posting. Source

Small budget
2026SpotifyTech & apps

Tear-off posters

OOH

Spotify made its street posters perforated so fans could tear one off and take it home.

Copy this If fans already take your posters, make them tear-off on purpose.
Why it spread

Fans were going to take them anyway, so the brand made it part of the idea. Source

Small budget
2026Pokémon Sleep x Not A HotelTech & apps

The Poké Ball hotel

Experiential

A human-sized Poké Ball sleeping pod you can stay in, set to land in Hokkaido.

Copy this Turn your product's icon into a real place people can stay in or visit, with a hospitality partner.
Why it spread

It turns a sleep-tracking app into a place fans want to go and photograph. Source

Big budget

How to market an app

  1. Find the moment in your app worth sharing (a result, a win, an invite) and make sharing it one tap.
  2. Reward both sides of a referral. Dropbox's extra space for both is still the model.
  3. Give the app a personality people can quote, in notifications and on social.
  4. Run one stunt a year that only works inside the app, so press has to mention it.
  5. Track installs from every campaign with codes or links, and cut what doesn't work.

Want creators to drive installs for your app?odim.co runs creator campaigns with trackable links and codes.

Talk to odim

App marketing ideas: FAQ

How do you market an app?

Build sharing into the product (referrals, results people post, invites), give the app a personality, run stunts that only work inside the app, and track every install back to its source.

What are some creative app marketing ideas?

Examples include Dropbox's referral space, Spotify Wrapped, Burger King's Whopper Detour, Duolingo's death of Duo and Robinhood's waitlist you climb by referring friends.

What is a good app marketing strategy for a new app?

Start with a waitlist and referrals before launch, then one clear shareable moment in the app. Paid ads work better once you know what makes people stay.

How do apps go viral?

Most viral apps have something users want to show others, like a result, a recap or an invite, and a reward for bringing friends.

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