# How to Market a Mobile App With No Budget (Indie Playbook) > How to market a mobile app with no budget: Apple and Google Play free levers, honest review prompts, communities, press, a channel table and a 90-day plan. - Canonical: https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-market-a-mobile-app-with-no-budget - Published: 2026-11-09T07:30:00Z - Author: ZeroRaised Team (https://zeroraised.com/blog/authors/zeroraised) - Publisher: ZeroRaised (https://zeroraised.com/) - Section: Growth - Tags: mobile-apps, app-store, google-play, marketing **Short answer:** to market a mobile app with no budget, spend your time on the free levers the stores already give you, then on a small number of channels where your users already gather. On Apple that means featuring nominations, in-app events, product page tests, custom product pages and promotional text. On Google Play it means store listing experiments, custom store listings and pre-registration. Around those, ask for ratings the way each platform allows, show the app in one or two communities, pitch a few writers with a proper press kit, and measure every channel with campaign links so you stop doing what does not work. Every platform rule, limit and quote below was checked on Apple's, Google's and the developers' own pages on 9 Nov 2026. The playbook, tables and plan in between are ours and are labelled as such. ## TL;DR - **Apple will look at your app for free.** You can nominate it in App Store Connect. Apple asks for "a minimum of two weeks notice" and recommends nominating "up to three months in advance" for wider consideration ([Apple: Getting featured](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/getting-featured/)). - **The store page is your best free ad.** Apple allows up to 70 custom product pages and one product page optimization test at a time for up to 90 days. Google Play allows up to 50 custom store listings and A/B tests on graphics and descriptions. - **Ratings compound, so ask properly.** Apple shows its prompt a maximum of three times in 365 days. Google's in-app review quota is unpublished. Both ban incentivised reviews. - **Promotional text is a free billboard.** Up to 170 characters, editable "at any time without having to submit a new version" ([Apple: Product page](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page/)). - **Go where your users already are.** One community, one content format (short video is covered in our [TikTok playbook for indie apps](https://zeroraised.com/blog/tiktok-marketing-for-indie-apps)), one press push. Not ten channels at once. - **Measure installs per channel.** Apple campaign links use `pt=` and `ct=` tokens; Google Play reports store listing acquisitions and visitors. If a channel does not show up in those numbers after a few weeks, drop it. **Disclosure:** ZeroRaised publishes this guide and runs a free launch directory for bootstrapped products, which we mention at the end. We have no commercial relationship with Apple, Google or any developer named here, and no link in this post is an affiliate link. Facts come from the linked sources as checked on 9 Nov 2026. ## What "no budget" actually means for an app No budget does not mean no cost. It means you pay in hours, attention and nerve instead of ad spend. That changes which channels make sense. Paid acquisition works by buying installs at a price below what a user is worth to you. Without a budget you cannot run that loop, so you need channels where the marginal cost of one more user is close to zero once the work is done. Those channels have three things in common: 1. **They compound.** A good rating average, a ranked store page or a useful web page keeps working after you stop touching it. 2. **They borrow someone else's audience.** Apple's editors, a subreddit, a newsletter writer, another indie developer's users. 3. **They reward being specific.** A generic "productivity app" gets nothing for free. A "knitting pattern tracker" or a "widget for your home screen" gives a community, a writer or an editor a reason to care. Becky Hansmeyer, who builds the knitting and crochet app YarnBuddy, wrote about trying paid ads and then moving away from them: "What I ultimately learned is that while they may cause a small uptick in downloads, they aren't the right fit for YarnBuddy." After she shifted to sharing on Instagram, "I started to see an increase in new trials being started. Downloads began to slowly increase." She called it "my favorite kind of marketing: genuine, low-key, and nearly impossible to measure in any kind of useful way" ([Becky Hansmeyer, Rediscovery, 11 Jan 2023](https://www.beckyhansmeyer.com/2023/01/11/rediscovery/)). That last line is the honest trade-off. Free marketing is often harder to measure than paid. This guide tries to fix as much of that as the stores allow. If you have not launched yet, start with our guide on [how to launch a bootstrapped app with no audience](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-launch-a-bootstrapped-app), which covers the first ten users and the launch itself. For the submission mechanics, see [how to launch an app on the App Store](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-launch-an-app-on-the-app-store) and [how to publish an app on Google Play](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-publish-an-app-on-google-play). This post is the system you run around and after launch. ## The zero-budget marketing system at a glance This is our channel table, built from the platform rules cited in the sections below. "Effort" and "time to signal" are our estimates for a solo developer, not measured figures. | Channel | Platform | Money cost | Effort | Time to signal | Compounds? | How you measure it | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Store page basics (name, subtitle, screenshots) | Both | $0 | Medium, once | Weeks | Yes | Conversion rate, store listing CTR | | Keyword research | Both | $0 | Medium | Weeks to months | Yes | Impressions from search | | Featuring nomination | Apple | $0 | Low per nomination | Unpredictable | Partly | Impressions spike in App Analytics | | In-app events | Apple | $0 | Medium per event | Days | No, but repeatable | Event impressions, downloads | | Product page optimization | Apple | $0 | Low | 2 to 12 weeks | Yes | Test results in App Store Connect | | Custom product pages | Apple | $0 | Medium | Weeks | Yes | Per-page conversion | | Store listing experiments | Google Play | $0 | Low | Weeks | Yes | Experiment results in Play Console | | Custom store listings | Google Play | $0 | Medium | Weeks | Yes | Per-listing acquisitions | | Pre-registration | Google Play | $0 | Low | Before launch | Once | Pre-registration count | | Rating prompts | Both | $0 | Low, once | Weeks | Strongly | Average rating, rating count | | Review replies | Both | $0 | Low, ongoing | Weeks | Yes | Rating trend | | Communities (Reddit, forums, Discord) | Both | $0 | High | Days | Weakly | Campaign links | | Show HN | Both | $0 | Medium | Hours | Weakly | Campaign links | | Short video | Both | $0 | High | Days to weeks | Weakly | Campaign links | | Press and app review sites | Both | $0 | Medium | Weeks | Partly (backlinks) | Campaign links, referrals | | Cross-promotion with indie devs | Both | $0 | Low | Weeks | Partly | Campaign links | | Web page and SEO | Both | $0 to a domain | Medium | Months | Strongly | Web analytics, Smart App Banner taps | | Localization | Both | $0 to translation cost | Medium | Weeks to months | Yes | Downloads by territory | | Referral and share loops | Both | $0 | Medium build | Weeks | Strongly | Share events, invites | Our read: pick everything in the first eleven rows, because they are low effort and mostly one-off. Then pick **two** from the rest, based on where your users actually spend time. ## Step 1: fix the store page before you send anyone to it Every channel in this guide ends at your store page. If that page does not convert, you are paying (in time) for traffic that bounces. So start here. ### The four fields that matter most on iOS Apple's own product page guidance gives the hard limits ([Apple: Creating your product page](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page/)): - **Name:** "An app name can be up to 30 characters long." - **Subtitle:** "A subtitle can be up to 30 characters long and appears below your app's name throughout the App Store." - **Keywords:** "Keywords are limited to 100 characters total, with terms separated by commas and no spaces." (App Store Connect's reference page describes the same field as "up to 100 bytes", which matters if you localize into languages with multi-byte characters ([App Store Connect: Platform version information](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference/platform-version-information)).) - **Promotional text:** "Your app's promotional text appears at the top of the description and is up to 170 characters long. You can update promotional text at any time without having to submit a new version of your app." How to choose those keywords is its own topic, and we have a full guide on [app store keyword research for indie apps](https://zeroraised.com/blog/app-store-keyword-research-for-indie-apps). The short version: collect the phrases your users actually type, look at the real search results for each one, and put each term in the field where the store gives it weight, without inventing search volume you cannot see. For the visual side (which screenshot goes first, captions, sizes), see our guide to [App Store screenshots for launch](https://zeroraised.com/blog/app-store-screenshots-for-launch). ### Use promotional text as a free announcement slot Promotional text is the most underused free lever on the App Store. Because it changes without review of a new binary, you can treat it like a pinned tweet: - Launch week: "New: [the one thing that makes this app different]. Free to try." - After press coverage: a short line naming the coverage, if the outlet allows it. - During an in-app event or seasonal moment: the event, with dates. - After a big update: the headline feature. Our read: change it whenever you have news, and never leave it describing something that has ended. ### Google Play listing basics Google Play's metadata works differently from Apple's, which our [keyword research guide](https://zeroraised.com/blog/app-store-keyword-research-for-indie-apps) covers field by field. The marketing point is the same: the short description, icon, feature graphic and first screenshots carry most of the conversion, and you can test them for free (Step 4). ## Step 2: nominate your app for Apple featuring, every time you ship something real This is the most valuable free thing on the App Store, and many indie developers never use it. Apple's page says: "You can use Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect to share your new content, app enhancement, or app launch with our team." On timing, it says "Featuring lead time varies", asks you to "please give our team a minimum of two weeks notice", and adds: "For wider featuring consideration, we recommend submitting a nomination up to three months in advance." It also lists what the team is looking for: "We're always looking to highlight new apps, games, significant updates, In-App Events, great stories, and more" ([Apple: Getting featured](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/getting-featured/)). ### How to write a nomination that gives editors something to work with The form is short. What goes in it is up to you. Our checklist: 1. **One-sentence pitch.** What the app does, for whom, in plain words. 2. **What is new.** A launch, a significant feature, or new content. "Bug fixes" is not a nomination. 3. **Why now.** A season, a holiday, an event, an OS feature you adopted on day one. 4. **The story.** Solo developer, a personal reason you built it, an underserved community. Apple's page names "great stories" as something it looks for. 5. **Platform craft.** Widgets, accessibility support, localization, Apple Watch or iPad support, anything that shows care for the platform. 6. **Dates.** When the update or event goes live. Submit as early as you can, inside Apple's recommended window. Our read: nominate for every meaningful update, not just the launch. It costs a few minutes, and you will never know which one lands. Do not expect a reply, and do not plan your month around being featured. ## Step 3: run in-app events on the App Store In-app events are cards that show up on your product page, in search and in editorial spots, even for people who have not installed your app. Apple describes them as "timely events within apps and games", giving examples such as "game competitions, movie premieres, livestreamed experiences, and more" ([Apple: In-App Events](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/in-app-events/)). The rules, from that page: - Where they appear: "On your product page, which displays all of your currently published events", "In search results", and "In editorially curated selections and personalized recommendations on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs." - Review: "You can submit events for review independent of a new app version and have up to 15 approved events in App Store Connect at a time." Also: "An app can have up to 10 events published on the App Store at a time." - Duration: "An In-App Event can last up to 31 days and be promoted up to 14 days before its start date." - Badges: Challenge, Competition, Live Event, Major Update, New Season, Premiere, Special Event. - Copy limits: the event name is "up to 30 characters long", the short description "up to 50 characters" and the long description "up to 120 characters". ### Events for apps that are not games Most indie apps are not running tournaments, so you need to think a little. Ideas that fit the badge types honestly: | App type | Event idea | Badge | |---|---|---| | Habit or fitness tracker | "30-day walking challenge" with a streak screen | Challenge | | Budgeting app | "New year budget reset" with a guided setup | Special Event | | Journaling app | Monthly prompt set | New Season | | Widget or home screen app | New widget pack for a season | Major Update | | Learning app | A themed lesson week | Special Event | | Any app | A big version release | Major Update | These are our examples, not Apple's. The event has to be real inside the app: if someone taps the card and finds nothing, you have wasted their trust and Apple's review time. Our read: an in-app event gives your app a fresh, reviewable reason to appear in search and on the product page. Attach your event to a featuring nomination too, since Apple's page lists in-app events among the things it highlights. ## Step 4: test your store page for free You cannot improve what you do not test, and both stores will run the test for you at no cost. ### Apple product page optimization From Apple's page ([Apple: Product page optimization](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page-optimization/)): - "Test up to three alternate product page versions against your original." - What can vary: "app icons, screenshots, and app preview videos." - Length: "You can create one test at a time which will run for up to 90 days." - Icons: "If you plan to include any alternate app icons, you'll need to include all variants of your icon in the binary of your published app. Product page optimization tests that don't include any alternate app icons can be submitted for review independent of a new app version." - Traffic: you choose the share of visitors who see a treatment. Apple's example: "if you allocate 40% of your traffic to your test and have two treatments, each treatment receives 20% of your total traffic and your original product page receives the remaining 60% of your total traffic." - Note: "you cannot change a test once it's started." ### Google Play store listing experiments From Google's help page ([Google Play: Run A/B tests on your store listing](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6227309)): - "For each app, you can run one default graphics experiment or up to five localized experiments at the same time." - Default graphics experiments cover "icon, feature graphic, and screenshots." Localized experiments let you "experiment with your app's icon, feature graphic, screenshots, and/or your app's descriptions". - During setup "you can choose up to 2 variants". - "Store listing experiments stop automatically after running for 6 months." ### What to test first (our order) 1. **First screenshot.** It is the one most people see in search. Test the message, not just the colour. 2. **Icon.** On Apple this needs the alternate icons in your binary, so plan it into a release. 3. **Short description (Google Play).** Localized experiments allow it. 4. **Preview video vs no video.** Our read: small apps get small traffic, so tests take a long time to reach a result. Test one bold change at a time (a different headline promise), not five subtle ones. A tiny colour tweak will not reach a clear answer at indie traffic levels. ## Step 5: build custom pages for each audience A generic store page has to speak to everyone. A custom page speaks to one group, and both stores let you build many of them for free. ### Apple custom product pages From Apple ([Apple: Custom product pages](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/custom-product-pages/)): - "You can publish up to 70 additional versions of your product page on the App Store for iPhone and iPad." - "Vary the screenshots, promotional text, and/or app previews on each product page." - Each page has "a unique URL to share." You "can also assign a deep link for each of your custom product pages", supported in "iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, or later." - "Custom product pages can also appear in relevant search results." And "You can also assign keywords to your custom product page to make them even more discoverable." - "Any metadata included in your custom product pages must be submitted for review, which you can do independent of an app update." ### Google Play custom store listings From Google ([Google Play: Custom store listings](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9867158)): - "You can create up to 50 custom store listing pages." - Targeting options include country or region, pre-registration, search keywords, churned and lapsed users, buyer segments, ads traffic and custom audiences. A listing can also be reached by URL: `https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=[packageName]&listing=[parameter]`. - "you can only target a country with one custom store listing at a time." ### How a no-budget developer uses them Paid marketers use custom pages for ad campaigns. You can use them for free channels: - **One page per community.** If you post in a running forum and a cycling subreddit, give each a page whose first screenshot shows that use case. - **One page per press piece or newsletter.** The writer's readers land on screenshots that match the article. - **One page per use case keyword.** On Apple, a custom page can be assigned keywords and appear in search. - **A win-back page (Google Play).** Target lapsed or churned users with screenshots of what is new. Combined with campaign links (Step 11), this turns "I posted on a forum" into a measurable channel. ## Step 6: Google Play pre-registration for your next launch If you are launching on Android, pre-registration is a free waitlist that lives inside the store. From Google ([Google Play: Pre-registration](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9084187)): - "Pre-registration campaigns can only last 90 days, after which you need to launch your app to production." - "Eligible devices also have the app or game auto installed on the day it launches." - "You can create one pre-registration reward for the lifetime of an app or game's pre-registration campaign." - "You can make up to two apps or games available for pre-registration at a time." Our read: open pre-registration when you have a date you can hit inside 90 days, then point every pre-launch post at it. The auto-install on launch day gives you a real first-day spike, which helps you get early ratings while the app is fresh. Use a pre-registration custom store listing (Step 5) to speak to those early users directly. For collecting emails before launch on your own site, see [how to build a waitlist before launch](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-build-a-waitlist-before-launch). ## Step 7: ratings and reviews, done the way the stores allow Ratings are the closest thing to a free, compounding growth engine you control directly. They affect conversion on every visit, and they are what people check before they tap "Get". But both stores have firm rules, and breaking them puts your listing at risk. ### Apple: the official prompt, three times a year Apple's StoreKit documentation is explicit: "Be aware that the system displays the review prompt to a user a maximum of three times within a 365-day period" ([Apple: Requesting App Store reviews](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/requesting-app-store-reviews)). The older `SKStoreReviewController` class is deprecated, and Apple's reference says "Use RequestReviewAction instead" ([Apple: SKStoreReviewController](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skstorereviewcontroller)). Apple's ratings page repeats the limit ("You can prompt for ratings up to three times in a 365-day period") and adds two useful facts ([Apple: Ratings and reviews](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/ratings-and-reviews/)): - You can reset your summary rating when you release a new version, but Apple says "we recommend using this feature sparingly" and "resetting your summary rating won't reset your app's written reviews." - "You can respond to all reviews of your app, regardless of when they were written, in App Store Connect." The App Review Guidelines (last updated 16 Oct 2026, per the page) set the boundaries ([App Review Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/)): - **5.6.1 App Store Reviews:** "Use the provided API to prompt users to review your app; this functionality allows customers to provide an App Store rating and review without the inconvenience of leaving your app, and we will disallow custom review prompts." - **3.2.2(x):** "Apps must not force users to rate the app, review the app, download other apps, or other store-related actions in order to access functionality, content, or use of the app." - **5.6.3 Discovery Fraud:** "Manipulating any element of the App Store customer experience such as charts, search, reviews, or referrals to your app erodes customer trust and is not permitted." ### Google Play: an unpublished quota Google's in-app review API works on a quota it does not publish. Its documentation says "calling the `launchReviewFlow` method more than once during a short period of time (for example, less than a month) might not always display a dialog", and "The specific value of the quota is an implementation detail, and it can be changed by Google Play without any notice" ([Android: In-app reviews](https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review)). Its design rules are worth copying on both platforms: - "you should not have a call-to-action option (such as a button) to trigger the API" - "Your app shouldn't ask the user any questions before or while presenting the rating button or card" - "Don't prompt the user excessively for a review." When testing, note that "The quota limits are not enforced if the app is downloaded from the internal test track" ([Android: Test in-app reviews](https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review/test)), so do not assume production will behave like your test device. Google Play's ratings policy is blunt: "We prohibit any manipulation of ratings, reviews, or install counts", and its list of things not to do includes "Don't offer rewards or incentives for ratings or reviews" ([Google Play: User ratings, reviews, and installs](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898684)). ### When to ask (our playbook) Because the prompt is scarce, timing is everything. Ask right after a moment of success, never at launch of the app or in the middle of a task: - A habit app: after the user completes a seven-day streak. - A photo or widget app: right after they save or apply something they made. - A utility: after the third successful use, not the first. - Never: after an error, during onboarding, or before a paywall. Then do the free follow-up: reply to reviews, especially critical ones that you have fixed. A public reply that says "fixed in 2.3, thanks for the report" is marketing to everyone who reads it. Keep replies on topic: guideline 5.6.1 says "do not include personal information, spam, or marketing in your response." One more note on promo codes. Apple lets you request "up to 100 promo codes per version of each platform your app supports", each "valid for four weeks from its generation date", but "customers can't rate or review the app" when they use one ([App Store Connect: Promo codes](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/offer-promo-codes/request-and-manage-promo-codes)). They are useful for press and reviewers (Step 9), not for building ratings. ## Step 8: communities, Show HN and launch sites Communities are where most zero-budget apps get their first few hundred users. They are also where most self-promotion gets removed. The rule that keeps you safe: be a member first, share second, and match the format each place asks for. We have already written detailed playbooks for these, so here is the mobile-app angle only: - **Reddit.** Subreddit rules vary and change, so read each sidebar before posting, and check whether self-promotion is limited to particular threads. Niche subreddits about the problem your app solves often work better than general app subreddits, if you contribute there first. Our guide to [Reddit marketing without getting banned](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-use-reddit-for-saas-marketing-without-getting-banned) covers the etiquette. - **Hacker News.** Show HN fits apps that are technically interesting or that HN readers will try. The guidelines say "Show HN is for something you've made that other people can play with" and "Please make it easy for users to try your thing out, ideally without barriers such as signups or emails." They also say "Please don't ask friends to upvote or comment" ([Show HN guidelines](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html)). For a mobile app, that means a free download or a working web demo, not a waitlist. See [how to write a Show HN post](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-write-a-show-hn-post). - **Launch sites.** Product Hunt and the alternatives give you a one-day spike and a backlink. Our [10 free marketing channels for bootstrapped makers](https://zeroraised.com/blog/free-marketing-channels-for-bootstrapped-makers) compares the free routes, and [where to launch a SaaS](https://zeroraised.com/blog/where-to-launch-a-saas) lists the directories (most accept apps too). - **Niche forums, Discord servers and Facebook groups.** The audience for a knitting app is in knitting groups, not in app groups. Hansmeyer saw trials and downloads rise after sharing on Instagram, where knitters already were. Our read: the best community post for an app is a story or a useful answer, with the app as a footnote. "I built a widget that shows my running streak, here's the setup" beats "Check out my app!" every time. And always link with a custom product page or campaign link (Step 11), so you know whether the post brought installs or just upvotes. ## Step 9: short video, the channel that made Widgetsmith Short video is the one free channel that has produced famous overnight results for indie apps. The best-documented case comes from the developer himself. David Smith released Widgetsmith on 16 September 2020. He wrote that "The initial response to the app was warm but nothing out of the ordinary," until "Someone reached out to me on Twitter saying they'd seen Widgetsmith getting mentioned on TikTok." A creator's video showed how to use the app to style a home screen. After that, "Widgetsmith quickly became the #1 App in the App Store, and remarkably stayed there for a couple of weeks." He opens the post: "Five years ago, a TikTok video changed my life." By September 2025 he reported "around 131 million downloads" ([David Smith, Widgetsmith Five Years Later, 18 Sep 2025](https://david-smith.org/blog/2025/09/18/widgetsmith-at-five/)). In an earlier post marking 100 million downloads, he was clear about the budget: "I am not a big company with a gigantic marketing budget, I'm a single developer with no marketing budget. Widgetsmith's growth is entirely down to word-of-mouth sharing" ([David Smith, Widgetsmith += 100,000,000, 8 Mar 2023](https://david-smith.org/blog/2023/03/08/new-post/)). Two honest lessons from that story: 1. **He did not make the video.** A user did. The app produced something visual and personal that people wanted to show off. That is a product decision, not a marketing one. 2. **He was listening.** The surge started outside his own channels, and he only learned about it because someone told him on Twitter. Our read: watch for where people mention your app, and when a format starts working for someone else, make it easier for the next person to copy. You cannot plan a Widgetsmith. You can make your app easy to show, and post demos yourself. Our full guide to [TikTok marketing for indie apps](https://zeroraised.com/blog/tiktok-marketing-for-indie-apps) covers account type, music rules, disclosure, hooks that work with the sound off, and how to track installs from video with Apple and Google Play links. The short version: show the result in the first second, post on a schedule you can keep, and measure installs rather than views. For longer demos, see [how to make a product demo video](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-make-a-product-demo-video). ## Step 10: press kits, app review sites and cross-promotion ### Build a press kit once, use it for years Writers who cover apps are busy. A press kit lets them write about you without emailing back. Ours would include: - One-paragraph description and a one-line pitch. - Price and business model (free, subscription, one-time; our guide to [subscription vs one-time purchase for indie apps](https://zeroraised.com/blog/subscription-vs-one-time-purchase-for-indie-apps) covers that choice). - Store links, plus a custom product page link for press. - High-resolution icon, five or six screenshots, a short screen recording. - Founder photo and a two-sentence bio. - Contact email. If you show store badges on that page or anywhere else, follow Apple's marketing guidelines: "Use the preferred black badge in all marketing communications promoting your app", "Don't modify, angle, or animate the App Store badge", and "Minimum badge height is 10 mm for use in printed materials and 40 px for use onscreen" ([Apple: Marketing guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/marketing/guidelines/)). ### Pitch a few writers, well Ten personal emails beat a hundred copies. Pick writers who have covered apps like yours in the last few months, mention their piece, say what is new in one paragraph, and offer a promo code (up to 100 per version on Apple, valid four weeks, as above). Our guide to [getting press coverage without a PR agency](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-get-press-coverage-without-a-pr-agency) covers the pitch and follow-up in detail. App review sites, "app of the week" newsletters and podcasts that cover apps work the same way. The best targets are niche: a running newsletter will do more for a running app than a general tech site that runs one paragraph. ### Cross-promote with other indie developers Indie developers with non-competing apps often share audiences. Examples of fair swaps (ours): - A "more from friends" section in each other's settings screens. - A joint newsletter feature or a bundle on a seasonal theme. - A guest post on each other's blogs. Keep it honest and within the rules: guideline 5.6.3 forbids manipulating "referrals to your app", and 3.2.2(x) says apps must not force users to "download other apps" to access content. A tasteful, optional recommendation is fine. A gate that requires installing a partner app is not. ## Step 11: measure every channel with campaign links Without measurement, free marketing turns into busywork. Both stores give you enough data to see which channel brought installs. ### Apple App Analytics Apple campaign links add tokens to your App Store URL. Apple's help page names them: "Provider token (identified by the pt= parameter)", "Campaign token (identified by the ct= parameter)" and "Media type token (identified by the mt= parameter)", with the example `https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id123456789?pt=123456&ct=test1234&mt=8`. Attribution: "When a user downloads your app for the first time within 24 hours of using your campaign link or campaign token, they're counted as a First-Time Download." And a catch for small apps: "Each metric for your campaign will appear in the dashboard if the metric meets a minimum threshold of 5 in the date range selected" ([App Store Connect: Manage campaigns](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/view-app-analytics/manage-campaigns)). The metrics to watch, from Apple's definitions page ([App Store Connect: Metrics definitions](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions)): - **Impressions:** "The number of times your app was viewed on the Today, Games, Apps, and Search tabs of the App Store for more than one second." - **Product Page Views.** - **Conversion Rate:** "Total downloads and pre-orders divided by unique device impressions." - **First Time Downloads**, **Redownloads**, **Total Downloads**. - **Sessions:** "The number of times the app has been used for at least two seconds." - **Active Devices**, **Deletions**, **Crashes**. ### Google Play Console Google's acquisition report uses these names ([Google Play: Understand and grow your app's user base](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859173)): - **Store listing acquisitions:** "The number of users who visited your Store Listing and installed your app" - **Store-listing visitors:** "The number of users that visited your Store Listing who didn't already have your app installed" - **Click-through Rate (CTR):** "The percentage of store listing visitors who clicked on a button", which Google says "replaces the legacy "Conversion Rate" metric." Custom store listings (Step 5) give you per-listing numbers, which is the simplest way to separate channels on Android without extra tools. ### A one-sheet tracker (ours) | Channel | Link used | Week | Impressions or visitors | Downloads or acquisitions | Rating change | Keep? | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | r/[niche] post | ct=reddit-niche-nov | 46 | | | | | | Newsletter feature | custom page "press-x" | 47 | | | | | | Video series | ct=video-nov | 46 to 49 | | | | | Fill it in every Friday. After four weeks, stop the channel with the weakest downloads per hour of your time, and double down on the best one. Our read: Apple's threshold of 5 means a quiet channel will show nothing at all. That is itself a result. If a channel cannot bring five first-time downloads in a month, it is probably not your channel. ## Step 12: a web page and SEO for your app An app with no website is invisible to the biggest free channel there is: web search. A single good page also gives press, communities and launch sites something to link to. What the page needs (our list): 1. A headline that says what the app does, in the words people search for. 2. Three to five screenshots and a short video. 3. Store badges (following the guidelines above) with campaign links. 4. A short FAQ answering the questions people ask before installing. 5. A press kit link and contact email. 6. Privacy policy and support pages (both stores ask for them anyway). On iOS Safari, add a Smart App Banner so mobile visitors can install in one tap. Apple's documentation gives the tag: ``, placed "in the head element of each page where you'd like the banner to appear" ([Apple: Promoting apps with Smart App Banners](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/promoting-apps-with-smart-app-banners)). Apple's campaign page says you can "add your campaign token and provider token when implementing a Smart App Banner on your website", which lets you count installs from your own site ([App Store Connect: Manage campaigns](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/view-app-analytics/manage-campaigns)). Then think beyond one page. If your app solves a problem people search for ("how to track knitting rows", "best widget for home screen calendar"), write the genuinely useful answer and mention the app where it fits. Our guide to [SEO for bootstrapped startups](https://zeroraised.com/blog/seo-for-bootstrapped-startups) covers the basics, and [programmatic SEO](https://zeroraised.com/blog/programmatic-seo-for-bootstrapped-saas) can work for apps with lots of structured content (recipes, routes, patterns, templates). SEO is the slowest channel in this guide and the one that compounds most. ## Step 13: localization as a growth lever Translating your store page is one of the few free marketing moves that opens whole new markets at once. Apple's localization page says "The App Store is available in 175 regions and 50 languages" and invites developers to "Localize your App Store metadata in App Store Connect" ([Apple: Localization](https://developer.apple.com/localization/)). Google Play's help page on translation notes that "While it's best to use translations by native speakers", Play Console also offers automated translations for some languages ([Google Play: Translate and localize your app](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9844778)). Our order of work, cheapest first: 1. **Store metadata only.** Name, subtitle, keywords, promotional text and screenshot captions in the languages where your app already gets some organic downloads. Check downloads by territory first. 2. **Localized keyword research.** Do not just translate English keywords. People in each market search with their own phrases. Our [keyword research guide](https://zeroraised.com/blog/app-store-keyword-research-for-indie-apps) has a section on this. 3. **Localized tests.** Google Play allows "up to five localized experiments at the same time", so you can test a listing in several languages in parallel. 4. **In-app localization.** Only after the store page shows demand. Our read: if you cannot afford a translator, ask your existing users. Many people are happy to check a 30-character subtitle in their language in exchange for a credit in the app. Never ship machine-translated copy you cannot get a native speaker to read. ## Step 14: build referral and share loops into the app The cheapest user is the one your existing user brings. Widgetsmith's story is the extreme case, but every app can make sharing easier: - **Make the output shareable.** A finished workout, a styled home screen, a year-in-review card. If it looks good in a screenshot, people will post it. - **Add a share button where people feel proud,** not buried in settings. Use the system share sheet and include your link with a campaign token. - **Invite flows for social apps.** If the app is better with a friend, ask for the invite at the moment that is true. - **Referral rewards inside the rules.** Rewarding a user for inviting a friend is a different thing from rewarding a review, but read the guidelines for your exact mechanic before you ship it. Our guide to [building a referral program](https://zeroraised.com/blog/how-to-build-a-referral-program-for-bootstrapped-saas) covers the design side. ## Our 30/60/90-day plan This plan is ours. It assumes a solo developer with roughly an hour a day for marketing, and an app that is live or within 30 days of launch. ### Days 1 to 30: foundations - Rewrite name, subtitle and first two screenshots. Set promotional text. - Do keyword research and fill the keyword field (Apple) and description (Google Play). - Create Apple campaign links for each channel you plan to use. Set up the weekly tracker. - Add the rating prompt at a success moment, on both platforms. - Submit a featuring nomination for your next meaningful update. - Publish a one-page website with Smart App Banner and press kit. - Pick **one** community and **one** content format. Start participating, not posting links. - If Android launch is ahead: open Google Play pre-registration. ### Days 31 to 60: first experiments - Start one product page optimization test (Apple) and one store listing experiment (Google Play), each with a bold first-screenshot change. - Build two or three custom product pages or custom store listings, one per audience. - Ship your first in-app event, tied to a real feature or season. - Share the app in your chosen community, linked to its own custom page. - Pitch five to ten writers or newsletters with promo codes. - Reply to every review. ### Days 61 to 90: double down - Read the tracker. Drop the weakest channel. Put its hours into the strongest. - Localize store metadata into your top two non-English markets. - Write two or three web pages that answer real search questions. - Ask one or two indie developers about a cross-promotion. - Nominate again for the next update. Plan the next in-app event. - Decide whether to apply the winning test treatment, then start the next test. By day 90 you should know which one or two channels actually bring installs for your app. That knowledge is the real output of a zero-budget plan. ## Common mistakes - **Sending traffic to a weak store page.** Fix Step 1 before Step 8. - **Asking for a rating too early.** You only get three prompts a year on iOS. Waste one on first launch and it is gone. - **Incentivising reviews.** Both stores forbid it. It is not a grey area. - **Posting the same link in ten communities in one day.** That is how accounts get banned, and it tells you nothing about which place works. - **Measuring views instead of installs.** A video with 50,000 views and no campaign link teaches you nothing. - **Never nominating for featuring.** It is free, takes minutes, and Apple explicitly invites it. - **Treating launch day as the marketing.** Launch is one spike. The system above is what you run for the next year. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you really market a mobile app with no budget? Yes, if you trade money for time and focus. Both stores give you free tools: Apple featuring nominations, in-app events, product page optimization and custom product pages; Google Play store listing experiments, custom store listings and pre-registration. Add honest rating prompts, one or two communities where your users already are, a press kit, a simple web page and campaign links so you can see what works. Widgetsmith's developer David Smith wrote that he had no marketing budget and that the app's growth was entirely word of mouth. ### How do I get my app featured on the App Store for free? Submit a featuring nomination in App Store Connect. Apple says you can use Featuring Nominations to share new content, an app enhancement or an app launch with its editorial team. Its page says lead time varies and asks for a minimum of two weeks notice, and recommends nominating up to three months in advance for wider featuring consideration. There is no fee and no guarantee. ### How often can I ask users to rate my app? On iOS, Apple's documentation says the system displays the review prompt to a user a maximum of three times within a 365-day period, and the App Review Guidelines say to use the provided API and that custom review prompts are disallowed. On Android, Google says calling the in-app review flow more than once in a short period, for example less than a month, might not always show a dialog, and the exact quota can change without notice. ### Can I offer a reward for app reviews? No. Apple guideline 5.6.3 says manipulating charts, search, reviews or referrals is not permitted, and 3.2.2(x) says apps must not force users to rate or review the app to access functionality or content. Google Play's policy says do not offer rewards or incentives for ratings or reviews. Ask at a good moment, using the official prompt, and leave it at that. ### What is the first thing to do when marketing an app with zero budget? Set up measurement and the store page before you chase traffic. Create Apple campaign links or note your Play store listing metrics, write a clear subtitle and first screenshots, set promotional text, and submit a featuring nomination if you have a launch or update coming. Then pick one community and one content format you can sustain for 90 days. ## Launch your app on ZeroRaised ZeroRaised is a free launch directory for products built without institutional VC, and indie apps are welcome. Once your store page is ready, [submit your app](https://zeroraised.com/submit) and add a campaign link so you can see what the launch brings. For more no-budget playbooks like this one, [join the ZeroRaised newsletter](https://zeroraised.com/newsletter). ## Sources - [Apple: Getting featured on the App Store](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/getting-featured/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: In-App Events](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/in-app-events/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Product page optimization](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page-optimization/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Custom product pages](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/custom-product-pages/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Creating your product page](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/product-page/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [App Store Connect: Platform version information](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/reference/platform-version-information), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Requesting App Store reviews](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/requesting-app-store-reviews), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: SKStoreReviewController](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skstorereviewcontroller), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Ratings and reviews](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/ratings-and-reviews/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: App Review Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [App Store Connect: Request and manage promo codes](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/offer-promo-codes/request-and-manage-promo-codes), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [App Store Connect: Manage campaigns](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/view-app-analytics/manage-campaigns), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [App Store Connect: Metrics definitions](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Promoting apps with Smart App Banners](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/promoting-apps-with-smart-app-banners), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Promote your app](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/promote/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: App Store marketing guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/marketing/guidelines/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Apple: Localization](https://developer.apple.com/localization/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: Run A/B tests on your store listing](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6227309), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: Create custom store listings](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9867158), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: Pre-registration](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9084187), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Android: In-app reviews](https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Android: Test in-app reviews](https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review/test), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: User ratings, reviews, and installs](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898684), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: Understand and grow your app's user base](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859173), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Google Play: Translate and localize your app](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9844778), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Hacker News: Show HN guidelines](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [David Smith: Widgetsmith Five Years Later](https://david-smith.org/blog/2025/09/18/widgetsmith-at-five/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [David Smith: Widgetsmith += 100,000,000](https://david-smith.org/blog/2023/03/08/new-post/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 - [Becky Hansmeyer: Rediscovery](https://www.beckyhansmeyer.com/2023/01/11/rediscovery/), last checked 9 Nov 2026 ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you really market a mobile app with no budget? Yes, if you trade money for time and focus. Both stores give you free tools: Apple featuring nominations, in-app events, product page optimization and custom product pages; Google Play store listing experiments, custom store listings and pre-registration. Add honest rating prompts, one or two communities where your users already are, a press kit, a simple web page and campaign links so you can see what works. Widgetsmith's developer David Smith wrote that he had no marketing budget and that the app's growth was entirely word of mouth. ### How do I get my app featured on the App Store for free? Submit a featuring nomination in App Store Connect. Apple says you can use Featuring Nominations to share new content, an app enhancement or an app launch with its editorial team. Its page says lead time varies and asks for a minimum of two weeks notice, and recommends nominating up to three months in advance for wider featuring consideration. There is no fee and no guarantee. ### How often can I ask users to rate my app? On iOS, Apple's documentation says the system displays the review prompt to a user a maximum of three times within a 365-day period, and the App Review Guidelines say to use the provided API and that custom review prompts are disallowed. On Android, Google says calling the in-app review flow more than once in a short period, for example less than a month, might not always show a dialog, and the exact quota can change without notice. ### Can I offer a reward for app reviews? No. Apple guideline 5.6.3 says manipulating charts, search, reviews or referrals is not permitted, and 3.2.2(x) says apps must not force users to rate or review the app to access functionality or content. Google Play's policy says do not offer rewards or incentives for ratings or reviews. Ask at a good moment, using the official prompt, and leave it at that. ### What is the first thing to do when marketing an app with zero budget? Set up measurement and the store page before you chase traffic. Create Apple campaign links or note your Play store listing metrics, write a clear subtitle and first screenshots, set promotional text, and submit a featuring nomination if you have a launch or update coming. Then pick one community and one content format you can sustain for 90 days.