Tip #4 - Making Killer App Store Screenshots
How to make App Store screenshots that sell!
App Store screenshots are one of the most important pieces of your app marketing efforts. Screenshots are your way of convincing users why they should download your app.
Read that sentence once more time:
Convince users why they should download your app
Oftentimes, the temptation for App Store screenshots is to showcase every little feature your app has to offer. You, the developer, of course, understand all the ins and outs of your app, all the niche use cases, and all the little easter eggs and want to showcase those in a methodical list for potential downloaders.
However, this is the wrong approach for screenshots. When considering what you want to put in your screenshots, the first question you need to ask yourself is why do people want this app? A good place to start is examing the keywords where your app appears highest and which you believe are driving the majority of downloads. Users enter a keyword that describes what they are looking for and then browse through apps until they find one that appears to be a good fit.
So you need to put yourself in the shoes of someone who is searching and think what could I put in my screenshots that would convince a person who searched X that this is the right app for them?
You basically need to think of the story for why your app is useful. Here are some sample stories:
Photo Editor App - “Make professional photos in seconds”
Flight Tracker - “Never miss an update or delay on your flight”
Productivity App - “Write beautiful notes that sync everywhere”
Hashtag App - “Grow your followers with trending hashtags”
You should be conveying a benefit and a story as to why your product will solve whatever problem led the user to initiate the search in the first place. Then, from there, you can start designing your screenshots. Ask yourself “What screenshots could I show in what order to perfectly explain this story to people who are searching?”
Next, here are some other tips to keep in mind:
Users see your first three screenshots in search results - these are the most important and should be thought of as one set of screenshots
Search results show screenshots pretty small - so use high contrast and large fonts to convey your message
Less text is better - you should have 4-5 words MAX per screenshot because any more than that becomes hard to read at a glance, and a glance is all you’re getting in your first three screenshots
Keep dark mode in mind - some users are on dark mode and others aren’t, ensure your screenshots stick out and have high contrast for both modes
And here are some other growth-hacky ideas:
Use users’ own words in screenshots - oftentimes, users of your product are better at conveying in layman terms the benefits they receive from your app - check reviews and surveys for how people talk about your app and use those descriptions in your screenshot copy or as your high-level story
Use the App Store’s A/B testing idea to test screenshots - it’s fantastic that Apple introduced this, utilize it. Remember testing big things is always better - make three radically different variants of your screenshots to answer your own questions. Don’t just change a font, make the different variants completely and totally different.
Hope this was helpful!