Have you just published your Shopify app on the app store? Congratulations! Your dream is now visible, and Shopify already allows you to help e-commerce merchants and print your own money.
But I understand your feelings. So excited and confused about how to market a Shopify app. Right, this is the most challenging part for a developer or app founder to get the first 1000 customers, or to get reviews.
Don’t worry, I will give you a clear, step-by-step roadmap in this article to grow your app. It covers both the quick technical setup and the marketing channels that actually bring installs.
In this guide, you will learn both organic and paid methods, from ASO basics to retention that keeps users. I will keep this guide practical and simple so you can act fast.
How to Market a Shopify App Even if You Have 0 Users
Here, I will guide you through 10 practical steps that will help you market your Shopify app to the right customers. Some of these steps are totally underrated and nobody talks about. So, let’s begin!
Step 1: Understand the Merchant’s Problems That Your App Solves
Imagine that you have built a heavy Shopify app with extensive and complex features. However, merchants are not using your app, although you offer discounts.
I know a partner who has been working since 2021 and has published 7 apps on the Shopify App Store. But still had only 11 reviews in total!
– Why?
Because Shopify merchants don’t need your app. And it has just cost him time and energy, nothing else!
So, you should understand the pain points, challenges, and struggles of your target audience. Understanding the real problem first keeps you focused. It stops you from building useless features. It also helps you speak the merchant’s language when you market the app.
Step 2: Technical Setup (Short and Practical)
Getting your technical setup right ensures your app looks professional and performs well from day one. A well-optimized Shopify app listing not only helps with App Store Optimization (ASO) but also builds trust and increases installs. Let’s make sure your foundation is ready before marketing begins.
App Listing Essentials
Your Shopify app listing is where merchants decide if they’ll install your app or not. So, make every section count. Write clear descriptions with naturally added keywords, highlight benefits, and use high-quality visuals. These small details can greatly improve your Shopify app listing performance and conversion rate.
Pricing Model Suggestion
Pricing plays a big role in user acquisition. A freemium or free trial model lowers the barrier for new users and builds credibility. Once merchants see value, they’re more likely to upgrade or subscribe to your app. Also, competitors’ pricing has a major impact when you are setting your app’s price. Test, measure, and adjust your pricing to find what works best.
Tracking and Analytics
Without tracking, your marketing activities are totally blind. Shopify offers to add Google Analytics (GA4) to your Shopify app.
By setting up analytics, you can see which campaigns bring installs and which don’t. This helps you refine your strategy, improve results, and spend smarter. Proper tracking means faster growth with less guesswork.
Quick Checklist
Before hitting publish, review everything once more. A complete and optimized app listing boosts your chances of ranking higher in search. Make sure visuals, pricing, and tracking are in place, so your app is ready to attract and convert users effectively.
Step 3: App Store Optimization (ASO)
ASO helps your app rank higher in the Shopify App Store and attract more installs. A clear, keyword-rich listing makes your app easier to find and more convincing to merchants.
Keyword Research for the App Store
Start by finding what merchants are searching for that your app can serve. Look at competitor listings, user reviews, and Shopify App Store suggestions. Then find gaps where your app can stand out with unique long-tail keywords, especially for new apps.
Since Shopify doesn’t share any data or search terms publicly, the Shopify app store search bar and competitors are your main tools to extract the right keywords.
Listing Page Copywriting and Visuals
Your title, app card subtitle, short pitch, description, even the app name and screenshots are what merchants see first. Write benefit-focused copy that tells them how your app solves a real problem. Use clear bullet points and place your strongest visuals at the top. Good visuals make your listing more trustworthy and more likely to be clicked on the “Install” button.
Reviews and Social Proof
Positive reviews build instant trust. Encourage early users to leave feedback after they’ve seen value. Offer great support, thank them, and ask politely. Remember, never bribe or force users to give a review, as it is against the Shopify guidelines. Aim to get your first 20 honest reviews as fast as possible.
A/B Testing Ideas
Keep improving your listing with small experiments. Test new titles, visuals, or pricing. Even a small tweak can increase conversions.
Example Table: A/B Test Ideas vs Impact
| Elements to Test (A/B) | Expected Impact |
| App card, title, and descriptions change | Higher ranking |
| Visual & screenshots change | Better engagements |
| Pricing trial days/freemium | More installs |
| Feature list change | Improve CTR |
Step 4: Content Marketing That Attracts Merchants
Content helps you build awareness and trust before merchants install your app. Focus on solving real problems and showing how your app helps.
Topic Types That Perform
Write helpful guides, case studies, problem-solution articles, blog posts, YouTube video content, or social media posts. Checklists and tutorials also perform well because they’re actionable and easy to read.
Use blog topics like “how to grow a Shopify store with [feature]” or “case study: how X merchant scaled with our app.”
Video and Short Clips
Create long-form video content targeting your audience who might need your app. Then repurpose the long video into short demo videos (under 60 seconds) to show your app in action.
Also, you can repurpose webinar clips or walkthroughs for YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn. Video builds credibility and keeps people engaged longer.
Guest Posts and Partnerships
Pitch to Shopify agencies, listicle blogs, or partner apps for guest posts. Include value-driven content, not just promotion. Share real results, lessons, and data to attract quality readers.
Content Distribution Plan
Share your content across your website for SEO or AEO, LinkedIn, Reddit, Shopify Community, and your email list (newsletter). Use 2–3 SEO keywords per post and link to your resources or case studies. A strong distribution plan ensures your content keeps working for you over time.
Step 5: Community, Events, and Organic Outreach
Communities and events are great for building real relationships with merchants. When you help first, sales follow naturally.
Engaging Shopify Communities & Social Communities
Shopify has a big community where merchants actively seek help. You can regularly engage with their conversations and solve their problems to build trust and introduce your app.
Also, join Shopify communities like Reddit (r/shopify, r/shopifystore, r/shopifyseo r/dropshipping, etc), Facebook groups, and Slack channels. Then offer helpful answers, not sales pitches. Share your expertise and link your app only when relevant.
Hosting and Attending Events
Attend Shopify meetups, virtual events, and webinars in countries like the UK, US, Canada or anywhere, where your potential customers live. Hosting small sessions or Q&As helps position you as a helpful expert in your industry.
Best Practices for Community Posts
Keep posts short and value-focused. Share a story or a quick win before mentioning your product. Use demos or screenshots sparingly—focus on teaching, not selling.
Step 6: Paid Channels & Cost-Effective Ads
Paid marketing can boost installs faster when done right. Start small, test often, and focus on high-intent channels.
Where to Start with Paid Ads
For a new app, I always try the Shopify partner ads (App Store Ads). Because this is the only place where your customers seek apps actively. So, if you can present your app in the right way, there is a high chance for maximum installation that other channels.
If budget does not matter for you, then you can also run Google Ads in parallelly. These two are the best starting points for install-focused campaigns for Shopify apps.
Retargeting and Audience Segmentation
Though you can’t set up a retarget campaign on the Shopify app store, Google offers a retargeting campaign. So, if you are running a paid campaign on Google, you must create a retargeting campaign for those who visited your website/landing page/ app store listing page. Remember to segment them based on behavior for more personalized ads.
Step 7: Direct Outreach and Sales Enablement
Direct outreach works best when done personally and with value. It’s not about cold selling—it’s about solving a need.
Target Store List Building
Use Storeleads, BuiltWith, or manual research to build a list of target stores. Create the ideal customer profile list by filtering niche, traffic, or region. Then, only focus on stores that clearly need your app’s features.
Cold Email Framework
Write short, friendly emails. Start with a problem merchants face, share how your app solves it, then offer a short demo link. Keep it conversational, not salesy.
Demo and Onboarding Playbook
Offer a 5-minute demo to show value fast. Have a clear activation checklist and gather feedback during onboarding. This helps you improve your product and reduce churn.
Step 8: Partnerships and Integrations
Collaborations can open new channels and boost installs without heavy spending. Even most of the collaboration can be done for free with just the perfect approach.
Co-Marketing with Complementary Apps
Find apps that target similar users but solve different problems. Offer co-marketing campaigns like joint blog posts, bundle discounts, featuring on the app dashboard, or even a recommended menu inside the app.
Agency and Shopify Partner Outreach
Reach out to agencies that work with Shopify merchants. Offer them partner pricing or free developer licenses to test your app. But the approach should be helping the agency by saving their valuable time, not just selling your app.
Integration Benefits
Integrations make your app more valuable and sticky. Merchants love tools that work well together. Each new integration increases your reach and retention.
Step 9: Retention, Support, and Product-Led Growth
Retention turns one-time users into loyal fans. Happy users bring more installs through word-of-mouth. So, don’t focus on just installs or customers; focus on LCV (Lifetime Customer Value).
Onboarding Sequences
Use welcome emails and in-app tips to guide users through their first wins. The faster they see value, the longer they stay.
Support as Growth
Great support is another part of great marketing. Fast replies and clear documentation make merchants trust you more. Use common questions to improve FAQs and help articles.
Feedback Loops
Collect feedback, feature requests, and success stories regularly. Turn testimonials into social proof and case studies for future content.
Step 10: Measure, Iterate, and Scale
Growth is not just a one-time setup for long-term win; this is a cycle of testing, learning, improving, and scaling what works.
KPI Dashboard
Track your key metrics—installs, active users, churn, lifetime value (LTV), and customer acquisition cost (CAC). A simple dashboard keeps your team focused on what matters.
A/B Testing Cadence
Run monthly A/B tests for app listings, ads, or landing pages. Small optimizations compound into big growth over time.
Scaling Playbook
When your numbers are solid, scale up. Increase ad budgets, hire for partnerships or content, and expand to new regions.
Conclusion
In 2026, we know there are 15,000+ Shopify apps available in the app store. So, it is clear that the competition is very high. Even you can see that every category has hundreds of apps. That’s why growing a Shopify app from scratch isn’t easy in today’s market.
However, it’s absolutely possible with the right roadmap, patience, and consistency. Still, there are so many opportunities awaiting you. If not, how did Judge Me reach 600k merchants and $30+ million revenue from a single app?
Every successful app you see today started with a small, consistent strategy that focused on solving merchant problems first. If you take the time to understand your users, optimize your listing, and promote your app through the right channels, installs will follow.
So, keep testing, learning, and improving. Growth may start slow, but with steady effort, your Shopify app can turn into the next big success story.
Would you like to have a free audit to improve your app’s visibility and install?
FAQs
How long before I see installs from marketing?
Usually, you’ll start seeing organic installs in 2–4 weeks after consistent marketing. On the other hand, paid ads and cold outreach can bring installs within a few days if your targeting and message are right.
What is the best first channel for new apps?
Begin with App Store Optimization (ASO) and content marketing. Together, they help you attract consistent, qualified merchants who are already searching for your type of app. Also, you can run paid ads on the Shopify app store; it is also a good channel for new Shopify apps.
Should I offer a free plan or trial?
Yes, always. A freemium plan or free trial lets merchants test your app without risk. It removes hesitation and helps you get your first loyal users faster. But in rare cases, like if your app is made for short-term use, such as import/export, then you should decide it creatively.
How many reviews do I need to rank?
Focus on quality over quantity. Twenty genuine, detailed reviews within the first two months can make a big difference in ranking and trust. But don’t get upset if reviews come slowly. I know collecting 20 reviews can be tough for a new app—just stay consistent.
Are cold emails effective for Shopify apps?
Yes, if done right. Keep them short, personal, and helpful. Show that you understand the merchant’s problem, offer a quick solution, and include a soft CTA, like booking a short demo.
How do I know which paid channel to scale?
Watch your numbers. Track installs, CAC (cost per acquisition), and LTV (lifetime value). Scale the channels that bring low-cost installations with high retention—that’s where your profit grows.
