Why app marketing is changing for indie developers in 2026

Category: App Marketing

Tags: appscontentgrowthmarketingTikTok

Entities: JackLovelyMax BladeReelsTalk MacrosTikTokYouTube Shorts

Transcript

00:00

If you're an indie app developer, app marketing in 2026 isn't about ads or app store optimization. In 2026, growth looks very different.

It costs nothing, but it requires you showing up every day. In this video, I'll show you the

00:15

new marketing approach that's quietly helping indie devs break through in 2026 to get more downloads and generate more revenue without spending a single dollar on marketing. And it's actually a lot simpler than you think.

For the past few years, we've been living in the golden

00:31

age of app store optimization. Build an app, throw some keywords in there, rank on search results, and profit.

But now, it's not so easy. The app store algorithm has changed.

It's harder to get new apps ranking, and there's just

00:46

so much more competition now. As more indie app developers enter this space, it's just going to get harder and harder to break out.

And yet, some indie app developers are still growing without app store optimization and without running expensive ad campaigns. This is Jack.

01:04

You may know him from other videos I've created about him recently. He generated 50,000 downloads from his lovely app in a matter of months with poor app store optimization and no ads.

At this stage, I should probably just call my channel the Jack Fan Club channel and call it a

01:20

day. This is Max Blade.

Apart from the fact that he has the coolest name ever, he's grown his talk macros app to over $1,000 monthly recurring revenue. Again, with the poor app store optimization and no ads.

So, how is this even possible?

01:37

And how can we learn from their success to grow our own apps in 2026? Max Blade has been building apps now for well, just over a month.

His app, Talk Macros, logs your calories just by talking to it. It uses AI and a complicated backend

01:54

to accurately log macros. I've personally been using this for the past week to track my food intake and log my macros.

What I found is that it's much easier than apps like My Fitness Power and a lot less awkward than taking a photo of my meal. Talking to log macros

02:11

might sound gimmicky, but it works and that makes sense. Max was a personal trainer and has worked extensively with nutrition on a professional level, so he knows a thing or two about tracking macros.

He came up with the idea, he built the app, and he released it,

02:27

leveraging his own skill to create an app that actually works. But his real genius comes from his marketing strategy.

Within a few short weeks, his app reached the $1,000 monthly recurring milestone, all from short form content, posting videos on Tik Tok and reals. The

02:44

first few hours of every single day should be making short form content. This graph shows Tik Tok views verse new subs to my app.

In the days that he didn't post short form content, he got less users. And Jack has been doing the same with his app, Lovely, an app that

03:01

lets you send doodles to your partner. But he takes it one step further.

Not only is he posting short form content each day, but he's also paying close attention to viral content within his niche, seeing what gets traction. Then he builds new features into his app for

03:16

the sole purpose of hooking into that viral trend. His most popular video has over 4 million views, 160,000 likes, and 503 comments, mostly asking what's the app.

Both of these developers are using Tik Tok Reels and YouTube Shorts to

03:33

drive downloads to their apps. They're posting regular organic content and not paying for ads.

It's free, it works, and it just takes your time and commitment. But the key here is consistency.

Max posts around two videos a day. Jack does

03:49

the same. But if you're anything like me, the hardest part is the beginning.

You show up, you post, and nothing really seems to happen. your videos might get a handful of views, might get a few likes, and you end up losing motivation.

So, you kind of just stop.

04:04

And that's exactly what I've done. And no wonder this approach hasn't worked for me.

But if I'd kept going, if I'd pushed through that phase, maybe I could have had a success story like this, too. So, in 2026, I'm committing to it.

Every day, I'm posting at least one piece of

04:21

short form content to promote one of my apps. I'm going to push through the zero traction phase.

I'm treating this like building a muscle, not chasting instant results. And I'll test what works and learn what doesn't.

And the aim is to

04:36

get better at promoting my apps through short form content. Because in 2026, distribution isn't optional anymore.

For indie app developers, it's no longer a nice to have. It's part of a job description.

If you're not showing up every day, somebody else will. And

04:52

that's why app marketing is changing for indie developers in 2026.