By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Google Arts & Culture App. In case you have not, it's a native app that Google created where users can take a selfie and have it compared with historic art that's included in Google’s archives. Its popularity has soared and was the No. 1 free app in both the Google and Apple app stores a few weekends ago. While the app may not hold the top spot anymore, there are aspects of its popularity that app developers can learn from and apply to their own apps.
But first thing’s first. Is the Google Arts & Culture App really that great? Being a resident of Illinois, where the popular selfie feature is currently unavailable, I decided I had to test it out for myself instead of relying on the many, many posts celebrities have been sharing with their selfies and art matchups.
One plane ride later, I was in Washington, D.C., where the app finally worked on my phone. I eagerly found the right lighting and spot for a selfie and finally tested out the app. As I waited for Google to reveal my artsy doppelganger, I wondered if it would be shockingly similar, like looking in the mirror, or if it would be social media-worthy in a funny way, like all of those celebrities who posted their crazy and unlikely matchups.
Just as the anticipation was too much to handle, I got my matchup, and let’s just say it was definitely more along the lines of Kristen Bell’s white-haired, mustached man comparison than a mirror image. In fact, my so-called artsy doppelganger had two giant knots: one on his forehead and one on his ridiculously large hat.
All I could think was: "I flew to D.C. for this?" As I struggled with disbelief, I realized just how smart this app and its developers are — they got me so interested, I just had to cross state lines to try it out. Below are a few things we can learn from Google’s odd but successful additions to its formerly unpopular app.
Google took something already popular and repurposed it.
So many people take selfies nowadays. Sure, some may think it’s just millennials and those younger kids, but really, most people have taken at least one selfie if they own a smartphone. Google took something that was already popular and made it interactive in a way that would get people interested without making it overly difficult or confusing.
In fact, the most genius part of this is that they did not even have to invent something new — they just found a way to use something that existed in a new and beneficial way for them. How can you use popular media trends to add a fun, engaging yet informal and easy aspect to your app?
Google created something that was easy to share and talk about.
So many people started talking about their results from the Google Arts & Culture app, they even started sharing the screenshots on Instagram and Twitter. Even celebrities got in on the fun and shared their results. How can you create or tweak an aspect of your app that will be easy to share? Can people screenshot and share part of their experience with your app, whether it’s a level they’ve reached with rewards, the newest shopping challenge or something else completely new?
You have to admit — it was impressive that, even when the Google Arts & Culture App didn’t quite deliver the expected results (think of my knot-headed guy), it still got publicity because people were sharing their laugh-out-loud-worthy pictures. Even if something does not quite work the way you intend, is there room for humor? Is there room for people to play around with their experience and make them excited and interested enough to share it with the world? If so, you may just end up with semi-free publicity, as Google did when all those celebrities started sharing their screenshots.
Make sure to keep tracking those creative additions to your app.
No matter how confident you are that you turned your app into the next Google Arts & Culture App, the only way to know for sure is to track the downloads of the app, the customers’ experiences throughout and decide whether new features help or hurt. Always test and track your new ideas. Next thing you know, you’ll be soaring to the number one spot in both app stores, just like a wacky, artsy, doppelganger-searching app once did.
