What's the best way to advertise a mobile app? I've tried FB, iAD workbench with no results, having flyers handed out on college campuses.

Hi, that's because you're marketing it all wrong. I checked out your app and the free content doesn't seem compelling enough to want to pay for the rest.

Your messaging is all over the place trying to target every possible audience within the college environment. An app like this should be native. Look for ways to couple college living with tips and answers that would benefit students.

Pick channels and stick to one goal/audience per channel.

Today's marketing is not about throwing ads at people and expecting growth.
Ask yourself -
How can I efficiently reach and had a conversation with my customers?
How and where can they best reach me? My services?
How and where can I facilitate my customers/users reach each other? (Promote word of mouth?)

How much time did you spend with students validating the concept and materials before putting the app together? It's important to know who your target audience is before choosing the appropriate method to reach them.

Regarding the specific ASO side, don't worry too much about the app description beyond the first couple of lines for getting the core USP across. Definitely work hard on your keywords and screenshots though, and keep a close eye on your App Analytics account to see how many visitors you are getting to your page and the conversion rate to installs.

It really depends on how much you have to spend but in my experience, the lowest customer acquisition costs come from influencer marketing (non-organic word of mouth). I'm in no way affiliated with them, but Neo Reach (neoreach.com) has a scalable influencer marketing model that is genius. It's pricey, but genius. I can make an intro to one of the co-founders if necessary.

I'd love to help you strategize a plan to increase app downloads. Shoot me a message because I checked out your website and have a few ideas on how you can make some small tweaks to your website and marketing to separate yourselves from your competitors. I'm confident I could be of some help to you as I have a lot of success hacking experience like the situation you're finding yourself in.

I built an app myself and made plenty of mistakes.

Handing out flyers actually sounds like a nice idea. Not because you'll get many users (you won't). But because you can ask for feedback face-to-face, which is more valuable than on a form or on a call.

If you want to promote the app, you'll need to share it online to reach a wider audience.

Before you start paying for ads, make sure you get the basics right. Define a market & strategy for distribution, launch on free platforms like Product Hunt, set up some Search Engine Optimization (SEO & ASO), and try your hand at a bit of viral marketing.

There are a bunch of free alternatives to Product Hunt that you can also try: Tinylaunch / Microlaunch / Simple Lister / Beta List / StartupBuffer / StartupInspire / Uneed

Source: https://speedbumpapp.com/en/blog/mobile-app-promotion/