Today, the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store pack three million mobile apps. Consumers are spending 85 percent of their smartphone time in mobile apps, but only five of the daily mobile user’s apps experience heavy use. What gives?
by Sophorn Chhay
Failed retention, mostly, is responsible for the split dichotomy of app use. Often, most users downloading mobile apps don’t continue use after the first week. If you’re marketing your mobile app, you should prioritize retention over acquisition. Your brand depends on it, and for a few good reasons.
Reason One: Repeat App Users Offer the Most Revenue
It’s a simple mathematical equation. 80 percent of a business’s revenue is pulled from 20 percent of its existing customers. Mobile app marketing can be fickle, but a majority of gained revenue comes from day-to-day app users. App developers are shoveling money into advertisement campaigns, and they’re acquiring users who only constitute a fifth of their revenue. In 2016, word of mouth will serve your strategy more than initial outreach.
Reason Two: Repeat Users Use Opt-In Services
Today. 79 percent of mobile users rely on opt in mobile app and SMS services to assist the purchasing process. Acquisition fails to rake in the numbers of a good retention strategy. Even if your business’s opt-in services are SMS-centric, your mobile app’s ability to keep customers interested will power your opt-in baseline. To influence customers, you need to maintain customers in both app use and ongoing benefits.
Reason Three: Deep Linking is Winning
If you’re an app developer, fueling deep links with retention should be a go-to strategy. In fact, staying on top in Google’s ranking system is often enough to secure a good amount of page views. App installs, while important, aren’t necessarily a business’s most-targeted goal these days. Deep linking is taking over, and it’s being powered by ongoing use.
Users click on apps for specific reasons. They browse the web, find an app and download it. They will, however, turn away approaches if an in-app experience fails to “capture” them. For this reason, app creators are using deep linking and SEO to maximize in-app use. Initial acquisition, while powerful, can’t begin to touch the importance of retention when entire Internet marketing strategies are at the helm.
Reason Four: In-App Messages Cement Engagement
Did you know 34 percent of mobile users abandon apps because of lost interest? Fortunately, the mobile marketing world has answered with in-app messages to boost engagement. Updates, reminders and personalized greetings, a byproduct of SMS marketing, are giving retention-focused companies a huge edge. Every time the consumer opens an app, they’re faced with a plethora of reasons to leave. Real-time alerts boost outreach campaigns. More importantly, they enhance the user experience to a point of mass integration.
Reason Five: Double Opt-In Strategies are on Fire
Automated mobile marketing providers like Trumpia are implementing retention-centric solutions, and they’re boosting business databases with relevant, real-time tools made to please mobile carriers. By opting in with a simple “yes” or “no,” customers effectively tie their texting experience to their mobile app experience. Consumers will always text, and they’ll stick with a mobile app capable of offering ongoing company support.
Assuming your mobile app offers unique utility, customers will stick around. Sure, they might have “flings” with other, interesting apps, but they’ll stay with providers able to create memorable, consistent experiences. Your mobile strategy has a long way to go, so you should power it with sustainable practices. Take advantage of the mobile world’s latest, greatest innovations, and stay up to date with the trends consumers care most about.
What’s Next?
How do you ensure that your customer is getting the best mobile experience possible when interacting with your brand? Make sure to share them with us in the comments below. I would love to read them.
Author Biography
Sophorn Chhay
Sophorn is the marketing guy at Trumpia, the most complete SMS software with mass text messaging, smart targeting and automation.
Follow Sophorn on Twitter(@Trumpia), LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+
- Jumpstart your business by grabbing your free copy of his powerful Mobile Marketing Success Kit.
- Watch Trumpia’s 5-Minute Demo on how to execute an effective mobile marketing strategy.
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