Winning in the Apps economy

There is over 6.3 billion smartphone users across the world, it’s therefore no surprise that the mobile app industry is thriving. App usage and smartphone penetration are still growing at a steady rate, without any signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future. Apps are gaining much popularity among big and small businesses. We even see businesses that entirely depend on an Application as their main and only business e.g. SafeBoda

Mobile Apps marketing is not the everyday marketing of products. Marketing of Apps is different. It is a science that evolves everyday with the continuously fast changing trends in technology. It is about interacting with your users through their entire lifecycle — from when they first hear about your app, to when they become a loyal and regular user.
Technology is fast changing and likewise the marketing of these Apps need to.
There are mainly 3 stages in App marketing i.e. Acquisition, Activation and Retention

AWARENESS/ACQUISITION
At this stage,you let the world know about your product or Application i.e. how you get users to download and install your application.

Social media
Tell people about the application and promote the different unique app features and products on social media. It is also very important to add CTAs like deep links to these social media posts so that you can easily get users to do what you need them to do e.g. a link to easily download and install the product.
Also ensure to monitor the posts so that you can keep track on what posts are performing better than the others.

Word of mouth.
Potential customers can be informed about the App by word of mouth from company marketers or already existing customers that have had good experiences with the Application. These become brand advocates of the Application.
But how to make customers brand advocates of your product becomes critical, make sure they have a seamless experience on the Application. Do Beta and UAT tests before a product or feature is rolled out to the market to have a feel of the user experience. Also focus on the UI/UX design of the Application.
This is efficient because it means there will be more organic growth in the number of users and it is less costly.

Google play and play store search advertising
Google Play and Apple’s App Store both offer in-store advertising that app managers can purchase to drive downloads. Ads appear when users search for specific app keywords — for example, ads for mobile payment apps might appear when a user searches “send cash.”

Referrals
You can also consider adding a referral feature so current users can easily send potential customers to get to know about an Application. Some benefits or winnings can be added to the feature otherwise there will not be any motivation for a user to refer the App. Also ensure to include a CTA preferably a link so you can easily get a potential customer to do what you want them to do.

App cross promotion
If you have more than one Application as a company, you can use one with the most numbers to inform potential customers of the other for example if customers are mostly using the Entertainment Application, you can create awareness of the Fintech Application through the Entertainment App with notifications and messages.

Google ads
Search advertising can also be purchased through platforms like Google AdWords, so that someone searching Google from their phone for “send money” sees an ad for your Fintech app. The link then goes directly to your app store page.

ACTIVATION
This is a user’s first actions on the App. For example, registrations with their email addresses, first purchase off the App etc.

Push Notifications

Push notifications can be branded and if you can get a user to install your App, you can easily get them to do an action.

Different engines/software can be used to notify your users with Mobile Push Notifications.
Push notifications are clickable pop-up messages that appear on your users’ browsers irrespective of the device they’re using or the browser they’re on. They serve as a quick communication channel enabling companies to convey messages, offers, or other information to their customers.
Data from a recent comScore study shows that full screen ads have 5 times the CTR of regular push notification and that 91% of users enjoy interacting with rich media ads.
Example of engines to use for push notifications include; Salesforce, Firebase, Accengage-this engine allows you to even send automated notifications based on customer behavior etc.

In app messages
In-app messaging sends messages that are triggered when a user interacts with your app. These messages allow you to engage your users at different times throughout the customer journey. You can use them as part of your onboarding, marketing, and customer support programs.
The difference between push notifications and In app messages is that push notifications communicate with the user outside the app and are used to invite them to return to and re-engage with your app. In-app messaging happens when users are already inside the app and focuses on enhancing their current session within your app.

RETENTION
After a user has successfully installed, registered or even made their first purchase, it is now important to focus on how they can become daily users and keep them engaged on the App.

Discounts/Freebies
These can be added in features or Products. Offering a product giveaway in exchange for a transaction on the App is a good strategy. However, there is a problem with this because you will mostly get un loyal customers that will get the App for the freebies and opt out when you stop giving out freebies.

New app feature and functionalities
Ensure that you keep up to date with the trending technologies in the industry and whenever a new App feature or functionality is added on the App, communicate very well to the customers with demos because this can be the Unique Selling Point for the business.

Personalization
By now you have some data and user behaviors about the users. You can use this data to familiarize yourself with your customers for example auto load their usual activities with the app or even add a greeting with their name e.g. ‘Good evening Shamim’. This makes users feel some level of ownership to the product.

It’s been year since I fully embarked on Mobile Apps Marketing, but I have been able to achieve a number of things from deeply learning about Mobile and Web Apps marketing and development to collaborating with people in the ecosystem.

To my company, friends, new acquaintances, thank you. You have all made my learning and growth exceptional.