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App Localization and Internationalization 🌎 – Tips & Guide

September 02, 2019

This app localization and internationalization article was first published in July 2016 and last updated in September 2019. The population is increasing rapidly, with over 7.7 billion people in the world as of today. According to Statista.com, over 3.5 billion people will have smartphones by 2020, with 3.3 billion in 2019. The exponential growth of the population and the number of smartphone users combined with the rapid technological development of countries like India, Brazil, and China creates new opportunities for app developers and professional translators. Internationalization and localization have become the norm in app store optimization strategies. Pushing your app into different countries that speak multiple languages creates new revenue streams and marketing opportunities. Due to this opportunity, we’ve decided to create an article on the importance of app localization, list some of the best app localization tools, provide you with a guide to app localization and offer tips. [lwptoc] Why is app localization important? In the United States, 75% of the population speaks only their mother tongue, be it English or Spanish. Technically, if you’re only targeting the U.S., you won’t have any problems with an English app. Yet, if you’re going global and you don’t localize your app, you are losing more than 40% of the global population. According to a study published by the European Union, over 40% of the European population only speaks 1 language. Various other sources state that globally, between 40% and 50% of the population is monolingual. The importance of app internationalization and localization is quite simple. By not translating your app, you are cutting off an ever-growing market of non-English speakers. According to Common Sense Advisory, cited in the Harvard Business Review: 72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their language.72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their language.56.2% of consumers said that the ability to obtain information in their language is more important than price. While this data is focused on web applications and online shops, the data is still extremely relevant, especially when most apps also have a web app, resulting in the need for web app localization. Are you in need of app localization? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! The Makeappmagazine also presented a case study where localizing an app increased app downloads by 767%. App localization for countries that are not English speaking will: Push your app into new marketsIncrease downloads and revenueBoost your app store ranking in different countriesIncrease the number of app store keywords you can rank for Difference between app internationalization and app localization Many people easily confuse the two terms, thinking that they are the same. Knowing the difference between the two can help you reduce costs and complete your Android app localization or iOS app localization in a more cost-effectively and productive manner. What is app internationalization? App internationalization is the process of designing and developing your app or product with the idea that it will be translated in the future. This process should be done at the same time as the development because changing your entire app in the future will have much higher costs. App internationalization is done by separating the content from the code and allowing the app to run using external language files. Using this methodology, the app can easily be translated by adding new external language files. When internationalizing your app, you need to take into consideration the following: All content needs to be localized, not just the textDon’t forget about contextNot all fonts can be localizedRemember pluralsDates, text direction and numbersYou may need a different alphabet All content needs to be localized, not just text As mentioned before, all the content needs to be localized, not just the text. Work on improving your images, videos and audio. As mentioned in our App store optimization guide, Uber did this perfectly by localizing its app store screenshots as well. They integrated Japanese maps and locations and showcased data that was relevant to the Japanese market. Uber Localize Screenshots Allowing your app to have German text content and showcasing English videos will only confuse users and make them uninstall the app for a better, properly localized app. Don’t forget about context While automated translations through software like Google translate is amazing, it cannot properly showcase context. You need to make sure that your translations are both grammatically correct and that they make sense to the end-user. The easiest example we can give is from Quora. Andru Lemon showcased one of many problems with word by word translation. He provided the following English phrase: “The child might be punished and expected to be on his best behavior moving forward.” The phrase has a parallel form that cannot be integrated into Spanish. Because of this, an expert app localization agency would split the phrase into two, not only translating the wording but making sure that it makes sense to Spanish speaking people. “El niño podría ser castigado. Le podrían exigir que se comporte del la mejor manera de aquí en adelante.” Not all fonts can be localized Most fonts are created for the English language. Because of this, they lack extra letters or symbols that are present in other languages. Some examples of extra letters or symbols that are not present in all fonts: The Romanians have: ăâîșțThe Spanish have: ñThe French have: àâéëêôû Make sure that you use a font that can easily use the extra letters that you’ll have in your new language. Don’t use a different font for every new language. This will increase the total size of your app! Remember plurals You can’t just put an extra letter at the end of a word and call it a plural. Plural forms may be extremely different in translated languages. Make sure that your code checks the data and clearly understand the numbers behind, pulling the correct form of the word, be it singular or plural. Even in English, while the plural for “bee” is “bees”, the plural for “woman” is ‘women”, a word whose entire structure changed, not just the end of the word. Also, depending on your target, you may want to use “children” instead of “kids”. The same concept applies to all languages. Dates, text direction and numbers The way dates are displayed differ even between countries that speak the same language. Dates are integrated as: MM/DD/YYYY in the United StatesYYYY/MM/DD in China, Korea, and IranDD/MM/YYYY throughout the majority of the world The text direction is also extremely relevant. Texts can go from left to right (usually used in western countries with the Latin alphabet), from right to left (in Hebrew and a couple of other languages) and from top to bottom in Chines or Japanese. Languages with right to left writing: ArabicAramaicAzeriDhivehi/MaldivianHebrewKurdish (Sorani)Persian/FarsiUrdu Languages with top to bottom writing: ChineseKoreanJapanese If you plan on translating your app into any of the languages above, you need to make sure that you change the format of your entire copy while also changing your graphic design for images, ads or videos. Numbers also need to be changed depending on the alphabet. In Japanese for example, the number 305 is written as 三百五. Yet, the sign in the middle isn’t 0, it is the sign for hundreds. So, technically, the Japanese write 305 as 3 hundred 5. You may need a different alphabet As mentioned before, you will need to write your content into an entirely different alphabet when you localize for countries such as China, Israel or Russia. Around 90% of all languages in the world use the following writings systems that you need to take into consideration: LatinGreekCyrillicArmenianKoreanHebrewArabicGeorgian Are you in need of app localization? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! How to internationalize and localize an app? As we’ve mentioned before, your first task is to make sure that you separate your text from your code. No texts should be hardcoded in the app if you want to internationalize it. How to internationalize and localize an app? Transform Content into Strings Content should not be hardcoded inside the app. Instead, make sure to transform your content into strings that are stored in a "Localizable.strings" for iOS and "strings.xml" file for Android. Translate the entire Content Make sure you take into consideration social and cultural differences as well as language differences. In order to do that, we suggest you hire local translators from the country you'll be localizing the app for. Don't forget about the following: Not all Fonts can be localized. Plurals should be taken into consideration. Dates can be integrated into different orders and some languages are written in other directions. Don't even get me started on different alphabets. Create a Flexible Design The design of the app should be flexible enough to allow long german words or text written from right to left. Localize images and videos as well App stores require new files for localized versions. Localized images are more attractive to users. Test on emulators before launch You don't always have 20 different phone types in your office. Because of that, emulate different phones and os versions in order to test your app. Push it to the app store! Add all the needed information and follow the standard guidelines. Start getting localized app installs! Also, make sure that you do the same with media and numbers. If it’s content and users can see it, do not hardcode it. Android app internationalization To be able to localize an Android app in the future, you need to internationalize it by using the “strings.xml” file. This will be the main resource file for all of your data. The “String.xml” file is the database for all of your content. This allows you to set a string such as: Text_a = “This is a text for the headline”Text_b = “This is a text for the paragraph” After integrating your content inside of the “string.xml” file, you’ll call the strings inside the code. By doing this, the app will automatically know which translation to pick for each string. The file can be found, for localized android apps following this route: “res/values/strings.xml” The app will decide on where to extract its data by using the country code integrated into the XML file name. When you localize string files, you add the country code at the end. Example: res/drawable-ja/ (for Japan) “The default resource set must also include any default drawables and layouts, and can include other types of resources such as animations: res/drawable/(required directory holding at least one graphic file, for the app's icon on Google Play)res/layout/ (required directory holding an XML file that defines the default layout)res/anim/ (required if you have any res/anim- folders)res/xml/ (required if you have any res/xml- folders)res/raw/ (required if you have any res/raw- folders)” The information above was taken from the Android Developer Guidelines. You can also create your directories, depending on what type of data you want to show. If the app runs in a locale that doesn’t have an associated XML file, it will stop running and showcase an error message. Android string Localization After you’ve understood how to use the XML files to organize your default strings, you can start adding your entire content to the file. Do your best to keep the code as clean as possible. Avoid adding random names to the strings. Also, it’s worth the effort to follow the Android guidelines for user interface strings. By following the guidelines, it will streamline the process in the future and help with debugging or changes made to the app localization translation if you change the dev teams. Android app Localization example The example below showcases how the data in a Sign-in button should be integrated as a string. By adding the data as text strings, instead of a hardcoded text, the button will be translated automatically as long as the translation exists. Android app Localization example for sign-in button - "Sign in"Android app Localization example for Headers - "Check out or newest Mother’s Day sales"Android app Localization example for Notification -"Do you love our app?Tell others about your experience and review our app on the app store." Android localization tips 1. Use the checklist! Android released an app store localization checklist that you can easily follow. You can find it here: Localization checklist. 2. Make sure your app works in all locales If even one text string is missing, the locale will be unsupported and the app will crash. Because of this, design your app to function on multiple locales and devices. 3. Create a Flexible Design When data changes automatically, you won’t have the luxury to perfectly align every word or image. Because of this, when thinking about how to internationalize an app, you need to take into consideration how the translated text will affect the design. German has long words that may not fit in your screen. The Chinese language needs larger fonts but fewer characters. Create an auto layout that changes width or sizes accordingly. Look over what other apps have done and make sure everything is simple. Try to stay away from custom designs for each language, as these are harder to maintain. 4. Test on an emulator You don’t need to have tens of phones or Android versions to internationalize your Android app. Mobile app localization testing can be done using emulators. 5. Use experts to localize your app You can find app localization managers and experts in 2 places: Check your Android Studio for a list of app translation services.Contact Moburst for the best app localization services available. iOS app internationalization and localization iOS is not so different from Android when it comes to localizing an app for the app store. It also works with strings. Yet, this time the file has a “.strings” extension instead of an XML. The default name for the localized text strings on iOS is “ Localizable.strings”. Do not change this name. Using a different name will increase your workload, as you’ll need to specify the source every time. iOS string files work like a dictionary When creating a string file, you need to define the key and the actual content inside. All lines end with a semicolon. The key is the string name that you’ll integrate into the app’s code. The content is on the right side and represented the content in the language that the user has selected. iOS app localization example: “codeForTitle” = “Here is an English Title”; You can integrate non-translatable data in all of the lines using the following format: \(#ofsales) “codeForSales” = “Your app has sold over \(#ofsales) cookies this week!”; Create country-specific folders on iOS apps If you’re using Xcode, go to the info tab and press “Localization”. Press the + sign and choose your language. Select all of the localizable files and press Finish. Xcode will create “.proj” directories combined with the country codes you’re going to localize your app in. Examples: En.lproj for EnglishJa.lproj for JapaneseRo.lproj for Romanian Don’t forget to move your localize.strings file inside the “lproj” files. Confirm the main language of your file and press Finish. Translate iOS app After you’ve integrated your localize.strings file, you’ll see extensions in the project manager. You can find a different version for all of the languages that you integrated. Now, all you have to do is go into the language files and edit the content on the right side. From: “codeForTitle” = “Here is an English Title”; To: “codeForTitle” = “Aquí hay un título en español”; Do not change the first line of the code that defines the string! Are you in need of app localization? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! List of the best app localization tools App localization isn’t a simple process. You need to manage multiple people with different skill sets in the same project and make the work together seamlessly. To help you streamline the process, we’ve done the research and came up with a list of the best app localization tools on the market Text United A business-oriented platform for content translation. Useful for legal, medical, marketing or even consumer-based apps, Text United is extremely powerful and scalable. You can use the service to easily connect apps, websites, and marketing automation systems into a translatable database. Users: PWC, logitravel.com, Hirschman Automotive Integrations: Wordpress, Apps, custom websites through API Free: Includes both a free package and a free Premium trial Starting price: from € 60 and up OneSky A cloud-based localization and translation solution for businesses. OneSky helps you localize apps, games, and content on the app store. With over 1,000+ apps helped in over 70+ countries, they are seen as industry leaders in the localization sector. It seamlessly integrates with most platforms, allowing you to streamline the localization process. Once you’ve placed an order, OneSky takes care of the process by assigning expert translators to your project. The client and translator can communicate on the platform. Users: Airbnb, Tumblr, Hubspot, Microsoft, BMW, Bandai Namco Integrations: Github, App Store, IOS Store Free: Nothing free included Starting price: $0.04 per word for apps and $0.17 per word for games Applingua Applingua is an awesome tool and platform that allows you to translate and localize almost any piece from the software. The platform accepts tons of file types from XML and string files for apps to PHP, SRT, JSON, INI and many, many more. Their expert translators can work with metadata and even test your build for you. Users: WarnerBros, MasterCard, 500px Integrations: Any file type Free: The platform is free, yet you’ll pay for all the translator services Starting price: $0.12+ per word Lokalise Lokalise is a translation tool most used for app localization, game localization, and website content translations. The app is meant to be used as a project management tool for the translation and you need to bring your team of translators. You can use the project chat to talk with your team. If you don’t have a team, you can hire through Lokalise for just $0.05 per word. Users: Revolut, Bayer, Babilon, Transfer Go Integrations: GitHub, Bitbucket, Slack, JIRA, Sketch, and many other tools Free: 14 days trial - free for Open Source Projects and discounted for Non-profits Starting price: $40/mo for the lowest package Final Thoughts App localization and app internationalization are 2 extremely important processes that will push your app into multiple emerging markets and open your business to new revenue streams. App localization will boost app store ranking for relevant keywords in other countries, increase conversion rates and improve your app’s or mobile game’s user experience. We hope we’ve managed to provide value through this article. If you need help with app localization from a professional ASO agency with years of experience, feel free to give us a call.
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What A Marketing Strategy Agency Can Offer You ✈️

August 26, 2019

Marketing is one of the most important functions of any business. A great marketing strategy can be the difference between huge successes, and unfortunate failures. Take Red Bull for example. Their marketing campaigns have taken a sweet energy drink and made it synonymous with extreme sports, health, pushing boundaries and breaking records - they even sponsor Formula One race cars! Successful marketing efforts start with your marketing strategy. This is where a marketing strategy agency can really help. A top marketing strategy agency will assist in crafting an incredible campaign around what you offer, and guide you through the process as they have done with other partners of theirs. In the world of mobile, in particular, a top mobile strategy agency is critical if you want to differentiate yourself, successfully attain key app metrics, and see your business reach its true potential. In this post, we’ll look at a marketing strategy agency in more depth, what a marketing strategy agency can offer you, and we’ll take a close look at how to get the most out of your relationship with a mobile strategy agency. [lwptoc] Benefits Of A Marketing Strategy Agency Let’s start off by asking a key question: why a digital marketing agency? Surely companies can handle marketing in-house? Wouldn’t this actually be the preferred way of doing things? The answer is an interesting one. Think about the biggest brands in the world. They all use creative agencies when it comes to their advertising, third parties who sit outside of their business units. When it comes to marketing, the same thing applies. Of course, companies have marketing departments, but the benefits of a marketing strategy agency are numerous and include: A non-biased view of the business, product, and opportunities Exposure to different industries and markets Experience and knowledge in niche areas Connection within and outside the industry Experience with different stages of the marketing cycle These types of benefits are priceless. And when it comes to organizations that aren’t multinationals, the benefits are even more pronounced. Most executive teams do not have massive marketing departments to call upon. Especially not with people experienced in different industries, various niches, and with vastly differing skill sets that a marketing strategy agency can offer. A top mobile strategy agency has succeeded before with clients likely similar to you and therefore can bring all of this knowledge and experience to ensure your own success. Are you in need of a Mobile Strategy Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! A Mobile Strategy Agency Plays A Crucial Role When it comes to the world of mobile, the need for a mobile strategy agency is even more acute. A simple example illustrates this: whereas with physical goods and services, there are thousands of different ways to sell a product - with mobile products this has to be done through a store - generally speaking the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. This means that you are literally competing against millions of other mobile applications to get discovered and then installed and used. This is exactly what a top mobile strategy agency can accomplish. The world of mobile is also changing constantly, requiring experts who are up to date on the latest releases, features, and trends. Often an App Store will change an algorithm, which can wreak havoc for companies who do not have a top mobile strategy agency to call upon. As the name suggests, a huge part of the magic lies in the strategy. With the right strategy in place, the world is your oyster. With an ill-advised strategy in place, however, it can be very difficult to navigate. With a top mobile strategy company in your corner, you will be able to: Clearly define your value proposition and target audience Get the right mobile strategy to engage consumers Save precious time by focusing on what matters and works Align your business with the KPIs that count Solve your toughest mobile challenges Learn from the mobile industry experts Together with your mobile strategy company, you will build a strong go-to-mobile market strategy that will enable you to better understand your customers and achieve the goals that you have set. Through building a strong mobile customer journey, your mobile strategy agency will help you master the toughest challenge of all - understanding your audience. This will include a unique mobile strategy that’s a perfect fit for your brand - be it through an app, a responsive mobile site, mobile campaigns, app consulting, partnerships, new monetization models, and a whole lot more. Mobile Strategy Services As with anything worthwhile, the best mobile strategy services are not easy to come by, nor are they quick changes that can be made. The best mobile strategy partners will develop a carefully crafted strategy that takes a whole lot of variables into account, and which gives you the greatest chance of achieving your KPIs and business goals. This is where a company like Moburst shines. Moburst has won several awards and was even named “Top 3 Mobile Agencies Worldwide” by Clutch for our strategies crafted specifically for each and every one of our clients. We get to know about our clients, learn their goals and dream up the perfect strategy fit for their product and market. The typical process a top mobile strategy agency follows is: Market validation Business plan App design Marketing strategy Alpha phase Beta phase App launch KPI optimization Market validation: The first step in crafting your mobile marketing strategy is market validation. This means testing your idea with your potential target market, and ensuring the fit is right. Not only will this tell you if you have a successful business on your hands, but will also give incredible insights into who your target audience is, and what they value in a product such as yours. Identifying your target audience is critical and forms the foundations of your entire marketing strategy. Business plan Next comes your business plan. Your mobile strategy agency should assist you in crafting this plan, including KPIs, timelines and what is required in order to achieve these goals. Marketing strategy This is, of course, the core of the process. Your mobile marketing strategy might include: Your positioning as a brand - taking your audience into account Your main and secondary marketing messages The channels you will be using to give across those messages to your target audience Your funnel, and ensuring each stage is optimized The medium you will use to give across your message (video, images, etc.) Use of influencers This is now your marketing roadmap, your “north star” that should be followed irrespective of how caught up you get in specific tactical engagements. If your product is a dating app for seniors, and you’re about to start a Snapchat campaign, take a look at your mobile marketing strategy before you continue. ASO App Store Optimization, or ASO, needs its own section, as it’s such a critical part of any mobile marketing strategy. A top mobile strategy company will know this and ensure that your ASO game is on point. As we mentioned earlier, your users are going to come through the app stores at some point. This is a “make or break time”, where one wrong move can mean your mobile app is passed over for a competitor’s, and all your resources that went into drawing that user to your listing essentially subsidized your greatest rival’s campaign. To avoid this heartbreaking situation, ensure your mobile strategy agency is an expert at ASO and ASO optimization, otherwise even the best mobile marketing strategy up until this point won’t help you. Mobile Product Agency - One Step Up You get a mobile marketing company, which can give insights and assistance when it comes to strategy. One step further is a mobile product company, or mobile product agency. This type of mobile marketing agency combines all the benefits of a traditional mobile marketing agency, with experience, skills, and knowledge in product design and product strategy. This can include everything from User experience / UI and interface design, to web and mobile app development best practices, to incredible learnings and insights that will make marketing your mobile app so much more effective. A premium mobile product agency will be able to add value throughout the design process, including post-launch optimizations. Such a mobile product company will also enable you to benchmark yourself against industry leaders and understand where and how to make small improvements that can translate into massive gains across the board. Mobile Strategy Partners A top mobile marketing agency will quickly become more than just another third party supplier, but a true business partner. The best mobile strategy partners are there for you with anything you may need. When it comes to the best mobile marketing agency, there will be experts in everything from overall strategy to social media strategy, paid ad strategy and a whole lot more. Having mobile strategy partners in place, in the form of a top mobile marketing agency, is one of the most, if not the most important business decision when it comes to mobile success. Are you in need of a Mobile Strategy Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! The Best Mobile Product Agency - A Case Study The best way of seeing mobile marketing success in action is through a case study. In this case, Moburst, as a top mobile marketing agency, was approached by Bazz to develop an effective mobile marketing strategy for the app. BAZZ is an app that enables users to listen to text messages while driving and to easily and intuitively respond to such messages in a safe way. BAZZ turned to Moburst, among other things, to examine why people weren’t using the app correctly, and why there was such a wide gap between the number of installs and the number of active users. Moburst immediately examined the mobile strategy around the app, and where it could be improved. An in-depth analysis of the app’s UX/UI detected that many users gave up on the app during the onboarding stage. This was fixed by cutting loading times and replacing texts for visuals. Another issue was that users weren’t using the app as BAZZ intended them to. This issue was addressed by creating a short, gamified tutorial that showcased the app’s main functionalities and benefits in less than 10 seconds. The results were phenomenal. In less than a month, the gap between installs and active users was reduced dramatically, with conversion rates reaching as high as 366%. As Osnat Polak, Marketing & Business Development of BAZZ put it: "Moburst's in-depth analysis process was extremely eye-opening and finally shed light on the precise issue that was holding our app back from garnering an active community of users. From that point on, we knew we were in good hands." A Top Marketing Strategy Agency - An Investment When it comes to a marketing strategy agency, and specifically a mobile strategy agency, it pays to get the best. At Moburst, our mobile strategy experts have helped the biggest brands in the world craft their successful mobile marketing strategies, and as a top mobile marketing agency has won numerous awards in the process. We only say this because we want to help you to reach the success that you’re capable of, and together craft a mobile marketing strategy that can unlock your true potential. Get in touch with us to learn more.
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Everything You Need To Know About A Mobile Marketing Agency

August 16, 2019

Article originally published in August 2016. The latest update in August 2019. A mobile marketing agency has become a “must-have” for companies seeking mobile success. As our world has become increasingly mobile-oriented, the role of the mobile marketing agency has expanded. Doing it yourself in the world of mobile is a non-starter. The landscape is too dynamic, and deep expertise is required in a number of very different fields. Most companies will partner with a mobile marketing agency to develop and achieve their KPIs and business goals. In this post, we’ll look at everything you need to know about a mobile marketing agency, including choosing the best mobile marketing agency for your needs and making the most out of the relationship. [lwptoc] Mobile Marketing Companies There are a number of mobile marketing companies out there, many of which promise the world. The reality is that there are only a few truly successful mobile marketing companies who have delivered consistently for both massive global brands as well as smaller startups - and everything in between. With all this noise, how do you go about finding the right mobile marketing company for your business? There are a few important questions to ask potential mobile marketing companies before engaging with them in what will hopefully be a long term relationship. 1. What is their USP? In order to stand above the crowd, top mobile marketing agencies should have something unique to offer, a differentiating factor. This could be something as simple and solid as a ton of experience and an excellent track record. In other cases, it could be a unique technology or methodology, or deep knowledge in one specific niche area. The best mobile marketing agencies are clear on what they do better than anyone else out there. For Moburst it’s exactly these two. Not only have we worked with top global brands such as Dunkin’, Samsung Galaxy Store and Uber, but we have our own SEO keyword software that puts us above the rest. Our smart algorithm gives us the edge when it comes to getting your app ranking. So when searching for a partner, look for the one with a strong USP. There are plenty of fakers out there, so keep your eyes out for the mobile marketing agency that just uses generic terms without showing any value or substance. 2. What are the mobile marketing company’s values? Another key ingredient of finding the right mobile marketing agency is discovering what their core values are. Do you get the feeling they’re just trying to make a quick buck? Or do you believe they are committed to your success and will do everything in their power to ensure you achieve your goals? Often you can even get a sense of this from a mobile marketing agency website or other marketing material. Feel free to ask their other clients of how they were treated and how they felt about working with that company. Are you in need of a Mobile Marketing Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! 3. Getting started with a mobile marketing agency Once you’ve chosen the right mobile marketing agency for you, it’s time to kick things off. This is the most important part of the building of a long and prosperous relationship. The temptation is to get stuck in straight away, designing awesome campaigns and carefully tracking KPIs. Rather, this should be the time to get to know one another. Particularly for your mobile marketing agency, it’s crucial at this stage to get a handle on your product, your target audience, and their wants, needs and pain points. This will pay dividends in the future as you craft mobile marketing campaigns that have a high chance of being extremely successful. What Mobile Marketing Services Are Offered? The next thing to understand about a mobile marketing agency is what mobile marketing services they offer. The mobile marketing solutions offered can differ depending on any number of factors. 1. Niche mobile marketing services First, there is a mobile marketing agency that offers niche mobile marketing solutions. These types of mobile marketing agencies usually have deep knowledge in one specific area. For example, they might be Facebook experts. They will be able to tell you everything you need to know about Facebook campaigns and getting the highest conversion rates at the lowest cost. When it comes to other areas of mobile marketing, however, such as SEO, this type of mobile marketing agency will not be able to guide you. 2. Full-service mobile marketing agency A full-service mobile marketing agency, on the other hand, has a deep knowledge of the entire mobile marketing landscape. This type of mobile marketing agency provides end-to-end solutions, offering mobile marketing services which include: Strategy Product Creative services ASO agency services Media 3. The right services for you? Choosing the mobile marketing agency that provides the right mobile marketing services for you will depend a lot on your industry, your experience and where you are in your journey. In general, a full-service mobile marketing agency or a marketing strategy agency offers significant value over a niche mobile marketing agency as often it’s a case “not knowing what you don’t know.'' A top, full-service mobile marketing agency will ensure you’re up to date with the latest in trends, best practices, and tech innovation. App Marketing Solutions This all sounds great - but can they make my app a success? This is the big question. Once again, there are some important points to look at and key questions to ask. 1. What is the app marketing approach of the mobile marketing agency? A mobile marketing agency could take the approach of taking your app, spending a significant portion of your budget on paid campaigns, and then show you a vanity metric like download numbers. A top mobile marketing agency, however, will take a completely different app marketing approach. First off, especially if they’re a full-service mobile marketing agency, a top mobile marketing agency will add value at a product level. Sometimes small insights when implemented in a mobile app can have huge positive effects when it comes to mobile marketing. A top mobile marketing agency will be smart about the way your budget is deployed and will ensure that with a burst campaign you enter the top 10 lists and benefit from the streamlining effects of a wave of organic downloads. 2. ASO App Store Optimization is super important here. In terms of app marketing solutions, your bottleneck - or a multiplier - is your ASO strategy. What we mean is that a bad ASO strategy could mean that all your other mobile marketing efforts come to nothing if the app store experience is poor. While conversely, if you can funnel users to an incredible app store experience, you will see key app metrics jump through the roof. This is precisely how we helped the Gameit app rank. The right ASO strategy includes a smart and well-crafted app title, app description, and screenshots. As Gameit’s CEO, Bryce Johnson says: “The results Moburst was able to achieve for us definitely exceeded our expectations. Their creative capabilities and devotion to ongoing optimization led to a very prominent spot in the app store. Such high rankings also triggered many other positive effects that we continue to enjoy on a daily basis”. 6 Questions CMOs Need to Ask Their Digital Marketing Agency 1. What is our goal? While it seems like a pretty easy and obvious question, chances are you’re getting the wrong answers from your current advertisers. For many agencies out there, the success of a mobile business app means one thing: downloads. Clueless mobile marketers will choose terms like CPI (Cost Per Install), that have very little to do with your marketing needs. Your brand doesn’t need downloads – it needs customers. Walk the agency through your marketing funnel when setting your KPIs. Is your goal to complete registration and gain access to users’ data? Or maybe it’s a single purchase made through the app? Possibilities are endless, but they all start with a clear vision. 2. Who is the target audience? You’ve asked and answered this question countless times before, but mobile asks for a different type of answer. Contrary to other campaigns where your target audience is predetermined and the creative assets serve a single purpose, mobile tailors a personalized experience for each user and calls for many different versions of the same campaign. In other words, your target audience is broader and much more versatile than ever, and your agency must recognize it and provide you with a suitable solution. 3. What are the chosen advertising platforms? I’ve said it once and I will say it again: mobile products call for mobile advertising. Choosing billboards and TV ads over a clickable ad that will send users directly to your product makes very little sense. Sadly, some agencies choose to collaborate with more traditional platforms and have no real reason to change course as long as their clients remain clueless. This too calls for a change in terminology: replace “premium” and “CPM” with “performance” and you’ll see the difference right away. The more sophisticated and informed clients become, the harder it will be for advertisers to prioritize their own business politics over your brand’s business benefits. 4. Does our brand need an app? This may seem strange coming from someone in the app business, but not every brand needs an app for every purpose. Creating a business app is not a task – it’s an ongoing process, and one that you have to invest in. If your mobile marketing strategy is more than just lip service, don’t create an app without real value. When your digital agency recommends building a mobile product, ask your account manager regarding the app’s purpose for users and how they plan on keeping it relevant post-launch. You just might learn that there’s a lot of maintenance work involved and the person in charge of it is, unfortunately, you. 5. Are we on the right track? When presenting this question to your digital agency, make sure that the answer you receive is short and loaded with numbers. Forget elusive terms like “brand awareness” and demand transparency and clarity. One of mobile’s strongest abilities is presenting real results in real time. So get the numbers, and make sure they’re the right ones. Track the churn, retention and engagement rates and always focus on the most important factor: ROI. 6. What happens if we fail to reach our goals? Mobile marketing allows you to not only get the results right away, but also to make the necessary adjustments. If your agency promises to reach a specific goal (and no, “brand awareness” is not specific enough), you should expect to see an agile work process that moves fast and in accordance with the market’s response. This calls for serious A/B testing on all verticals, including the campaign’s creative content and media strategy, as well as the product itself. Ask your agency what it plan to do in case each goal is not achieved, how it will draw the right conclusions and implement immediate changes. Why should you hire a mobile marketing agency? It’s already been established that any company should not only have a mobile presence, but should also be driven by a mobile-first approach. After comprehending this notion, comes the time to execute, and an important question arises: should I build an in-house team or outsource? A mobile-first strategy calls for a number of operations: mobile user acquisition, product, creative, and ASO (App Store Optimization). The following post will discuss the benefits of working with a mobile marketing agency that provides these services, rather than hiring employees to do the work in-house. 1. Powerful Media Purchasing Achieving optimal campaign results through a trial and error of media buying can be a tedious process that consumes both time and money. Turning to an agency to do the media buying for you is beneficial for two major reasons – purchasing power and experience. Agencies have media buying teams that are focused solely on that task. Media buying for dozens of clients every single day gives agencies a strong purchasing power in front of the big ad networks, more than any company out there doing media buying for a single product will ever have. This simply means cheaper costs for you – i.e., more bang for your buck. A media buying team has already gained experience with numerous ad networks, saving a lot of time for campaigns to follow. With each campaign the team learns which networks work best for different kinds of ads. This type of priceless experience would take an in-house team a very long time to match, and it would consume way too much money as well. Are you in need of a Mobile Marketing Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! 2. Product Pros We all know that feeling when you’ve been staring at something for too long and have completely run out of ideas. In that case, brainstorming with other people who are able to provide objective input is a great way to come up with fresh ideas. Working with a mobile marketing agency is similar in that sense. An in-house team has been working on the same product for so long that it might be stuck in a single mindset, overlooking vital flaws and problems. “Handing over” your product to an external team while avoiding inside politics can provide the necessary input for refining the product, getting rid of unnecessary features and adding ones that can improve it. Product teams at agencies are also comprised of a few employees. Each and every employee has a different background, and all together can provide well-rounded suggestions. For example, if a bank is working on a banking app, it may hire a product professional with a background in finance or business. But what that bank may not know is that its app marketing efforts could benefit from a few gamification elements to make it more engaging. An agency provides a wide range of expertise that can help you conquer not only your predetermined goals, but also ones you’ve never even thought of. 3. Thinking Outside The Box The key to thinking outside the box is visiting different boxes. Much like a product team could use thinking outside the box and receiving objective input, so could a creative team. An in-house team may be so influenced by the company’s messaging that it might not be able to detach from it and move forward with a message that actually works. An experienced creative team that works from an app marketing standpoint is capable of not only thinking outside the box, but also ensuring that the message they come up with is effective. An external team would also usually be comprised of not only creative minds, but ones experienced with mobile devices in order to best utilize both hardware and software to come up with creative ideas. 4. A to the S to the O The app store optimization field is very much still in diapers, and therefore, finding a qualified ASO pro is incredibly hard. ASO is detrimental to the success of any app, with 60% of App Store visitors ultimately downloading apps following App Store searches. If your app is not up there on the list, no matter how great your product is, it will go unnoticed. Since finding someone who knows what they’re talking about when it comes to ASO is extremely challenging, turning to an agency may simply do the trick. While we strongly recommend that you regularly optimize your keyword research, a full time in-house position may be a stretch. 5. Overall Synergy The ultimate benefit of working with an agency is that all of these highly experienced and capable teams mentioned above are working together in the same vicinity. Everybody feeds off of one another, is aware of the other’s plans, and is able to assist in problem-solving, making for a smoother and faster work process. Choosing The Right Mobile Marketing Agency What are some of the other key things to look out for when investigating a mobile marketing agency? 1. Success metrics Look out for prominent displays of actual success stories. And not just “we helped this app increase installs”. What really counts are solid numbers: “This company increased engagement by 85%”, or “this company saw a 560% increase in daily download volume”. For example, we worked on increasing metrics for Samsung’s Galaxy Store by micro segmenting and running personalized ads to each segment. In doing so, downloads grew by 79%, revenue grew by 36% and their Facebook page followers grew by 1400%! 2. Awards This industry is competitive. A company that has won industry-recognized awards, such as Moburst being selected as “Top 3 Mobile Agencies Worldwide” by Clutch and winning Bronze in the “Marketing Objective – Brand Awareness” category at the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) annual awards ceremony, shows that it is among the top mobile marketing agency companies out there. 3. Clients Look out for big names. They have done their research, and if they’ve used a particular mobile marketing agency, it’s often (but not always) a solid sign that the particular company can deliver. Top mobile marketing companies are often easy to spot, as they combine all of these elements. As a top agency, we at Moburst are honored to have worked with some of the largest brands in the world – from Youtube and Gmail, to Uber and HGTV. Some of Moburst’s clients Top mobile marketing companies will have plenty of success metrics from real customers, testimonials, industry awards, and big-name clients. Your Mobile Marketing Agency Journey Starts Now Choosing the right mobile marketing agency for your business is not easy. Hopefully, the information and tips included in this post will go some way towards understanding more about a mobile marketing agency, including how to find the right mobile marketing agency and get the most out of your relationship. For more questions, or to speak to award-winning mobile marketers here at Moburst, get in touch.
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Working With A Mobile User Acquisition Agency

August 08, 2019

When creating an app, you no doubt dream of success. Success will differ from app to app: for some, it’s a share of the trillion-dollar app economy. For others it’s brand awareness, making people’s lives better, or a combination of the two. As a mobile user acquisition agency, we have worked with some of the most incredible app developers who are passionate about what they do, which in turn has led them to app success. What’s clear for everyone involved in the app economy is that with the field becoming more crowded every day, it’s getting increasingly difficult to stand out. It’s one of the most frustrating feelings for app developers: you have created the most amazing product, but yet barely anyone is using it. Acquiring users is one of the greatest challenges in the industry. In this article, we’ll look at the role of the mobile user acquisition agency and the full services mobile user acquisition companies, working with a mobile user acquisition agency, and tips on getting the most out of the relationship with your mobile user acquisition agency. [lwptoc] Achieving App Success and The Role of the Mobile User Acquisition Agency First off, let’s focus on the goal: achieving mobile app success. What this looks like will depend on a number of factors, but generally will include the following: Downloads/Installs Stickiness/Retention Engagement Reviews Revenues Leads Factors: Downloads: This is literally the number of people that have downloaded your app. While this figure is powerful, it is more of a vanity metric as it does not track the quality of downloads, or what went into getting them (for example, millions of downloads at a bloated CPI is not impressive). Retention: this shows how many of your users uninstalled or stopped using your app. It’s an indicator of how much users value your app, and how important the app has become for them. It can highlight where your app has fulfilled a genuine need of users. Engagement: this shows how much users actually make use of your app. Users that use an app on the first day they install it, but never again, are not generally the type of engaged users that would, in most cases, define app success. Reviews: usually not a definition of success in and of itself, reviews and ratings are certainly an indicator of how the market values, appreciates and recommends your app. It’s also a massive leveraging factor: an app with positive reviews will have much higher conversion rates than one with few or poor reviews. Revenues: for many app developers, success is measured just like any other business; at the bottom line. Generating revenues is key for such app developers, as is controlling costs particularly when it comes to user acquisition. Other important metrics include churn rate, Daily Active Users (DAU), Monthly Active Users (MAU), Daily Sessions per DAU, Cost Per Acquisition/Action (CPA), Lifetime Value (LTV). Underpinning all of these metrics are user acquisition numbers. None of it is relevant without users actually installing and using your app. This is where mobile user acquisition companies come in. These companies are experts in helping achieve your business goals when it comes to anything mobile-related. One of the key areas where mobile user acquisition companies add a tremendous amount of value is in user acquisition. A top user acquisition agency will have worked with some of the biggest names out there to boost their users and will be able to help brands surmount the challenges facing the user acquisition process. Are you in need of a Mobile User Acquisition Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! User Acquisition: Challenges Faced Wouldn’t it be great if users organically found your app, installed it, and became lifetime fans? Unfortunately, this is very rarely the case, even for top user acquisition companies, and user acquisition, often through a mobile user acquisition agency, has become a key battleground for app developers. In order to achieve incredible user acquisition numbers, it’s important to first confront the challenges faced. Standing Out Competition Changing Preferences The Big Guns User acquisition challenges Standing Out: there are literally millions of apps out there, across both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. With a few categories and some well-established players, it can be extremely difficult to stand out. Just being discovered is a challenge, and this is before you have to deal with conversion difficulties when you do have the user’s (extremely short-lived) attention. Competition: the sheer number of apps out there, and therefore choices for the user, is staggering. It has other implications too. For example, if an app in a category is featured by Apple, or is on a top 10 list, it makes it a whole lot harder to compete with. Similarly, if your own app receives a negative review, users may then skip it altogether and move straight to your competitors. Changing Preferences: how do you reach your audience? You spend a lot of time thinking about this question when planning your go-to-market strategy, but things change so quickly. For example, Facebook has been very popular for app installs, but many app developers are moving to channels like Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest to reach their users. This, of course, means you need completely different creative strategies and approaches. The Big Guns: competing with apps backed by some of the most powerful companies in the world means that you’re never going to outspend some of your competitors when it comes to acquiring users. Instead, you’re going to have to be smarter when it comes to attracting your users. Top mobile user acquisition companies will help you navigate these challenges. But first, you have to be able to measure your success. How User Acquisition Is Measured “What can’t be measured, can’t be managed”. Thankfully, user acquisition can be accurately measured using some of the following metrics: Number of installs Install rate Cost per install (CPI) Cost per action (CPA) ROI Cost per 1000 impressions (CPM) Conversion rate Customer acquisition cost (CAC) Total acquisition costs divided by total new customers The metric that you use will depend on the goals of your campaign. The best user acquisition agency will help you decide on the right metric for you and your campaign and optimize for the best results. Advantages of acquiring users through mobile Mobile user acquisition, particularly when done through a mobile user acquisition agency, has a number of distinct advantages over traditional marketing. These can play a significant role in achieving targeted user acquisition numbers and metrics. Advantages include: Cost savings The right users Quicker conversions Critical metrics Advantages: Cost savings: instead of a “spray and pray” strategy, a targeted mobile user acquisition strategy allows you to market your app to the specific users for whom it’s relevant. With performance marketing, you can target a CPA or similar metric, and ensure that you’re achieving your goals by constantly evaluating against the metric. The right users: with the correct user acquisition strategy, your other metrics will also spike. Engagement and retention will increase, for example, because you targeted the perfect users from the outset. Quicker conversions: conversions are immediate. Generally speaking, a user sees an ad that speaks to them and downloads the app. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but it certainly quicker than in many “traditional” industries. Critical metrics: all of the data around user acquisition is available to you. This can be sliced, diced, and your campaigns optimized to continually get even better results. Are you in need of a Mobile User Acquisition Agency? Our ASO and mobile marketing specialists are here to help you achieve success. Contact us! Mobile User Acquisition Strategy Most app developers will partner with a mobile user acquisition agency to form their user acquisition strategy. Ideally, the mobile user acquisition agency will want to use media technologies to target the Right Customer at the right time, in the right place or format. A top mobile user acquisition agency will formulate its campaign around the following tactics: Being hyper-targeted: identifying potential users based on their behavior and assessing the best time and method to reach them. Personalization here is key. Burst: to reach the top of the app store charts, your app needs to be downloaded a number of times a day. The best mobile user acquisition agencies will burst your app to the top, with this increased visibility leading to thousands of organic, viral downloads. The result is at least 0.5 organic downloads per paid download. Optimization: the user has to go through a number of steps in order to become an active and engaged user: Impressions -> Clicks -> Installs -> Registered users -> Loyal users -> Paying users. Naturally, there will be drop off along the funnel, so a premium mobile user acquisition agency will ensure this is minimized throughout. There are different methods and platforms that can be used to reach your users. Ad Networks RTB/Exchanges Social Video/Rich Media Retargeting Direct & Premium Search Incentivized Each has its own cost, advantages, and disadvantages, and each should be discussed with your mobile user acquisition agency when putting together your user acquisition strategy. In terms of resources, the following are generally used by a mobile user acquisition agency for user acquisition. Social Video Web Email PR Native ads Mobile ads Social: social is a great platform for reaching users as it can be hyper-targeted, reaches users where they are spending time, and provides detailed analytics for constant optimization. Video: Video is becoming increasingly important as it becomes the primary way users interact with content. Web: while less popular of late, driving installs from websites is an important resource when it comes to user acquisition. Email: email campaigns can be highly effective when driving installs. Often underrated, a well-crafted email campaign can return some of the highest metrics of all. PR: more difficult to measure, PR is more of an effective way of boosting other campaigns. Native ads: targeted ads that appear in the right contexts have always been a powerful way to acquire new users. Mobile ads: sometimes the best place to appeal to users is when they are already immersed in an in-app experience. If your targeting is good, this method can work wonders. Working With A Mobile User Acquisition Agency Achieving success when it comes to mobile user acquisition is tough if you try to go at it alone. By partnering with a mobile user acquisition agency however, you are able to draw from the mobile user acquisition agency’s experience, expertise, and depth of knowledge, not to mention its industry contacts. Certain types of mobile user acquisition agencies will cater to specific parts of the market, such as social media user acquisition, or just Facebook. Others, specifically a full-service mobile user acquisition agency, will help you with everything from crafting your user acquisition strategy to achieving your desired metrics. A full services user acquisition agency is the gold standard when it comes to user acquisition. Full-service user acquisition services A full-service digital user acquisition agency usually has its own proprietary technology that they have developed over time to drive results. For example at Moburst, our team of media experts works in conjunction with our in-house media-buy productivity tools and API integrations. Using algorithms to automate the optimization process for every campaign, our teams are able to utilize budgets more effectively and deliver better results. Another way a full-service mobile user acquisition agency sets itself apart is through transparency. A top mobile user acquisition agency will let you see your campaign stats in real-time, and see exactly where your media budget is going and the returns you’re getting. Other benefits of working with a premium user acquisition agency include: ROI: generate the best Return on Investment you can User base: significantly increase your user base within a short period of time Segmentation: reach a highly segmented target audience with the right message at the right time Super-relevant: Attract super-relevant users that will better engage with your app Awareness: Significantly raise brand awareness Premium user acquisition companies will be able to deliver these benefits while you focus on developing your app. Getting Started With A Mobile User Acquisition Agency Your app is awesome, and it’s about time the world knew it. This starts with user acquisition, and it’s certainly worth engaging with a top mobile user acquisition agency in order to discuss your goals and how best to achieve them. When it comes to premium mobile user acquisition companies, get in touch with Moburst. As one of the leading full-service user acquisition companies, we’ve worked with some of the biggest brands in the world to achieve app success. It’s what we’re passionate about, and we look forward to working together to help you achieve this too. See you at the top of the charts!
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