When launching a new app, it’s obviously crucial to understand who your target audience is. This can be done through market research, for example, but that can be time-consuming and expensive. A cost-effective and accurate way to really understand your audience is through a process of thorough testing. Once you understand your target audience, you can more powerfully use tools to boost key metrics. Understanding your audience has other advantages:
- Ensure you don’t waste time and money on advertising to audiences that aren’t going to be receptive
- Ability to develop app features with your target audience in mind
- Ability to craft specific campaigns and creative assets aimed at your target audience
For example: You have two very different sets of screenshots. One set shows the in-app experience, while the other highlights aspirational images. Which one do you use? It all depends on who your audience is. Different audiences will react very differently to your screenshots. So the first and most important objective is to understand your target audience.
Getting To Know Your Audience
You probably “know” your audience in a general sense, but we want data-driven results that will help to scientifically improve metrics like conversion rates. More than this, within your larger audience, there is a specific target audience that will show a greater affinity to your app, respond better to your creative assets, and show significantly higher returns across all your key metrics. This is the audience we’re going to identify. Revisiting the screenshot analogy, you’re probably familiar with a standard screenshot A/B test; you take two different sets of screenshots, and split them across one targeted group. Whichever set has a better conversion rate, is the winner. To understand who your audience is, however, you have to set things up a bit differently.
Understanding Your Audience
The following 3-step process really helps to identify and understand your audience, which is the first key step towards app success. #1: Craft your Unique Selling Points, your USP’s. What is your app all about, how will it benefit users, and how is it different to every other app out there? #2: From this information, identify your two sets of users that will most benefit from using your app. These are now your two audiences for testing. #3: Craft screenshot concepts for both of these two sets of audiences. At this point, it’s critical that you keep your USP’s the same across your two audiences. The way you write your messages for each one can be directed to that specific audience, but the underlying USP’s have to be the same. The same goes for the graphic language. It shouldn’t be too different on both sets, as this will lead to an inaccurate test.
Setting Up The Test
Once you have two sets of screenshots, speaking to your two different target audiences, you set up your test. What’s important to remember is that you aren’t setting it up as an A/B test where it’s one audience and two sets of screenshots. Rather, you’re setting it up so that one creative set goes to one specific audience, and the other set goes to the other audience. Think of it like this: instead of keeping the audience constant and showing two creative sets, you’re keeping the creatives (relatively) constant but showing it to two audience sets.
Data-driven results
To get the best results, keep everything else constant. For example, each test needs to get the same budget in order to get accurate data. Through this thorough form of testing, you can see which audience provides you with a better conversion rate. At the end of the test, whichever set had a better conversion rate, is your winning audience. Using this knowledge, you can then craft your future screenshots directed specifically towards that audience, and see huge gains across your most important metrics.
Now That You’ve Done The Hard Work
You’ve successfully identified your perfect target audience. Congratulations! The question is of course, “Now what?” That’s where a great partner takes you to the next level. From testing to understanding your audience, to creating the best digital strategies, and crafting top-converting creatives, Moburst is the expert for everything mobile. Get in touch to discuss how we can drive your mobile success together.
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