Everything You Need To Know About A Mobile Marketing Agency
Gilad Bechar | 8.7.20
Originally published in August 2016. Updated July 2020
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 advertising 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.
How can we help?
For more questions, or to speak to award-winning mobile marketers here at Moburst, get in touch.
Contact us!
Most companies will partner with a 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, choosing the right one for your needs and making the most out of the relationship.
For a background overview on mobile marketing, read here.
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 article will discuss the benefits of working with a mobile marketing company that provides these services, rather than hiring employees to do the work in-house.
1. Powerful Media Purchasing
Media buying can be a tedious process that takes up time, money and focus.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, providing priceless insight that would be hard for an in-house team to match. These media teams are focused solely on budget allocation and daily optimization to ensure wise expenditure along with successful campaigns.
2. Fresh Insight
Often, 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 consist 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
We all know that blurred feeling when you stare at something for too long whether it’s a blank mind, dulled ideas or glaring blind spots. This is where an agency comes in, bringing color and vision. A group of experienced designers can provide fresh and objective input as they dedicate their expertise to your brand. External input, without bureaucratic glass doors and internal politics, can provide the necessary input to refine and improve your product.
What’s more, a creative team in an agency knows the nuances of the industry and will work to give you an edge over your competitors. Their experience is specific to mobile marketing and seeped with insight on the trends of the day. With their exposure to different markets, their input will be based on previous and proven successes.
At a mobile app marketing agency, teams also work closely together, allowing the creative team to work with media managers to know which creatives bring the highest conversion rates. They are also able to work with the ASO team to know which organic searches are bringing in the most users. The creative work that a mobile advertising agency can provide will include cutting-edge designs that are based off of industry trends, data and years of experience.
4. A to the S to the O
App store optimization is crucial to the success of any app, with 60% of app store visitors coming from app store searches. Knowing how the algorithms of app store connect and google play console work and implementing the strategies to increase organic downloads, is paramount for app visibility.
Good effort on the ASO part. I appreciate the attempt to give more value. If we’re down that lane, perhaps we can focus more on showing what we know and making people get more of it. For example, showing how Google and iOS differ and require different handling, e.g. in screenshot sizes. Provide two screenshots of app pages (preferably with the same app), depicting square screenshots on GP and Portrait/Landscape on iOS, and explain: We know how to choose based on an empirical approach – testing.
Some tools we work with:
With these tools, an ASO team can conduct in-depth keyword research that is unique to your product. They know the ins-and-outs of the trade. We at Moburst, for example, know the importance of tracking many keywords in order to get a more accurate snapshot of the search landscape for your app. Starting with a wide keyword research gives you insight to know where to focus on.
Having the time and expertise to dive in the nitty gritty of organic searches is also valuable. With in-depth analysis it’s possible to differentiate between browse and search to understand where your downloads are coming from and to optimize accordingly.
ASO Analysis Breakdown (in work time)
It is important to conduct A/B tests to monitor the effectiveness of new features or updates. With perpetual industry trends, A/B tests can give your app an edge over competitors. With an agency, test campaigns would be set up with designs to mimic store traffic. You would be avoiding a learning curve with A/B test platforms and receive ready made reports made from raw data to aid you in your decision making process.
Creating A/B test strategies to see which features and designs increase your CVR is invaluable. Since strategies for apps are vastly different than A/B testing on the web, partnering with mobile app marketing agencies is even more valuable. We’ve conducted numerous tests that have significantly increased CVR. See the results of an A/B test we conducted for TLC GO. Working with an agency would expose you to the tips and tricks that have stood the test of time
Having highly experienced and capable teams working together is the ultimate benefit of working with a mobile marketing company. As opposed to making decisions in a vacuum, you have experts communicating with each other, understanding the intricacies of the industry, and making informed decisions based off of the big picture. Unlike simply hiring multiple people who are experts in the field, an agency creates a dynamic environment that encourages flow and communication between teams.
Adding to this, the mobile world is always changing and it is therefore paramount that the marketing aspect becomes an ongoing process that keeps your app relevant and fresh. An agency is always up-to-date with algorithm changes and industry trends to ensure that every opportunity is taken.
Choosing The Right App Marketing Companies
What are some of the other key things to look out for when investigating an app marketing agency?
1. Success metrics
Look for a prominent display of success stories. However shy away from agencies with watery accolades and vague wins. Solid numbers reveal the most about an agency’s capabilities.
Also check websites that rate and rank different companies to see if it substantiates an agency’s claims. Get external sources to corroborate the agency’s success numbers. A good website to check is clutch.co.
As an 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
An agency’s award list is a good reflection of the company’s success. The mobile industry, a relatively new one, is very competitive. Hence 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 by the Mobile Marketing Association, shows it is among the top globally.
Since our start in 2013, we’ve been helping brands successfully launch and market their mobile apps. Over the years we’ve won many awards and out of 1,207 companies, we made it to Clutch’s list of top mobile marketing agencies.. In November of 2019 we were given the “Most Effective Performance Marketing Campaign” award at the Effective Mobile Marketing ceremony in London for our work on the app SAY.
Our company prides itself on giving our partners the tools they need to compete in a mobile-centric world. Our success has been noticed and admired by ratings and reviews firm, Clutch. Our ability to deliver to our clients has ranked us as one of the leading mobile marketing agencies for 2018!
We’re at a point where going mobile is not a choice, but a must, in order to stay relevant. Making the decision to boost an online presence and create an app for your business is the right move, but if you don’t take the right approach then your effort will all be worthless. Looking for the right mobile marketing partner? We’d love to hear from you.
Praise from some of our clients:
“In the last three months, Moburst helped increase our visibility in app stores by about 27%.” – Global Growth Director, Uber
“They operate with a level of urgency and consistently push us to try new things and test aggressively” – VP Marketing, Reddit
“My team and I are happy with their quality of work. They deliver!” – Content & Strategy Manager, Samsung
3. Clients
Look for big names. These companies 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.
For more questions, or to speak to award-winning mobile marketers here at Moburst, get in touch.
Criteria for Choosing A Mobile Marketing Company
There are a number of mobile marketing services out there, many of which promise the world. The reality is that there are only a few truly successful agencies 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 services 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 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.
Feel free to ask their other clients of how they were treated and how they felt about working with that company.
3. Can you guarantee a degree of reliability?
It’s easy to create an impressive website sprinkled with flowery statements. Don’t be deceived. Look for success stories that back their claims and check if they have received industry accolades. Consult your network to check the agency’s reputation. Is their name known and respected?
Check their mobile marketing strategies to ensure their promises aren’t empty. Read through their blog posts to see the level of their understanding and their standing in the industry.
If you’re further down the process, ask for recommendations from the agency. Talk to their previous clients and see what their experience was like. Do they recommend the agency? How would they evaluate their experience?
What Types of Mobile Marketing Services Are Available?
The next thing to understand about a mobile marketing agency is what services they offer. The 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 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 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 landscape. This type of agency provides end-to-end solutions, offering mobile marketing services which include:
Strategy:
A great marketing strategy can be the difference between huge successes, and unfortunate failures. With the right mobile strategy company, you would be able to define your value proposition and target audience; get the right mobile strategy to engage consumers; and learn from the mobile industry experts.
One average, users take less than three seconds to decide whether or not to download an app. Having cutting-edge design can be the deciding factor that allows users to download. When it comes to standing out from 5.5 million other apps, simply good creatives won’t cut it. Great creative work combines a combination of strategic storytelling and creative flair, based off of tested data and experience.
Your app store presence is critical to your success. An ASO agency ensures that your app store presence is on point. App store optimization is crucial to boost app discoverability, increase conversions, minimize media spend and increase organic downloads. Partnering with the best ASO agencies is an essential part of mobile success.
Partnering with a marketing agency is a lot more than simply taking your product and marketing it. The best agency will add significant value in terms of refining the product, making notable chances to achieve maximum results.
A top, full-service mobile marketing agency will ensure you’re up to date with the latest in trends, best practices, and tech innovation.
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 plans to do in case each goal is not achieved, how it will draw the right conclusions and implement immediate changes.
How can a mobile agency help during COVID times?
In times of a global crisis, it is difficult to know how to move forward. As we wade into uncharted territory, marketers are redirecting strategies in hopes of maintaining stability. A marketing agency can help now more than ever in navigating these times of uncertainty successfully.
Due to COVID-19 people quarantined in their homes are increasingly turning to news, social media, games, video and texting on mobile devices, steepening an already rapid growing consumer trend. Partnering with a marketing company would be able to provide insight and to monitor industry and app level trends.
An agency would provide access to expensive premium data collecting tools that offer invaluable data and insight. With Apptweak, we were able to monitor industry trends under the Lifestyle category: the CVR benchmark increased as the crisis augmented and was less fluctuating than other categories. One of our clients, an app focused on psychic counseling, was categorized under Entertainment, a very competitive field. Backed-up by Apptweak’s data, we suggested alternating from Entertainment to Health & Fitness.
As soon as they switched categories, there was instant increase in category ranking.
In times of uncertainty and erratic market behavior due the COVID-19 crisis, it is crucial now more than ever to partner with a dynamic agency that excels in both tracking opportunities for success and in creativity focused on improving overall performance.
Services we offer
Read more on how Moburst can help your app grow:
Mobile Strategy – Build an Impactful Mobile Marketing Strategy & Achieve your Growth Goals;
Gilad Bechar is the Founder & CEO of Moburst. Gilad serves as a mentor to rising startups at Microsoft Accelerator, The Technion, Tel-Aviv University, Unit 8200 and for strategic Moburst clients, and is the Academic Director of the Mobile Marketing and New-Media course at Tel-Aviv University.
Great advice. I believe that in the end, choosing the right agency also create down to building relationships since you’ll be working closely toward a common goal. Finding that team that will know the client’s expectations and can meet them will lead to a long working association and referrals. Thanks for your insight.
Thanks for sharing an amazing piece of information on a topic that remains untouched by others. The best part about this article is that it has covered all the Necessary questions that one must ask from a digital marketing agency. Without knowing the whole process clearly, its nearly impossible to take Accountancy of things.
These are important questions to ask by digital marketing firm before they would start to work, to know who is your target market for your business. This is helping each other method to make your business succeed.
Technology is integrated into our lives as our online presence. this is because of a lot of customers are online. therefore, I just said that you are absolutely right.
Great Information. Digital-marketing is playing a important part to cultivate a prosperous internet business. This digital marketing tips will be useful for me to prepare digital marketing strategy of my business. Thank you for sharing this information.
Originally published in August 2016. Updated July 2020
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 advertising 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.
How can we help?
For more questions, or to speak to award-winning mobile marketers here at Moburst, get in touch.
Contact us!
Most companies will partner with a 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, choosing the right one for your needs and making the most out of the relationship.
For a background overview on mobile marketing, read here.
[lwptoc]
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 article will discuss the benefits of working with a mobile marketing company that provides these services, rather than hiring employees to do the work in-house.
1. Powerful Media Purchasing
Media buying can be a tedious process that takes up time, money and focus.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, providing priceless insight that would be hard for an in-house team to match. These media teams are focused solely on budget allocation and daily optimization to ensure wise expenditure along with successful campaigns.
2. Fresh Insight
Often, 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 consist 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
We all know that blurred feeling when you stare at something for too long whether it’s a blank mind, dulled ideas or glaring blind spots. This is where an agency comes in, bringing color and vision. A group of experienced designers can provide fresh and objective input as they dedicate their expertise to your brand. External input, without bureaucratic glass doors and internal politics, can provide the necessary input to refine and improve your product.
What’s more, a creative team in an agency knows the nuances of the industry and will work to give you an edge over your competitors. Their experience is specific to mobile marketing and seeped with insight on the trends of the day. With their exposure to different markets, their input will be based on previous and proven successes.
At a mobile app marketing agency, teams also work closely together, allowing the creative team to work with media managers to know which creatives bring the highest conversion rates. They are also able to work with the ASO team to know which organic searches are bringing in the most users. The creative work that a mobile advertising agency can provide will include cutting-edge designs that are based off of industry trends, data and years of experience.
4. A to the S to the O
App store optimization is crucial to the success of any app, with 60% of app store visitors coming from app store searches. Knowing how the algorithms of app store connect and google play console work and implementing the strategies to increase organic downloads, is paramount for app visibility.
Good effort on the ASO part. I appreciate the attempt to give more value. If we're down that lane, perhaps we can focus more on showing what we know and making people get more of it. For example, showing how Google and iOS differ and require different handling, e.g. in screenshot sizes. Provide two screenshots of app pages (preferably with the same app), depicting square screenshots on GP and Portrait/Landscape on iOS, and explain: We know how to choose based on an empirical approach - testing.
Some tools we work with:
With these tools, an ASO team can conduct in-depth keyword research that is unique to your product. They know the ins-and-outs of the trade. We at Moburst, for example, know the importance of tracking many keywords in order to get a more accurate snapshot of the search landscape for your app. Starting with a wide keyword research gives you insight to know where to focus on.
Having the time and expertise to dive in the nitty gritty of organic searches is also valuable. With in-depth analysis it’s possible to differentiate between browse and search to understand where your downloads are coming from and to optimize accordingly.
ASO Analysis Breakdown (in work time)
It is important to conduct A/B tests to monitor the effectiveness of new features or updates. With perpetual industry trends, A/B tests can give your app an edge over competitors. With an agency, test campaigns would be set up with designs to mimic store traffic. You would be avoiding a learning curve with A/B test platforms and receive ready made reports made from raw data to aid you in your decision making process.
Creating A/B test strategies to see which features and designs increase your CVR is invaluable. Since strategies for apps are vastly different than A/B testing on the web, partnering with mobile app marketing agencies is even more valuable. We’ve conducted numerous tests that have significantly increased CVR. See the results of an A/B test we conducted for TLC GO. Working with an agency would expose you to the tips and tricks that have stood the test of time
Read more about the benefits of ASO: https://www.moburst.com/aso-agency/
Read more about A/B Testing: https://www.moburst.com/ab-testing-must-know-tips/
5. Overall Synergy
Having highly experienced and capable teams working together is the ultimate benefit of working with a mobile marketing company. As opposed to making decisions in a vacuum, you have experts communicating with each other, understanding the intricacies of the industry, and making informed decisions based off of the big picture. Unlike simply hiring multiple people who are experts in the field, an agency creates a dynamic environment that encourages flow and communication between teams.
Adding to this, the mobile world is always changing and it is therefore paramount that the marketing aspect becomes an ongoing process that keeps your app relevant and fresh. An agency is always up-to-date with algorithm changes and industry trends to ensure that every opportunity is taken.
Choosing The Right App Marketing Companies
What are some of the other key things to look out for when investigating an app marketing agency?
1. Success metrics
Look for a prominent display of success stories. However shy away from agencies with watery accolades and vague wins. Solid numbers reveal the most about an agency’s capabilities.
Also check websites that rate and rank different companies to see if it substantiates an agency’s claims. Get external sources to corroborate the agency’s success numbers. A good website to check is clutch.co.
As an 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
An agency’s award list is a good reflection of the company’s success. The mobile industry, a relatively new one, is very competitive. Hence 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 by the Mobile Marketing Association, shows it is among the top globally.
Since our start in 2013, we’ve been helping brands successfully launch and market their mobile apps. Over the years we’ve won many awards and out of 1,207 companies, we made it to Clutch’s list of top mobile marketing agencies.. In November of 2019 we were given the “Most Effective Performance Marketing Campaign” award at the Effective Mobile Marketing ceremony in London for our work on the app SAY.
Our company prides itself on giving our partners the tools they need to compete in a mobile-centric world. Our success has been noticed and admired by ratings and reviews firm, Clutch. Our ability to deliver to our clients has ranked us as one of the leading mobile marketing agencies for 2018!
We’re at a point where going mobile is not a choice, but a must, in order to stay relevant. Making the decision to boost an online presence and create an app for your business is the right move, but if you don’t take the right approach then your effort will all be worthless. Looking for the right mobile marketing partner? We’d love to hear from you.
Praise from some of our clients:
“In the last three months, Moburst helped increase our visibility in app stores by about 27%.” – Global Growth Director, Uber
“They operate with a level of urgency and consistently push us to try new things and test aggressively” – VP Marketing, Reddit
“My team and I are happy with their quality of work. They deliver!” – Content & Strategy Manager, Samsung
3. Clients
Look for big names. These companies 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.
For more questions, or to speak to award-winning mobile marketers here at Moburst, get in touch.
Criteria for Choosing A Mobile Marketing Company
There are a number of mobile marketing services out there, many of which promise the world. The reality is that there are only a few truly successful agencies 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 services 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 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.
Feel free to ask their other clients of how they were treated and how they felt about working with that company.
3. Can you guarantee a degree of reliability?
It’s easy to create an impressive website sprinkled with flowery statements. Don’t be deceived. Look for success stories that back their claims and check if they have received industry accolades. Consult your network to check the agency’s reputation. Is their name known and respected?
Check their mobile marketing strategies to ensure their promises aren’t empty. Read through their blog posts to see the level of their understanding and their standing in the industry.
If you’re further down the process, ask for recommendations from the agency. Talk to their previous clients and see what their experience was like. Do they recommend the agency? How would they evaluate their experience?
What Types of Mobile Marketing Services Are Available?
The next thing to understand about a mobile marketing agency is what services they offer. The 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 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 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 landscape. This type of agency provides end-to-end solutions, offering mobile marketing services which include:
Strategy:
A great marketing strategy can be the difference between huge successes, and unfortunate failures. With the right mobile strategy company, you would be able to define your value proposition and target audience; get the right mobile strategy to engage consumers; and learn from the mobile industry experts.
Read more: https://www.moburst.com/marketing-strategy-agency/
Creative:
One average, users take less than three seconds to decide whether or not to download an app. Having cutting-edge design can be the deciding factor that allows users to download. When it comes to standing out from 5.5 million other apps, simply good creatives won’t cut it. Great creative work combines a combination of strategic storytelling and creative flair, based off of tested data and experience.
Read more: https://www.moburst.com/creative-agency
ASO:
Your app store presence is critical to your success. An ASO agency ensures that your app store presence is on point. App store optimization is crucial to boost app discoverability, increase conversions, minimize media spend and increase organic downloads. Partnering with the best ASO agencies is an essential part of mobile success.
Read more: https://www.moburst.com/aso-agency/
Product:
Partnering with a marketing agency is a lot more than simply taking your product and marketing it. The best agency will add significant value in terms of refining the product, making notable chances to achieve maximum results.
Read more: https://www.moburst.com/5-tips-successful-paid-media-campaigns/
https://www.moburst.com/mobile-media-agency/
A top, full-service mobile marketing agency will ensure you’re up to date with the latest in trends, best practices, and tech innovation.
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 plans to do in case each goal is not achieved, how it will draw the right conclusions and implement immediate changes.
How can a mobile agency help during COVID times?
In times of a global crisis, it is difficult to know how to move forward. As we wade into uncharted territory, marketers are redirecting strategies in hopes of maintaining stability. A marketing agency can help now more than ever in navigating these times of uncertainty successfully.
Due to COVID-19 people quarantined in their homes are increasingly turning to news, social media, games, video and texting on mobile devices, steepening an already rapid growing consumer trend. Partnering with a marketing company would be able to provide insight and to monitor industry and app level trends.
An agency would provide access to expensive premium data collecting tools that offer invaluable data and insight. With Apptweak, we were able to monitor industry trends under the Lifestyle category: the CVR benchmark increased as the crisis augmented and was less fluctuating than other categories. One of our clients, an app focused on psychic counseling, was categorized under Entertainment, a very competitive field. Backed-up by Apptweak’s data, we suggested alternating from Entertainment to Health & Fitness.
As soon as they switched categories, there was instant increase in category ranking.
In times of uncertainty and erratic market behavior due the COVID-19 crisis, it is crucial now more than ever to partner with a dynamic agency that excels in both tracking opportunities for success and in creativity focused on improving overall performance.
Services we offer
Read more on how Moburst can help your app grow:
Mobile Strategy - Build an Impactful Mobile Marketing Strategy & Achieve your Growth Goals;Product Consulting - After breaking down hundreds of apps to pieces;Creative - Create a Memorable Experience From Launch to any Campaign;App Store Optimization (ASO) - Get your app found on the app stores & downloaded: organically.
Deep linking. Doesn’t sound like much by name, does it? Well, we can assure you that it’s certainly a name worth knowing in the mobile marketing world.
App deep linking is growing in importance because it benefits both app marketers and users alike. It removes friction from, and therefore optimizes, the user journey. This makes it a great tool for increasing conversion and retention rates. Win win!
For app marketers, the biggest advantage of deep linking is its ability to lead users directly to the app page where you want them to convert. With less action required, the user experiences a more seamless overall journey. This means there’s far less opportunity for them to break away from the conversion funnel. We can break it down into a little sum. Less friction = improved overall experience. Improved overall experience = higher conversion rate.
Another benefit of deep linking is remarketing. Simply put, if the user hasn’t uninstalled the app, placing an ad in a deep link can re-engage them. Bring them back from the dreaded zone of inactive users. Or, this method can also be used to target churned users (those users who previously deleted your app). Give them a reason they just have to return. Retargeting ads are an effective method for this, and a good place to start is with Facebook retargeting ads. In bringing users back to your app, you’re increasing the likelihood of them converting. They can’t convert from afar!
So app marketers are making gains, and at the very same time, users are getting a better app experience. They have less actions to perform and much smoother transitions to reach a particular point.
In this article, we aim to help you understand just what mobile deep linking is and how it can lead to conversion rate optimization for your business. We cover the different types of deep links, the various ways in which they can be used to encourage conversion, and most importantly: how to strategize for an all encompassing app deep linking strategy and target your audience for the most optimized deep linking campaigns.
What is Deep Linking?
In a nutshell, app deep linking sends a user to a specific page on an app. (The same is true for both iOS and Android devices). Instead of beginning with the traditional “https://” of a regular URL, deep links begin with the app name. They take users where regular URLs cannot, to a predetermined page within an app, usually for mobile marketing purposes.
Ultimately, the end goal of deep linking is conversion. Within this, there are various ways of achieving the conversion. Most importantly, you’re leading users directly to the specific in-app event you want them to take action on, for example a specific product page for a product you want them to buy. By controlling the user journey, and reducing the potential drop off points, you’re thus encouraging conversion.
Take note: this can be context driven. It can be a link to a product that the user previously placed in their basket, for example; this is a means of re-engagement. If you’ve got the data to know what was already piquing their interest, why not use it to your advantage and put yourself one step ahead of the game?
Another clever technique we’re fans of here at Moburst is creating a remarketing campaign for all users who didn’t put their card details into your app. “Save the hassle and input your details in a few simple steps” - make it sound like there’s something in it for them.
Contrary to what some MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners) might mistakenly lead you to believe, deep linking is not a technology in itself. Anybody (who knows what they’re doing, that is) can set up a deep link and integrate it. We haven’t touched on deferred deep links just yet, more on that later, but using third-party solutions such as Adjust.com allows you to defer a deep link and track deep link activity. These third-party platforms are what provide the additional technology.
Deep links work off the back of attribution. It’s the attribution data supplied from attribution providers (MMPs) that allow deep links to accurately route users to specific destinations within an app.
What are The Different Types of Deep Linking?
There are three types of deep linking:
Default deep linking
When a user already has the app installed this directs them to a specific page in the app.
This is useful for retargeting campaigns where marketers want to re-engage users who already have the app.
Deferred deep linking
When a user doesn’t already have the app installed, a deferred deep link takes them to the app store page. Once the app has been downloaded, it takes the user to the originally intended app page.
To create deferred deep links, you need to use an MMP.
Contextual deep linking
Either default or deferred deep linking but with added parameters that marketers can add themselves.
They provide marketers with more data, e.g. who are the users? What channel or campaign brought them here? What device did they use?
How Does Deep Linking Improve Conversion Rate?
Deep linking can increase the conversion rate of your app by over 50% (around 51% on average). That’s a BIG increase, so you don’t want to miss out.
A Smooth, Controlled User Journey
It doesn’t take much to figure out that when you ensure someone lands in a specific location, they can’t get lost en route. So when you make sure someone ends up on the page you want them to convert on, you’re reducing the likelihood of them not converting by giving them less chance to break away from the funnel. That’s what deep linking does.
Essentially, streamlining the user experience (and reducing the friction) is the main reason why you will see increased conversion rates - your users are less frustrated, have less opportunity to abandon their action (they don’t have to click numerous times to find the page themselves), and are pretty much hand held until they’re as close to the action point as possible.
App marketers are in control of the user journey. As an app marketer you are controlling two things: that your users have an optimized time using your app, and that your users end up where you want them to. Both, as we now know, have a positive impact on conversion rates.
Mobile Campaign Optimization
If you have a particular campaign or product you want to sell, you can optimize this through deep linking. By driving more traffic to the action point, you are thus likely to be improving the conversion rate.
Just like shops in real life that see more foot-fall, more users on a particular app page can increase sales. What’s also worth noting is: users view many more products when in-app browsing than mobile web browsing, so it’s of greater value to guide them to the app for sales/ conversion purposes.
Deferred Deep Linking Benefits
As touched on above, deferred deep linking allows you to target even users who don’t already have the app installed - a method that can only be positive for the conversion rate by including a whole new category of people. This means that literally anybody can be taken to a page on your app that you choose, no limitations.
As such, you’re reducing the break-off points on the pathway to conversion. A stronger path to conversion can only encourage a better overall conversion rate.
Rewards
It’s not breaking news that rewards, offers and discounts are a great tool in any marketers toolbox. Deep linking these persuasive sales techniques can increase conversion because it incentivizes users to use the app.
These rewards, offers or discounts can be sent to users via a retargeting campaign. For e-commerce apps this could be a discount code, for gaming apps it could be an in-app currency reward, apps like Shopkick offer loyalty points that can be turned into rewards. The loyalty points keep bringing users back to the app, and since they have points to use up they’re more likely to use the app to make a purchase. Goal achieved.
Email and SMS
Deep links can be sent via email and SMS too, as a way of sending reminders to users. Performance tracking is a great technique whereby users are reminded of their achievements so far within your app, or products left in their basket (amongst many other things), via email or SMS.
Have they unlocked a new level in a game or educational platform? Or beaten a goal? Deep linking performance tracking allows users to view these, update them and acts as a reminder of all they have invested in your app up to this point.
When they’re reminded that they’ve already invested a lot of time (and sometimes money), they’re more likely to invest even more time so as not to have lost what they’ve gained. Essentially, each email or SMS deep link will bring users back to your app and one step closer to conversion.
MMPs / Attribution
An MMP is an official mobile measurement partner in Facebook’s marketing partners program. Take note: MMPs are attribution providers, but not all attribution providers are MMPs.
When choosing an attribution provider, you must ensure it’s an official MMP as only these can receive and accurately measure Facebook campaigns. Official MMPs include AppsFlyer and Adjust.com.
Attribution providers enable deep linking; you can’t deep link without the attribution data. That’s why AppsFlyer and Adjust’s attribution platforms work hand in hand with their deep linking provisions.
Mobile attribution is the process of matching two data points to discover where exactly your users are coming from; which ad? Which platform? Etc. Before an app deep links a user, it first attributes the user.
How? It uses “fingerprints” from the user’s device (takes identifying information from the device to be used later, e.g. IP, phone size or OS version). When the user opens the app, the “fingerprint” from earlier is matched to them. A deep linking vendor responds with attribution data, e.g. which campaign the user came from, the media source or URL. The referral source or URL tells the app where to route the user.
It’s super important to use the same vendor for attribution and deep linking, because the technology is the same and so you can get the exact same benefits from using one.
There are numerous benefits of this, but for conversion: it reduces the complexity and increases the efficiency of analysing attribution data, so you can know where to target future campaigns and reach a more ‘valuable’ audience who are more likely to convert.
Tracking which sources contribute most to your growth (and which don’t) - the source of any deep linking related conversions - allows you to send deep links to the most potentially valuable users who will contribute to your conversion rate more. You can thus optimize your deep linking strategy to lead to a cycle of increased conversions. Essentially, nail down the perfect formula for future success.
Physical (or “offline”) Deep Links
Mobile app marketers can put deep links in QR codes or NFC chips in posters, retail locations, any physical place. When you scan the QR code, for example, it’s a deep link that will take users to the specific in-app page set by the marketers. You're not just limited to social media campaigns/ online.
This widens the access, think of it like virtual foot fall. More customers in a store mean more chances of sales, right? Apply the same logic to apps. If more users are sent to a page in your app, there’s more chances of conversion.
The Real Recipe to Deep Linking Success
How to Combine Your Deep Linking Strategy with Other Strategies?
How do Standalone Deep Linking Strategies Need to Differ from Regular Strategies?
Most advertizers think of a deep link as a standalone solution. They think “I have a page on an app that I want users to go to, so I should create a URL and send users there”. However, smart advertizers (like some of Moburst’s clients) create a whole new strategy for deep linking that combines creative, app flow, product and deep linking strategy.
This combined strategic approach of smart advertisers involves preparing brand new creatives, preparing for the app flow and working with the client’s product team to brainstorm the product angle.
The most basic strategy would go as follows: it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday. You are deep linking for four different stores (e.g. Walmart, Target, etc.). You send a deep link to the shopping page to all users interested in shopping and they decide what to buy.
What we, as smart advertisers, like to do for our clients instead, is this: we send users directly to the products (in this example, the Walmart products) using four different deep links, each with new creatives, and four specific campaigns for the four different stores. We target specific users with these specific deep link combined strategies.
By preparing all kinds of strategies for the deep link, so that it’s not standalone, we ensure real success and improved conversion rates.
How to Build Specific Audiences and Engage Them
So, you’ve got a gardening product that you want to drive sales for. You set up a deep link to this product. You create a campaign with this specific deep link to lead people to buy the product. You create a group that’s more suited to this deep link, an appropriate audience; you choose to target men aged 50+ that are interested in gardening. This is the right way to go about things - it will lead to an improved conversion rate.
Now, you might think this is pretty obvious. But, believe it or not, most advertisers don’t think about it. They’re so stuck in creating the deep link and sending specific users to specific pages that they forget about targeting specific deep links to different app pages than usual.
At Moburst, we like to create separate audiences and combine new audiences to improve the conversion rate even more than what can come from regular deep linking.
With an e-commerce client in the past, we took an audience by location and searched all of the relevant stores and people that were next to them in the previous seven days. We built an audience according to that geo-data. From there, we knew who had the potential to be interested and was usually buying from the target stores. Then, we combined the deep linking and BOOM the conversion rocketed.
Conclusion
We hope it’s now clear how to use deep linking to improve your conversion rate. Although we covered the basics, too, it’s important to take this away with you: to get the best results with deep linking, you shouldn’t look at it as a strategy on its own. When you combine it with the various other elements of the app marketing funnel, you’ll see your conversion skyrocket. And you might just wipe out the competition, because this is a method far less practiced than you may believe!
Interested in learning more about deep linking?
Let us show you how Moburst can help you optimize your deep linking strategy.
Contact us!
Originally posted August, 2019
There are over 5 million apps on the market, and most of them are free. Because of this flood of new apps, mobile app retention rates are decreasing. It’s easier than ever for a user to find an app or service similar to yours, and it takes only a few seconds.
It’s therefore extremely important to work on increasing your average retention rate for your app. Simply pushing tons of traffic and mobile app installs to your app everyday won’t help if people jump the fence soon after.
User acquisition is becoming more and more expensive. Actually, it’s 5 times more expensive to bring in a new client than to retain an existing one.
What is mobile user retention?
The retention rate is one of the most important app store optimization factors to take into consideration. It’s the percentage of active users (people who use your app continuously) over a given period of time.
Generally, what’s used across the industry (and remember, it’s subjective), is the percentage of an app’s users who return to the app within three months of its initial download. The benchmark is around 30-35% at the three month mark, but of course it varies widely according to the app category.
It might surprise you to discover that retention stats are this staggeringly low. On average, only just over a quarter of users return to an app over ten times. So, what happened to the rest? They lost interest. These users contribute to what’s known as the “churn rate” (the percentage of users that leave the app in a given period of time).
Around a quarter of users will abandon an app after just one use!
In Google Play, an app’s retention rate is calculated in the following intervals:
1 day7 days15 days30 days
Google Play retention report
iOS differs slightly, where App Store Connect allows you to view your Daily Retention rate. See below:
App Store Connect retention report
Finally, AppsFlyer, another key player, measures retention in either weekly or daily intervals within dates selected by you:
In the Daily report, retention can be calculated for up to 30 daysIn the Weekly report, retention can be calculated for up to 12 weeks
Where does the real value lie in user retention?
How important is user retention? Firstly, we’d like to introduce something new here: LTV (or lifetime investment). This refers to the prediction of how much a particular customer is likely to spend on your app, or how much profit they’re going to provide you with. It’s a vital metric for creating marketing budgets and enabling companies to run efficiently, and it starts with the retention rate. You can’t accurately work out the LTV without knowing your retention rate, which makes your retention stats highly valuable.
Secondly, since most users download an app and abandon it straight away, user retention acts as the best indicator of your app’s success.
Analyzing it can help you discover multiple reasons for which a business is losing money. If users are churning at a fast rate because of a bug or lack of content, the app’s profitability will likely decrease. Alternatively...
The higher the retention rate, the higher the chances are of the user converting into a paying customer to provide you with a good ROI.
You should remember that there’s no one size fits all. A flight booking app with a low retention rate is not a problem, as users uninstall the app after the flight. On the other hand, a B2B app where users are linked to a monthly payment usually has a higher retention rate.
For apps that survive off of conversions and monetization, such as Uber or Tinder, retention is the most critical. Active users yield the most revenue. And revenue is the ultimate end goal, right?
Taking this all into account, retention marketing is both cheaper than acquisition and provides you with a higher revenue. Meaning you can pump money into other areas and you’ll probably grow faster too.
Even better, if tracking your retention helps you calculate your LTV, and knowing your LTV enables you to pump your budget into acquiring more valuable users, well...you get the idea. Improving your retention can help to improve your acquisition!
It’s worth noting that the same existing users, who are happy with your product, are more likely to pass on the word: “download this app, it’s great”! Word of mouth is the cheapest and yet strongest way to acquire high value customers anyway.
How to calculate retention rate?
There are multiple ways you can go about this with different user retention metrics.
One option is measuring the Aggregate Retention Rate (ARR). This is the total number of monthly active users (MAU) divided by the total number of installs in that period.
MAU / #installs = % ARR
However, this is less used since it’s harder to interpret and extract information from.
Most commonly, user retention is measured by working out the percentage of users who use an app within a certain amount of days since their first use. User abandonment, engagement and retention can be tracked better through this cohort analysis of the retention rate. You can calculate this using the following formula:
(# users at the end of the period - # users acquired throughout the period) / (# of users at the start of the period) * 100 = App Retention Rate
Of course, app retention rates can also be calculated in a simpler way by only taking into consideration the users that were acquired at the start of the time period (most analytics aso tools can track users easily).
Here’s an example: 1000 users launch an app for the first time on the day they download it. The following day, 750 users open it. The app’s day one retention is therefore 75%.
Once you’ve calculated your retention rate, you can go on to work out the LTV to predict your users’ future value.
How to increase app retention rate?
Now that we’ve discussed what app retention is and how it can be calculated, we can start talking about the matter that’s most important to your business - How to increase your app’s retention rate?
First things first, start with your retention in mind before even launching the app.
The holy grail of mobile strategy is getting users addicted to your product, but there are different routes that will lead you there. The rise of behavioural psychology gives marketers a new set of tricks that will drive users crazy and drive major sales simultaneously.
To effectively influence users, a savvy app developer or marketer should become familiar with different methods. Here are 5 practical strategies, some influenced by behavioural psychology and others more traditional, you can take on board to increase your app retention. You can even employ the help of a mobile marketing agency to help you along the way.
Optimize the app’s onboarding process
With the huge amount of users who abandon an app immediately after downloading it, you need to prove you’re worth their time ASAP.
Start by asking yourself “What are the best ways to keep the onboarding process simple and intuitive to reduce any potential friction?”
Reduce the number of steps to bring users closer to conversion without overwhelming them (e.g. by asking too many questions).
Still, make sure to highlight the benefits.
Choose whether to display content in a list, map or grid view; what’s easier?Allow users to sign up with existing social media accounts to keep it as quick and hassle free as possible.
Onboarding pages of an app
Next, ask yourself “How can I keep users informed, engaged and excited to begin using my app?”
Provide a clear indication of progress (e.g. use a progress bar, as shown above).Use brief tutorials and explain all features.
Finally, ask yourself “How can I best understand what my users are doing after onboarding?” This is critical to understanding user retention.
Focus on Day 1 - Day 3 Retention
A whopping 77% of users drop off within the first three days of installing an app. If you can wow users with your slick onboarding and get them to stick around, you’re on your way to success.
The higher the retention rate in the day 1 - day 3 mark, the higher in the 30 and 90 day marks. Our experience shows that retention rate decreases (on average) from 25% on the first day to 15% on the third, to 10% after two weeks.
Aha! Moment and Product Dependency: A Mobile Must-Have
You want your users to understand why your app brings them value, right? And for this to make them need your product? The key here is to guide users to their ‘aha! Moment’ as quickly as possible, and to continuously remind them of this. You know, the moment where the lightbulb flashes and they suddenly realise just how much they’ve been missing without your app in their life.
Whilst it seems pretty obvious, building an essential app is extremely hard to do. On the bright side, your product doesn’t have to answer the most urgent of needs.
Take Waze, for instance. This navigation app has managed to change the way millions of people drive with such impact that many of us can no longer get from A to B without its wisdom. Even when we know the way, we still rely on Waze.
If you can fundamentally change one simple action and make it easier or more convenient, going back to the pre-existing path might be painful enough for users to help you achieve your goal.
Remember:
Once you understand your app’s ‘aha! moment’, you can easily guide users towards the behaviours that lead there.You can apply the Fogg Behavioural Model for driving user behaviour: Behaviour = Motivation x Ability x Trigger.
Utilize triggers and encourage customer investment and dependency
So now you’ve retained your customers with your ultra effective onboarding process, but how do you prompt them to stick with your app beyond this?
We’ve got a few ideas that just might help you.
Push notifications are pop-up messages sent to a device when an app isn’t running.
Push notifications are some of the best ways for an app to communicate with users. Revolut app tells you whenever a payment has been made. Games tell you when you should log in again for your daily boost. Facebook notifies you about messages and likes.
Sending small reminders here and there can influence your app’s retention rate. Just make sure you don’t spam users and have come prepared with a great push notification strategy.
Using push notifications can triple your user engagement! Just make sure users only receive information that’s valuable and relevant to them. You don’t want to be that pesky app that sends irrelevant information, do you?
The Right Place at the Right Time
Another idea is to remember that mobile devices draw tons of information from users. Some of this information, such as geo-location, can be instrumental in optimizing your brand’s mobile product specifically for consumers.
Knowing where consumers are allows marketers to offer context-specific content.
The most obvious way to use this data is to alert existing clients on new deals when they are physically near your store, but there are ways to get even more creative too.
KLM is a great example. The airline created a mobile game that lets users fly a paper jet over a virtual version of Amsterdam. Aside from being beautifully made and enjoyable to play, the game also uses mobile data to promote user loyalty.
With every purchase of a KLM flight, users win more points. Even cooler, users can advance in the game when they’re at the airport gate waiting to board their KLM flight (using geo-location technology).
The KLM Game
Customer Investment through Rewards, Loyalty Programs & Exclusive Deals
It’s far less likely that a user will abandon an app the more they use it. That’s why you need to create growth cycles. This is commonly known as the ‘sunk cost trap’: we’re more likely to stick with something the more we invest into it. Once you’ve built up your profile or database, it would require more hassle to move and reorganize your data.
But how can you ensure this? One way is to include features that highlight a user’s progress to encourage them to invest more time (e.g. to reach a goal).
Another is to introduce fresh content as often as possible to ensure users don’t lose interest. Whether it’s cool music, text, visuals or exclusive deals - these will make sure users keep coming back.
The more great content you put out there, the more satisfied your users will be.
Old or depreciated content is one of the factors that affects gaming apps the most. People finish the game and leave. The only games that stray from this situation are online games (Fortnite, for example) or games with high replayability (like Sudoku and Crosswords).
Even content that doesn’t directly relate to your product, but fits in with its general concept, is fair game.
Starbucks iOS App Page
Let’s take Starbucks as an example. The app features a variety of content (such as music) that doesn’t necessarily relate to their products.
Users who have the app get this content as added value and check-in with the app regularly to see what’s new. It’s a great way to make sure that your brand stays on the consumer’s radar.
Starbucks also offers their users loyalty points and the chance to win different prizes every time they purchase a coffee. This in turn leads users to purchase more coffee to use up their points, also falling into a growth cycle, which we touched upon above. Killing two birds with one stone!
Yet another way to promote user loyalty and investment is by using the app to keep consumers up-to-date on new products, deals and launches.
Being aware of deals before everyone else is awesome, but still not good enough - offer users deals that are only available through mobile purchases to incentivize app users to check-in regularly.
Let’s go back to the Starbucks example; receiving loyalty points and the chance to win different prizes is a deal that’s only available through the app. This therefore incentivizes Starbucks customers to consistently make their purchases through the app.
Emotional Dependency: The FOMO Factor
FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - is what drives millions worldwide to constantly stare at their smartphones and hit refresh. Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter - we want it all, all the time.
Adding a social component will not only make for a better app and increase user engagement. It will also remind users’ of what they might be missing when they’re logged out. You can also use the push mechanism to give users a taste of what goes on in the wonderful world of your app while they’re not in it, e.g. by sending time sensitive offers and mysterious deals.
Social Dependency: May the Best User Win
When this unique mobile strategy works, it pays off big time. Competitiveness drives people to do the craziest things and invest their most precious resources. Why not utilize this trait to gain something from it?
Turning your product into a competitive game can really increase app retention. If you let users know that their friends and family seem to be doing much better than they are, they’ll go to extreme lengths in order to maintain their hard-earned positions in the game.
Create an even better app by adding the option to share victories on social media and compete head-to-head with others, preferably people that the user actually knows. You’ll be surprised to find out just how invested competitive users get.
This strategy will turn your app from a fun little hobby to a personal goal that goes far beyond the mobile world.
Ensure highest quality, functionality and regular software updates
Your users aren’t going to stick around if your app is bad quality. What would be in it for them?
Let’s quickly cover what makes an app ‘bad quality’. First, you have the ANR (application not responding, then you’ve got crashes and poor load times too.
An ANR is when an app is unresponsive, leaving the user hanging.A crash is when an app quits unexpectedly.Load times refer to the length of time it takes for each action to load within the app. Slower load times = poor app performance.
What’s more, the above software errors are not only connected to the user experience and retention, but also acquisition in Google Play. Google rewards strong performing apps with higher organic traffic. So, in ridding your app of ANRs, crashes and slow load times, you’re covering all bases.
As for Apple’s App Store, it also rewards ‘good quality’ apps with a higher ranking. If lots of crashes makes your app ‘bad quality’, then you best believe it’s going to lower the retention and the ranking.
There are a number of ways you can avoid these issues, such as:
Test before you launch to ensure your load times, crashes and ANRs won’t be an issue. There’s an entire section in Google Play Console dedicated to monitoring app performance (load times, crashes, ANR, etc).Apple’s App Store Connect provides you with a Crash report, showing how many times a day your app crashes. It can be filtered according to different parameters, such as platform or app version, to help target the cause and optimize your app.
Google Play ANR Report
Regularly update your app with new features and personalized content.Monitor your analytics to best understand what improvements can be made.Keep the user interface simple and functional. The more complicated the process, the more likely a user is to abandon before converting.Splash screens can help with functionality if your app takes a while to load. Use them with caution though, because they can also increase the amount of actions a user needs to take. Prioritize responsiveness/ speed. Really, your app should load as fast as or faster than a mobile site (the majority of users expect immediate responses).
Understand and communicate with your user
Communication is key to pretty much anything in life, and user retention is no different. If you build your app around your users’ daily routine, you’re giving them less reason to leave. You can map their behaviour to see what leads to retention, and don’t forget to understand their demographics. What actions do they take that correlates with this?
The best way to turn any consumer into a loyal one is by making them part of your brand. User-generated content (UGC) is the name of the game.
Mobile apps introduce endless possibilities for users to partake in brand communities and contribute their own content. For instance, in 2014, to promote their “What is Perfect Conference”, TedXPortland launched a mobile app that overlaid the word ‘perfect’ onto user-generated pictures that were shared on social media.
People immediately became curious about what the pictures meant, which helped create a buzz around the conference. The photos were later projected onto the walls of the event as part of the setting.
We also strongly advise you to encourage two-way communication to receive feedback and solve customer complaints. Make sure you take it all on board to establish what app features compel and add value to users, encouraging them to use the app. For example, what channels do they prefer? Excellent customer service contributes to users feeling valued.
As explained here, app store reviews and ratings are a great asset. Apps like Dropbox often take on board their reviews for future updates to improve their app. The in-app feedback mechanism asks you to give a star rating within the app, and if it’s below three, you’re asked to give written feedback. Dropbox used this to their advantage, ironically - when they noticed an influx of one star reviews, they could recognise the source (the absence of changelogs) and combat it specifically. Thereby improving their app, leading to a better app retention rate!
App Retention - Takeaways
Continuously improve your onboarding process, app functionality and the way you analyse your data. You’re never done with optimization. This requires: Keeping the onboarding process quick, simple and clear. Remember time is of the essence before users abandon your app altogether.Using a testing process to avoid any major software issues in the app and regularly updating the app. So, avoid ANRs, crashes and poor load times. Identifying and understanding your users is at the bottom line of everything: First, you must identify who your users are.Then, you can deliver them the right message.You can utilize any of the above methods, but if you’re targeting the wrong users, or targeting the right users with the wrong tone, you’re not going to get anywhere. Dependency goes a long way, whether it’s emotional, social or product related. Use exclusive rewards, loyalty programs, and triggers to encourage customer loyalty. It’s cheaper and more valuable to retain existing customers than to constantly acquire new users who will almost immediately abandon your app. Using your retention rate to calculate the LTV (lifetime value) even helps to improve your acquisition by allowing you to target the most valuable consumers.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can help improve your app’s retention rates, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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As a mobile marketing agency, we pride ourselves on optimizing all levels of the app marketing funnel. Retention is just one of the elements our team of experts can help you with.
WWDC 2020 is officially in the books and not surprisingly iOS 14 was the star of the show when it came to mobile. While there was a ton of fanfare (and rightfully so) surrounding the whole host of new features and apps available in the new operating system, our focus is always on how they can impact your mobile app marketing. From easier-on-the-eyes listings, to new USP narratives, and even innovative user acquisition opportunities, as you’ll see, much like Apple, we’ve been hard at work minding your business.
iOS 14 ASO Implications
Like the ASO-holics that we are, it should come as no surprise that developments in this realm were no doubt at the top of the list of things to catch our eye.
Review Guidelines Policy Changes
In news with lots of appeal, Apple will now allow developers to challenge App Store submission rejections that the company deems to have violated its guidelines. This much-welcomed policy reversal will afford developers the opportunity to both disprove any misconceptions that it has violated any of the Review Guidelines, as well as question the guideline itself in order to show that it does in fact qualify to be accepted into the App Store. Furthermore, unless it pertains to a legal issue, bug fixes will no longer be subject to guideline violations either. Instead, developers will be able to delay addressing any issues until their next submission.
App Store Search Refinements
App Store search is also getting a boost with both new spell-check enhancements meaning targeting typos is rendered meaningless and no more time spent bidding on misspelled keywords. Moreover, editorial collections will now also be showing up in search results. On top of that, the App Store will begin automatically filling out search terms for user searches; a noteworthy development given its potential ability to turn high popularity keywords into increased organic traffic.
Product Page Improvements
Among some of these notable changes included improving app product pages to make app details (as Apple puts it ) “more glanceable,” meaning your app listing assets just got that much more crucial. The product page revamp also includes an all-new privacy section where developers will be able to feature summaries of their self-reported privacy practices, as well as include a link to their privacy policy.
Game Center Updates
Not to be overlooked, the App Store’s Game Center is also getting a makeover. This new design is intended to not just make these apps more discoverable, but also more easily able to be enjoyed with friends. For example, the remodeling will include features such as achievements, leaderboards, and profiles viewable directly in the App Store, as well as in games that support Game Center. Additionally, beyond a new “Continue Playing” feature for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, Apple Arcade, is also getting more social too. Most notably, users will now be able to see what games are popular with Game Center friends.
Family Sharing Groups
Not surprisingly, in an event full of “firsts,” iOS 14 opened the door to an all-new way in which developers can make subscriptions available to their app’s users. Previously, with the exception of Apple Music and other Apple subscription-based services, subscriptions and other in-app purchases were limited to just the account that acquired it in the App Store. However, now with iOS 14 users will be able to take advantage of Family Sharing groups that will allow multiple users built-in access to these benefits as well.
On the surface, this seems like not only a great opportunity for users, but also for developers looking for new revenue opportunities and a story with which to promote them. For example, app developers can now offer two types of pricing structures such as the conventional single-account subscription, as well as a slightly more expensive Family Sharing version.
Introducing App Clips
At a huge event like WWDC it’s easy for things to get lost in the shuffle. This is especially true when they’re small in stature. However, despite their diminutive size, the inclusion of App Clips in iOS 14 is definitely something that should not be overlooked. In short, App Clips allow users to instantly download a small part of an app (10 MB or less) to their device without needing to install the whole thing. The App Clip allows users to perform a specific function, such as placing a mobile order, and then disappears from your phone when you’re done. Meaning it doesn’t take up any space on your phone, and doesn’t require downloading another app and creating yet another account.
While the benefits for users are apparent, in App Clips we see some serious mobile growth potential for brands. This is because the full version of the app can be downloaded from the App Clip by a user in a single tap. As a result, App Clips make it easier for developers to get their product on users’ phones by offering a bite-sized taste that can seamlessly transition into an actual full install. Plus, App Clips can be launched from websites, iMessages, NFC tags, QR codes, and more, which already have us thinking about tons of creative ways to leverage them for client campaigns.
IDFA: User Data Privacy Enhancements
Last, but certainly not least were the new iOS 14 privacy enhancements with the power to affect almost every developer, marketer, and advertiser of iOS apps. At the heart of this change is the way in which advertisers will now be able to utilize the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) in order to track user data and serve custom advertising. An even more persistent device identifier than a cookie, in the past Apple has found itself on the receiving end of some harsh rebuke for its virtually restrictionless data-sharing involving the IDFA. However, with the release of iOS 14 the new App Store policy will require apps to first receive permission before being able to track its users across other apps and websites owned by other companies.
Whereas in the past privacy-conscientious consumers were at the mercy of advertisers when it came to having their data monitored, this new update seeks to level the playing field. Previously for users to enable limited ad tracking (LAT) they would have to change an option hidden away in the device’s Settings menu. Now, however, users will receive just-in-time notifications with the options to either allow or decline whenever an app wants permission to track them. Unfortunately for marketers, this new pop-out notification at the moment of use will most likely lead to fewer people giving their consent. In fact, current estimations project that 50% of all iOS devices will have LAT enabled in the month following iOS 14’s September release, and climbing to nearly 100% by September 2021.
Main Takeaways
While there is a lot to love about iOS 14 from the user’s point-of-view, from a mobile marketing perspective there’s plenty to take note of:
Apple’s Review Guidelines Policy changes could be a real game-changer for developers, who will finally have the power to rebut their submission rejections.New search features such as autocorrect and auto-fill could have some impactful implications on your keyword strategy, especially when it comes to bidding on typos and terms with high popularity.App Store product page and search result updates should definitely be considered when performing your next ASO audit, especially as it pertains to your visual assets. The introduction of Group Sharing when it comes to subscriptions and in-app purchases could present an interesting opportunity to rethink both your app’s revenue strategy and USP narrative. App Clips not only seem to be great and practical resources for users but may have potential value as effective marketing instruments. That said, we still have questions about whether they’ll affect App Store traffic, including if they’ll show up in search results and how to optimize for them. Finally, although at first look the IDFA development seems like a big setback for advertisers, there may actually be a creative solution to help soften the blow. Per Apple’s documentation, while the opt-in notifications are non-negotiable, the message text is customizable. That means with the help of some snappy copywriting you still have a chance to make your case to users.
Moburst is the premier mobile marketing agency specializing in App Store Optimization (ASO), online media buying, and creative assets that get results. Got a challenge for us? Get in touch now and let's do something great together.
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Gilad Bechar | 8.7.20
Comments
19 thoughts on "Everything You Need To Know About A Mobile Marketing Agency"
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Moburst’s WWDC 2020 & iOS 14 Roundup
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