driving customer engagement in mobile apps
DESCRIPTION
Navigating the mobile app ecosystem is becoming increasingly difficult. Not only do you have to build a great product, you also have to jump through hoops to acquire customers. But what's the purpose of spending so much effort on discoverability and user acquisition, when three-quarters of people stop using your app after only one month? We predict that 2013 will be the year of customer engagement. As the ecosystem continues to be plagued by rising CPIs and abysmal retention rates, it's the one shining start for driving real business growth. The rationale is simple: spend more time building relationships with people, and they'll stick around longer. Invest in them, and they'll improve your ROI. While driving harnessing customer engagement in mobile apps is not simple, it's very effective with the right approach. This presentation provides some background on the mobile app ecosystem and where it's heading, suggest ways to craft the right customer engagement strategy, and explores various channels that app developers can use to build loyalty among their user base. It's filled with valuable statistics that put the entire category into perspective - both its challenges as well as its massive opportunity. If you're an app developer or marketer, it's time to start thinking about life after install.TRANSCRIPT
DRIVING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENTIN MOBILE APPS
February 2013
@appboy
MOBILE APP ENGAGEMENT MEANS BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
relationships start at the moment of installthey require active nurturing and management
force you to think long-term about your business
IT’S ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS IN CREATINGA SUCCESSFUL APP
promotes virality + social sharing creates customer loyalty
increases app revenue
BUT KEEPING YOUR CUSTOMERS AROUND IS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT
54/43/35% retention 1/2/3 months post-install41+ apps vying for your attention
more difficult to engage on Android
Source: Flurry 2012, Nielsen 2012
ONLY A FEW APPS HAVE CRACKED THE CODE
successful apps must stand out among 775K+ othersthey’re often lucky with market timing
they use economies of scale to their advantage
Source: Apple 2013, The Sociable 2013
APP MAKERS LACK THE TIME, EXPERTISE AND TOOLS TO DO ENGAGEMENT PROPERLY
small apps don’t have the proper resources big apps would rather focus on their product
55% of brands lack technical know-how for buildout
Source: Marketing Sherpa 2012
EVERYONE IN THE INDUSTRY IS IN DENIAL
apps makers report installs to demonstrate successno one wants to acknowledge category challenges
a lot of money is spent without proving ROI
YET, IT’S CLEAR THAT MOBILE APPS ARE THE FUTURE
116M smartphone subscribers in USuse apps 127 min/day (more than web)
HTML5 has not yet matured
Source: eMarketer 2012, Flurry 2012
MORE MONEY IS FLOWING INTO THE APP ECOSYSTEM
apps constitute 67% of all mobile revenues$18B revenue in 2012, $74B in 2016
45B installs in 2012, 310B in 2016
AS KEY METRICS SHIFT, A FRESH PERSPECTIVE IS NECESSARY
monthly active userslifetime valueretentionactionable analytics
app installscost per install
acquisitiondata
HOW CAN MOBILE APPS SUCCEED IN 2013?
CREATE VALUE WITH YOUR PRODUCT
solve a real human problemuse design to translate your vision
get onboarding right
ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS EFFICIENTLY
remove barrier-to-entry through freemiumlower $1.38 CPI via third-party paid platforms
get featured in app stores
Source: Fiksu 2012
ENGAGE THEM CONSISTENTLY FROM THE MOMENT THEY INSTALL YOUR APP
start thinking about engagement before launchmake the most of your first wave of customers
invest in long-term relationships
GOOD MOBILE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES START WITH A SOLID FOUNDATION
1. understand your customers2. segment them into groups3. engage them via multiple channels
1. UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMERS
demographicssocial influence
in-app behaviors + usagecustom events
2. SEGMENT THEM INTO GROUPS
identify important behaviorsbuild 5-10 segments
test for discrete behaviors
3. ENGAGE THEM VIA MULTIPLE MARKETING CHANNELS
avoid one-size-fits all solutionstry different tools depending on your audience
experiment and iterate quickly
> PUSH NOTIFICATIONS
proven model that drives engagement 40-80%fine line between too little + too much push
watch out for push fatigue in 2013
Source: Urban Airship 2012
> IN-APP MESSAGES
effective for engagement within appless intrusive than push
works with your existing UI
> EMAIL MARKETING
consistently effective channel (15.7% open rate) complements mobile activities
works well for summaries/digests
Source: CheetahMail 2012
> CUSTOMER SUPPORT
cost-of-entry for mobile appsefficient way to detect and resolve issues
prevents negative app store reviews
> SOCIAL INTEGRATION
encourage social conversations about your appmonitor chatter on social networks
respond directly to customers
> CONTENT MARKETING
create + curate content for your customersblog/RSS, latest news, alerts, offers/promotions
popular and effective among brands
Source: Curata 2012
MEASURE + OPTIMIZE YOUR CAMPAIGNS
define the behaviors that impact your businesschoose 2-3 key metrics to track
test marketing activities against them
KEY TAKEAWAYS
understand your customers + develop segmentstarget your message to specific groups (don’t spam!)
experiment across multiple marketing channelschoose + optimize 2-3 key metrics
iterate, iterate, iterate
APPBOY HAS A HOLISTIC APPROACH TOMOBILE APP ENGAGEMENT
helps you engage, retain and monetize customersbrings together multiple SDKs into one integrates with third-party CRM tools
lets you focus on what you do bestwe <3 startups! talk to us about a special pricing
APPBOY: CUSTOMER PROFILE
APPBOY: SEGMENTATION TOOL
APPBOY: PUSH / IN-APP MESSAGES / EMAIL
APPBOY: CUSTOMER SUPPORT
