Before you drink your morning coffee, you probably open a mobile application to start your day. You may be doing this to figure out which route to the meeting, to record your gym routine, or even to add the price of your coffee to your weekly budget. In any case, one point is clear:
Apps are now an integral part of our daily micro-moments . According to Nielsen, users spend an average of 30 hours a month on apps. Apps play a fundamental role in the “I want to learn”, “I want to go”, “I want to buy”, “I want to do” moments that we speak of.
Apps are also an effective way for brands to build stronger relationships with their customers. A mobile app marketing strategy can complement a brand's offline experience (e.g., in-store special offers), boost e-commerce, or simply help the brand connect with its loyal customers. With mobile websites, apps have become important for both consumers and marketers.
So how can brands make the most of these large app-consumer audiences? We did a study with Ipsos MediaCT to find out how consumers use apps. By surveying 8,470 smartphone owners and app users in the previous week, we found new information about what drives consumers to install and interact with mobile apps. For example, according to our research, a quarter of installed apps are never used. So what causes users to quit an app?
We'll cover this information in more detail here so you can develop an effective mobile app marketing strategy. Two complementary elements in this strategy increase users' awareness of your app and keep your app audience engaged.
1: Apps are not only discovered in app store
Marketers may assume that consumers go to an app store to find new apps. Most consumers do this. Indeed, 40% of smartphone users browse apps in app stores. App stores remain a popular way to find new apps, from the latest games to fitness tracking to streaming music and much more. Even so, app stores aren't the only way to discover apps.
Smartphone users learn about apps while using their device in all kinds of situations: interacting with an app, searching for another specific app, watching a YouTube video or even browsing a mobile site. Our research reveals that the primary source of app discovery is search: a quarter of app users discover apps through search. Let's say a user needs to fly to Ankara for work in a short time and find a place to stay. This user goes to Google Search to search for "hotels in Ankara" and finds an app that lists available hotel rooms and places for short-term rentals in a particular area. Since he travels often,
Discovery of apps using a search engine is particularly common in local apps, as well as in the categories of technology (e.g., searching for reviews on new software tools) and travel (wanting to confirm trip details). In these three categories, users are 26% (local), 59% (technology), and 30% (travel) more likely than average to use search engines to find the apps they are looking for.
Users not only prefer Search Network to find new applications, they also download applications because of Search Network ads. Search ads are among the most effective ad formats for driving app downloads: 50% of people who download an app based on the ad they see on their smartphones say they were prompted by a Search ad to do so. This shift in how consumers find and learn about new apps is causing marketers to rethink their brand's approach to app discovery. There's also good reason to use Search to increase app awareness. Search ads not only increase app visibility, but
For marketers, this means ensuring that the app is noticeable wherever smartphone users search for apps that are relevant to their interests. According to Statista 2, there are currently over 3 million downloadable mobile apps. With this data taken into account, the factor of being noticed in today's overcrowded app market is more important than ever.
How do you get your app noticed? You can increase visibility by focusing your app promotion on a consumer experience designed to encourage downloads. For example, you can do this using mobile app install campaigns . This way, your brand can reach wider audiences looking for apps similar to yours. In addition to Search, expanding your campaign across ad formats (display and video ads) that allow app installs can help people discover your apps everywhere.
For example, HotelsCombined is incorporating Google Search and AdMob into its mobile app marketing strategy in 2014. Its app, which compares hotel prices on hundreds of sites, and its apps for destinations around the world, increases the number of downloads by 150% from July to August, and the cost per acquisition is 20% lower than any other network. HotelsCombine gives users the opportunity to explore its app on a global scale using Google's Search Network and Display Network application promotion campaigns.
2: Interacting with and reviving the app is essential as app users tend to lose interest
Users turn to apps to alleviate daily hassles. And their likelihood of using apps increases if the apps serve a specific purpose. Our research shows that two-thirds of users frequently use apps that make their lives easier. For example, you can use a sales app like Walgreens 's to search for deals (sales and coupons) while you shop in-store . Apps can be extremely helpful in a customer's purchase journey. Indeed, one in two app users refer to apps to learn about a business or product, or even to purchase a product or service.
The other side of the coin is the fact that applications can be left immediately after the relevant transaction is completed. Thirty-eight percent of users surveyed say they are more likely to download an app when necessary to make a purchase. After completing the purchase, half of these users uninstall the recently downloaded app and move on to the next step.
First of all, why does an app attract users? How can brands ensure that their apps are used repeatedly, not just once? The answer is simple: prove the value and usefulness of your app.
Brands can avoid getting lost in the sea of apps if they offer clear value. Sephora , for example , is improving the in-store shopping experience with an app that lets customers scan each product for additional information. The brand also offers in-store pickup of products purchased online. Sephora sends a clear message that it understands what customers want in every micro-moment of their customers' purchasing journey.
Take action: Get your app's value fully appreciated
App users need an incentive to re-engage with an app they left. There are ways to attract app users back to your brand. Thirty percent of respondents in our survey say they will start using the app again when offered a shopping discount, while nearly a quarter of app users say they will return to the app when exclusive or bonus content is sent to them. This is especially true for the travel and retail categories: surveyed say they would reuse a travel (40%) or sales (47%) app if they were given a discount and a coupon.
Mobile app engagement ads can help remind users of your app's value and keep them coming back. Let's say a user is going to participate in a marathon and needs a pair of running shoes, so they search for "women's running shoes. This user's smartphone already has a shopping app installed that they used to find a lightweight running jacket last summer. The same app gives this user a mobile app." interaction ad (using Search and Display Networks) and reminding him that it exists and notifying him that there is a sale on his running shoes.
Another way to help users find what they're looking for is to add deep links to your ads . This way, the mobile app engagement ad links to the most relevant parts of your app. Let's take the shopping app we talked about earlier. A deep link can take that marathoner directly to entries on running shoes for women within the app.
As a result, brands can keep their connections alive with app users by engaging the audience with content that is relevant to them.
Re-engaging today's app users
Given the open number of apps on the market, it's harder than ever to get an app user's attention. That's why your app needs to be recognizable, whether in the app store or outside the store. So consumers can find your app and use it again and again. To ensure that your app achieves this, it's important to clearly demonstrate value to your users long after it's first downloaded. These findings from our research can help your brand develop mobile app marketing strategies that will not only grab the attention of an audience, but also succeed in retaining it. Thus, it can add great value to your business.
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