5 Ways to Make your App Stand Out
With the number of Apps on the Apple and Android App stores these days (1.5 Million+ cumulatively) it goes without saying that you need to put some work in to really ‘stand-out’ a midst your competition. Discoverability, engagement, retention, and monetization are all areas that pose great challenges for even the best (well not the best) of App Marketers.
Those who hone in on targeting and acquiring loyal users who take specific actions, such as: an in-app purchase, tweet, fb share, registration etc… are the users who generally become repeat customers, brand advocates, and deliver on-going and the best ROI.
The 5 Tips to follow will focus on how to get more of these ‘loyal users’. One important thing to note is that this information is based on 70 Billion+ user-based app actions including: launches, registrations, and in-app purchases from Fiksu’s platform.
So let’s get into it.
1) Set Goals for Loyal Users
Now what defines a loyal use will vary from app-app so you’ll need to define what that means for you depending on what types of actions they’ve performed in your app (that you want to track) before getting started. You can then determine your lifetime value per user so you can set cost-per-conversion targets (i.e., determine how much to pay for different traffic volumes to deliver the best possible ROI).
2) Use All the Channels not just one.
Ok, maybe not ALL of them – but certainly the ones that deliver the highest ROI. Whether it be: Mobile ad networks, real-time bid exchanges, incentivized download networks, PPI (pay per install) on FB, and more. Using more than one will allow you to measure which ones are working the most and scale accordingly. In contrast, if you choose to follow the single-channel path you’ll be missing out on valuable opportunities to identify the best sources for large volumes of loyal users.
3) Track post-download usage
While your mobile ad campaigns are running tracking metrics is critical. It helps to pinpoint which specific traffic sources are actually driving loyal users, and which ones aren’t. Loyal users can be viewed as actionable metrics, vs downloads are more along the lines of vanity metrics. They look good, but they don’t actually provide you any insight to refine anything.
4) Employ a campaign optimization solution.
Optimizing advertising campaigns based on post-download actions can be challenging there are automated solutions available. Instead of managing a huge matrix of ad networks, costs, creative, downloads, and conversion rates, if budget permits, its worth researching a solution that incorporates everything and adjusts your campaign spending on the fly.
5) Conduct ongoing closed-loop analysis.
Continuous analysis of marketing campaign performance, post-download retention and revenue return helps you understand, on a deeper level, what’s moving the needle. It’s important to dive into these analytics frequently to fine-tune your campaign to reach the given objectives.
Lastly, Benchmark performance against industry averages.
You can’t get ahead if you don’t know what ahead is. It makes sense to understand your competitive landscape that you’re pouring your $ into. By bench-marking how your mobile app marketing stacks up against industry averages, you’ll gain a larger, more accurate picture of how much the trends are impacting your business goals, allowing you to adapt and plan a lot sooner.
If you still have questions, you can always contact me.
Let’s make something awesome happen.
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
