In this piece for RetailTechNews, Ruth Manielevitch (pictured below), director of business development, Taptica, outlines the keys to keeping mobile app users engaged. There are literally billions of smartphone users. There are an estimated seven billion people occupying the planet now, and by 2019 it’s expected that 2.5 billion people will own mobiles with access to the internet. That’s nearly 36% of the whole world.

Of the amount of time these billions of people spend on their handy personal devices, apps command the greatest share, with more than 80% of mobile minutes in all markets being spent using them. In the UK alone, 15.5 billion apps will be downloaded this year, and 20 billion by 2020.

The apps market is currently dominated by downloads of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google (81% of mobile users have downloaded Facebook, according to comScore’s U.S. Mobile App Report for example) and also by mobile gaming downloads. But e-commerce apps are also on the rise. According to eMarketer, by 2021, 93% of web users will shop online regularly and 82% will follow through to purchase.

M-commerce is huge, and is growing exponentially – Business Insider reports that it will be worth over USD$600bn (£429bn) by 2020, compared with around USD$350bn (£251bn) worth of sales with PC Commerce.

Ruth Manielevitch, Director of Business Development, Taptica

The numbers clearly show the importance of apps when it comes to e-commerce; and businesses need to get their apps in order in 2018 to capitalise on this ever-growing trend.

When it comes to successfully marketing an app, obviously the most important thing is to get people to download and use it. But once you’ve got them hooked, this relationship needs to be cultivated to keep shoppers coming back for life. How can e-commerce retailers craft personalised lifetime engagement models? Here are three ways:

Convert the right audience

It’s not exactly rocket science that brands should aim to attract those consumers who are already – or have real potential to be – users of the product being sold to them. However, a common misconception is that organic users are more valuable than paid ones because they proactively sought out the brand, but this isn’t the case. Of course, organic users are valuable, but they don’t necessarily have high lifetime value (LTV). Paid user acquisition can allow you to expand your organic audience and, by using data, to target precise users who have the potential to be valuable in the long run.

We recently worked with luxury fashion retailer Touch of Modern, which, ahead of the promotional launch of Prada clothing, wanted to drive app installs, signups, and purchases from its target audience of males between the ages of 22 and 55. Together with Twitter’s app promotion solution, we worked on producing cost-effective app installs through Twitter. Using a combination of Twitter data and first-party purchase data from existing consumers, together we created lookalike targeting to find similar audiences who would be interested in the products. Keyword targeting allowed the brand to reach audiences who were already interested in Touch of Modern, also. 

This approach resulted in a 73% lower cost-per-install and the campaign surpassed the retailer's targets with a 69% signup rate and a 110% ROI by day 30.

Strike a good balance between organic and paid acquisition using data and you’re onto a winner.

Creativity is key

Sleek, attention-grabbing creative is key to capturing the attention of relevant consumers and means you can create a smooth transition from organic content to advertising. Mobile users are becoming more cautious of more ‘brazen’ strategies of the past and so more advertisers are gravitating towards more native strategies that are non-disruptive to the user, which is particularly vital in apps.

In the case of Touch of Modern, we wanted to capture the hearts and minds of fashion-forward shoppers, so we used Twitter’s 1.91:1 image app cards, which have larger images and clear copy for added impact.

What’s more, push notifications are often subject to criticism for their intrusive nature, but by experimenting with more interesting formats that include pictures, GIFs, and rich push, rather than just text, you can increase people’s engagement with the app.

Personalisation

Apps can be customised in a number of ways to make the user experience extra-special. Even standard personalisation, like using the individual’s name or location to tailor special offers, is a great way of improving the experience for the user. Use the data you have to understand each individual’s unique behaviour, and tailor experiences accordingly. Keep in mind you can’t solely rely on probabilistic models alone, so data will only get you so far. Be experimental, A/B test everything to find the right balance for your individual goals.  

Whatever a high lifetime value looks like to you, it’s important that in retail you keep your strategy clear, creative, and personal. Every app and business will have unique goals, so every strategy will look different, but with so many people using apps every day, the real question you should be asking is not how you get them to download your app, but how you keep them coming back for life.This content was originally published in RetailTechNews.