November 7 2023

Drive Loyalty and ROI with These Top 10 Mobile App Marketing Strategies

In today’s fast-paced digital world, mobile apps have become crucial for businesses to maximize their ROI. Consumers overwhelmingly prefer mobile apps over mobile sites due to the superior user experience, faster speed, extra features, and special offers they provide. Retail & E-commerce mobile apps are the second most launched apps after news apps, indicating their popularity. Millennials, the largest demographic group, are the most enthusiastic adopters of in-app shopping, with 61% of them downloading retail apps and 58% preferring to purchase through apps. Once users have built a certain level of engagement, they switch to the app for better user experience and speed. In other words, while mobile websites are excellent for driving initial awareness and engagement, apps are best suited for latter funnel stages. This blog will cover ten mobile app marketing strategies that businesses can use to increase their ROI.

Top 10 Mobile App Marketing Strategies

1. User-Centric Design

Maximizing ROI starts with creating a mobile app that prioritizes user experience. An intuitive interface and easy navigation can significantly boost customer loyalty and sales. For instance, Uber Eats, the food delivery giant, has gained a large user base by offering a seamless ordering experience through its user-centric design. According to Statista, Uber Eats generated $2.41 billion in revenue in 2020, largely due to its mobile app’s user-friendly nature.

2. App Store Optimization (ASO)

ASO is like SEO for mobile apps. It involves optimizing your app’s listing on app stores (Google Play and Apple App Store) to increase visibility. Your app can rank higher in search results by using relevant keywords, eye-catching icons, and compelling descriptions. The famous meditation app Calm leveraged ASO to gain significant traction. According to Sensor Tower, Calm earned $18.2 million in revenue in 2020, partially due to ASO efforts.

3. In-App Advertising

In-app advertising is an effective way to promote your products or services within other mobile applications. This strategy allows you to reach users who are already engaged in a specific context. One example of a successful implementation of in-app advertising is Amazon’s mobile app, which showcases products and generates substantial revenue. According to eMarketer, the global in-app advertising market is projected to reach $201 billion by 2021.

4. Push Notifications

Push notifications play a crucial role in mobile app marketing as they allow businesses to interact with their users directly, prompting them to take action. For instance, Bryj customer Sephora sends tailored push notifications to its users regarding discounts and new product arrivals. This approach has led to a significant increase in the company’s sales. According to Localytics, apps that use push notifications have 88% more app launches, making push notifications an essential tool for mobile app marketing.

Integrating your mobile app with social media platforms can expand your reach and foster loyalty. A report from Gigya revealed that 88% of 2,000 consumers surveyed use social authentication to avoid having to fill out online registration forms. Other reasons include not wanting to remember another username and password and using the same identity on multiple websites.

6. Influencer Marketing

Collaborating with influencers is an effective way to market your mobile app. Influencers have a loyal following and can introduce your app to a wide audience. TikTok, a social media app, is a perfect example of this strategy. By partnering with influencers, TikTok gained popularity quickly and has been downloaded over 2 billion times. As influencer marketing grows in popularity, more and more brands are starting to have dedicated budgets for it. The IMH report found that 82% of respondents were planning to have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing. This is a significant increase from the previous year’s 77% who were planning to have a dedicated influencer marketing budget.

7. App Performance Optimization

In order to retain customer loyalty, it is crucial that your mobile app runs smoothly and without any issues. Slow loading times, crashes, and other problems can discourage users from using your app. By monitoring and optimizing your app’s performance, you can increase your return on investment. For instance, Spotify continuously works on enhancing its app’s performance, which has led to an impressive 345 million monthly active users and a revenue of $9.5 billion in 2020.

8. Gamification

Gamification is the process of integrating game-like elements into your app, such as badges, leaderboards, and rewards. This can make the user experience more engaging and encourage users to return. Starbucks utilizes gamification through its mobile app by awarding stars to users for each purchase. These stars can be redeemed for free drinks or food, which helps to strengthen customer loyalty. In 2020, Starbucks’ mobile app was used to complete 23% of all transactions in its stores.

9. Customer Feedback and Reviews

It’s essential to listen to customer feedback and address their concerns to maintain their loyalty. To improve your app’s reputation, encourage users to leave ratings and reviews on app stores. You can enhance the user experience by responding to feedback and implementing improvements based on their suggestions. Bryj customer Dooney & Bourke has a highly-rated mobile app with a 4.8-star rating on the App Store, highlighting the significance of customer feedback in achieving high app satisfaction and sales.

10. Loyalty Programs

Implementing loyalty programs can be a great way to increase sales and customer retention. Offering exclusive discounts, rewards, or premium content can give users a reason to stay engaged with your app. One of the best examples of this is the Amazon Prime app. Amazon provides a wide variety of benefits, such as free shipping, streaming services, and exclusive deals to its Prime members. These perks have driven millions to subscribe, contributing to Amazon’s annual revenue of $386 billion in 2020.

Why Businesses Need a Mobile App

After having a look at the top 10 mobile app marketing strategies that can help maximize ROI, it’s crucial to understand the reasons why businesses, especially e-commerce companies, should have a mobile app in the first place. To help you understand this better, here are some compelling reasons that are backed by statistics:

1. The Mobile-First World

In today’s world, mobile devices have become the primary means of accessing online content. As of 2021, mobile devices accounted for 55% of global website traffic, and this number is expected to rise further in the future. By developing a mobile app, businesses can tap into this rapidly expanding audience and offer a customized user experience.

2. Enhanced User Experience

Mobile applications can provide a more streamlined and user-friendly experience when compared to mobile websites. They are designed to work seamlessly with touch screens, allowing for faster loading times, smoother animations, and more intuitive navigation. As a result, users can enjoy a better overall experience when interacting with your brand. This heightened engagement can ultimately lead to greater customer satisfaction.

3. Loyalty Programs

Apps are an excellent platform for implementing loyalty programs, discounts, and rewards. Users can easily track their loyalty points and access exclusive offers, incentivizing them to engage with your business more frequently. Users who receive push notifications are 88% more likely to return to an app within 90 days according to Localytics.

4. Improved Conversion Rates

According to a study, mobile apps are more effective in closing deals with customers as compared to mobile websites. The study found that customers view 4.2 times more products per session within apps, and apps have 3 times higher conversion rates than mobile websites. This is because mobile apps provide a faster and easier shopping experience.

5. Multi-Channel Presence

A multi-channel presence can be achieved by having both a mobile app and a website. Mobile apps are especially important in driving ROI due to their ability to offer personalized and interactive experiences, push notifications, in-app purchases, and user data insights. While websites are accessible on various devices, mobile apps provide a more engaging user experience. This strategic combination caters to diverse user preferences and access points, ultimately enhancing ROI by capitalizing on the advantages of mobile app engagement.

6. Faster Load Times

Mobile apps are known for their speed and efficiency. They load quickly, making it easier for users to find and buy products. Apps can also save user data and preferences for faster checkouts.

7. Increased Revenue

Mobile applications play a crucial role in driving revenue for e-commerce businesses by providing a seamless and convenient shopping experience to their customers. According to recent statistics, in 2020, global m-commerce sales had reached a staggering $2.91 trillion, and this figure is only expected to grow in the future. Additionally, mobile apps offer various monetization opportunities that may not be as easily achievable on mobile websites. These include in-app purchases, subscription models, and in-app advertising.

8. Targeted Marketing

Mobile applications provide businesses with a powerful tool to gather valuable information about their users’ behavior and preferences. By analyzing this data, businesses can gain insights into their users’ needs and desires, which can help them create highly targeted marketing campaigns. These campaigns can be tailored to specific groups of users, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased sales. The ability to gather data through mobile apps has become increasingly important in today’s digital age, as more and more people use mobile devices to access the internet.

9. Offline Functionality

Apps can work partially or even fully offline, allowing users to access certain features and content without an internet connection. This is especially valuable for businesses in sectors like travel, where users may need access to information while on the go, often in areas with limited connectivity.

10. Security and Trust

Enhancing data security and building trust among users is crucial, and providing a dedicated app is one way to achieve this. Users tend to feel more secure when they use a well-designed and trusted app from a reputable brand. Furthermore, having an app icon on a user’s home screen can increase brand visibility, even if users don’t engage with the app regularly, which can in turn boost recognition and trust.

Conclusion

Implementing these strategies in your mobile app development and marketing campaigns can significantly enhance your chances of success and ensure continuous customer engagement. By investing in a mobile app, businesses can leverage its unique benefits while also catering to a diverse group of users through their mobile website. However, mobile apps offer a superior user experience compared to mobile websites or Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), leading to better Return on Investment (ROI) and lifetime value (LTV) for your customers. Complete your digital journey with a single-source mobile app solution. Contact our expert team at Bryj today to learn how we can help.