Mastering the Art of Acquiring Users on Mobile

A quick glance at both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store (and their 1.5 million apps), reveals a prime user acquisition opportunity for digital marketers in 2017-18. According to ComScore's Mobile App Report, in 2016 people spent more than 3 hours per month on the Top 1000 apps and that was 20X greater than the time mobile web visitors had spent on their top 1000 portals.

Last year's innovations will be remembered for its many new tools, as well as innovative app processes, and the manner in which both helped smaller brands compete with the traditional giants of mobile user acquisition.

So how exactly can start-ups and emerging brands join the brand-wagon of acquiring users on mobile?
Smart Segmentation

Every marketing strategy starts with a smart segmentation. Engaging users on mobile devices require a deep understanding of their needs, preferences and actions as they emerge from users' interactions with their mobile phones. In order to achieve this goal, the first relevant step for mobile marketers is to collect as much data as they can regarding potential customers' demographics, preferences, location and actions while customers browse mobile applications. This data can then be used then to build separate users' segments, which ought to be targeted with different messages and at a different frequency and timing according to their characteristics. Targeting a specific audience will bring more results than developing a strategy for a wide area of users but with no specific interests.

Web to App

Mobile websites are the number one source of app installs that many marketers don't talk about. By using new age tools to creatively and seamlessly take existing users from your mobile website to your mobile app, marketing teams can efficiently increase their app user base.

Incentivized Installs and Referrals

Leveraging the power of incentivized installs and referrals has helped many brands to reach out to a wider audience. Both Dropbox and Airbnb saw extreme success with this strategy by creating dual-incentives for sharing their products. While those two businesses have mobile and web based products, mobile-only apps like Uber have also built their businesses through referral programs.

Off-Store Optimization Strategy

Leveraging off-store app optimization is becoming increasingly critical. One of TUNE's recent-most studies shows that 86 of the highest-traffic keywords across app stores are brands or app names. This in turn means that marketers need to reach out to their potential customers even before they visit Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Marketers must take the lead in pro-actively introducing and marketing themselves in order to create curiosity and generate demand so that their potential customers don't forget to look for them when they next go on the app store to look for an app.

Leveraging the Power of Native Ads

What next? Marketers can take the next step by leveraging the power of native ads. The beauty of native ads is that they have a more natural and organic appearance as compared to traditional ads. The fact that they fit the look, feel and style of the platform on which they're published allows them capture a consumer's attention easier than other ad formats. Once marketers get a desired attention from their audience, they just need to deliver a compelling message or create opportunities of making their brands visible in association with something popular.

In-App Viral Tactics

Encouraging your existing users to share part of your app with their social networks is a great way to get free promotion for your app. Vine did this especially well when they first launched; users would share Vines on Twitter or Facebook and draw in friends who found the content amusing or interesting.

Driving ROI from Video Advertising

Do marketers need to focus on videos? We cannot deny the fact that an estimated 25% of internet users watch online video every day, including 500 million internet users who are glued on to Facebook videos. Couple that with the reality of dynamic mobility offered by today's smart devices and you realize the immense opportunity video has to offer.

So how can more apps and platforms take advantage of the potential user reach that video streaming has to offer? While the live video segment is critical, it is certainly a tougher zone to execute campaigns on. Live streaming unfortunately does not guarantee success, inspite of brands taking risks by executing campaigns live. However, brands which are confident of successfully creating interesting and informative live videos can certainly stand out and separate themselves from other market players or competition.

We live in an attention economy where attention is the new currency of value. What marketers needs to remember is that by earning, winning and retaining attention on mobile, they can empower themselves with the ability to influence potential customers. Remember that your strategy should be dynamic in nature. Iterations and continual optimization will be the key to finding the perfect balance of different approaches. Do your research to find out which tools will be most effective for you, and always strive to improve inefficiencies wherever possible.