vmob: 5 steps to mobile awesomeness

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

Maximizing ROISince Apple opened the App Store in 2008, many companies (including most of the Fortune 500) have released mobile apps for their customers. Building an app is easy, that’s why so many companies have one. Turning that app into a profitable and indispensible part of your customer-focused strategy is much more difficult.

This ebook explains how you can use a marketing personalization platform to transform your mobile app into a strategic asset capable of delivering long-term business value.

ContentsAcquisition 4Get your app on more phones

Onboarding 13Ensure your app gets used

Engaging 20Encourage people to use your app regularly

Influencing 31Increase profitable behavior

Measuring 40Prove the ROI

AcquisitionGet your app on more phones

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

1

Acquisition

Cost per acquisition Total downloads

48billion

8.8 89 %App downloads in 2015

Mobile time spent in apps

Apps downloadedby US users every month

If you want more people to download and install your app, you’ll need to give them a reason to do it. You already know the profiles and behaviors of your most valuable customers, so you’re not flying completely blind here. Offering new customers the sort of incentive that won over your current customers is a good start – as is encouraging store associates to play an active role in winning people over...

Clearly articulate the value proposition for the app and offer a one off incentive for customers to download it.

Ensure the incentive is only valid for their next purchase if they spend a minimum amount within a limited time.

Use staff in addition to in-store and online advertising to drive downloads.

Incentivize staff to promote the app using unique codes that attribute downloads to them or their store.

Track which online channels deliver the most downloads and engagement.

Next stepsUse your mobile personalization platform to set up a non-repeatable limited time offer for everyone that downloads the app (and registers if required).

Place unique QR codes next to the POS in each store to drive app downloads and train staff on highlighting them during each transaction.

Next steps

OnboardingEnsure your app gets used

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

2

OnboardingThe vast majority of downloaded apps are never used, which is why number of downloads can’t be your only success metric. In the early stages you need to focus on proving your app’s utility by getting the people who download it to use it in a way that creates value for you. The absolute best way to make that happen is to design an app that’s easy to use and USEFUL – and then remind your customers they’ve actually installed it...

% people using app within 14 days of download

% people using app within 28 days of

download

2/3 downloaded apps are never used

20 % of apps are used only once% people using app

within 7 days of download

Incorporate about screens for people to see the first time they use the app.

Send a welcome push message with details about the limited time welcome offer you’re giving them.

If they haven’t used the offer with 72hrs of expiry then send them another push message to remind them to use the expiring offer.

Create a geo-

fence push message reminder and remind them about their reward when they are near

a store.

Set up two recurring push messages in your mobile personalization platform. One offer alert for everyone that downloads the app and one offer reminder for people that haven’t redeemed their ‘Welcome’ offers with just 2 days before expiry. Also create a geo-fence reminder for the offer.

Next steps

EngagingEncourage people to use

your app regularly

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

3

EngagingTo create valuable new customer behaviors you need to engage people regularly (with relevant, personalized content of course). If you’re struggling to maintain decent participation rates then chances are you’re going to need to rethink what you’re offering, and to whom. The key to your app remaining front of customer-mind is pushing useful content when it’s appropriate, and – critically – ensuring it’s making their retail experience better, faster and cheaper.

$3 66To acquire each loyal user

Repetitions to form a habit

Participation rate

Impression rate

Click rate

Redemption rate

Always have a minimum of 5 current content items in the app including offers and other contentlike news.

Use tags to build dynamic customer segments based on real time demographics and behaviour.

Present different offers each week to different segments.

Use geo-fence and recurring push messaging to drive activation and redemption. Test different kinds of offers including discounts, free with purchase and buy one get one free offers with different segments.

Include regular surveys and competitions to stimulate app participation and reward people that use the app most frequently with high value surprise and delight offers.

Create useful features to improve the customer experience for users by making retail better, faster and cheaper.

Create some customer segments based on key value drivers for the business includingfrequency, day part and category.

Next steps

Create a content calendar.

Next steps

Build a roadmap for future releases including new features.

Next steps

InfluencingIncrease profitable behavior

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

4

InfluencingThe fun part really starts when you have enough people using your app regularly - and you’ve collected enough data - to start experimenting with your offers. You want to encourage your customers to adopt new regular behaviors that both benefit them and create value for your brand, and in order to do that you’ll need to have access to the data that shows you how they tick. Then you can identify your ‘ideal’ customer, and start creating more of them by talking their language…

Redemption rateprior to testing

%Redemption rate

during testing

Redemption rateafter testing76% of smartphone owners use them in-store

70% of shoppers make brand choices in-store

Select the behaviour you

want to encourage (like buying high margin products).

Identify a test group of users that do not exhibit this behaviour and identify them with a new tag.

Allocate about 5% of them to a control group and give this group a different tag. Now target the test group with a short series of attractive discounts that diminish over time to incentivize and reinforce the behaviour you want them to adopt.

It is best practice to reduce the level of discounting over time because it costs less to maintain an established behaviour than it does to create a new one.

Leave the control group as normal then measure the impact of the campaign on long-term behaviour compared to the control group.

Write a behavior change brief.

Next steps

Define the customer journey you want users to take and set up a test campaign in your mobile personalization platform.

Next steps

MeasuringProve the ROI

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness

5

MeasuringFun as it’s been, it’s unlikely you’ve embarked on this mobile awesomeness journey just for the sheer thrill of it. At some stage someone’s going to want to see the payoff, and that’s where it helps to have a platform that does the number crunching for you, and one that can generate actionable insights. Ideally, look for a BI solution that has data visualization capability, because if there’s one thing the C-Level digs, it’s a dashboard…

2x 50 % 700 % 33 %More store visits per user

Increased spend

More offers redeemed More visitors

Revenue per user

Transaction value

Foot traffic

Revenue

Create an aggregated report that combines data from your mobile personalization platform, Google Analytics and internal data sources including POS.

Distribute the report weekly and measure key trends over time.

88%

Use the report to prove the effectiveness of the app in achieving your goals.

Create a wireframe for your dashboard and define a clear set of data requirementsbefore starting work on building the dashboard.

Next steps

As soon as possible migrate the dashboard to an online, real time service likePowerBI.

Next steps

plexure.com

5 steps to

Mobile Awesomeness