A cellular consumer acquisition technique isn’t tied to simply paid or natural channels—it piggybacks on the channels’ current viewers and potential alternatives to entice customers to obtain the app. Shoppers demand comfort and that entails connecting with them on the platform they’re most comfy with.
On this weblog, half two of a three-part collection, we’ll discover a few of the most viral campaigns that drove hundreds of app installs and share greatest practices round how one can implement them.
Cellular Person Acquisition Methods
1. Optimise your social media channels to drive consumer engagement
The fashionable shopper not solely turns to social media to seek out new apps; they really obtain apps due to social media content material. Nevertheless, in an more and more advanced buy journey, walled gardens, and damaged consumer expertise, partaking customers to extend cellular consumer acquisition, income, and ROI may be tough.
But there are some ways that provide help to crush your consumer acquisition objectives on social media.
For starters, be sure you arrange your social profile correctly—add your brand, add related key phrases within the bio and add a brief and compelling description about what your app does. Optimising your social profiles with the precise key phrases might help them rank considerably increased on serps. So when a consumer searches for these key phrases on their search engine or an app retailer, your social profile has increased visibility and thus the probability of changing customers.
Belief-based promoting like influencer advertising and marketing helps manufacturers go a great distance with their target market. It’s necessary to grasp that not all influencer sorts have comparable levels of viewers attain or engagement. Additionally, a better subscriber or follower depend doesn’t essentially imply extra income or elevated app downloads:
Manufacturers prepared and prepared to spend money on influencer advertising and marketing to advertise their app ought to issue within the high quality of the viewers. This implies, figuring out the true viewers of an influencer and separating spam/faux accounts that may give an exaggerated quantity and result in defective conversion charges. Instruments like SparkToro might help you do that and dig additional into your viewers’s supply of affect.
Listed here are some ideas it’s best to take into account when selecting an influencer:
- Engagement degree: How typically does the influencer have interaction with their viewers? Have they got a great engagement charge primarily based on their follower depend?
- Relevance and authenticity: Does this influencer submit content material associated to our area of interest and viewers? Does the influencer’s model worth align with our model?
- Demographics: Will this influencer have an effect on localized app installs? What’s the upfront funding and anticipated ROI with an influencer vs different paid promoting for localized app promotion?
- Price: What’s the associated fee and anticipated ROI for partnering with the influencer?
- Sponsored posts: Has the influencer labored with manufacturers earlier than? What was their follower depend, engagement ranges, conversion charge, and ROI for earlier campaigns?
- Professionalism: What does the collaboration course of appear like? Are they prepared to decide to a selected timeline for deliverables? What are the method of reshoots or adjustments and their related prices?
Lomotiff partnered with Hailey Beiber to advertise their Fashion Problem the place they incentivized customers with an opportunity to win $5,000 and meet Hailey Beiber herself for sharing their go-to model footage with a branded hashtag.
One other crucial factor that powers and closely influences the success of your social media campaigns is deep hyperlinks.
How are customers being directed to the app? What occurs if the consumer has the app put in on their cell phone? Or what does the consumer journey appear like for somebody who hasn’t put in your cellular app but?
Social media platforms act as walled gardens. To make sure their very own engagement metrics stay excessive, these platforms attempt to preserve customers inside their very own ecosystem. For instance, while you click on on a URL in Instagram, it routinely opens the net web page within the in-app browser—not in Chrome or the related app. This introduces friction within the consumer journey and individuals are extra prone to abandon their buy.
Ace2Three, a number one on-line gaming platform, leverages Department deep hyperlinks which redirect customers from the model’s Fb account to their cellular internet, which then routes customers to their cellular app.
Integrating Department deep hyperlinks in your natural and paid social posts offers a seamless consumer expertise and helps you improve buyer lifetime worth (LTV). You’ll be able to instantly navigate the customers straight to your cellular app or play retailer, relying on whether or not they have the app put in or not.
Or, you may as well direct customers to your cellular web site the place you’ll be able to present them a Department Journeys banner to immediate an set up.
9Now, Australia’s main OTT platform built-in Department deep hyperlinks throughout its social media content material together with Instagram posts, tales, and bio to redirect customers straight into the app.
“9Now has undergone a giant effort to make sure as a lot of our inbound app visitors as doable is coming from Department hyperlinks, together with our Natural Social channels. Other than the seamless consumer expertise from a hyperlink click on to particular content material within the app, it permits us to extra precisely attribute efficiency to the precise channel and perceive the true effectiveness of our paid initiatives.”
— Adrian Grasso, 9Now Efficiency Advertising Lead
2. Create a referral/sharing program for current clients
Making a referral program is a cheap solution to delight current customers and organically drive new customers. It thrives on the idea of “Social Proof” which is the idea that people look towards the alternatives of others, earlier than performing themselves. This psychological mannequin helps manufacturers create house for themselves amongst their target market by leveraging their current viewers.
An efficient referral program can incentivise customers to obtain the app and instantly refer it to their community of family and friends.
India’s largest restaurant and desk reservation app EazyDiner carried out a referral program utilizing Department’s cellular linking platform (MLP) to reward current customers and doubtlessly drive new clients to obtain the app.
However what makes two apps with the identical advertising and marketing finances find yourself with radically completely different outcomes? One app is likely to be struggling to amass 100 customers from their referral program whereas the opposite constantly garners 1,000 customers each day from their sharing program.
The “winner takes all mentality” is true on the subject of referral packages. All of it boils all the way down to an idea known as virality, and it’s some of the essential parts of promoting immediately. Virality sits on the intersection of three key elements:
Listed here are some tips about creating higher campaigns which have a better chance of going viral:
- Provide a tangible incentive to customers so that they’re extra inclined to have interaction together with your model and discuss with their community. Incentives may be one thing so simple as a reduction inside your app, an unique swag, an add-on product, or a level-up reward system.
Up Banking, an Australian financial institution, offers incentives to customers who sign-up and make a purchase order throughout the first 30 days.
- Make referring to new customers as simple and handy as doable. For instance, while you use Department referrals, there’s no have to manually enter promo codes. New customers routinely get incentives once they obtain the app by a referral hyperlink.
Shopback, Asia’s main cashback reward program, lays out a transparent worth proposition—“Give $5, Get $5”. Through the use of deferred deep linking, Shopback ensures correct hyperlink matching and permits user-to-user sharing.
- Make it simple for customers to share referrals on a number of platforms through the use of native share sheets. Native share sheets allow customers to share with out ever leaving your app’s ecosystem. This makes it simple and fast for customers to share referrals, and likewise reduces drop-offs.
Indonesia-based magnificence and skincare retailer model, Socialla, runs a referral program the place customers can entry the rewards part of the app, confirm their information by an electronic mail, click on the e-mail to confirm, get linked again into the app, and determine how they wish to share their rewards hyperlink with contacts through QR or different native sharing strategies.
- Make certain your hyperlinks can share related content material throughout the app, they usually deferred deep hyperlinks by the set up. This implies taking new customers on to the related product web page in your app, reasonably than leaving them to determine tips on how to navigate the app by themselves and manually trying to find a product.
Bukalapak, one among Indonesia’s main e-commerce firms does this excellently effectively; deep linking directs customers straight to the App retailer or Play Retailer relying on their cellular system OS, and are instantly taken to the identical in-app content material that they initially engaged with.
So ok right here = 5 x .2 = 1. Because of this each new consumer you get will doubtlessly usher in a median of another consumer. The upper the worth of ok, the upper your cellular app consumer acquisition progress. Ideally, you need a ok worth of over 1 to make sure exponential progress.
Virality goes past one consumer and may be defined with this diagram:
That is known as a double viral loop. It signifies that when a brand new consumer joins due to a referral or a share from an current consumer, and when the unique consumer is notified, they’re extra prone to re-engage together with your app and share it once more.
If you happen to acknowledge the concept that virality is a key a part of a referral program, your goal shifts from gaining particular person customers linearly to garnering large consumer engagement.
3. Leverage electronic mail advertising and marketing
About 43% of emails are opened on cellular units. This represents an important alternative to drive app adoption and assist develop your app engagement.
However as we’ve written earlier than, there’s a disconnect between electronic mail and cellular apps, particularly on iOS—one which impacts the consumer expertise and the power to trace clicks. While you ship an electronic mail to your contacts, they learn it, click on on the CTA, and are directed to the app retailer or your app.
The issue is most electronic mail hyperlinks are damaged and customers find yourself in a vacuum. Whereas it might appear like you’re buying customers from electronic mail advertising and marketing, it’s possible you’ll very probably be dropping out on a major variety of customers and driving increased abandonment charges. `
Most profitable emails with increased conversion charges work with an method that’s central to deep linking:
- Be purposeful about the place you’re sending your customers
You wish to redirect your current customers to your app shortly—with out dropping their curiosity, the curiosity of your supply, or the intent to buy. That is extremely necessary as a result of cellular app customers are 3x extra prone to convert and spend 20x extra time in apps. GoMechanic sends app customers on to the promoted content material within the app, enhancing the consumer expertise and rising engagement.
For buying new customers who don’t have your app put in, you might introduce an middleman touchdown web page the place you’ll be able to immediate potential customers with a sensible banner like Journeys.
- Leverage deferred deep linking when messaging individuals who might not have your app put in
Individuals who subscribe to your newsletters aren’t essentially your app’s customers. They could’ve come out of your weblog, homepage, pop-ups on a third-party web site, or perhaps a paid commercial. Through the use of deferred deep linking in your electronic mail campaigns, you’ll be able to present a easy expertise for customers who might not have your app put in already.If you happen to’re working a promotional electronic mail marketing campaign, a deferred deep hyperlink will direct them to the App retailer or Google Play, relying on the system they use, after which cause them to the precise product web page inside your app as soon as it’s put in.
4. Fill in gaps between offline and on-line utilizing QR codes
Right here’s a great rule of thumb: if in case you have a retail retailer or do paid promoting utilizing offline channels, it ought to embody QR codes. The pandemic pushed manufacturers to ultimately undertake QR codes as a vital a part of their offline and on-line advertising and marketing methods.
At Department, we noticed a 496% surge in QR codes because the final attributed contact earlier than a conversion occasion from January 2019 to January 2021. Mixed with the truth that by 2025, 10.4% of all U.S. retail gross sales might be made through cellular units, QR codes will proceed to be a crucial factor of consumer acquisition methods.
Individuals seek for progressive options to assist with fast wants—search for a special dimension of the identical product throughout the retail retailer, shortly scan merchandise and make funds, and use presents/reductions whereas they’re procuring in a retail retailer. With these continued buyer expectations, manufacturers have to ship real-time data to assist them with their fast wants. To take action, entrepreneurs are more and more integrating QR codes to bridge the hole between offline and on-line channels.
Listed here are some alternative ways you should utilize QR codes to amass cellular app customers:
- Join your app with in-store to ship a greater, extra private expertise
By utilizing QR codes in your retail retailer, you may be each omnipresent and private. Give customers entry to digital loyalty playing cards, digital coupons, personalised presents primarily based on their earlier interplay together with your model, and product evaluations or data. Tata Digital together with Department created and positioned distinctive QR codes all through its bodily shops at POS to drive app installs.
- Create QR codes for print media to drive offline customers straight to your cellular app
Including customised QR codes in print media campaigns offers a concrete entry level to offline customers. Pizza Hut, one among India’s main signature pizza chain, created QR codes utilizing Department for its newspaper advertisements that encourage customers to obtain their cellular app.
- Embody QR codes on product packaging
Customers who’ve bought a product in-store have already got a pure affinity to your model. Including a QR code to your product packaging will permit you to create a long-term, extra nurturing, and interactive expertise to your clients. QR codes are particularly useful within the meals and beverage business since they function the benchmark for authenticity and struggle counterfeit so your clients know they’re shopping for items from the unique model.Hershey’s rolled out QR codes on its Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolate to offer fast entry to model representatives and supply transparency of their elements. Customers who scanned the QR code had been directed to a touchdown web page that consisted of a glossary of elements with allergens and dietary info.
- Add QR codes in your web site to encourage app installs
Hungry Jacks is an Australian quick meals franchise of the Burger King company that leverages QR codes to drive web site guests to their cellular app.
- Use QR codes to drive loyalty and re-engagement
The ICONIC, Australia and New Zealand’s main on-line trend and life-style retailer presents styling ideas together with incentives like a $20 low cost right here to drive loyalty and increase engagement from current clients.
- Use QR codes for sooner checkout and re-engagement
Offering cellular checkout stations with QR codes can considerably cut back the time taken for billing and take away cumbersome processes. EatSure, an app that enables customers to bask in cuisines from world wide from numerous, trusted eating places in a single single order, makes use of QR codes in offline environments to assist clients place orders and pay on-line for sooner checkout.
- Place QR codes at key metropolis areas
This encourages clients to obtain the app on the go. Cult.match, India’s largest well being and health model, shows QR codes on bus stands to encourage app downloads. As soon as the consumer scans the QR code, they’re taken to a Department hyperlink that opens instantly within the app or the app retailer.
What’s subsequent?
Entrepreneurs are desperately making an attempt to navigate in a mature market the place customers are rationalizing their buying choices. Those that may step up their UA sport, even when which means experimenting with methods like influencer advertising and marketing and channels like TikTok that weren’t too frequent earlier (pre-pandemic), will turn into indispensable change brokers of their markets.
Partnering with a cellular measurement platform like Department will play a vital function, particularly for efficiency entrepreneurs who will be capable to measure the true supply of conversions, measure ROI, and optimize campaigns.
To see how you should utilize Department to drive your cellular consumer acquisition, sign up.
