The Complete Guide to Enterprise App Marketing

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO

Enterprise App Marketing

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TSSECTION 1: Acquisition

PART1:PaidAcquisition 1

Chapter1:Long-TermCampaigns 3

Chapter2:BurstCampaigns 17

PART2:OrganicAcquisition 21

Chapter3:AppStoreSearch 22

Chapter4:EarnedMedia 35

Chapter5:SocialMedia 39

Chapter6:TheWebsite 44

SECTION 2:Activation

PART1:The“NowWhat”Optimization 57

Chapter7-TheFirst“NowWhat?”-Registration 58

Chapter8-The2nd“NowWhat?”-TutorialorOverview 62

Chapter9-The3rd“WhatNow?”-PostTutorialGoal 66

SECTION 3:Retention

PART1:OptimizingUserDrop-Off 70

Chapter10-TheBreakup 71

Chapter11-MaketheFirstMove:ChurnPreventionwithIn-AppMessages 74

Chapter12-MaketheSecondMove:Re-EngagementwithPushNotifications 77

SECTION 4:Referral

PART1:Ratings&Reviews 81

Chapter13-UtilizingRatingPrompts 82

PART2:CustomerFeedback 87

Chapter14-AskingforFeedback 87

PART3:CustomerHappiness 92

Chapter15-CreatingHappyCustomers 92

SECTION 5:Revenue

PART1:DifferentTypesofBusinessModels 95

Chapter16-FreemiumApps 96

Chapter17-PaidApps 102

Chapter18-SubscriptionApps 104

Chapter19-SalesandMerchandising 106

CONTRIBUTOR PROFILES 111

THECOMPLETEGUIDETOENTERPRISEAPPMARKETING

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THECOMPLETEGUIDETOENTERPRISEAPPMARKETING

WelcometoTheCompleteGuidetoEnterpriseAppMarketing!Wemadethisbooksothatyou,theapp

marketer,canhavearesourcetoturntoforanswerstoallyourappmarketingquestions.

Thisbookisframedaroundtheappmarketingcycle,andisbasedonDaveMcClure’sPirate Metrics1.Themain

sectionsyouwillfindinthisbookare:

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Referral

Revenue

(AARRR. Pirate metrics, get it?)

Thegoalofthisbookistonotonlyeducateyouonwhyeachsectionshouldbeavitalandimportantpartof

yourappmarketingstrategy,butalsotoprovideaguideandexamplesthatyoucantakeandapplytoyourapp.

Forthemostpart,thisbookistailoredtowardsenterpriseappmarketerssomanyofthetipsandexamplesare

gearedtowardstheenterprise.However,everyonefromanindiedevelopertoaCMOcanfindusefulinformation.

Beforewedivein,I’dliketothankallthepeoplewhohelpedcontributetothiseBook.Thisbookwouldn’tbe

herewithoutthehelpandcontributionsofthefollowingpeople:

Eachauthorcontributedatleastonechapterofthisbook.Youcanlearnmoreabouttheauthorsandthe

companiestheyworkforintheirbiosattheendofthisbook.

Now let’s dive in!

Andrew Hansen

MobileAppTracking

by TUNE

Sylvain Gauchet

Apptamin

Aaron Huang

LeanPlum

Ezra Siegel

Apptentive

Francis Bea

AppFlood

Alex Klein

MobileDEVHQ

by TUNE

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SECTION 1

Acquiringusersisbecomingincreasinglydifficult,especiallywiththewaythe

appecosystemisgrowing.AsofJune2014,theiOSAppStoreandGooglePlay

haveabout1.2millionappseach.Thespaceiscrowded.

You’ll face numerous challenges when making and marketing

an app. If you’re involved in the actual development of the app,

countless hours will go into testing, analyzing, and iterating to

create an amazing app.

Just when you think you’re nearing the end, and the light at the

end of the tunnel starts to shine, you’ll realize the most difficult

part is still ahead: getting users to find and download your app.

Although the user acquisition process might seem daunting

right now, after reading this section you should have dozens of

ideas to test and implement.

This section consists of two parts: paid acquisition and organic

acquisition. Although we recommend you read it all, feel free to

pick and choose the chapters that are most relevant to you and

your app marketing needs.

Acquisition

THECOMPLETEGUIDETOENTERPRISEAPPMARKETING-2

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Paidacquisitionisafundamentalcomponentofmostmobilemarketingcampaignsforeveryonefromwell-

establishedenterprise-levelorganizationswithstrongbrandrecognitiontonewappstryingtobecomethe

nextUber.

Partofwhatmakespaidacquisitionnecessaryisthesimplefactthatwithovertwomillionappsoutthere,the

spaceisextremelycompetitive.Whenacquiringusersasanenterprise,havingstrongbrandrecognitioncan

definitelyhelp,butgettingyourapptostandoutfromthecompetitionrequireswell-crafteduseracquisition

campaigns.

Approachestopaidacquisitionfallintotwogeneralcategories:long-termcampaignsandburstcampaigns.

Bothofthesestrategieswillbediscussedatlengthlaterinthechapter,buthereisaquickoverviewofthebasics:

Long-term Campaigns:Thesearedesignedtoacquirequality,long-termusersthatremainengaged

andcontributetothefinancialcomponentoftheapp.Long-termcampaignsalsoplayarolein

buildingbrandrecognitionandre-engagingexistingappusers.

Burst Campaign:ThesearedesignedtomoveappsuptheTopChartsinappmarketplaces.Inmost

casesthequalityofusersisrelativelypoor,butmovinguptheTopChartshelpsacquireadditional

organicinstalls.

Thesestrategieseachplayadistinctandimportantroleinpaiduseracquisition.Understandingthestrengths

andlimitationsofeachtypewillenableyoutoimplementsuccessfulpaidacquisitioncampaignsandimprove

theprobabilityofachievingastrongreturnonyouradspend.

PART ONE:

PaidAcquisition


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CHAPTER 1: LONG-TERM CAMPAIGNS

In1885ThomasSmith’sSuccessful Advertisingguideclaimedthatacustomermustbeexposedtoanad

twentytimesbeforeapurchasewouldbemade.Inmorerecenttimes,the“ruleofseven”suggeststhat a

prospective customer needs to hear or see a message at least seven times before the ad will lead to a

purchase.Anumberofalternativetheorieshavechallengedthisrule,withclaimsthattheactualnumberis

anywherebetweenthreeandsevenadexposures.

Eveninouradvanceddigitalage,it’sincrediblychallengingtomeasurewhetherauserwastrulyexposedto

anad.Thelackofconsensusonthissubjectispreciselywhylong-termcampaignsaresoimportant,as they

deliver messages to users over an extended period of time and across multiple mediums.

Thepurposeoflong-termcampaignsistomakeanimpactinoneofthreeprimaryareas:user acquisition (the

focus of this section), re-engagement, and brand awareness.

1)UserAcquisition

Acquiringqualityusersisamongthemostimportantobjectivesoflong-termcampaigns.The

precisedefinitionof“qualityuser”mayvarydependingonthepurposeofyourapp,butgenerally

speaking, a high-quality user is one that remains active and engaged with the app over time,

contributes to the financial components of the app, and has a relatively high lifetime value (LTV).

Overtheyears,thecostofacquiringnewusershassteadilyrisen.RecentdatafromFiksu’sCPIIndex

foundthattheaveragecostperinstall(CPI)foriOSusersincreasedto$1.22-a16%increaseyear-over-

year;whiletheCPIforanAndroiduserincreasedto$1.27-a44%increaseyear-over-year2.

$2.00

$1.50

$1.00

$0.50

$0.00

JUL2013

AUG2013

SEP2013

OCT2013

NOV2013

DEC2013

JAN2014

FEB2014

MAR2014

APR2014

MAY2014

JUN2014

JUL2014

Fiksu CPI Index

Android

iOS

http://adage.com/article/global-news/10-things-global-ad-market/245572/


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12)Re-engagement

Experiencedmarketersunderstandthatacquiringnewusersisjustthebeginningofamuchlonger

relationship.Re-engagementistheprocessofidentifyingusersthatwereonceactivelyutilizing

yourappand,throughincentivesornewcontent,encouragingthemtoonceagainbecome

engagedwithyourapp.Long-termcampaignsplayanaturalroleinthere-engagementprocess.

3)CreatingBrandAwareness

Mostlargeorganizationsworkhardtoensurecustomersrecognizeandcorrectlyassociate

productswiththecompany’sbrand.Awellexecutedpaiduseracquisitioncampaigncanbe

extremelyhelpfulincreatingbrandawareness.Theultimategoalistohaveyourappatthetopof

theuser’smindwhentheyarereadytomakeapurchase.

BecausethisistheAcquisitionsection,wefocusmostlyonthataspectofpaidcampaigns.Butit’simportant

tobeawareofallthewaysitcanbevaluable.

TYPES OF LONG-TERM CAMPAIGNS

Intermsofglobaladspend,TVhaslongbeenthedominantmedium.However,asseeninthegraphicbelow,

thepastseveralyearshaveseenafairlydramaticshiftinwheremarketersareallocatingtheirmoney.

Mostnotably, the Internet has overtaken newspapers as the second largest medium3.

Enterpriseappscaneffectivelybemarketedthroughstrategiesonanumberofdifferentmediums.

Newspapers17.0%

20132005

Internet20.6%

TV40.2%

Magazines7.9%

Radio6.9%

Outdoor6.9%

Cinema0.5%

Newspapers29.1%

Internet5.6%

TV36.8%

Magazines13.1%

Radio8.4%

Outdoor6.6%

Cinema0.4%

http://adage.com/article/global-news/10-things-global-ad-market/245572/


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1Describedbelowareseveraldifferentmarketingcampaignsthatfallintotwogeneralcategories:digital and

traditional media.

DIGITAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

Digitalmediaconsistsofanythinghavingtodowithonlinemediumsorinteractions.Althoughitisan

expansivespace,we’llcoverthefollowingstrategies:paidsocial,paidsearch,andSMScampaigns.

Paid Social

In2014,it’sestimatedthattherewillbearound 1.82 billion social network users worldwide, with projections

indicating the number could grow to 2.33 billion by 20174.Accesstothisincredibleuserbaseiswhatmakes

paidsocialsuchanappealingoptionforenterprisemarketers.

MajorsocialmedianetworkslikeFacebookandTwitterareofferingnewtypesofpaidsocialopportunities

thathaveshownpromisingresults.Oneparticularlysuccessfulemergingformofpaidsocialisnative

advertisingonmobiledevices.Nativeadsaredesignedtomimicthesurroundingcontentanduserexperience,

creatingaslittledisruptionaspossibleforusers.

Theimagetotheleftisanexampleofa

paidsocialadonFacebook.Let’spullout

somethingstotakenoteof:

•Noticethenativedesignofthead

(mimickingthelookandfeelofauser’s

NewsFeed).

•Theadisfairlysimple,featuringan

attractiveimageandaclearcall-to-action

(InstallNow).

•Aftertappinginstallnow,usersaretaken

totheappmarket(inthiscase,theApple

AppStore),wheretheycandownload

andinstalltheapp.https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ads-for-apps/mobile-app-ads


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1AsimilarconceptisappliedtoFacebookadsdesignedfordesktop:

Twitteralsooffersmultipleopportunitiesforpaidsocial,includingTwitterCardsandPromotedTweets.Below

aretwodifferentappinstalladswithnativedesignthatshowupdirectlyinusers’feeds.Again,noticethe

cleandesignwithaclearcall-to-action:

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ads-for-apps/installs-desktop

https://blog.twitter.com/2014/a-new-way-to-promote-mobile-apps-to-1-billion-devices-both-on-and-off-twitter


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PAIDSOCIALTIPS

Experimentation is key: MajorplatformslikeFacebookandTwitterprovideanumberofdifferentadvertising

options,givingyoutheabilitytotestmultipleadformatsbeforeinvestingheavilyinaparticularstrategy.Make

suretotakeadvantageofthisandtrydifferentoptions.

Test strategies: RunningtestcampaignsandsplitA/Bcampaignscanhelpyouidentifywhichstrategyismost

effective,enablingyoutogetthemostoutofyouradspend.Someofthecomponentsyoumightexperiment

withinanA/Btestinclude:

•Changesintheoverallcopy

•Call-to-actioncopy

•Timeofday

•Platform

•Imagesusedincreative

Consider the strengths of each of the major social networks: Thiscanhelpguideyouinselectingthebest

socialplatformforyourads.Herearesometopoptions:

Facebook:Duetothetypesofinformationusersvolunteer,Facebookhastheabilitytoserve

adsthatarehighlytargetedtouserpreferences.Forexample,youcantargetadsbasedonthingslike

interests,behaviors,location,mobiledevice,education,workplace,andmore.

Twitter:OneofthebenefitsofTwitteristhehugepercentageofusersthataccessthesocialnetwork

onmobiledevices.Asofearly2014,184millionusers-roughly75%ofTwitter’stotaluserbase-are

monthlyactivemobileusers5.Thecombinationofahugepercentageofmobileuserswithemerging

installandre-engagementadcampaignoptionsmakesTwitterastrongoptionforenterpriseapp

marketers.

LinkedIn:ThemainbenefitofplacingadsonLinkedInistheabilitytoreachprofessionals.LinkedIn

enablesmarketerstotargetadsbasedondemographiccharacteristicslikeage,genderandlocation,

butoneofthemaindifferentiatorsistheabilitytofocusonbusiness-specificcriterialikecompany

name,industry,jobtitle,andothers.Ifyouaremarketinganappwithbusinessapplication,LinkedIn

canbetheperfectplatform.


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1Paid Search

Paidsearch-alsoknownasSEM(searchenginemarketing),CPC(cost-per-click)marketing,orPPC(pay-

per-click)marketing-referstodrivingtrafficbypurchasingadsonsearchengines.Paidsearchadsappear

alongsidesearchengineresultswhenauserperformsaqueryonaspecificsearchterm.TheseadsarePPC-

meaningthatadvertiserspayforeachadclick.

Google,Bing,Yahoo!,andothersearchenginesallprovideaccesstopaidsearch.Onefactorworthpointing

outisthattheiOSAppStoreandGooglePlaydonotyethavepaidsearch(whichiswhatmakesappstore

optimizationsoimportant). As an enterprise app marketer, capitalizing on paid search is the closest you’ll

get to ensuring a top ranking for a targeted search term related to your app.Youcanusepaidsearch

todrivetraffictoyourapp’swebpageoranyothersiteyouthinkwillhelpacquirenewusers.Belowisan

exampleofpaidsearchusingGoogleAdWords.

Google AdWords: Google’sAdWordsplatformallowsyoutocreateanddisplayadsassociated

withspecifickeywords.Youcanbidonthekeywordsofyourchoice,customizeadtext,setspecific

budgets,andmore-allwithintheAdWordsplatform.Adsshowupatthetopofthesearchresults,

andalongtherightsideofthescreen.Forexample,herearetheadresultsusing“cheapflights”as

thekeywords.

TRY THIS

Makeyourappcontentsearchableby

GooglebyutilizingAppIndexing.Whena

usersearchesGoogleonamobiledevicefor

somethingrelatedtoyourapp,yourappwill

showupwithaCTAtoeitheropenaspecific

pagewithinyourapp,ordownloadtheappif

it’snotalreadyinstalled.

www.google.com

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PAIDSEARCHTIPS

Avoid broad keyword matches whenever possible: Forexample,abroadmatchontheterm“shoes”might

displayyouradwhenuserssearch“hikingshoes,”“workshoes,”“highheels”oranynumberofothershoe-

relatedqueries.Broadsearchmightleadtomoretraffic,butitdoesn’tdoalotofgoodifyou’reactually

targetinguserslookingspecificallyforrunningshoes.

Include a call-to-action: Thecall-to-action(CTA)isthetextonabannerorbuttonthatencouragestheuser

toclickontheadandmovedowntheconversionfunnel.CTAsareagreatthingtoexperimentwithusingsplit

A/Btesting.Usersmightrespondwellto“BuyNow!”butbelessinterestedin“Learnmore.”

Refine SEM strategy for mobile users: Duetotherelativelysmallscreensize,whenauserconductsa

searchonamobiledevice,thenumberofvisibleadsisrelativelylow(comparedtosearchesconductedona

desktop).Thismeansthatadsthataredisplayedbelowthetopfewresultsmaynotevenbeviewedbyusers

-particularlyonmobilephoneswherescreensaremuchsmallerthantablets.Althoughit’smoreexpensive,

displayingadsinthetoponeortwopositionsincreasesthevisibilityofyouradandhasthepotentialtodrive

moreusers.

Don’t guess on your keywords: Thereareseveraltoolsavailablethatcanhelpyouidentifyappropriate

keywords.Tryingtoguesstimatebasedonyourbestjudgementisabigmistakewhenaccesstoreliabletools

anddataareavailable.

Choose app-specific keywords: Whenselectingkeywords,choosewordsthatarerelevanttoyourapp.You

mightbetemptedtopickuniquekeywordswherethecompetitionandpricearerelativelylow,butthese

fringetermsoftenfailtoproducequalityusers.

Optimize the landing page: Useracquisitioncampaignsalmostalwaysdriveusersdirectlytothepageinthe

appropriatemarketwhereuserscaninstalltheapp.Ifadslinkuserstoalandingpage,becertainthepageis

optimizedformobileusers.We’lltouchmoreonthislaterintheeBook-don’tworry.


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1SMS

ShortMessageService(SMS)ismarketingthroughtextmessagesonmobilephones.SMSmarketinghasbeen

aroundsince2004,andtheaddictiveandconvenientnatureoftextmessagingmakesitaviableaccesspoint

forenterprisemarketers.Likeotherformsofdigitalmarketing,SMShasthebenefitofenormousreach.

TorunanSMScampaign,youwouldpublishanadonline,onTV,oranyothermedium,andencourageusers

totextakeywordtoafive-digitshortcode.Usersseethead,followtheinstructions,andsendatextmessage

withthekeywordtothedesignatednumber.Afterthetextisreceived,anSMSsoftwaresolutioncapturesthe

user’snumber,andsendsanautoreplymessagefeaturingapromotion.

Forexample,arestaurantmightrunanSMScampaignandpublishanadinthelocalpaper,encouraging

userstotext“Discount”to55233.Whenausersendstheappropriatetextmessage,thesystemwouldreply

withacouponcodefor10%offtheuser’snextmealattherestaurant.

OthertypesofSMScampaignsinclude:

•Time-Sensitive Deals:Dealsthatexpireafterashortperiod.

•Special Occasions:Holidaysormajorevents.

•Exclusive Offers:Dealsonlyavailabletomobilesubscribers.

•Contests:Usersareenteredintoapoolthatiseligibletowinaprize.

TRY THIS

Similartoemailmarketing,SMSisapermission-basedformofmarketing-meaningthatusersmustoptin.

Consequently,campaignsshouldincludelanguagethatindicateshowuserscanopt-out(e.g.“ReplySTOP

todiscontinuemessages”).You’dratherhavethatpersonbehappyoptingoutratherthanbeangrydueto

receivingunwantedmessages.

TheChipotlerestaurantchainhasseveralexamplesofsuccessfulSMScampaigns:

•InanefforttoraiseawarenessaboutapartnershipwithMajorLeagueSoccer,ChipotlerananSMS

text-to-wincampaignwhereuserscouldwinanall-expenses-paidtriptotheMLSAll-Stargameby

texting“Homegrown”toadesignatednumber.


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1•Inearly2014,ChipotleproducedanoriginalvideoseriesonHulucalled“FarmedandDangerous”

designedtoeducateusersaboutfoodpreparationandencouragehealthyeating.Eachepisode

includedopportunitiesforuserstotextcertainkeywordstoadesignatednumberandopt-into

participateinathreequestionquizabouttheepisode.Usersthatansweredallthreequestions

correctlywereenteredintoalotterytowinfreefood.

•Inthesummerof2013,Chipotlecelebratedtheir20thanniversarywithacreativethree-week

campaigncalled“Adventurrito.”Eachdayapuzzlewasunlockedonlineandplayersthatattempted

tosolvethepuzzlewouldbeenteredintoalottery.UserscouldtextacodereceivedfromChipotle

receiptstoreceivepuzzleclues.Ifaplayeransweredallthepuzzlescorrectlytheywouldbe

enteredinalotterytowinfreeburritosfor20years.

SMSTIPS

Keep an eye on the time: Neversendatextmessagelateatnightorearlyinthemorning.Sendingmessages

duringstandardbusinesshoursisamuchsaferstrategy.

Find the right frequency: Sendingmultipletextsadaywilleventuallyannoymostcustomersandleadthemto

optingoutoftheservice.Identifyingtherightfrequencymaydependonthespecificindustryandthetypes

ofSMSmessagesbeingsent,butonceaweekisprobablyasafestartingpoint.

Offer real value: Youdon’thavetoofferhugediscountsonyourproductsorservices,butifyourSMS

campaignsconsistentlyfailtoprovideanythingofvalue,userswillopt-out.

Include opt-out instruction: Alwaysmakesuretoprovideuserswithaneasywaytostopreceivingmessages.

Communicate the terms: Communicatingearlyinyourcampaignshowoftenyouintendtosendmessages

willhelp.Forexample,intheinitialauto-reply,youcouldinformtheuserthatyouintendtosendnomorethan

twomessagesamonth.Iftheuserdoesn’tliketheterms,theycanopt-out,butbeingtransparentwillhelpthe

userknowwhattoexpectupfront.


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BESTPRACTICES-DIGITAL MEDIA

Eachofthesub-sectionsaboveincludedahandfulofbestpracticesspecifictotheparticularmedium.

Describedherearebestpracticesthatareapplicabletodigitalmediaingeneral-especiallytoonlineand

mobileads.

Know Your Users

Oneofthemajorbenefitsfoundindigitalmediaplatformsistheabilitytogainunderstandingandinsightinto

yourusersthroughanalytics.Regardlessofwhetheryou’remarketingonlineoronmobile,onekeytodigital

mediacampaignsisknowingyourusers.Utilizingwebanalyticshasbeenastandardpracticeineveryindustry

formanyyears.However,webanalyticsstillleavemanyblindspotsinyourcampaignsasdatacanonlybe

measuredondomainsthatyouown.

Overthepastfewyearstherehasbeensignificantprogressinmobileanalytics-andthisisgreatnewsfor

enterpriseappmarketers.Therearetwotypesofmobileanalyticsinparticularthatshouldbeapartofevery

appcampaign:

Marketing Analytics:Alsoknownasattributionanalytics,marketinganalyticsenableyouto

understandwhichspecificadandpublisherareresponsibleforaninstall.Asmentionedpreviously,

someenterprisemarketersworkwithhundredsofpublishers,andbeingabletoidentifywhich

partnersareactuallydrivingappinstallsenablesyoutomodifyyourcampaignandgetthegreatest

returnonyouradspend.

In-app Analytics:In-appanalyticsenablesmarketerstounderstanduserbehaviorintheapp.

Forexample,within-appanalyticsyoucanmeasurebuttonclicks,adclicks,levelscompleted,

contentread,oranyotherdefinableevent.In-appanalyticsalsogiveyoutheabilitytogatherbasic

demographicdataandidentifyinformationabouttheuser’sdevice.

Forenterprisemarketersoperatinginthedigitalspace,it’sessentialtoknowwhoyourusersareandhowthey

interactwithyourapp.Mobileanalyticswillallowyoutodojustthat.


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Choose the Right Publishing Partners

Evenifanapphasstronginitialfunding,ifnewuserswithpositiveLTVarenotacquired,theappwill

eventuallyfail.Buildingtherightpartnershipshasasignificantimpactonthesuccessofyourcampaigns.

Findingpublishersthatcanconnectyourcontentwiththerighttypesofusersisessential.Someorganizations

workwithhundredsofpublishingpartners,whileothersmayonlyworkwithacoupledozen.

Fromourdata,wesegmentedarandom

sampleof30enterpriseappproviders

andfoundthat the average organization

works with roughly 150 publishing

partners. Thefulldistributioncanbeseen

intheimagetotheright.

Utilize Real-Time Bidding

Real-timebidding(RTB)isanemerging

technologythatenablesorganizations

todisplayadsonlinetousersthatfit

adesiredprofile.RTBisessentiallyan

automated,instantaneousauctionwhere

advertisersbidforpublisherimpressions.

Asanadimpressionloadsintoauser’s

browser,informationabouttheuseris

passedtoanadexchange.Theadvertiser

canplaceabidfortheimpressioniftheuserprofilematchesthedesiredcriteria.Theadfromthehighest

biddingadvertiseristhendisplayedonthewebsite.Incredibly,thisentiretransactionoccursinthetimeit

takestoloadawebpage.

Asanenterpriseappmarketer,youneedtobeabletobuyrelevantadplacementsinbulk.RTBisrapidly

becomingthemosteffectivewaytoreachatargetedaudience,andiscapableofhandlinglargescale.Many

marketingprofessionalsfeelthatRTBisthefutureofadvertising,asitisflexibleandallowsformaximum

resultsinashortperiodoftime.

Ad Clicks (millions)

# o

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dve

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1TRADITIONAL MEDIA

LongbeforetheInternetcamealong,marketershadanumberofpowerfulresourcestodeliverthebrand

messagetocustomers.Severalofthesemarketingchannelsarestillbeingusedtoday,andinmanycases,

theyarestillgeneratingnotablesuccess.TV,radio,print,PR,anddirectmailaretraditionalmediumsthatare

particularlyrelevantforenterpriseappmarketers.

TV

ThereareanumberofmajororganizationspromotingmobileappsthroughTVcommercials.Likeother

marketingchannelsdiscussedpreviously,oneofthemajordrawstoTVistheaccesstoaudienceatalarge

scale.However,gainingthisaccesscomesataprice,asTVisthemostexpensiveadvertisingmedium.

TRY THIS

TrackinghowmanyinstallsaTVadleadstoisdifficult.Tohelp,tryimplementingacommercialspecificSMS

campaignwithintheTVspotsoyoucanattributeinstallstoanindividualTVcampaign.

ThecostofTVadsisdrivenbythreeprimaryfactors:

Production Costs:Talentedactors/actresses,royaltyfeesformusic,writing,editing,designing,

directing,etc.Ithasthepotentialtogetexpensivequickly.

Ad Placement:Anadplacedonachannelduringthebroadcastofamajorsportingeventisobviously

goingtobemoreexpensivethananadplacedduringthebroadcastofamid-afternooninfomercial.

Ad Length:Allotherthingsbeingequal,a60-secondcommercialwillobviouslybemoreexpensive

thana15-secondspot.

Despitethepotentialforhighercost,anumberofmajororganizationshavechosentopromotemobileapps

throughTVcommercials.Examplesinclude:GEICO,Chase,FamousFootwear,PokerStars,Nike,BigFish

Games,andmanyothers.WhetherpromotingappsthroughTVcommercialsisaviablelong-termstrategyis

yettobeclearlydetermined,butthefactthatcompaniesfromsuchdiverseindustriesareexperimentingwith

theconceptlendscredibilitytothepotential.


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1Radio

Radiomayseemlikeaslightlyantiquatedmedium,butthereachofradiocontinuestobestrong.Manyofthe

samecostfactorsthatdriveTVcostsapplytoradio(i.e,productioncosts,adplacement,andadlength),but

radioadsaregenerallynotnearlyasexpensive.

Print

Printincludesmediumslikemagazines,newspapers,anddirectories.Asalludedtoearlierinthechapter,in

termsofadspendprintmediumshavedefinitelytakenahitoverthelasttenyears.Forseveralyears,mobile

marketershavebeentryingtoconnectuserstodigitalcontentthroughQRcodes.ScanningaQRcode

enablesuserstodownloadamobileapporaccessotherdigitalcontent,butmanymarketershavenotseen

thelevelofsuccessnecessarytojustifyaQRstrategy.IncludingURLsinprintmediaisanadditionalway

enterpriseappmarketerscanconnectuserstomobile,thoughit’simportanttokeepURLsasshortaspossible.

PR

Publicrelations(PR)isthepracticeofmanagingthespreadofnewsandotherinformationaboutan

organization.Announcingthelaunchdateofanappthroughapressreleaseisastandardpractice,butthereare

severalotheropportunitiestopromotemobileappsthatfallunderthePRumbrella.Forexample,organizing

activitiesthatgeneratebuzzisaguerillamarketingtacticthathasthepotentialtoraiseawarenessaroundthe

app.Reachingouttojournalistsorauthorsinthebloggingcommunityisalsoacommonpracticethatcanhelp

raisetheprofileofamobileapp.We’lltalkmoreaboutPRandEarnedMediainPartTwoofthissection.

Direct Mail

Directmailencompassesmarketingmaterialslikepostcards,brochures,newsletters,andcatalogsthatare

senttoprospectivecustomersthroughthemail.Similartootherprintmediums,directmailcanincorporate

QRcodesorshortenedURLsinthematerialstodriveuserstodigitalsourceswhereappscanbedownloaded.

Forexample,fastfoodrestaurantsoftenincludeQRcodesondirectmailcouponsthatconnectpotential

customerstoexclusivedealsoradditionaloffers.

TRY THIS

Magazinesallowyoutotargetaveryspecificdemographic.Tryfindingsomemagazinesthatmighttarget

someoneinterestedinyourapp.Forexample,agolfappmightwanttorunaprintadinGolfDigest.Again,

usinganSMScampaigncanhelpyouseehowsuccessfulaspecificadwas.


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BESTPRACTICES-TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Know Your Audience

Similartodigitalmarketing,thekeytomarketingmobileappsthroughtraditionalmediumsistoknowand

understandyourusers.Althoughtheuserinsightmaynotbeasrichandtargetedaswhatisavailablethrough

digitalsources,inmanycases,TV,radio,newspaper,andprintmediumshavesignificantknowledgeabouttheir

audiences.Takingadvantageofanyavailabledemographicdataandensuringyouradsaredisplayedtothe

mostappropriateaudienceswillhelpyoudeliverhigherconversionrates.

Ensure Your Content is Compatible

Beforeyouplaceanad,listentotheradiostationorwatchthechannelduringthetimeperiodyouare

planningonrunningyouradtoensureyouradiscompatiblewithothercontent.Forexample,youprobably

wouldn’twanttorunacommercialforacuttingedgegamingappduringalocaltalkprogram.

Limit Calls-to-Action

ThisisparticularlyrelevanttoTVandradioads,asthesearerelativelyshort.TryingtocrammultipleCTAsinto

asinglecommercialisadisservicetouseracquisition.KeeptheCTAsimpleandclear,givingusersaclearfirst

stepintheconversionprocess.


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2CHAPTER 2: BURST CAMPAIGNS

Aburstcampaignoccurswhenamarketerconcentratesadspendoverashortperiodoftimeinorderto

boostthevisibilityoftheappandincreaseinstalls.The primary purpose of burst campaigns is to move the

app up the Top Charts in the major app markets, as Top Charts are one of the primary ways users find apps.

Infact,arecentMobileDevHQstudyfoundthat10%ofiPhoneusersand9%ofAndroidusersfoundthelast

apptheydownloadedthroughTopCharts,makingitthefourthlargestdownloadchannelonbothplatforms

(behindappstoresearch,friendreferral,andreadingaboutitontheweb).

Tobetterunderstandhowburstcampaignswork,andwhytheycanbeanimportantcomponentofenterprise

marketingstrategies,it’shelpfultounderstandhowTopChartswork.

TheAppStoreandGooglePlaybothorganizeappsintoanumberofbasiccategoriesandsubcategories,

helpingusersnavigatetoappsthatarerelevanttotheirinterests.BothGooglePlayandtheAppStorefurther

assistappdiscoverybyprominentlyfeaturinglistsoftopapps.Forexample,ifyounavigatetotheGames

categoryintheAppStore,youcanseeBestNewGames,BestNewUpdates,WhatWe’rePlaying,andother

lists.InGooglePlay,eachcategoryunderGameshasitsownTopPaidandTopFreelists.

ThereareanumberoftheoriesaboutthefactorsthatinfluencewhichappsarefeaturedintheTopCharts,

butundoubtedly,thepopularityoftheapp(measuredbythenumberofappinstalls)playsamajorrole.

ConsideringthatbeingfeaturedintheTopChartsisaverycommonwayfornewuserstodiscoverapps,it

makessensethatmarketersgotogreatlengthstomovetheirappsuptheselists.

Enterburstcampaigns.Byconcentratingadspendinashortperiodoftime,marketershopetodrawalarge

numberofnewusers.ThemassinfluxofnewusersmovestheappuptheTopCharts,increasingitsvisibility

andcreatingmoreorganicinstalls.


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2WHEN TO USE BURST CAMPAIGNS

Burstcampaignsarenotappropriateineverysituation,butthefollowingexamplesoutlineopportunities

whereaburstcampaignmaybeideal:

Initial Launch of an App:Remember,thereareoveronemillionappsonbothGooglePlayandthe

AppStore.Launchinganappwithoutastrongmarketingcampaignisasafewaytoensureyour

appdisappearsintothedigitaloblivion.Accompanyingyourapplaunchwithastrongburst

campaigncanhelpgetyourappmovingupthecharts.

A Lull in App Downloads:It’scommonforthenumberofappdownloadstoexperiencesome

fluctuation.Butsometimesanappremainsflatforanextendedperiodoftime,orexperiencesan

unexpectedlull.Incaseslikethis,agoodburstcampaigncanbejustthethingtogettheappback

uptospeed.Asseenintheexamplebelow,installsforthisenterpriseappremainedfairlyflatforan

extendedperiodoftime-butyoucanclearlyseewhentheburstkickedin.You’llalsoseethatwhen

itcamedownfromtheinitialboost,thenewbaselinewasmuchhigher.

Peak Season:It’sawell-knownphenomenonthatappspeakaroundholidays.Usersoftengetnew

devicesandareinterestedinexperimentingwithapps.BoostingyourappuptheTopChartsaround

peakseasoncanbeagreatwaytopickupafreshroundofnewusers.

NOV

50K

100K

DEC JAN FEB MAR

150K

Inst

alls


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2TRY THIS

DatafromMobileDevHQshowsthatintheAppleAppStore,appsreceivearankingboostforthefirstseven

daysafterlaunch.Keepthisinmind,anduseaburstcampaigntoeither1)Furtherincreasethis‘newcomers

boost’or,2)Combatthedropafterdaysevenwithaburstcampaign.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH BURST CAMPAIGNS

Thebiggestdrawbackofburstcampaignsisthatuserqualityisnotoriouslylow.Inparticular,burstcampaigns

don’thaveagreattrackrecordofacquiringuserswithahighLTV.Usersoftenuninstallappsfromburst

campaignsafteronlyoneortwouses.Intheory,thismightbeacceptable- remember, one of the main

purposes of burst campaigns is that an influx of new users will drive the app up the charts, making it more

visible and resulting in more downloads.

Forexample,theenterpriseappfeatured

totherighthadbeenexperiencinglow

activityforseveralmonths.Afterlaunching

aburstcampaigninearlyMarchtheywere

abletoseeaconsiderablespikeinbothpaid

andorganicinstalls.Atonepoint,organic

installswerehigherthanpaidinstalls,but

mostimportant,organicinstallswereable

toremainatalevelconsiderablyhigherthan

beforetheburstcampaign(likelytheresult

ofbeingfeaturedinTopCharts).

250K

500K

Inst

alls

Paid

Organic

JAN JAN JAN FEB FEB FEB MAR MAR MAR APR APR APR MAY MAY MAY JUN


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BESTPRACTICES-BURST CAMPAIGNS

Advertise on Multiple Ad Networks

Adnetworkshaveaccesstoinventoryonavarietyofpublisherwebsites.Asanenterprisemarketerlaunching

aburstcampaign,you’llneedtobeabletopurchasebigblocksofads.Workingwithmultipleadnetworkswill

giveyouradsamuchbroaderreach.Someofthemostpopularadnetworksforenterprisemarketersinclude:

•Chartboost

•InMobi

•Fiksu

•MillennialMedia

•AdColony

Rotate Your Creative

Becauseyouaregoingtoessentiallybefloodingtheworldwithadsforyourapp,rotatingyourcreativecan

helpyouradsstayfresh.Repeatedlydisplayingthesameadleadstomessagefatigueandcanactuallyhavea

negativeimpactonpotentialusers.


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Bothpaidandorganicacquisitionhaverespectiveadvantagesanddisadvantages.Paidoffersyoutheluxuryof

pre-definedusergroupsbyallowingyoutoleveragetheusersofpublishersoradnetworks.Youcanalsoset

goalsforhowmanyinstallsyou’dlike,andifyoupayenough,you’realmostguaranteedtoreachthosenumbers.

Unfortunately,youcanenduppayingaheftypriceformeetingthosegoals.

Thisiswhereorganicacquisitioncomesin.Organicacquisitionisessentiallyanydownloadyoureceivefroma

non-paidchannel.Thiscanincludeanythingfromtheappstoretoarandombloggerwritingaboutyou.Ifyou

trulywantyourapptodominate,youneedtobeoptimizingeverychanneltogainmarketshare,acquirehigh

qualityusers,andmaximizeyourapp’spotential.

ThispartoftheeBookwillcoverthemainorganicacquisitionchannelsincluding:app store search, earned

media, social media, and your website.

PART TWO:

OrganicAcquisition


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3 CHAPTER 3: APP STORE SEARCH

Optimizingyourappforsearchisextremelyimportanttohavingasuccessfulapp.AppStoreOptimization

(ASO),whichistheequivalentofSearchEngineOptimization(SEO),isquicklybecomingastapleofevery

mobilemarketingplan.Itnotonlyprovidesabasefromwhichtoinformandenhanceyourothermarketing

tactics,butitalsodrivesupdownloadsanddeliversahighqualityuser.

Ifyou’renotalreadyconvinced,hereareafewmorereasonswhyyoushouldcareaboutit:

REASON #1 - SUSTAINABLE, QUALITY, DOWNLOADS

Therearetwokeydifferentiatorsbetweentheappstoresearchand

othermarketingchannels.

First, users searching in the app store show targeted intent. For

example,IrecentlyreturnedfromatendaytripinEurope,andbefore

leaving,Idecidedtodownloadatranslationapp.Iwentintotheapp

storeandsearchedfor‘freevoicetranslator.’Afterscrollingthrough

afewoptions,Icameupontheapp‘Speak&Translate-LiveVoice

andTextTranslatorwithSpeech.’Itwasfree,hadagreatrating,and

descriptivescreenshots,soIdecidedtodownloadit.Andaftergetting

lostinatinySwisstownwheretheyspokebothFrenchandGerman,

butlittleEnglish,IwasgladIhadit.

Whenuserssearchforappsintheappstoretheyshowintent,which

meansmoreoftenthannotitdrivesahigherqualityuser.Thisincreases

thechancesyouwillreceivepositivereviewsandhavehappycustomers,whichwillhelpyoursearchranking

andword-of-mouthmarketing.

The second major differentiator is that ASO is sustainable long-term. Thegreatpartaboutsearchisthatyou

havezeromarginalcostforeachadditionaluseryouacquire.Whatevercostsyouincurwhenoptimizingyour

appforsearchisnotimpactedbythenumberofuserswhodownloadyourapp.


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3ThisseguesperfectlyintothenextreasonwhyASOshouldbeahugepartofyourmarketingstrategy.

REASON #2 - GOOD ROI = HAPPY BOSSES

Ifyou’reinamarketingrole(oranyroleforthatmatter)forabigcompany,you’regoingtohavetoreport

yournumberstohigher-ups.Inmostcases,whatthesepeoplearereallyinterestedinishowmuchrevenue

you’rebringingin,andhowthatcomparestowhatyou’respending.Theymightbeinterestedinhowyou’re

acquiringusers,buteverythingultimatelyboilsdowntoreturnoninvestment(ROI).Themorebangforthe

buckyou’regetting,thebetteryoulook.ThisisanotherreasonyoushouldcareaboutASO:it improves the

ROI of your paid marketing channels.

Inthecaseofappmarketingspecifically,runningapaidinstallcampaignproducesanimportantbyproduct:

increasedorganicdownloadsduetoimprovedrankingsinTopChartsandsearch.

Twoofthemajorfactorsinfluencingyourapp’srankintheappstorearetotaldownloadsanddownload

velocity.Thatmeanswhenyourunapaidcampaign,youboostthesemetrics,whichinturnboostsyourTop

Chartsandsearchrankingintheappstores.

Arecentstudyweconductedfoundthat,onaverage,payingforaninstallcorrelatedwithanincreaseofabout

1.5organicinstalls.Thismeansifyouweretopayfor50Kinstalls,youcouldactuallyseeabenefitof125K

installsduetothecorrelated75Kadditionalorganicinstalls.You’dbegettingmorebangforyourbuck.

The Point:Whenrunningpaidcampaignsforyourapps,thepaiddownloadswillincreaseyoursearchand

TopChartsrankingintheappstoreandleadtoanaverageof1.5organicinstallsperpaidinstall.You’llwant

tohavedonethoroughASOresearchtomakesureyouaretargetingtherightkeywordssoyoucantakefull

advantageoftherankingboostandincreasethatmultiplierabove1.5x.Youwillreceiveincreaseddownloads

becauseofyourimprovedvisibility,inadditiontothedirectdownloadsyou’repayingfor;butifyourASO

measuresaren’tinplaceyouwon’tbemaximizingtheimpact.

REASON #3 - YOU CAN (AND SHOULD) DOMINATE THE APP STORE

Asanenterprise,youhavesignificantadvantageswhenitcomestoappstorerankings.Youhaveallthe

mechanismsinplacetoimprovesomeofthekeymetricsthatinfluenceyourrankingsuchastotaldownloads,


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3downloadvelocity,currentrating,numberofratings,andmore.Nowthosearejustafewofthemanyfactors

thatgointothecomplicatedsearchrankingalgorithms,butthere’snoreasonforenterprisestonotbe

crushingthosemetrics.

Indiesandsmallerdevshopshaverestrictedbudgets,areunderstaffed,havelimitedbrandrecognition,and

smallercross-promotioncapabilities.Enterprises,ontheotherhand,havelargermarketingbudgets,deep

engineeringandmarketingteams,recognizablebrandnames,andsuitesofproductswithlargeexistinguser

basestoleverage.There’sreallynoexcusefornotdominatingtheappstore.

Butwhyshouldyou?

Surprise! Mobile’s not a fad. Apps aren’t going away. In fact, they’re taking over.

RecentreportsfromComScoreshowthatmobile,andappsinparticular,aredrivingthegrowthoftimespent

ondigitalmedia.Asyoucansee,mobile app usage has increased by over 50% in the past year, while the

time spent on the desktop has stayed relatively static.

Thedataspeaksforitself.Mobileappsareheretostay.Theyaccountforthemajorityofdigitalmediatimein

theUS,andarepropellingdigitalmediagrowth.

Mobile Web Mobile App Desktop

JUN 2013 JUN 2014

Digital Time Spent Growth Driven by Apps

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

+17%

+52%

+1%

+24%

Min

ute

s in

Bill

ions

comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform & Mobile Metrix, U.S.,

June 2013 - June 2014

Desktop Mobile Mobile App

Share of U.S. Digital Media Time Spent by Platform

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

MAR2013

JUN2013

SEP2013

DEC2013

MAR2014

JUN2014

53%

47%

40%

52%

40%

60%

comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform & Mobile Metrix, U.S.,

March 2013 - June 2014


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3HOW TO THINK ABOUT ASO FOR AN ENTERPRISE

Hopefullynowyou’reconvincedthatyoushouldcareaboutASOandsearchintheappstore.Buthowshould

youbeexecutingASOasanenterprise?

ASOtipsandtrickscanbefoundallovertheinternet,especiallyasitbecomesamorebroadlypracticed

marketingtactic.However,asanenterpriseyouneedtothinkdifferently.You’renotmarketingyourappthe

samewayasthemajorityofappmakers,whotendtobesmallerindiedevs.Inthefollowingsection,we’ll

coverthreeimportantthingsyouneedtokeepinmindasanenterpriseappmarketer:

1.Title

2.Brandedvs.non-brandedsearchterms

3.Competitiveintelligence

Title

Oneofthemostcommonthingsyou’llseeinanyguideaboutASOisthatyourtitleisimportant.Thisistrue-

it’sveryimportant.Butwhatexactlymakesthetitlesoimportant?

•Firstandforemost,appsrankhigherinsearchfortermsusedintheirtitle.Ourdatashowsthatover

60% of the apps that ranked in the top five for a keyword included that term in their title.

•Second,it’soneofthefirstthingspeoplelookforandnoticewhenscrollingthroughsearchresults.

Inthecaseoftheenterprise,italsoprovidesaprimepieceofrealestateforcompaniestogobeyondtheir

brandnametogivefurtherexplanationoftheirapp.Thisisespeciallyimportantiftheappyou’remarketingis

anextensionofyourbrandratherthananalreadyestablishedproduct.

Agoda Example

AnexampleofthisisAgoda,acompanythatwasacquiredbyPriceline.Pricelinehasnumerousother

marketingchannelsandhasdoneagreatjobofraisingbrandawarenessthroughTVandinternetads.

Themajorityofpeoplesearchingfortravelrelatedappsintheappstorewouldprobablyrecognize

Priceline,andneednofurtherexplanationofwhattheydo.However,Agoda,alessrecognizable

brand,mightgetskippedoverinalonglistofsearchresultsifitdidn’tfurtherexplainitsproduct.

Theirapptitleis‘Agoda.com-Smarterhotelbooking.’This not only helps them rank higher for

‘hotel’ and ‘booking,’ but it quickly lets users know what they do and helps pique their interest.


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3Ourenterprisecustomersoftenaskusifusingkeywordsintheirtitlewillmuddytheirbrandorhurtaesthetics

intheappstore.Thisisavalidpointtobringup.Ashortandsimpleonewordtitlemightlookbetterthana

morelengthyone.However, in our opinion, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Asitpertainstotheenterprisespecifically,thetitleisimportantforthefollowingreasons:

For Enterprises, Title Keywords Almost Always Have Good Rankings

Thisgoesbacktoourpointaboutdominatingtheappstoresearch:Don’tleaveanythinguptochance.

Enterprises Can Target or Highlight a Specific Feature Set Within the App

Goingbacktothetravelappscenario,wecanlookatKAYAKandExpediaforexamplesofutilizinga

title.Althoughbothappsprovidefeaturesforbookingtravelrelatedproducts,theyfocusondifferent

things.Takealookatthescreenshotsbelow:

Therearetwominordifferencesinthetitle.

1.KAYAK decided to include cars in their title,indicatingthattheyofferthisservice.

2.Each app decided to include a different keyword first, right after their branded title.Because

mostpeoplereadtopdownandlefttoright,thischangeswhichwordspeoplenoticefirst,

andmightbeanindicationofwhichserviceseachrespectiveappcaresmoreabout.


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Anewstrategywe’venoticedisthelackofanybrandednameinthetitle.Forexample,Trulia,anappforreal

estate,includestheirtitleintheiriconratherthantheactualtitlefield.Thisleavesmoreroomforkeyword

targeting.Booking.comdoessomethingsimilarbyincludingtheirbrandintheirfirstscreenshotaswellas

theirtitle(butitisthethirdtermintheirtitle,notthefirst).

TITLETIPS

Use three to five targeted, important keywords in your title:Strategicallyandnaturallyincludekeywords

you’dliketorankhighlyforortermsyou’dlikeassociatewithyourappinyourtitle.

Don’t repeat terms in your keyword field:Onceatermisusedinyourtitle,youdon’tneedtoincludeitin

yourkeywordfieldagain.Youreceivenoadditionalrankingbenefit.

Include parent company for off-brand apps:Iftheappyou’remarketingisunderadifferentbrandname,

youmightwanttoconsiderincludingtheparentcompanyname.Somethinglike:‘[appname]By[parent

companyname].’

BRANDED VS. NON-BRANDED KEYWORDS

You’reawell-knownenterprise;ifsomeonewantstodownloadyourappthey’lljustsearchforyourname,

right?Wrong.

Thisisacommonmisconception.Thismighthavebeentrueintheearlydaysoftheappstore,butuser

behaviorhasmovedfarbeyondjustbrandedsearchesinthepastfewyears.In2013Googlereleasedthatthey

seeoversix million unique phrases searched monthly6!

Appsprovideagreatwaytoexpandyourproductontoanewplatform.Theappstoreisalsoanextremely

efficientandeffectivemeansofacquiringnewusers.Ifyouwanttotakefulladvantageofwhatyourappand

theappstorehastooffer,youneedtomovebeyondbrandedsearch.


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3Let’stakealookatsomeexamplestohelpconvinceyou:

Youcanseeherethatwehavetherelativesearchvolumesofanumberofkeywords,brandedandnon-

branded.Thesearetermsonemightsearchforwhenlookingforanapptobooktravelrelatedproductsor

services.You might notice that Expedia, by far the most searched branded keyword, has half the volume of

‘hotels’, and two-thirds the volume of ‘flights.’

Stillnotconvincedthatnon-brandedkeywordsshouldbeakeypartofyourASOstrategy?Let’slookat

anotherexample:

Inthisexample,thebrandedsearchesseemtoholdtheirown.Well,onebrandedsearchinparticularis

keepingup.Butitstillhaslessthanhalfthevolumeof‘music.’

Couldyourappsucceedonbrandedsearchalone?Maybe.Ifyouhaveastrongnon-mobilemarketing

presenceandhaveestablishedyourselfasaleaderinthespace,youwillprobablyhaveenoughloyalusers

whowillconverttomobile.Butyouwon’tthrive,andyouwon’tbegrowingyourbusinessbytakingfull

advantageofthisrapidlyrisingmedium(rememberthosegraphsyousawabove–mobileistakingover

theworld!).Asmobilekeepsgrowing,theappstoreandnon-brandedsearchisonlygoingtobecomemore

important.

Keyword

Hotels

Flights

Expedia

Travelocity

HotelsTonight

Relative Search Volume

40x

30x

20x

3x

1x

Branded?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Keyword

Music

Radio

Spotify

FreeMusic

Pandora

Beats

Listen

StreamMusic

Relative Search Volume

200x

90x

90x

80x

60x

40x

20x

3x

Branded?

Yes

Yes

Yes


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BRANDEDVS.NON-BRANDEDKEYWORDSTIPS

Don’t skimp on keyword research:Whenyou’rebrainstormingyourlistofkeywordstotarget,youcannever

thinkoftoomany.Hopefullyyou’reconvincedthatyoushouldmovebeyondjusttargetingbrandedsearch

terms,somakesureyou’redivingdeepintoresearchoftermsyouthinkyouruserswillsearch.

Target a competitor’s brand at your own risk:Youcantrytotargetacompetitor’sbrandname,butbewarned,

itmightgetyourapprejectedbyAppleorGoogle.It’sariskyendeavorandmightnotbeworththerisk.

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

CompetitiveintelligenceisanotherimportantpartofenterpriseASO.There’salotofusefulinformation

youcangetfromperformingin-depthcompetitiveresearch.Appmarketersarebecomingmoreandmore

creativewithhowtheyapproachmarketing.Thisrangesfromnarrowingthefocusoftheirapptoinclude

onlycertainfeaturesoftheirproductsuite,totargetingspecifickeywordsforseasonalsearchpatterns.

Competitiveintelligenceisoneofthelesser-utilizedappmarketingtactics.Asitpertainstoapps,competitive

intelligencebreaksdownintotwomainfocuses:

1.Usermessagingrelatedtoapps

2.Whatkeywordscompetitorsareusing

TRY THIS

Isthereamajorholidaycomingup?Tryswitchingupafewofyourkeywordstotargetholidayspecificthemes

andsearchterms.Youmighteventrymakingaholidayspecificapp,orcustomizingthelookandfeelwithin

yourcurrentapptofittheholiday.Ifyoudothis,don’tforgettochangetheiconandscreenshotsintheapp

storeaswell.Anythingthatcancatchtheuser’seyeanddrawattentiontoyourappwithinsearchisuseful.


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Theappstoreaffordsyoutheuniqueopportunitytoseeexactlyhowusersaretalkingaboutyourappandthe

appsofyourcompetitors’.Byscanningoverreviews,youhavetheabilitytopulloutcommonuserlanguage

andmessaging.Youcanalsoseeifthethemesareframedinapositiveornegativelightbytheratings

associatedwiththereviews.

Forexample,herewecanseethatoneofpositiveaspectoftheeBayappistheeaseofuse.Ourreviewstool

showsthat,overthetimeperiodselected,27usershavepostedfive-starreviewswithlanguagespecifying

howeasyitistouse.

Whatallcanyougainfromacompetitor’sreviews?Aswejustmentioned,youcanseewhataspectsoftheir

apppeoplelove.WhetherthatbeaspecificfeatureorageneralUXtheme,it’simportanttoknowwhat

elementspeopleenjoysoyoumakeinformeddecisionsaboutyourownapp.Equallyasimportantisknowing

whatfeaturesorexperiencespeopledon’tlike.Youcangetinsightsintothisbyscanningone-starreviews

ratherthanfive-starreviews.

Theactualwordingpeopleusewhentalkingaboutanappisanotherimportantelementreviewsshedlight

on.Lookingatthefive-starreviewsofeBayagain,wecanseethat13userswrotereviewswiththelanguage

‘buying,’‘shopping,’or‘selling.’Notethattheydidn’tuse‘buy,’‘sell,’or‘shop.’Withsuchlimitedspacefor

keywords,thisisanimportantdistinctiontomake.WhethereBayisyourapportheappofacompetitor,you

canusethisinformationtoyouradvantagetomakesureyouaretargetingthemosteffectivekeywords.


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TRY THIS

Areyoutargetingyourcompetitor’sbrandnameorkeywords?Somedevelopershavetriedthis,butbewarned,

it’srisky.SomeappshavebeendeniedbyAppleforblatantlytargetinganothercompany’sbrandname.

What Keywords Competitors are Targeting

Anotherobviouspartofcompetitiveintelligenceisfindingoutwhatkeywordsyourcompetitorsaretargeting.

Knowingwhatkeywordsacompetitorcaresaboutgivesyouaglimpseintotheirmobilestrategy.

YoumighthavenoticedthatExpedia’sapponlyincludes‘flights’and‘hotels’intheirtitle.Thisisonlyasmall

portionoftheofferingstheyprovideontheirwebsite;theyleaveoutthingslikecruises,vacationpackages,

andmostnotably,carrentals(afeatureKAYAKdoesincludeintheirtitle).Uponcloserinspectionoftheirapp

andallthekeywordstheyrankfor,wefoundnothingpertainingtocarrentalorcruisebooking.


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3We’renotinthetravelbookingspace,sowecan’tsaywhetherornotthisisagooddecision,butit’s

interestingtonote,andcanhelpinformmarketingandproductdecisionsgoingforward.Doesthismeanthere

isanopportunityinthecarrentalandcruise-bookingspace?OristhereastrategicreasonExpediaisavoiding

theseareas?Dotheyhaveotherappstargetingtheseverticals?Ifso,issplittingupyourownofferingacross

appsagoodstrategytogowith?Theseareafewofthebigquestionsyoucouldbegintoaskyourself–and

theycamefromjustknowingwhichkeywordsExpediaistargeting.

ASOencompassesmuchmorethanjustpickingafewkeywords.Asyoucanseehere,theknowledgeandinsights

youcangainfromdoingin-depthandthoroughappstoreoptimizationcanleadtobiggerstrategicdecisions.

TRY THIS

Howdoyoufigureoutwhatkeywordsyourcompetitorsareactuallytargetingbeyondtheirtitle?Goodquestion.

Finding Competitor Keywords

InGooglePlay,thisisslightlymorestraightforwardthaniniOS.ForAndroidapps,thereareonlytwoplacesapps

havedirectcontroloverthekeywordsthey’retargeting:theirtitleandtheirdescription.Otherkeywordsources

includereviewlanguage(anotherreasonit’simportanttoscancompetitorreviews),andanyanchortexton

inboundlinkstotheirGooglePlaypage.Butappmarketershavelittlecontrolovertheselasttwosources.

Scanningacompetitor’sdescriptionandtitlewillgiveyouaglimpseintothekeywordstheyareattemptingto

target.Makesuretokeepyoureyeoutforkeywordsappearingmorethanonce.

IniOSapps,youcanalsoscanacompetitor’sdescriptionandtitle(althoughthedescriptionisn’tprovento

beanimportantsourceofkeywordsasofJune2014).OneofthebiggestdifferencesbetweenGooglePlay

andiOSisthekeywordfieldprovidediniTunes.Unlessyousomehowgainaccesstoyourcompetitor’siTunes

Connectaccount,youwon’tbeabletoseethekeywordstheyputhere.

Thisleavesyouwithtwootherwaystofindoutwhatkeywordsthey’retargeting.

Guess and Check:Youcouldcreatealistofanyandallkeywordsyouthinkmightbepertinenttotheir

apporthespacethey’rein.Onceyou’vecreatedthislistyoucansearchforallthosetermsintheapp

store,andseewhichonestheyshowupfor.


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Use Currently Ranked Keywords: Thesecondoptionismucheasier–butincludesashamelessplug

ofourproduct.Alluserscansimplyaddcompetitors,andinstantlygetalistofeverysearchtermthey

showupforandwhattheirrankingforthattermis.Itwilllooksomethinglikethis:

Voila!Youcannowseethatthispresentationapp(notPowerPoint)ranksforthesekeywords.Thelistis

obviouslymorecomprehensivethanthis,butwecutitoffthere.


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BESTPRACTICES-APP STORE SEARCH

Utilize Your Title

YourtitleisanimportantpartofyourASO.Itwillhelpyourankhigherforkeywords,highlightspecificfeatures

ofyourapp,anddominateappstoresearch.

Find Common Keywords with Competitors

Whenyou’reenteringkeywordsintoyourASOtool,makesureyouaddanyrelevantcompetitorsaswell.This

wayyouwillbeabletoseewhichcompetitorsrankwellfortermsyoumightbeinterestedin.Youcanthen

decideifit’sworthitornottocompeteforvisibility.

Give Yourself a Boost

Ifyou’reeverdroppingorstayingstaticinsearchrankingsandyoufeellikeyouneedaboost,tryrunninga2-3

daypaidcampaign.TheincreaseindownloadsshouldboostyourrankingsinTopChartsandforthekeywords

you’retargeting.

Monitor the App Store

Ifyouevernoticeadrasticdropinrankings-makesuretocheckoutourSonartool.Thiswillletyouknow

iftherankingdropisbecauseofsomethingyoudid,orbecauseAppleorGooglehavealteredtheirranking

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CHAPTER 4: EARNED MEDIA

Earnedmediacanhavehugeimpactsonyourapp.Asanenterprise,youinvestalotindeliveringmessages

toatargetedsetofpeoplethroughdifferentmarketingchannels.Themajorityofthesemessagesaremeant

toconvincetheaudiencethattheyshouldbuyoruseyourproduct.Asitturnsout,oneofthemostpowerful

sourcesofpersuasioncanactuallybetheonestrustedthirdpartiesdeliver.Thisiswhereearnedmediacomes

intoplay.

Earnedmediahasthreemaincharacteristicsthatmakeitsuchavaluableformofmarketing:

It’s Cheap (for the most part): Youmightthrowanexpensivelauncheventwhereyouinvitethe

mediainhopesthattheywilllovethenewproductandwriteaboutit,butthemajorityofearned

mediacanbeacquiredforlittletonocost.

It Holds Trust: Formediaoutletstobesuccessful,theyhavetoholdacertainleveloftrustwiththeir

audience.Nowobviouslynoteverypersonintheworldtrustseverymajormediasource,butifa

reputablemediaoutletissuccessfulatall,theymusthavealargefollowingthattrustswhatthey’re

saying.Thisisakeypartofwhatmakesearnedmediasoeffective.

It Allows You to Broaden Your Reach to an Entirely New Audience: Youmostlikelyhaveatargeted

userinmindforyourappthatyoutrytoreachwithspecificmessaging.Andthere’sagoodreason

thatyoutargetthesepeople:they’retheoneswhoaremostlikelytowantyourproductandthey’re

theoneswhoaremostlikelytospendmoney.Ifyou’reinvestingtimeandresourcesintomarketing,

youwanttobesuretheywillyieldreturns.Butgettingcoveredbymediaoutletswithfollowersoutside

yourtargetmarketisacheapwaytobroadenthereachofyourmessageandtestoutotheraudiences.

Buthowmuchimpactcanearnedmediaactuallyhaveonyourapp?Let’stakealook.

THE IMPACT OF EARNED MEDIA: SNAPCHAT CASE STUDY

Belowwehavetwoexamplesofhowreceivingpositivepresscoveragecanimpactanapp’srankings.Both

instancescomefromthecompanySnapchat,thatreceivedalotofmediaattentioninlate2013early2014.

Snapchatisanappthatallowsuserstosenddisposablepictures,videos,andmessages.Theyaretheguys

whopopularizedtheconceptofamessagethatwillself-deleteafterasetamountoftime.


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Thefirstexampleofmediacoveragecame

whentheyreleasedanewfeaturedcalled

Stories.Thiswasnewsbecauseitallowedusers

toseethesamemessagemultipletimesina

24-hourperiod.Althoughitwentagainstthe

conceptofanimmediatelydisposablemessage,

theoverallresponsewaspositive,andthestory

(nopunintended)gotpickedupbynumerous

mediasourcesincludingMashable,TechCrunch,

andTheVerge.

Asyoucansee,thishadaprettysignificant

impactontheirTopChartrankingintheTop

FreeiPhoneapps.It’salsoimportanttonotethataspikeinthischartisalmostcertainlyduetoasurgein

downloads.Inthedaysleadinguptothenews,Snapchatwasrankedinthelow20s.However,assoonasthe

mediastartedwritingaboutthem,theyspikedimmediatelytothesingledigits,reachingapeakoftwo.

Twoweeksafterthenews,thingsstartedtosettledownagainandtheirranking

dropped.Butthecoveragenonethelessledtoahugerankingsurge,again,

mostlikelycausedbyanequallyhugesurgeindownloadsandnewusers.

Thesecondpieceofhighvolumemediacoveragecamewhenitwas

announcedthatSnapchathadreceivedafourbilliondollarvaluation.Thiswas

quicklyfollowedbythebreakingstorythattheyturneddownathreebillion

dollarcashofferfromZuckerbergandtheFacebookcrew.Thisledtoanother

hugesurgeintheTopChartforTopFreeiPhoneapps–againlikelyduetoa

spikeindownloads.ItalsotransformedSnapchatintoagloballyrecognized

brand.Whereyoupreviouslysawmillennialsusingtheappalmostexclusively,youcanseethey’venowstarted

toreachanentirelydifferentgeneration.

It’sclearthatearnedmediacanbebeneficial.Butasanenterprisetherearesomespecificthingsyoushould

keepinmind.

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BESTPRACTICES-EARNED MEDIA

With Great Power, Comes Great

Responsibility

Everyonewhoreleasesanapphasthegoal

ofbecomingthenexthugehit;e.g.thenext

Snapchatthatgoesfromzeroto60million

installsintwoyears.

However,Snapchatwasdefinitelywishingthey

weren’tinthespotlightwhennewswasreleased

thatinformationfrom4.6millionaccounts

hadbeenleakedtohackers.Thisbringsup

oneofthechallengesthatcomesalongwitha

recognizablename;whenyou’reabigcompany,you’realwaysunderthespotlight.Mess-upslikethisdon’tgo

unnoticed,andasmuchaspositivepresscanhelp,negativecoveragecanhurtjustasbad.Snapchat’srankin

theTopFreeiPhoneappsdroppedfromtwodownto12inthefourdaysafterthenewsbroke.

Here’stheshortofit:ifyou’reanenterpriseappmarketer,youandyourcompanyarealwaysbeingwatched.

Thismeansyouwillhaveaneasiertimegettingcoveredforpositivepress,butscrewupsneedtobe

extinguishedASAP.

Frame the Story Properly

Themainfocusofthissectionistomakeyouawareoftheimpactsearnedmediacanhaveonyourapp.We

aren’taPRfirm,sowe’renotwritinganextensiveguideonhowtogetpickedupbythemedia.Thatbeing

said,therearesomepatternswe’venoticedthatyoumightfindinteresting.Hereareafewofthewaysyou

canleverageyourapptogainearnedmedia.

New Features: You’veprobablypickeduponthisonealready,butanyimportantchangesyou’re

makingtoyourappwillalwayssparkatleastsomeinterestfromthemedia.Howyouframethese

featureswillplayanimportantrole.Ifyouareacompanywhoseappisalreadyaprimaryfocus,

youshouldtailorthemessagetowardshowthisnewfeaturewilldrasticallyimproveorchangethe

experience.Thiswilldrawattentionbecauseyourcurrentuserswillbeinterestedandimpacted.

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News ofleaked accounts

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Shazamutilizedthistypeofnewswith

theredesignoftheirappbygetting

coveredinbigpublicationslike9to5Mac.

Ifyourproductisnotnecessarilybuilt

aroundmobile,it’sbettertoframethe

releaseinthewayofabigcompanyor

environmentalshift.Itshouldbeless

abouttheproduct,andmoreabout

whatitmeans.Starbucksdidagreatjobofthiswhentheyreleasedamobilepaymentsfeatureon

theirapp.Itwasnotonlybignewsbecauseitsignifiedahugeshiftintheirbusiness,butitwasalso

oneofthefirsttimesanindustrytycoonlikeStarbuckshadsuccessfullypulledoffmobilepayments.

Consumer Insights:Anothervaluablesourceofinformationyouhaveaccesstoisinsightinto

consumerbehavior.There’salotofdatawithinyourapps.Muchofitmightseeminsignificant,but

ifspuntherightway,itcanleadtointerestingindustryinsights.Unlikefeatures,thisnewswon’t

befocusedonwhatyourappdoes,butratheronthedatayourappprovides.Goingbacktothe

Starbucksexample,theywereabletoutilizethedataabouttheirmobilepaymentstoplugtheirapp

inaForbesstoryaboutthefutureofmobilewallets.Nowdon’tgetallNSA-yonyourusers,butyou

candigintotrendsandpatternstorevealinformationevenyouruserswillbeinterestedin.

Youmightreadthissectionandthinkit’ssomethingthatyourPRteamwillhandle,soyoudon’tneedtoworry

aboutit.Andalthoughtheymightbetheonesactuallyfollowingthroughandmakingthemagichappen,you

needtoawareofthepositiveandnegativeimpactsearnedmediacanhave.Communication between teams

is an important aspect to successfully using earned media. Ifyou’replanningonlaunchinganimportantnew

feature,yourPRteamneedstohaveaconstantstreamofcontactwithyourproductteam.Ifyou’reworking

onanalyzingthebehaviorofyourusersandfindagoldennuggetofinformation,youneedtosharethis

withthem.Asamarketer,partofyourresponsibilityistoconnectandnurturethecommunicationbetween

differentteamsinyourcompany–don’tunderestimatetheimpactthiscanhave.

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5CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL MEDIA

Socialmediacanbeanextremelypowerfulpartofyourmarketingstrategy.Itallowsyoutoconnectwith

yourconsumers,buildbrandvoice,establishthoughtleadership,helpcustomerissues,canleadtoviralad

campaigns,andmore.Socialmediaisavastspace,andbecausetherearesomanydifferentchannels,we

decidedtohighlightsomegeneralsocialbestpracticesthatcanbeappliedtoallyourplatformsratherthan

focusoneachoneindividually.

Asanappmarketer,it’simportanttobeawareofthesesoyoucanapplythemtoyoursocialmediastrategy

(ifyou’rerunningit)orcoordinatewithyoursocialmarketingteamtogivethemguidanceastheytrytodrive

downloadsandawarenessofyourapp.


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BESTPRACTICES-SOCIAL MEDIA

More than Just a Button

‘Socialmarketing’cantakeonanumberofdifferentforms.Thefirstthingmostpeoplerelateittoisbeing

activeondifferentsocialmediaplatforms.Updatingyourcompany’sFacebookstatus,respondingtotweets,

postingpicturesonInstagram,etc.However, there’s also the side of social that you don’t directly control,

which entails getting users to talk about your app on their social networks.

It’sacommonbeliefthatintegratingsocialintoaproductmeansjustaddingaTwitter,Facebook,orPinterest

buttonintherightplacesandpromptinguserstoshareattherighttimes.Althoughthisdefinitelyhelps,truly

embracingsocialtakesmorethanthis.Youneedtoactuallybuildsocialaspectsintotheproductitself.Thesedon’t

havetobebigchanges,somethingassmallasaddingasharingincentivesuchaschallengescandothetrick.

TheNike+Runningappdidjustthisinthereleaseofversion4.3.Asyoucanseeintheirreleasenotes,itwas

thesolereasonfortheupdate,whichshowsthatitwasafairlyimportantaddition.

Asmallfeatureadditionlikethiscanpayoffbyincentivizingfriendstosharewithotherfriendsortheir

community.Ifwelookatthedaysleadinguptothenewrelease,the Nike+ Running app was ranked all the

way down at 173 in the Top Free iPhone apps. The day of the release, it jumped to 127, and a few weeks

after that it went all the way up to 93 – an 80 spot improvement.

Yourappmightnotlenditselftoafeatureexactlylikethis,butthereisalmostcertainlysomewayyoucan

integrateasocialelement.Asamarketer,youdon’talwaysneedtothinkofwhatexactlythisfeaturemight

be.Butit’simportanttocommunicateandinformtherestofyourteamandtheproductteamaboutthe

importanceandnecessityoftryingtosocializeyourapp.


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5Create a Community

AnotherthingtheNike+Runningappdoesagreatjobofiscreatingastrongsocialcommunityaround

runningandaroundtheirapp.WithinNike,therearenumerousproductlinesandsportsverticals,buttheydo

agreatjobofcreatingcommunitiesandcultureswithineachone.

Asitpertainstomobile,theywentastepfurtherandactuallycreatedaspecificapptohelpspuronasocial

community.Nikedoesn’tmakeanymoneydirectlyoffdownloadsfromtheNike+Runningapp.They created

it as a product for their consumers to enjoy, but also to help create a culture and passion around running.

Theyenhancedthiswiththeirsocialmediaaccountsbynotonlyconstantlypostinginspirationalrunning

picturesandquotes,butalsoengagingtheirfollowersandencouragingasocialconversation.Youcansee

herethatNikeactuallycaresabouttheirusersandwantstoengageinaconversationwiththem.

Again,thismightnotdirectlytranslateinto

yourproduct.Butthepointisyoucanbe

morethanjustastale,boringsocialaccount.

Findawaytoactuallycreatecommunity

aroundyourproductandyourspace,and

usesocialmediatohelpignitepassionfor

yourproduct.

Utilize Real Estate

Thesociallandscapeandenvironmentis

constantlychanging.Itseemslikeevery

fewmonthsthere’sanewsocialnetworkor

changeintheUI.However,oneofthemore

recenttrendshasresultedinalotofreal

estateforyoutopromoteyourapp.

Yoursocialnetworksdon’tnecessarilyhavetobedevotedspecificallytoyourapp,andinmostcasesthey

won’tbe.However,thatdoesn’tmeantheycan’tbeusedtohelppromoteit–eveninasmallway.Threeofthe

biggestsocialnetworks,Facebook,Instagram,andTwitter,allofferuphugeamountsofrealestateforyouto

postpictures,whichprovidegreatopportunitiesforyourapp.

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5Therearemanywaysthisspacecanbeused.One thing you can do is simply use it as a billboard for your

app. Asyoucanseehere,Match.comusestheentirecoverphotoontheirFacebookprofilepageasabig

advertisementfortheirapp,andit’sagreatuseofthespace!

Theyhavethousandsoftargeted,interesteduserscomingtotheirpageeveryday.Makingthemawareofthe

appandremindingthemthattheMatch.comserviceismorethanjustawebsiteisabrilliantwaytohelpshift

theirimagefromatraditionallynon-mobilecompanyintoamobilefocusedbrand.

Youcanalsousethatspacetodriveactualengagementwithyourapp.Werecentlycameacrossagreat

campaignfromDrawSomething,whichismadebyZynga.Theyhadacontestwhereuserscouldsubmita

picture,andthewinnergottohavetheirimagetaketheplaceofDrawSomething’scoverphoto.Itwasa

perfectwaytohelpengagetheirfollowersaroundthecentralthemeoftheirapp–drawing.

Getcreativewiththespaceandfindwaystodriveawarenessofyourappandengagementwithyourbrand.

Shocker! Actually Talk About Your App

Evenifyoudon’thavesocialmediaaccountsdedicatedtoaspecificapp,youcanstillutilizetheaccounts

youdohavetoraiseawarenessforyourapp.Ifyou’reanenterprise,youmostlikelyhaveateamofpeople

assignedtomanageyoursocialmedia–whichinturnmeansyouhaveafollowingandyou’reactiveonsocial

channels.It’simportanttousethesenetworkstopromoteyourappandmakeitknownthatyouactuallyhave

somethingforpeopletodownload.

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5Unfortunately,youcan’tjustassumethatallyourcurrentandpotentialusersareawareofyourmobile

presence–youneedtomakeitknown!Althoughthereareplentyofcompaniesthathavebeenbuiltaround

mobileapps(e.g.Uber),ifyou’vebeenaroundformorethanfiveyears,you’reprimaryfocusprobablyhasn’t

beeninapps.Itwilltakesometimeandefforttogetyourcustomerstoassociateyourbrandwithmobile.

Thisissimilartoutilizingtherealestate,butslightlymorechallengingbecauseyouneedtoactuallylookfor

opportunitiestomentionyourappratherthanpassivelypromoteitinacoverphoto.Asanappmarketerthis

meansyouneedtodoafewthings:

Communicate with the Social Media Team:Thesocialmediamarketingteamhasalotofareasthey

needtocover.Theirresponsibilitiesrangefrompromotingnewproductstosolvingcustomerissues.

Asanappmarketer,youneedtobeinconstantcommunicationwiththatteamtoletthemknowthat

youwantyourappcoveredandtalkedabout.Getting more coverage and exposure for your app

on social channels can be as easy as just reminding the team about your app so it’s always on the

front of their mind.

Help with Content:Youshouldalwaysbeonthelookoutfornewsandopportunitiestotalkabout

yourapp.Ifyouseesomethingthatmightberelevanttoanothermarketingteam–inthiscasethe

socialmediateam–shareitwiththemsotheyknowaboutit.BelowisagreatexampleofBooking.

comtakingtheopportunitytosharesomenewsabouttheirapp.

Think Big:Socialmediacanalsoprovidegreatchannelstorunbiggerorganicmarketingcampaigns.

HBOGorecentlypublishedaseriesofshortvideosonYouTube.Thevideoshighlightedthe

awkwardnessofwatchingcertainshowswithparents.Thecontentwasperfectbecauseittargeted

18-30yearolds-theexactpeoplewhosharemostoftenviasocialmedia,aremostlikelytouseapps,

andsubscribetoHBO7.Thesevenvideosacquiredmorethan4.5millionviews.

Thegreatpartaboutsocialmediaisthatyoucangetcreativewithitandintegrateitintomultipledifferent

marketingchannels.Althoughhavinganactivesocialmediapresenceandrunningsocialcampaignscanhave

impactsonyourapp’sdownloads,it’sprimarilyawaytodriveawarenessandbuzz.

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6CHAPTER 6: THE WEBSITE

Yourwebsiteisoneofthemostfundamentalandimportantacquisitionchannels,andyoushouldn’t

underestimateit.Althoughtheremightbemoreandmorepeopleusingappseveryday,thosesamepeople

stillusetheweb.Whetherit’saccessedfromadesktop,atabletoramobilephone,thewebexperienceof

yourcustomersandpotentialusersissomethingyoucan’tneglect.That’swhymakingsureyourappcanbe

foundonthewebisanimportantpartofyourappmarketingefforts.

The main goal of your website should be to rank highly in web search, help potential users understand the

value of your app, and convert them into customers (whichinthiscasemeanshavingthemdownloadand

useyourapp).Puttingtimeandresourcesintoyoursiteyieldstwodistinctbenefits.

You Have Complete Control:Youcontroltheformat,messaging,andbranding.Unlikeintheapp

stores,youdon’thavetofollowanyspecificrulesorfitstrictguidelines-meaningyoucanshowyour

appinitsbestlightandfocusonwhatyouandyourusersreallycareabout.

You Can Reliably Test:Awebsitealsogivesyoutheopportunitytotestwhat’sworkingand

what’snot,whichyoucanlatertransfertotheappstore(s).Sure,ontheappstorepagesyoucan

experiment,butit’s(much)hardertogetconversiondataandyoucan’tdoanyrealA/Btesting.You

enduptestingonethingaftertheother,butalotofotherexternalfactorscanmakeitchallenging

todrawpreciseconclusions.Youalsohavetowaitforanupdateofyourapptochangemostofthe

elementsonyourappdetailspage,whichmakestestingapainfulandlongprocess.Use your app

website to test your headline and the pitch for your app. Trychangingthewayyouformulatethe

benefitsitoffers.Andkeepwhat’sworking.

Let’sdiveintothedetails!Therestofthischapterwilldiscussthebestwaystopresentyourapp,howtodrive

traffic,andwhatyoushoulddotoconvertusers!

HOW AND WHERE TO PRESENT YOUR APP

Thereareafewdifferentwaystocreategreatwebpagesforyourapp.We’llpresenttheprosandconsof

eachone,butfromthereyouneedtopicktheonethatmakesmoresenseforyourcompanyandbrand.


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OPTION #1 - STANDALONE APP WEBSITE

Onesolutionistocreateacompletelynewwebsitejustforyourapp.Thisallowsyoutogiveyourappwebsite

theexactlookyouwantittohave,anditsowndomainwithaneasy-to-remembername.Italsogivesyoua

placetoredirectyourappmarketingefforts:PR,commercials,webacquisitioncampaigns,etc.

It also means less clutter: it’s all about the app.

Youcanfullydescribeit,statethebenefitsandfeatures,andclarify

theapp’svaluewhenitisintegratedintoauser’slife.Onegreat

exampleofastandaloneappwebsiteismcdapp.com.Let’slookat

someofthegoodandnotsogoodthingsontheirpage:

•Youquicklyseethevaluepropositionoftheapp:“Download

NowforDeliciousOffers.”

•Thephonewithanofferonthescreenshowscontextandhelps

youunderstandausecase.

•Theofficialappstorebadgesabovethefoldallowforquick

downloads.

•Wanttolearnmore?Theyhaveavideoavailable.

•Belowthefold,theyshowthebenefitsoftheappandgiveabitmoreinformationaboutitsfeatures.

•The“Getitnow”buttontheyincludedalongthepageisagreatidea.Onamobiledeviceitbringsyoustraightto

thecorrectappstoredetailspagesoyoucandownloadtheapp.Butonthewebitjustbringsyoubacktothetop

ofthepage.They’reassumingyouthenknowthatyouhavetoclickonthestorebadgeofyourchoice,whichisa

bitconfusing.

•Thewebsiteisresponsive,whichisgoodbecausetheycanassumethatsomeonewatchingaTVcommercial

hasaphonenearby.ButonaniPhonethetoppartofthewebsitedoesn’tdisplaywellandyoucan’teven

readthetagline.

Whatcanyoulearnfromthis?Makeyoursiteeasytouse,intuitive,andmakesureyoutestitonalldevices.

http://srv.mcdapp.com:9999/nchant/getmcdapp.

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6You’reprobablyaskingyourself:howdoIknowifIneedacompletelyseparatewebsite(ratherthanjusta

dedicatedpage)?

Onescenariowouldbeif your app branding and messaging are quite different from your main activity.

AgoodexampleofthisistheDumbWaysToDieappreleasedbyMetroTrainsMelbourne.Toraiseawareness

abouttheneedtobecarefularoundtrains,theydidanentirecampaignbasedaroundamobileapp.Theychose

toreleaseawebsiteforthis,withaveryspecificdesignthatisnotalignedatallwiththeirgeneralbranding.

Havingaseparatewebsiteallowedthemtocreateawholedifferentuniverse,produceagreat(viral)video

withacatchysoundtrackandmakethecampaignasuccess.Hopefullyfewerpeopledieindumbways

becauseofthis:)

Thisbringsustoanotheradvantageofhavingadedicatedwebsiteforyourapp:althoughthepersonin

chargeofmarketingtheappmighthavetorespectspecificdesignbrandingguidelinesfromthecompany,

aseparatewebsitecanoffermorecontrol.Noneedtorelyontheperson/departmentmanagingthe“main”

websiteforeveryrequest.It’sallinyourhands!

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6OPTION #2 - A PAGE ON YOUR WEBSITE

Evenifitallowsyoutopresentyourappjustlikeyouwant,oneofthedrawbacksofastandalonewebsiteis

thatit’sgoingtobehardtoorganicallydrivetraffic.

Youwouldneedtomakesureyoucreateinterestingcontent,maybeonablog.Thisisagoodideaeither

way,butitcanalsobequitetimeconsuming.Youmightwanttoleveragetheresourcesneededforthatinto

drivingtraffictothemainwebsiteinstead.

Byhavingapageonyourmainwebsiteaboutyourapp(s),youtake advantage of the domain authorityit

alreadyhasandthetraffic(paidororganic)thatgoeswithit.

However,ifyoudecidetodothis,youmightbetemptedtojustthrowapageupthatsimplylistsyourapps.

Don’tfallintothistrap!Let’stakealookattheexamplebelow:

GQ example

•Itpresentsthefactthattheappisavailablefor

differentplatformsandtheyhavesomekindofcall

toaction.

•It’snotclearwhatthevalueoftheappis.

•It’shardtounderstandwhattheuserwillget

exactly(I’massumingtheygetalloftheGQ

magazinecontent).

•ThereisnoattemptatSEO.They’reevenusinganimagemap(apicturewithdifferentlinks),nottext.

•Onamobiledeviceoratablet,youseetheexactsamethingandhavetozoomintoreadthecontent.

GQ(andanymagazine,really)isallaboutcontent.Lookingattheirsite,theyobviouslyhavealotofofferings:

KindleSingles,e-booksanda“StyleManual”appforiOS.Thepageontheirwebsiteshouldputmoreemphasis

onthecontentuserscangetbydownloadingtheappsandeBooks.ItshouldgetGQreadersexcited!

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6OPTION #3 - A MOBILE/APP SECTION WITH A CUSTOM DESIGN: BEST OF BOTH

WORLDS?

Sohowdoyoutakeadvantageofyourmainwebsitedomainauthoritywhilepresentingyourappinitsbestlight?

Averygoodcompromiseinmostcasesiscreatingadedicatedsectionofyourwebsitethat’sjustforyour

app.Thiscanhaveacustomdesign,whichenablesyoutoshowcaseyourproductswellandisoptimizedfor

conversion.

Let’stakealookattheexamplebelow:RetailMeNotgotalotofthingsrightontheirapppage.

•TheheadlineandCTAs(appstorebadges)aretwo

mostvisiblethingsabovethefold.

•Visitorscanquicklyunderstandwhattheappis

andwheretogetit.

•Theirlogoandappiconareclearlyvisible,which

re-enforcesbranding.

•Nicescreenshotshowingwhatit’sliketousetheapp.

•Whenyouscrolldown,theygoontoexplainthe

mainfeature/benefitandfurthershowhowitlooks.

•Attheendofthepagetheyrepeatthevalueofthe

appandhaveanothercalltoactionwiththeapp

storebadges.

Thislastpointisgoodbecauseoncethey’vegiventhevisitorsafulloverviewoftheapp,theyremindthem

what’smostimportantaboutitandputtheappjustoneclickaway(twoifyoucounttheactualdownload).

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TRY THIS

Ratherthanhaveadedicatedpageabouttheirapp,we’veactuallyseensomecompaniestakeusersdirectly

totheapps’appstorepagewhenaccessingthewebsitefromamobiledevice.Thisisaninterestingstrategy.

Ononehand,itcreatesonelesspointoffrictiontodownloadtheapp,butontheotherhand,itdoesn’t

allowthemtoreallyselltheirappoutsideoftheappstoreguidelinesandformat.Youmighttrytestingboth

options,andseeingifyounoticeadifferenceindownloads.

HOW TO FUNNEL SITE TRAFFIC TO YOUR APP’S PAGE

Creatingagreatpageforyourappisonlyhalfthebattle.Younowneedtodrivetraffictothatpagetoconvert

asmanypeopleasyoucanintousers.

Everyonewillhaveafewdifferenttacticsandstrategiestheydecidetouse,andthere’salwaysroomtotest

newideas.Hereareafewcommononesyoumightwanttotryoutwithyourapp.

Funneling Main Site’s Traffic - Desktop

Asanenterprise,itislikelythatyourwebsitegetsgoodtraffic.Thiscanbeabigadvantagewhenitcomes

toacquiringusers.Therearethreebestpracticesyoucanimplementtotryanddrivetrafficfromyourmain

landingpagetoyourapp’spage.

FUNNELINGDESKTOPTRAFFICTIPS

Utilize the header: Ifyou’rereallytryingtodriveupinstallsforyourappandconvertasmanyvisitorsas

possible,haveamobilesectionclearlylabeledinyourheader.

Utilize the footer:Ifyou’retryingtomakeiteasyforuserswhoarealreadyinterestedinyourappandwant

moreinformation,putalinkinthefooter.

Implement a banner: Abannerorcall-outsomewhereinthebodyofyourwebpagecanbeusedinaddition

toeithertheheaderorfooterlink.


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Takingadvantageofuserswhovisityourwebsiteonamobiledeviceisevenmoreimportant.Inmanycases,

yourappallowsuserstodothesamethingasyourwebsite(sometimesevenmoreefficientlyandwitheven

morevalueduetothecontext,themobility,etc.).Becauseuserswillalreadybeonamobiledevice,therewill

belessfrictioningettingthemtodownloadyourapp.

Thefirstthingyouneedtoknowisthatyouabsolutelywanttohaveeitheraresponsivewebsiteoramobile

version.In this day and age, it’s unacceptable for users to need to pinch and zoom in order to read and use

your website on their mobile device.

Youcanfollowmuchofthesameadvicehereasforthedesktopexperience,butbecausethemobilewebsite

experienceismoreimportant,we’lltakealookatafewmoreexamplesandcases.

FUNNELINGMOBILETRAFFICTIPS

Banner to dedicated apps page: OntheAmazon.comhomepage,mobilevisitorsseea“GetAmazonApps”

bannerwhichbringsthemtoapagelistingallappsbelongingtoAmazon.Herethewebsitewasaccessed

fromaniPhone,whichisrecognized,andonlyiOSappsaredisplayed.

Banner to app details page: AtthebottomoftheRetailmenot.comwebsite,mobilevisitorsseea“Download

theRetailMeNotApp”banner.Thebanneralsostatesthebenefitsthatuserscangetfromdownloadingtheapp,

whichcanhelpconvertusers.Whentappingonthatbanner,theyarebroughttotheappstoredetailspage.

Banner to publisher page: Yahoo,havingseveralappstooffer,redirectsmobileuserstotheirpublisherpage.

Thiswaytheusersarealreadyintheappstoreandcanseealltheappofferings.


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Interstitial page: Ifyoureallywanttopushyourmobileappover

yourresponsivesite,youcanhaveaninterstitialpagewhenthe

mobilevisitorfirstarrivesonyourwebsite.Mint.com’sinterstitialis

essentiallyaminilandingpage:

•Aheadlineexplainingtheaddedvalue(themobilityin

thiscase)

•Aclearcalltoaction.

•Bonusidea:athumbnailthatletsmobilevisitorswatch

theirexplainervideofullscreen.

Smart app banners: Anotherwayyoucangetmoremobilevisitorstodownloadyour(iOS)appistouse

SmartAppBanners.Byaddingasmallcodetoyourwebsite,itwillbeabletorecognizethatauseris

browsingtheweboniOSandwilldisplayabannerpresentingtheappthatleadsdirectlytotheAppStore.

OPTIMIZING FOR CONVERSION

Remember: the goal of your app’s page is to acquire new users. Animportantpartofsucceedinginthat

ishavingahighconversionrateofvisitorstousers.Thereareafewessentialelementsyoushouldtryto

optimizetoconvincepeopletheyshoulddownloadyourapp.

CONVERSIONTIPS

Headline/Pitch: Oneofthemostvisibleelementsonyourapp’spageshouldbeonesentenceclearlystating

thevalueaddedofyourapp.Thiscanbecalledoutintheheadline.

The headline will be one of the first things a customer sees, and will likely define if they decide to leave the

page or learn more about what your app has to offer. Theheadlineshouldquicklyandclearlydescribethe

basicpremiseandvalueofyourapp.

www.mint.com


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TRY THIS

TryA/Btestingdifferentheadlinesonyourwebpage.Youcanthenusethisinformationtohelp

optimizeyourappstorepage,andmaybeevenyourapp’stitle.

However,it’salsoimportantnottogivetoomuchawaytooearly.Ifusersthinktheyknowexactlywhatyour

appdoes,theymightmakeuptheirmindsoniftheywantitornotbeforeunderstandingthefullextentofthe

valueyourappcanprovide.Unlessyourappliterallygivespeoplefreemoneyandyoucanhaveaheadlinelike

‘Downloadthisappandreceive$100–nostringsattached,’youwanttomakesureyourheadlineleavesthe

userwantingtolearnmore.

L’Oreal’sMakeupGenius,forexample,used‘Avirtualmakeupexperiencelikeneverbefore.’Thisgives

enoughinformationfortheusertohaveabasicideaofwhattheappdoes,butitalsohasasenseofmystery.

Hopefully,afterreadingthat,theuserishooked,butnotsold(eitherway)andwillthenexploremoreabout

theapp.

Theycouldhavegonewithsomethinglike‘Seehowyourmakeuplooksbeforeyoubuy.’Thisone,though

enticing,mightbejustenoughforuserstodecidetheydon’tneedit,andwouldn’tgiveL’Orealachanceto

providemorein-depthcontenttohelpconvertvisitors.

Video: Havingavideoonyourwebsiteisagreatwaytohighlightwhat’suniqueaboutyourapp,showoffits

features,andportrayitinitscontextofuse.Theyalsoeducateyourcustomersbeforetheydownloadtheapp

andprovideabetterunderstandingoftheactualproductbygivingusersanideaofthecontextinwhichthey

canactuallyuseit.

Makesureyourvideoisrathershort(aimfor60secondsorless)andtothepoint.Don’ttrytoshowhownice

thesettingsofyourappare,peopledon’treallycare.Youwanttofocusonthemainbenefit(s).

Call-to-action: Inordertogetpeopletoactuallydownloadyourapp,youneedtogetthemtoyourappstore

detailspage.Youshouldhaveatleastoneclearcall-to-actionabovethefold,toensurethatitrequiresno

effortforavisitortogoanddownloadyourapp.


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Thereareacoupledifferentwaysyoucandisplayyourcall-to-action(s):

App Store Badges: Thisiswhatweseemostofthetime,sothat’swhatIrecommendunlessyour

testssuggestotherwise.

Overtheyears,theappstorebadgeshaveevolvedtobecomerealcall-to-actions:theywentfrom

“availableon”badgesto“downloadon”or“getiton”badges.Peoplearegettingusedtothemand

expecttofindthem.Usersknowthatbyclickingthosebadgestheyshouldbebroughttotheirstore

todownloadtheapp.

Alternative Call-to-Action: TherearealsoafewalternativeCTAsyoucanuseifyou’dliketoA/Btest

andoptimizeyoursiteforconversion.Onsomeappwebsitesthere’sonlyonecalltoaction,likea

“Gettheapp”button.

Whenclickingthatbuttononadesktopbrowser,thechoiceofstoreoptionpopsup,orifit’sona

mobiledevice,thesmartphoneOSisrecognizedandvisitorsarebroughttotherightstore.

YoushouldalsotrytoincludemultipleCTAsonyoursitesowhenauserreachesthepointof

decision,it’snothardforthemtofindadownloadbutton.WesawthiswiththeMcDAppand

RetailMeNot.Repeatingyourcall-to-actionalongthepageandatthebottomofthepagemakesit

easyforvisitorstodownloadtheapp.

Providing an incentive / Creating “urgency”: Nexttoyourcall-to-action,youcanaddasmallelementthat

createsasenseofurgencyorprovidesanincentivetodownloadtheapp.Thisisjustanotherwayyoucantry

toincreaseyourconversionrate.

Theideaistogive visitors a good reason to download the app right now.

Expediadoesagoodjobatthis:theyoffervisitorstheopportunitytosave$25ontheirfirsthotelbookingon

theExpediaapp,aslongasit’sdonewithinacertaintimeframe.


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Social proof:Peopleliketoknowwhatothersthinkofyourappbeforedownloading.Itprobablywon’tbe

theironlycriteriaforchoosingyourapp,butitcandefinitelyimpactthedecisiontheymake.Showinggreat

(andreal)testimonialsfromcustomersdoesn’thavetobelimitedtoyourappstoredetailspage;youcanhave

someonyourwebpageaswell.

Inadditiontosocialproof,ifyouhaveawesomeratings,yourwebsiteisagreatplacetodisplaythoseaswell.

http://www.cvs.com/promo/promoLandingTemplate.jsp?promoLandingId=mobile-apps


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BESTPRACTICES-THE WEBSITE

Therearealsoafewextratipsrelatedtoyourapp’swebpagethatyou’llwanttonotebeforeweconcludethis

chapter.

RespecttheAppStores’Guidelines:Respectingthemarketing/brandingguidelinesofthedifferentstores

mightrequiresomeextrawork,andsomeadditionalupdatestoyourpage,butit’simportantthatyoukeep

showing the latest OS, the latest devices, and the latest app store badges.

Ifyoudon’t,atsomepointyourwebsiteandyourappwillappearoutdatedandyou’llmissoutonsome

customers.Youmightevenmissoutonbeingfeaturedinthestores,asbothAppleandGooglelikeitwhen

brandsanddevelopersusetheirlatestmarketingassets(andtechnology).

TRY THISMakesureyouutilizeanynewtechnologyAppleisgettingpreparedtolaunch.Thiscanhelpif

you’retryingtogetfeaturedbyApple,whichMobileDevHQshowsleadstoaspikeindownloads.

Localization

Ifyouhaveagoodnumberofcustomers(orpotentialcustomers)thatdon’tspeakEnglish,youprobablyhave

yourapplocalizedindifferentlanguagesalready.

Localizingyourwebsiteand/orthededicatedsectionaboutyourappswillhelpglobalusersfindyouand

mostlikelyimproveconversion.

FAQ and Support Contact

AFAQmakesiteasyforuserstogetanswerstotheirquestions,andeasesthesupportloadonyourside.And

asabonus,athoroughFAQhelpswithSEOaswell.

Youalsowanttomakesuretoprovideawayforuserstocontactyou(fromyourwebsiteandfromwithin

youractualapp)togiveyoufeedback.Notthatanyonewouldwanttosaybadthingsaboutyourapp…But

justincase,anangryemailismuchbetterthanaonestarangryreviewonastore.We’lltalkmoreaboutthis

inSectionFour.

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7 SECTION 2

Thisiswhereactivationcomesin.Youwantyouruserstohaveaseamless

entranceintoyourapp,butyoualsowanttomakesureyouhaveasmuch

informationaboutthemaspossible.

First impressions are everything - especially when the

relationship is as fickle as the one between a user and their app.

People download and delete apps in the blink of an eye, and if

you’re not making a great initial impression, it will be tough to

get a large and loyal user base.

This section will discuss on-boarding. We’ll give you an overview

of some solid on-boarding flows, provide some metrics you

should measure, and leave you with some best practices.

Activation


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Thinkaboutalltheresourcesandeffortyou’veexpendedjusttogettheusertothepointwherethey’ve

decidedtoinstallyourapp.You’vecreatedassetsforlandingpages,bannerads,pressreleases,blogs,and

you’veprobablyoptimizedyourappkeywordscontinuouslyanddoneatonofcross-promotion.Regardlessof

whatittook,youreachedtherightuserandthey’renowgivingyouachance.

Theuserhasproventhey’reintriguedbyyourmessaging,brand,conceptandvalueproposition.Nowcomes

thehardpart-keepingandconvertingthemintofans.A new user makes a lot of conscious and unconscious

decisions during the first 30-60 seconds they’re in your app - so it’s important to take advantage of this time.

Whethertheydecidetostayandbecomeanavidfanordropyourapplikeabadhabitcomesdowntoone

question:nowwhat?“I’m in your app. Now what do I do?” More specifically, “What does your app help me do

and how does it help me do it?”Theuserislookingtoyoutoguidethemtowardsaspecificgoal.Optimizing

yourmobileuserexperiencetomakethisquestiondeadeasytoanswerwillresultinhigherengagementand

loyalty.

It’shelpfultothinkaboutthisquestionthreetimesduringdifferenton-boardingstagesofthenewuser

experience(NUX).We’vebrokenthissectionupintothreeshortchapters:

•Registration

•Tutorial/Overview

•PostTutorialGoal

Yourappmayhaveoneorallthreeofthesestagespresentedseparatelyorcombineddependingonyour

design.Let’sdiveintospecificoptimizationtipsandbestpracticestohelpyouformulatetherightstrategyfor

yourapp’ssuccess.

PART ONE:

The“NowWhat”Optimization


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7CHAPTER 7 - THE FIRST “NOW WHAT?” - REGISTRATION

Manyappshavealinearflowthatguidesausertocompletearegistrationformbeforetheymoveon.This

flow,newuseron-boarding,isanimportantareatooptimizeforthefollowingreasons:

• You can collect meta-data on who your user is

• You can enable your user to connect and share your app with their friends

• You can reiterate what brought them into your app in the first place from your landing page and

create excitement for what’s to come.

Thisnewuserflowusuallyhighlightsthevaluepropositionsoftheappandcanalsogenerateabranded

experiencethatexcitestheuser.Let’stakealookatafewdifferentscenariosyoucanlearnfromandreview

somebestpracticesyoucanapplytoyourapp.

Game NUX example

Manygamesdon’trequireuserregistration.Thereisusuallylessofaneedtocapturelogininformationunless

yourgameisasocialorcross-platformexperience.King.com’sCandyCrushSagaisagoodexamplethat

showsaspecificreasonfortheusertosigninwithFacebook:user’scansharethegamewithfriendsandask

forpower-upsandaccesstonewlevels.

Social App example

Fornon-gamestheNUXissubtlerandevocativeoftheexperiencethebrand

istryingtoconvey.Thisiswherehighlystylizedandpolisheddesignsand

interfacescomeintoplay.Figure1.2belowisanexcellentexample.Dating

appTindereffectivelyreiteratesandhighlightsthevaluepropositionsfor

joiningandcreatinganaccountthroughFacebook.

Candy Crush Saga Mobile App


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7WHAT TO OPTIMIZE - REGISTRATION

TheregistrationprocessisanimportantpartoftheNUX.Youwanttomakesuretocollectinformation,but

youalsowanttogettheuserstartedwithyourappASAP.Everyregistrationprocesswillbeslightlydifferent.

Aswementioned,someappslikeGamesmightnothaveanyregistration,whileothersmightcollectasmuch

informationastheycansuchasanaddress.

Belowareafewkeyaspectsofyourregistrationprocessthatyoumightincludeandoptimize:

A. Background / feature images

B. Number of value propositions

C. Messaging copy / context

D. Social sign-in on/off

• Call-to-action copy / color

• Email capture option on/off

Tinder Mobile App

A

BB

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7WHAT TO MEASURE - REGISTRATION

Thereareafewdatapointsyou’llwanttolookattoknowhowyourNUXisperforming.Everyappisdifferent,

sotherearenogreatindustrybenchmarkstocompareyourselfagainst.However,it’simportantthatyou’re

lookingatthedatatoseewhereyou’relosingusers,howhappytheyarewithyourapp,howmuchyou’re

makingperuser,etc.

Funnel Analysis:

•Registrationcompletionrate

•Step-to-stepcompletionrate

•Timespentineachstep

•Timespentfromfirsttolaststep

•Averagefirstsessionlength

•Numberofuserswhosigninusingsocialversusemail


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BESTPRACTICES-REGISTRATION

Always Tell Your User Why They Should Register with Your App

Don’tleavethemguessing.Ifyourappisasocialshoppingapp,tellthemthey’llbeabletoseewhattheir

friendsareinterestedin.Ifit’sagame,telltheusershowthey’llstackupversusothersonaleaderboardor

howregistrationwillbenefitthem.

Filter and Analyze Your Downstream Performance

Youshoulddothisbyconcentratingonuserswhosignedinusingasocialplug-inversusemail(ifyouprovide

themtheoption):therearedifferentwaystoengage,re-engage,andmessageusersdependingontheir

registrationchoice.You’llbeabletocreatere-engagementcampaignslater,dependingonwhetheryou

capturedanemailaddressorpermissiontosendthempushnotifications.


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8CHAPTER 8 - THE 2ND “NOW WHAT?” - TUTORIAL OR OVERVIEW

Thefirst“whatnow”addressedoptimizingtheNUXforregistrationcompletion.Ifyourappdoesnothavea

registrationorsign-inprocess,your“whatnow”movesontoshowingtheuserhowtouseyourapp.

Alongwiththedesignoftheuserexperienceitself,it’simportanttoincludeatutorialtoexplicitlyinitiatethe

userintotheappexperience.Ofcourse,someappsmaymergetheon-boardingexperienceandthetutorial

intooneelegantflow.Herearesomekeybenefitsofincludingatutorial:

•Theuserknowsexactlywhattheintendedgoalofyourappis.

•Theuserstaysmoreengagedduringthesefirstfewstepsbyfollowingyourflowandislesslikelyto

abandonduringthisprocess.Themorestepsyoucangetausertocomplete,themorelikelythey

aretostayengagedforalongerperiod.

Game example

Forgames,thisiswhereyourusersfamiliarizethemselves

withthecontrolsandtheintendedgoals.It’swherethey

gettheirsealegswithyourhelp.EAPopcap’sPlantsVersus

Zombies2startswithafuncinematictrailerforeshadowing

thegameplaytocome.Oncethetutorialstarts,theuser

walksthrougheachsteptounderstandandexecutethe

basicgameplayfunctions.

Ifyourappisashoppingapp,theusersalreadyknowthey’ll

bebrowsingandfindingproductsanditemsthey’relooking

for.Ifit’satravelapp,theusersknowthey’llbelookingfor

thebestflight,hotelorcarrental.Thequestionishoweasy

isittofigureoutwhattodo?Onceuserslaytheireyeson

yourapp,they’realreadysearchingyourinterfaceforthese

clues.Your tutorial takes the mental guesswork out of this,

and reduces the risk of confusion and abandonment. Plants Versus Zombies 2 Mobile App


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OneofthebesttutorialexamplesisbyPinterest,highlightedbelow.

Notonlyistheuserguidedthroughtheinitialhigh-levelsetup,includinglinkingtofriendsandselecting

interests,butthetutorialthenmovesontoa“howto”tutorial.Intheimageabove,oncetheuserhassetup

hisorherbasiccredentialsandinterests,the“whatnow”momentisansweredbyshowingtheuserthecore

engagementloop(searching>pinning>searching).

WHAT TO MEASURE

Remember,youmanagewhatyoumeasure.It’simportanttoalwaysmeasureandcontinuetotestyourNUX.

The tutorial is especially important because it often impacts how excited a user istoengagewithyourapp

and decreases any UX confusion. Makesuretoalwaysbemonitoringandoptimizingthesemetrics:

•Tutorialcompletionrate

•Step-to-stepcompletionrate

•Timespentineachstep

•Timespentfromfirsttolaststep

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WHAT TO OPTIMIZE - TUTORIAL / OVERVIEW

Again,yourappwillhaveaveryspecifictutorialsection.However,therearesomekeythingsmostappswill

wanttomakesuretothinkaboutorinclude:

TRY THIS

Trysegmentingandanalyzingdatabasedondifferentusergroups.Seeifthere’sanycorrelationbetweenhow

auserregisteredandtheirtutorialmetrics.MaybeuserswhocomethroughFacebookadscompletemoreof

thetutorial?

A. Number of tutorial / overview steps or screens

B. Use of animation or static assets to validate milestones

C. Message copy

• Rewardsorincentivesforcompletingearlymilestones

AB

C

Pinterest Mobile App

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BESTPRACTICES-TUTORIAL/OVERVIEW

Use a Mobile Content Management System

Thesecanbeusedtoturnon/offdifferentelementsyou’retestingsothatyoudon’tneedtore-submitforApp

Storeapprovaleachtimeyouwanttomakeasmalltweakorupdate.Creatinganentirelynewuserflowisalso

agoodA/Btesttoseeifacompletelydifferenttypeoftutorialaffectsengagementandretention.

Limit the Amount of Information You Convey During the Initial Tutorial Phase

Itshouldhighlightthecoreengagementloopandprovidesubtleanimationorvalidationwheneachstepis

completed.Butdon’tfeellikeyouhavetoshoweverysinglefeatureoftheapp.Youwanttheuserstoknow

enoughaboutyourappthattheyarecomfortableusingit,butyoualsowanttoletthemdiscoversome

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9CHAPTER 9 - THE 3RD “WHAT NOW?” - POST TUTORIAL GOAL

Nowthetrainingwheelsareoff.Howlongdoesyouruserridethebikebeforefallingandgivingup?Hasyour

valuepropositionexcitedthemenoughtokeepthemgoing?Hasyourtutorialgiventhemenoughofapushto

setthemintherightdirection?Willyourcoreloopkeepthemhighlyengaged?

Fromadesignperspective,thefocusofyoureffortsnowrevolvesaroundoptimizingforthemaingoalofyourapp.

It’sabestpracticetohaveonecoremetricyourentireteamralliesaroundasakeyperformanceindicator(KPI).

FINDING YOUR SINGLE ENGAGEMENT INDICATOR

DigitalmallWanelohasonesingleindicatortheyrallytheteamaround.Thisindicatoris“saves,”andfora

socialsitethatthrivesonusersbeingabletoseerelevantproducts,userssavingproductstotheirownfeedis

acriticalindicatorofhighuserengagement.

Here,“whatnow”referstotwodeeperquestions:

1.Wasthetutorial/overviewrepresentativeofwhattheusershouldbedoing?

2.Doestheinterfaceencourageormakeitdeadsimpletocarryoutthestatedactionorgoal?

There are certainly other parts of your app that you want the user to discover and unlock on their own, but

it should still revolve around the single engagement indicator of your app.

Thebenefitsofoptimizingforthissingleengagementindicatorareinnumerable.Thisiswhereyoursecret

saucecomesintoplay,anddeterminesifyourappsinksorswims.EvenifyouhaveagreatUX,you’regoingto

haveuserdrop-off.Thisisn’talwaysabadthing,asitcanhelpidentifysomekeyareastofocuson.

Game example

SonicJumpFeverhasaverysimplegameplaymechanic,whichistojumptothenextplatformwhilegaining

boosts.Thetutorialisintegratedinthefirstfewsteps.Coupledwithachievements,theuserquicklygets

acclimatedandthenfindsmotivationthroughtheprogressionandbonuses.Areas to optimize here would be

places where new users lose their lives the most, as well as trying different incentives and difficulty levels

depending on how quickly users master the initial levels.


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9Social Shopping example

Wanelo’sshoppingapphasathreetabbedfeedontopwhichlimitsthenavigationandprovidesasmuch

screenareatoshowcasetheproductsanditemsineachrespectivefeed.Thelayoutfocusestheuseron

selectingandconsequentlysavingproducts.

WHAT TO OPTIMIZE

A. Background / feature images

B. New interface configurations

C. Personalized recommendations for items,

content or other features

D. Call-to-action copy / color

•A/Btestuserflows

•Customin-appmessagestargetedtowards

userpersonas

WHAT TO MEASURE

Remember,you’llwanttohaveaKPIthatyoufocusonatthehighestlevel.Butyoushouldalsobelookingat

someofthefollowingmetricstotryandfindanyimportantrelationships.

•PathAnalysis:userflowwithhighestgoalcompletionrate

•Goalcompletionrate

•Averagefirstsessionlength

•Timespentinappperdailyuser

•DAU/MAU

•Day1,3,7,14,30retention

•ARPU/ARPPU(ifapplicable)

Wanelo Mobile App

A

BC

Sonic Jump Fever Mobile App

D


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BESTPRACTICES-POST TUTORIAL GOAL

Understand Your User

Inordertocreateamobileexperiencethat’shighlyrelevantandpersonalized,trytounderstandasmanyfacts

aboutyouruseraspossible:

•Whoarethey?(Gender,age,demo)

•Wherearetheyfrom?(Location)

•Whataretheyinterestedin?(Likes,interestsandotherattributes)

•Howdidtheyfindyourapp?(Marketingchannel,paidororganic)

•Whataretheydoinginyourapp?(Behavior)

Youmightchoosetoincludethisintheregistrationprocess,oryoumightcollecttheinformationlater.Armed

withmoredataaboutyouruser,youcantargetandpersonalizetheUX.Youcanmessagethemwithrelevant

informationorsendthemoffersyouknowthey’llbeinterestedin.

Inthenextsection,we’lltalkmoreaboutpersonalizationandturningfirstusersintoavidfans.

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10 SECTION 3

Asanappyouhavetocompetewitheveryoneelsetryingtosolvethesame

problemasyoualongwiththeunrelatedappsalsofightingfortheattentionof

youruser.It’stoughtocreateaproductthatkeepsusersengagedfordays,let

aloneweeksandmonths.Inmanycases,it’snotthatpeoplegettiredofyour

product(althoughthisisabigchallengeaswell).Rather,usershavesomany

appsontheirphonethatyoujustgetlostintheshuffle.

If you’ve managed to tackle the problem of acquiring and

onboarding users (hopefully with the help of this guide), the

next challenge you’re likely to face is retaining the attention and

engagement of those users.

This section will help you learn how to keep your app in the front

of the user’s mind. We’ll discuss identifying where you lost the

users, and give you some strategies to try to win them back.

Retention


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WejusttalkedabouttheimportanceofmeasuringandoptimizinguserpathswithfunnelanalysisandA/B

testing.

HaveyousuccessfullyoptimizedyourNUX?Ifso,congratulations!You’renowintheclearandyourNUXis

hopefullysuperclear,stylized,andoptimized.You’vemadeitpastthefirstdatewithyouruser.Now this

person is going to get to see what you’re really made of, and whether or not they like you as a fling or a

long-term relationship.

Convertingusersfrominstall,tocasualfling,toavidfanisthefocusofanydedicatedmobileteam.Withthe

averagesmartphoneownerusing27appspermonth,what’sthesecretsauceinyourappthat’sgoingto

makeitahabitforthem?

InordertofigureoutthenextstepsinoptimizingyourUX,it’susefultocomeupwithsomedata-driven

hypothesesaboutwhytheuserleft.

Withoutanalytics,manyoftheinitialquestionsarelefttoguesswork.While analytics may not answer the

why, pinpointing when and how a user abandoned will enable you to formulate the right optimization

strategies.

Whenanalyzinguserdrop-off,youneedtoaskandanswertwoquestions:

1.When did it occur?Areyoulosingusersaftertheirfirstexperiencewiththeapp?Orlaterin

thelifecycle?

2.How did it occur?Whatwerethecircumstancesleadingtothedropoff?

Let’sdiveintomoredetailaboutthesequestionsandhowyoushouldrespond.

PART ONE:

OptimizingUserDrop-Off


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10CHAPTER 10 - THE BREAKUP

QUESTION ONE: WHEN DID THE BREAKUP OCCUR?

Oneofthefirstthingsyouwanttoaskyourselfiswhendidtheuserstopusingyourapp?Ifauserabandons

yourapp,thefirstthingyou’llwanttocheckisifitwashisorherfirsttimeusingtheapp.Nowofcoursefor

anysessionfollowingthefirstone,therecouldbeanumberofreasonstheusermightabandonyourapp.But

fornowwe’llsimplifyandsticktothesetwogroupings.Herearesomepossiblereasonswhytheyabandoned

yourapp:

TRY THIS

Trycontactinguserswhodeletedorabandonedyourapptoaskwhytheyleft.Seeifyoucanidentifyany

discrepanciesbetweenwhattheyexpectedtohavewithyourappandwhatyouactuallyprovide.It’salways

bettertogetdirectfeedbackfromusersratherthantrytoguesswhytheytookacertainaction.

You’llnaturallyseesomedrop-offoccurinthefirstsession,particularlyifyourmarketingmessageandvalue

propositiondon’tcompletelygelwithwhattheuserseesandexperiencesinyourapp.Keepoptimizingthe

initialuserflowsandtightenthemessagingandtargetingofyourmarketingcampaignstomakesurethereis

minimaldisconnect.

WHEN did they abandon?

Firstsession

Subsequentsessions

Educated Hypothesis on WHY

•Disconnectbetweenvaluepropandactualexperience

•Appcrashed

•Nottherighttime/distracted

•Waninginterest

•Appcrashed


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10Forexample,ifyou’reashoppingapp,herearesomepossibleideasfortighteningandoptimizingyour

messagingcampaigns:

•Measurethedrop-offratesinthein-apppurchasefunnel

•Optimizeyourapptotryandminimizedrop-off,usuallybychangingthingsnearthetopofthe

purchasefunnelwhereauserbrowsesproducts/items.Trytesting:

•Productimages

•Productfeatures/benefitcopy

•Discounts

•Recommendedsimilaritems

•Tightenandtestyourtargetingdowntothebehaviorallevel,basedonwheretheuserdroppedoff

inthepurchasefunnel

Oneofthemostimportantissuesconcerninguserabandonmentduringallsessionsisappperformancein

termsofspeedanduptime.Makesureyouhavefullvisibilityintocrashreportsandbugssoyoucanquicklyfix

theissuesandminimizenegativereviews.

Bythetimeyourusersstartreportingissuesinnegativeappreviews,you’llbeinhotwaterandyourinstallrates

willsuffer.Withoutknowingwhetherornotyourappisperformingandloadingforalldevicetypes,browserand

OScombinations,youwon’tbeabletomoveonandoptimizetheUI/UXofthemobileuserexperience.

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10QUESTION TWO: HOW DID THE BREAKUP OCCUR?

Onceyouareintheclearandhavearigorousmonitoringsysteminplaceforappperformance,usinganalytics

todiscoverhowusersabandonyourappbecomesmuchmoreactionable.You’llwanttolookcloselyathow

specificusergroupsleftyourapp,andthentrytodrawsomeconclusionsastowhythatspecificgroupmight

haveleft.Herearesomeexamplesofcommon‘hows’andpossible‘whys’ofuserabandonment:

The more specific examples of user drop-off you can discover the more likely it is you can formulate an

actionable plan to re-engage them.

Byansweringwhenandhowtheuserdroppedoff,youcangetabetterideaforwhyusersareleaving.But

howdoyoustopit?Inthenextchapters,wewilldiscussactionablewaystominimizeabandonment,including:

1.ChurnPrevention

2.Re-engagement

HOW did they abandon?

Theywereavidandthendropped

offandnevercameback

Theylookedforanitemthatwas

notavailableatthetime

Theyleftaftertheybrowsedwhich

oftheirfriendswereintheapp

Theyleftafterseeingthefinalprice

oftheiritemsinacart

Theykeptlosingadifficultlevel

(game)andfinallyabandoned


•Userburnout,notenoughcontenttokeepthemengaged

•Acompetitorenteredthemarketwithamorecompelling

experience

Theyleftbecausetherightproduct/size/colorwasnot

available

Theyleftbecausetheydidn’thaveanexistingandtrusted

networkusingtheapp

•Theyweren’treadytomakeapurchaseorthepricewas

toohigh

•Thetransactionfailedandtheygotfrustratedandleft

Usergotfrustratedbyalackofachievementandquit


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11CHAPTER 11 - MAKE THE FIRST MOVE: CHURN PREVENTION

WITH IN-APP MESSAGES

Measuringuserdrop-offhelpsyouunderstandwhenandhowusersdropped-off,butthat’sonlythefirstpart

ofimprovingretention.Using that data, you can also pinpoint the patterns that are indicative of a user who

is about to churn, and take action to prevent it.

Withthisdata-drivenintuitionandasetofeducatedhypotheses,startthinkingaboutwaystokeepusers

engagedbeforetheyloseinterest.Onewaytoincreasethechancesyourusersareseeingandrespondingto

newfeatures,products,offers,orgamelevels,istonotifythemwithtargetedin-appmessages.

In-appmessagescanbeanythingfromstandardnotifications,tohighlystylizedfullscreentakeovers.They

canevenbedaisy-chainedtogethertoformentirelynewuserflows.InFigure2.0above,in-appmessages

areusedtoannouncethelatestoffers,events,andfeaturesforreturningusers.Becreativeandmakesureto

targetandpersonalizethesenewexperiencestospecificsegmentsofusers.

Usingourtablefrombefore,wecancomeupwithsomeexamplesofspecificoptimizationrecipesusingin-

appmessagesforeachhypothesis:


Theywereavidandthen

droppedoffandnever

cameback

Theylookedforanitem

thatwasnotavailableat

thetime


•Userburnout,notenough

contenttokeepthem

engaged

•Acompetitorenteredthe

marketwithamore

compellingexperience

Theyleftbecausetheright

product/size/colorwasnot

available

**What to Optimize (In-App Messages)**

•Notifytheuserofnewcontentand

directthemtowardstherelevant

contentinyourapp

•Encouragethemtoupgradetothe

latestversionofyourapptoaccess

thenewcontent

•Makesureanitemisalwaysinstock!

Ifit’snot,enabletheusertobenotified

whenitisbackininventory

•Iftheusercomesbackagain,showa

messagethatdeeplinksdirectlytothe

producttheywereinterestedin


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11HOW did they abandon?

Theyleftafterthey

browsedwhichoftheir

friendswereintheapp

Theyleftafterseeingthe

finalpriceoftheiritems

inacart

Theykeptlosinga

difficultlevel(game)


Theyleftbecausetheydidn’t

haveanexistingandtrusted

networkusingtheapp

•Theyweren’treadytomake

apurchaseorthepricewas

toohigh

•Thetransactionfailedand

theygotfrustratedandleft

Usergotfrustratedatalackof

achievementandquit

**What to Optimize (In-App Messages)**

Createacustomuserflowwithin-app

messagestoinvitefriendsandimplement

incentivesforinvitingfriends

•Makesureyounotifytheusereach

timetheycomeinofrelevantoffers

andsalesthatmayapplytotheiritems

•Notifyusersofimprovementsmadeto

previousproblemscausingtheapptofail

Unblocktheuserbyprovidingthem

specialhintswithin-appmessages

Ifyou’retestingoutin-appmessages,you’llwanttomeasureandtestthemjustlikeeverythingelse.Makesure

thatyou’rekeepingtrackofthefollowingmetricsforeachmessage(attheveryleast):

•Totalviews

•Totalclicks

•Click-throughrate


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11

BESTPRACTICES-CHURN PREVENTION

Consistent Look and Feel

Continuingwiththethemeofpersonalization,your messaging templates should be stylized and consistent

with your look and feel. Makesurethatyourmessagingandbrandingareconsistentwiththerestofyourapp.

Thesearesmalldetails,buttheyarealsoeasytomessup.

Minimize Interruption

Makesureyourin-appmessagesareseamlesslyintegratedintothecoreloopandflow.Ifyourmessages

deep-linktoaspecificpointinyourapp,makesureyoumeasurethenewuserflowthatiscreatedvis-a-vis

yourcurrentcoreloop.

Plan Ahead

Appsaredynamicandever-changingandeverytimetheycomebackuserswanttoknowthatthereis

relevantnewcontent,offers,orfeaturestocheckout.It’seasytoautomate,somakesureyou’replanning

ahead.Create a calendar and schedule marketing campaigns in your application highlighting new and

timely announcements.

Test New Flows

Createentirelynewuserflowstotest.Withdaisy-chainedin-appmessages,newuserflowscanbedesigned

andlaunchedwithouttakinguppreciousdeveloperresources.


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12CHAPTER 12 - MAKE THE SECOND MOVE: RE-ENGAGEMENT WITH

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Truthbetold,youruserwon’twanttodateyouforever.However,thatdoesn’tmeanthey’regoneforgood.

Ifyou’vegottenthisfarandprovidedacompelling,engaging,andrelevantmobileuserexperience,you’ve

alreadygotalottocelebrate.

It’shardtocreateanappthatauserdoesn’tgetsickofandusesconstantly.Differentcategoriesofappsface

differentchallenges.Ifyou’reagame,youhavetobalancecreatingagamethatisn’ttoochallenging,isn’t

tooeasy,andhasdynamicgameplay.Ifyou’reatravelapp,you’reonlyreallyrelevanttouserswhentheyare

traveling.Ifyou’reasocialnetwork,youhaveimmensecompetitionforyouruser’stimeandinterest.Thepoint

isit’s hard to keep users retained and engaged.

Someofyourusersaregoingtoleave.It’safact.Thenextchallengeisgivingthemareasontocomeback.

Let’sdivebackintoourtableagainandlookathowautomatedpushnotificationscanmakeyourlifeeasier.


Theywereavidandthen

droppedoffandnever

cameback

Theylookedforanitem

thatwasnotavailableat

thetime

Theyleftafterthey

browsedwhichoftheir

friendswereintheapp


•Userburnout,notenough

contenttokeepthem

engaged

•Acompetitorenteredthe

marketwithamore

compellingexperience

Theyleftbecausetheright

product/size/colorwasnot

available

Theyleftbecausetheydidn’t

haveanexistingandtrusted

**What to Optimize

(Push Notifications)**

Senduserswhomaybeinterested

innewcontentorfeaturesapush

notificationwhenyou’velaunched

Notifythemwhentheiritemisback

instock

Notifythemwhenoneoftheirfriends

signsup


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12HOW did they abandon?

Theyleftafterseeingthe

finalpriceoftheiritems

inacart

Theykeptlosinga

difficultlevel(game)


•Theyweren’treadytomakea

purchaseorthepricewastoo

high

•Thetransactionfailedandthey

gotfrustratedandleft

Usergotfrustratedatalackof

achievementandquit

**What to Optimize

(Push Notifications)**

Sendthemaspecificdiscountor

limitedtimeoffer

Notifytheuserofanewboostor

power-upthatmighthelpthem

advance

Justlikeyourin-appmessages,you’llwanttotracktheperformanceofyourpushnotificationssoyoucan

constantlyiterateandoptimizethem.

•Totalviews

•Totalclicks

•Click-throughrate

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12


BESTPRACTICES-RE-ENGAGEMENT AND PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Precision is Key

Yourpushnotificationsshouldbehighlypreciseandtargeted.Nomoreblastcampaigns.

Messages that are not relevant won’t improve your chances of re-engaging a user who’s left. Infact,blast

messagescanfurtheralienatethem.Makeitpersonal.Thegoalshouldbetomaketheuserfeellikethat

messagewasonlysenttothem.

Timing is Important

Tentpoleevents,oreventsthatcenteraroundholidaysorotherspecialeventsaregoodtimestosend

targetedpushnotificationswithspecialdealsandnewfeatures.Users are more open to receiving messages

during this time and may be more willing to re-engage outside of their normal life patterns. Again,planning

aheadisimportant.Althoughlastminutecampaignsmightworkbetterthannothing,it’sbettertoplanweeks

orevenmonthsahead.Youcanthenensurethatallyourmarketingteamsareonthesamepage,andeven

makechangestotheappstohelpcatertotheeventyou’retargeting.

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13 SECTION 4

Word-of-Mouth(WOM)marketingisakeydriverofinstallsforapps.Arecent

studyconductedbyMobileDevHQonhowusersdiscoveredtheirlastapp,

foundthatfriendorfamilyreferralwasthesecondhighestdiscoverychannel

behindappstoresearch.

Happy users refer your app to their friends and give your app

high ratings. This section is about getting users to the point

where they are happy enough with your app that they want to

let other people know how great it is, whether that’s by referring

it to someone in person, or posting a five-star review.

This section is broken into three parts:

1. Ratings and reviews

2. Collecting customer feedback

3. Improving customer happiness

Referral


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13

Duetoourcuriosityandinquisitivenature,weseektoknowhowotherpeoplefeelaboutthingsbeforewe

trythemourselves.Formanyexperiencesthisisasurvivaltechnique,butformobileappsit’sassimpleas

knowingiftheappisworththetensecondsittakestodownload.Theinfluenceofratingsandpeerreviews

hasgrownandcannoticeablyaffectthesuccessofanapp.

Ratingsareoftenthefirstlookedatattributeofamobileappandinasinglesecondapotentialcustomer

willoftendecide,justbasedofftherating,whetherornottodownloadtheapp.From the beginning of

the published app lifecycle ratings play an immediate role impacting search rankings, customer decision

making, and brand reputation.

Ratingsandreviewsarealsoaclearindicatorofanapp’ssuccess.Only6%ofallappsinGooglePlayand

theAppleAppStorehavemorethan50reviews.Increasingyourratingsandreviewswillhelpseparateyour

appfromthemajorityofappsintheappstores.Yet,clearlythisisadifficulttaskaslessthan1%ofanapp’s

customerbaseleavesarating.

Commonly,andunfortunatelyforyou,themajorityofratingsforamobileapparefromunhappycustomers

lookingtoventtheirfrustrations.Ontheotherhand,happyandsatisfiedcustomersrarelyleavereviews

because,frankly,itoftendoesn’toccurtothemtodoso.

Soallthisraisesthequestion:whatcanyoudotoimproveyourratingsandreviews?Let’slookatafew

options.

PART ONE:

Ratings&Reviews


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13CHAPTER 13 - UTILIZING RATING PROMPTS

Sometimes the best way to get something that you want is to simply ask for it. Ratingpromptsarethe

perfecttoolforreachingouttocustomersandencouragingthemtoleaveratingsandreviewsforyourmobile

app.Eventhoughpromptsareincrediblyeffective,theycanalsohaveanegativeimpactforamobileapp

dependingonhowtheyareused.Any interaction you have with your customers in-app that doesn’t fit the

usual flow of the application can feel like an interruption and degrade the customer experience.

Urbanspoon,anApptentivecustomer,isaprimeexampleofanappthatwasabletoincreaseitsratings

andreviewsbyover1000%.Inlessthanamonth,theyreceivedover300ratingsandreviews.Overallthey

havealsoseenaratingimprovementofover1.5stars,an11xincreaseinthenumberofdailyreviews,anda

consistentrankinthetop10oftheFood&Drinkcategoryintheappstore.

The power of using ratings prompts is clear, yet in

practice it takes a lot more than just popping up a

prompt to get it right. Afterworkingwiththousands

ofcompaniestherearesomeclear“do’s”anddon’ts”

whendisplayingaratingpromptinsideyourapp.

TEST, TEST, TEST

Ratingpromptsneedtobetestedandoptimized

justlikeanyotherfeature,asthereisnoone-sizefits

allsolutionforwhenandwheretousethem.Every

appisdifferentandasaresult,customerbehavioris

uniquetoeachapp.

When you set a rating prompt your first question should be, “If we place it here, will it be a disruption for

my mobile customers?” Ifso,trytofindanotherspotinyourapptohavearatingpromptappear.Thelast

thingyouwanttodoistohaveanegativeeffectonkeepingyourcustomersengaged.

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13Eventhougheveryappisdifferent,therearekeyquestionsthatcanhelpyoufigureoutthebesttimetoshow

theratingprompt:

•Howmanytimesdoesittakeforacustomertofeelthevalueofyourapp?

•Whatisanaccomplishmentorachievementinyourapp?

•Whenyouthinkaboutthelifecycleofyourcustomer,atwhatpointdotheybecomeanevangelist?

ForUrbanspoon,thevalueoftheappisbeingabletoprovidepeoplewithrestaurantsuggestionsthat

theyenjoy.Justusingitoncemayprovidevalue,butit’shardtoknowifinasinglesessionacustomer

foundarestauranttheyattended.Urbanspoonallowsmemberstowritereviewsandbookreservations

throughtheapp.Theseactionsaremuchclearerexamplesoftheappprovidingvalueandalsodoubleasan

accomplishmentorcompletedtaskinsidetheapp.

Thepointwheremembersarespendingtheirtimebookingareservationthroughanapporwritingreviews

meanstheyhavegraduatedfrombeingabasiccustomer.Theyareanidealcandidatetoaskforarating.

Knowingtheanswerstothesequestionswillguideyoutousingyourpromptatthecorrecttime.However,

testingisalwaysimportantwhentryingtomaximizeresults.Thefirstplaceyouthinkmayworkbestforusing

aratingspromptmaynotactuallybeideal.Try testing for two weeks, collecting the data, and then choosing

another spot inside your app. Comparethedataandcontinuetryingtofindthebesttimein-apptotalkwith

yourcustomersandkeepmakingchangesbasedonwhatyousee.

Ifyouaren’tseeinganincreaseinreviewsthrougharatingpromptitcanmeanoneoftwothings:

You’re being too conservative in surfacing the rating prompt: Inthisscenario,customersaren’t

gettingtothepointinyourappwherethepromptispoppingup.

You’re being too aggressive in surfacing the rating prompt: Inthisscenario,youaresurfacingthe

promptatatimewhenthecustomerisengagedwithyourappandthepromptwillbemore

annoyingthananythingelse.

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13

BESTPRACTICES- RATINGS PROMPTS

Hereareacoupleofpointstokeepinmindwhensettingyourratingprompt:

Don’t Prompt the First Time a Customer Launches an App

Theyhaven’texperiencedanythingyetsodon’taskforarating.Wouldyouratearestaurantbeforeeatingany

ofitsfood?Probablynot.Andifyoudid,yourratingmostlikelywouldn’tbeaccurate.

Don’t Set Your Rating Prompt to Appear When the App is Launched

Nomatterhowmanytimestheuserhasopenedbefore,youshouldavoiddoingthis.When a customer opens

your app, they want to use it, not rate it immediately. Asgoodasgettingaratingis,it’smoreimportantto

havethemactuallyusingyourapp.Don’tdistractthemfromdoingthat.

Do Prompt After a Customer Accomplishes a Task or Receives an Achievement

Someexamplesmightbeloggingaworkout,beatingalevel,orcompletingapurchase.Actionsliketheseare

usuallyfollowedbyanatural‘lull’intheUXofyourapp,andarealsooftencorrelatedwithahappyuser.Take

advantageofthis,andaskthemtorateyourapp.

Make Your Prompt Two Dimensional

Thismeansallowingyourcustomerstoreachouttoyoudirectly.Itshouldn’tbeaonewaystreet;give

customers an outlet to provide feedback if they are unhappy. Thisdecreasesnegativereviewsandgivesyou

constructivenotestoworkon.

Segment Customers

Notallusersarecreatedequal,andtherewillinevitablybecustomerswhodon’tlikeyourapp.Youprobably

wanttoavoidaskingthesepeopletogiveyouarating(buttheymightbeusefulforotherthingslikesurveys

whichwe’lltalkaboutlater).Targetpowerusersofyourappandcustomerswhofulfillcertainrequirementsto

promptyourhappiestcustomerstoaskforarating.

Track Events to Perfect Timing

Considertrackingdifferenteventsinyourappthatyoucantietomomentsofsuccessandhappinesstoreach

yourcustomersatmomentsthatimprovethecustomerexperience.Developingasophisticatedpromptcan

takeaconsiderableamountoftimeawayfromyourdevelopmentteam.Insteadofcommittingyourown

resourcesconsiderUrbanspoon’sapproachanduseaservicelikeApptentivewhoareexpertsincustomer

communicationandimprovingratingsandreviewsformobileapps.


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13OTHER METHODS FOR INCREASING RATINGS AND REVIEWS

Whileratingspromptsarethemosteffectivemethodforincreasingratingsandreviewsformobileapps,thereare

acoupleofothertacticsyoucanalsoemploytogiveyourappaboost.Hereareafewbestpracticesandideas:

Release Notes

Byplacingakindandrespectfulmessageinthereleasenotesfornewversionsoftheappyoucanencourage

customerstorateyourapplicationwithamessagefromoutsideoftheapplication.

In-App Button

Inthemenuorhelpsectionofyourmobileappyoucandedicateabuttonthatcandirectcustomerstothe

appstoretoleaveareview.

TRY THIS

Thistipisactuallyadon’ttrythis.Whenincludinganin-appbuttontorateyourapp,Applewillrejectyour

mobileappifthebuttonmisrepresentswhatitwilldowhenit’stapped.Limittextonthebuttontophrases

similarto“RateThisApp”or“GiveaReview.”

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Customer Support

Everytimeyousuccessfullysupportacustomerinyourmobileapp,you

arestrengtheningtherelationshipbetweenyourbrandandthecustomer.

If,aftersolvingacustomercomplaint,thecustomershowsextreme

satisfactionandhappinesswiththeservicereceived,askingforarating,

persontoperson,canyieldresults.

Customer Feedback

Creatingamobileappforyourbusinesscanbeadifficultprocess,

especiallyifit’syourfirstone.Mobileisanentirelynewexperienceand

withinthatspaceyourcustomershaveverydifferentneedsandusecases.

Formostbusinesses,appsshouldnotbeoverloadedwitheveryfeature

thatisavailableonyourwebsite.

Knowingexactlywhatthemobileusecasesandneedsareforyourcustomerscanbechallenging.The best

way to learn what your customers want is by listening to them. Only your customers can tell you what

could be better or what doesn’t work. Companiesthatdon’tlistentotheircustomersoftenmakeuneducated

guessesastowhattheircustomersneedandwant.

Feedbackletsyourcustomershelpdriveyourproductroadmapwith

theconfidencethatyou’remakingthechangesthatmattermosttoyour

users.Italsoeliminatestimetryingtofigureoutwhatfeaturesyouthink

aremostimportant.The more customer feedback you receive, the better

you can understand their perspective and how your app is being used.

Didyouknowthatonaverageonly1outof26customerscomplainif

theyexperienceaproblem?Thismeansthateverytimeyouhearabout

aproblem,it’smostlikelyaffectingmorecustomersthanyouthink.

Creatingachannelthatmakesiteasyforcustomerstogivefeedbackis

essentialtomakingsureyouhearaboutproblemsearlyandlearnhow

youcanimproveyourapp.

Buthow?Let’sfindoutinPartTwo.

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CHAPTER 14 - ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

Withhighcustomerchurnratesformobileapps,everytimeacustomerexitsyourmobileappitmaybethe

lasttimetheyuseit.Don’tguidecustomerswhowanttoleavefeedbackoraskaquestionoutsideofyourapp

inordertoreachaFAQpage,e-mailform,orthirdpartywebsite.Theabilitytosendfeedbackandreceive

ananswershouldbeassimpleandeasyforthecustomerasanyotherfunctionintheapp.The moment it is

difficult for customers to use their voice is the moment you will lose them.

TheratingspromptshownaboveforUrbanspoonaskscustomersforfeedbackiftheyrespondwith“No”to

theinitialpromptquestion.Afterimplementingtheratingsprompt,Urbanspoon received more than 7000

pieces of feedback that helped them improve the app, make their customers happy, and keep negative

reviews out of the app store. Proactivelyreachingoutwithapromptthatasksforfeedbackwasessentialfor

gatheringfeedback,butitisnotasolutionbyitself.

Acustomerneedstobeabletogivefeedback,askaquestion,orreporta

bugaseasilyascompletinganyothertaskinsidetheapp.Itneedstobean

opendoorthatcustomerscanwalkthroughatanytime.Urbanspoonisagreat

exampleofthis.Insidetheirmenuyoucanseeasimplebuttontitled“Give

Feedback”allowingcustomerstoreachoutattheirconvenienceandthe

feedbackformisaslicknativeexperiencerightinsidetheapp.

USING SURVEYS

Surveyshaveproventobeincrediblypowerfultoolsformarketanalysisand

drivingcustomerinsight.Restaurantsandautoshopshavesurveysasking

“Howdidwedotoday?”andretailstoresoftenhavetheircashiersask“Did

youfindeverythingyouwerelookingfor?”

Thesemayseemlikesimplequestionstotheconsumer,buttoabusinessthesequestionsarecrucialfor

understandinghowtheycanimprove.Don’tmakethemistakeofthinkingthesesimplequestionsaren’tuseful

orthatyoualreadyknowtheanswer.

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14Foronlinebusinesses,surveyshavequicklybecomethebestwaytogetinsightintoacustomerbaseto

determinewhotheircustomersare,howtheircustomersfeel,andwhattheircustomerstrulywant.Allof

whichisveryusefulinformation!

Originallyconductedwithpaperandpencil,surveysarenowcommonlyfoundallovertheinternet,butrarely

insidemobileapps.Mobileappsarelikeanyotherbusinessandstandtobenefitfromsurveyingcustomerand

potentialcustomerbases.

Formobileapps,surveysaregreattoolstosavemoney,prioritizefeatures,learnmoreaboutyourcustomer

base,engagecustomers,andreceivestructuredfeedback.

Save Money:Mobileappdevelopmentisexpensive.Everynewfeature

andfunctionalitycostsadditionalmoney.Playingguessinggamesabout

whattocreatenextcanbeincrediblycostlyandendsupsinkingyourapp.

Neverassumeyouknowwhatyourcustomerswantbecauseyouwilloften

besurprisedbywhattheywillwritewhengiventhechance.Usinganin-

appsurveycancutcostsandmuchoftheguessworkfrommobileapp

development.

Fromthebeginning,incorporateasurveyinyourminimumviableproduct

tocaptureresponsesaboutwhatyou’redevelopingandwhatyour

customerswouldliketosee.It’snevertoolateortooearlytousesurveys

asachanneltobetterunderstandhowyourcustomersfeelandthinkabout

yourapp.Havingtheseanswerscanhelpyousavemoneyasyoucreate

whatyourcustomerswantinsteadofwhatyouthinktheywant.

Prioritize Features:Creatingamobileappcanbeextremelyexciting,especiallywhenyougetcaught

upinthefervorof“wecanbuildthis,andthat,andohwecandothistoo.”However,tryingtodo

toomuchtoofastorinthewrongordercanhamperthesuccessofyourapp.Spendingtimeon

afeaturethatreallyisn’tallthatgreatcanwastevaluabletimeandresources.It’simportanttobe

abletoprioritizeyourfeaturesandplanaproductroadmapwithconfidence.This is also extremely

important if you’re translating an existing web product to an app. Yourmostpopularfeatureonthe

webmightnottranslateaswelltomobileasyoumightthink.

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14Entersurveys.Surveysareperfectforfiguringoutnotonlywhatyourcustomerswant,butalsowhat

ismostimportanttotheminthecontextofyourapp.Giveyourusersavoicetoaidyouinyour

productroadmapandsoyoucanbeconfidentthatyou’respendingtimeonthecorrectpathtogrow

yourmobileappbusiness.

Who Are Your Customers?:Afewsimplequestionscanprovideatreasuretroveofinsightonyour

customerbase.Collecting demographic information such as age and gender is important data for

future app development and can even aid you in choosing the correct ad agency or in getting the

right partnership.

Demographicsurveyscanalsoincludequestionsaboutcustomerlikesanddislikes,problemsthey

have,andaddressareasnotdirectlyrelatedtoyourapp.Themoreyoucanunderstandaboutwho

yourcustomersare,theeasieritwillbetocreatesomethingthattheylovetouse.

Structured Customer Feedback:Allcustomerfeedbackisvaluable,butsometimesyouneed

feedbackaboutaspecificitem.Ifyou’vereleasedanewfeatureorentirelyoverhauledyourapp

designyoumaywanttolearnwhatyourcustomersthinkabouttheupdates.Dotheyhateit?And

ifso,why?Youmaybecuriouswhycustomersstoppedwatchinganinstructionalvideohalfway

throughorwhytheyabandonedtheirpurchasepartwaythroughthecheck-outprocess.

Usingamobilesurveycangiveyouinsightintohowyourappisfairing,whetherit’sagame,retail,

orentertainmentapp.Gettingspecificfeedbackcantellyouhowafeaturewasreceivedandwhy

customersareabandoningtheircarts.Ifanewupdateresultsinunhappycustomersit’sessentialto

findoutquicklytohelpavoidanonslaughtofnegativereviewsintheappstore.

Engage Your Customers: Theamountofpeoplewhoprovidefeedbackin-apporintheappstores

isaverysmallpercentageofyourentireaudience.Encouraging the rest of your audience to share

their thoughts is important to get the full perspective of your customer base and not just the vocal

customers. Surveysareaproactivetoolthatcanhelpyoureachandgetresponsesfromalarger

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14BESTPRACTICES-ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

Thedatafromasurveyisonlyasgoodasthequestionsasked.Tohelpyouout,herearefivetipstomakethemost

effectivesurveys.

Personalization

Holdingthemobiledeviceisasingleindividualyouarelookingtoengageandhaveansweracouplequestionsfor

you.Youneedtowritequestionsthatfeelasiftheyaredirectedateachcustomerinsteadofageneralapproach.

Begin your questions with phrases like “How do you feel about…” and “What do you think of…”

Theimportanceofthesurveyistohearwhatyourcustomersthink.Thereisnowrongorrightanswer.Phrasing

questionsinthiswayopensthewayforcustomerstosharetheirthoughtsandprovidenewinsightonsomething

youhaven’tconsidered.

Simple, Direct Questions

Thereisn’talotofrealestatetouseonmobiledevices,thereforeyourquestionsneedtobesimple,direct,andtothe

point.Don’twastespacecirclingaroundtherealquestionsyouwanttoask-justgettoit.

Provide Accurate Answers

Themoreaccuratetheanswersyouprovidearetheeasieritwillbeforyoutoanalyzethedata.Avoidnumberrating

scalesbecauseit’sdifficulttogaugeanexperiencewithnumbers.Inaratingscaleupto10,therearesomepeople

whothinksixisstillapositiveexperience,butmanywhofeelotherwise.Wordsareabetterwaytoaccurately

portrayhowsomeoneisfeelinginawaythatotherpeoplecanunderstand.

Whenprovidingrangesinyouranswers,don’tletyouranswersoverlaporyourdatawillbeoff.Ifyouask“Howoften

doyouplayAngryBirdsaday?”Don’tincludethefollowing:1-2,2-5,5-10.Insteaduse:1-2,3-5,6-10.

The Other

Oneofthemostover-lookedanswerstomanyquestionsis“Other.”Whereappropriate,includingthe“Other”as

apossibleanswer,followedbythegeneric“PleaseSpecify”inputareacanbeanincrediblyusefulmethodtolearn

somethingimportantfromyourcustomersthatyoumaynothaveexpected.


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All Questions Required

Allquestionsincludedinamobilesurveyshouldberequired.Ifyouhaveaquestionyouarenotrequiring,don’t

includeitinthefirstplace.Thiswillforceyoutofocus on only the most important questions to include in your

survey. Theoneexceptionisthecommon“Doyouhaveanyotherfeedbackorsuggestionsforus?”

Betweensurveys,proactivelyaskingforfeedback,andhavingaclearchannelin-appforcustomersupport

andcommunication,youareontherightpathtogettingthefeedbackyouneedtomakeagreatappand

keepyourcustomershappy.


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15PART THREE:

CustomerHappiness

CHAPTER 15 - CREATING HAPPY CUSTOMERS

Besidesappstoresearch,word-of-mouthisthelargestdriveroforganicdownloadsforamobileapp.

AccordingtodatafromMobileDevHQ,15% of people found their last app from a friend referral, placingit

secondbehindsearch(47%)forthemostpopularchannelforfindingapps.ForGooglePlay,12%ofpeople

foundtheirlastappfromafriendorfamilymember,againsecondbehindsearch(53%).

Gettingpeopletotelltheirfriendsandfamilyaboutyourappisanimportantmethodtoorganicallyand

sustainablygrowyourcustomerbase.Peopledon’ttalkaboutmediocreexperiences;theytalkaboutwhat

positivelyaffectstheirlives.Oneofyourapp’sgoalsshouldbetomakeyourcustomershappy.Happy

customersrecommendtheapptoothersandbecomeyourpersonalevangelists.

Withthemyriadofproblemsthatmobileappsinherentlyhave,youmusthaveastrategyinplacetoensure

customersarehappyevenwhenthingsgowrong.Doingcustomersupportrightisfarfromaneasyjob,but

takingthetimetodoitcorrectlywillpayoutintheend.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT IMPROVES CUSTOMER HAPPINESS

Nothingismorefrustratingthanhavinganissueandfeelinglikethere’snothingyoucandotogetitresolved.

Thisisoneofthemainreasonswhyhavinganopenchannel,likeUrbanspoon,forfeedbackiscrucial.

Customerswhofeellistenedtoarehappycustomers.It’sthatsimple.

Justlikeyourbestfriendoryoursignificantother,customersoftenjustwantacknowledgement.Theywantto

knowthatyoucareaboutwhattheyhavetosayandthatyou’relistening.

Inanincreasinglynoisy,busy,self-promotingworld,manyofushavecometoexpectthatnooneisreally

listening,they’rejustwaitingforthechancetotalk.Thisleadstoanobviousopportunityforyou-the simple

act of listening can become a happiness-creating moment.


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BESTPRACTICES- CREATING HAPPY CUSTOMERS

Communicate with Customers

Customerswholeavefeedbackdriveyourbusinessforward,andeverypieceoffeedback,whetherit’spraise

orcriticism,shouldbevaluedandthenvalidated.It’simportanttoletcustomersknowthey’vebeenheardand

thatthesuggestionitselfandthetimeittooktogiveitwasalsoappreciated.

Whenthereareupdatesorchangesmadetotheapp,givecreditwherecreditisduebythankingyour

customersintheupdatenotes.Youcaneventakethisonestepfurtherbypersonallyreachingouttothose

whogavefeedbackandthankingthemprivately.Alwayskeeptheconversationopen,andencourage

customerstosharefeedbackatanytime.

Handle Negative Feedback

Alwaysrespondwitha“thankyou,”evenifthefeedbackwasincrediblyrudeoritwassomethingyou’veheard

amilliontimes.

Next,expressyourappreciationforfeedbackandmakeeffortstosolvetheproblemonthespot.Useashort

phrasesimilarto“Weappreciatethefeedback,howcanwesolvetheproblem?”Ifit’saproblemthatcan’tbe

fixedorisalowpriority,behonestwithyourcustomersandtellthemwhy.

Always Follow-Up

Alwaysbesuretofollow-upwithyourcustomersabouttheirfeedbackorproblems.Letthemknow,even

monthslater,thattheirissuehasbeensolvedorthattheappisgoinginadifferentdirection.Makethemfeel

involvedandinvestedintheappbyshowingyourappreciationfortheirhelpandlettingthemknowtheir

feedbackhelpedtoimprovetheapp.Goingtheextramiletofollow-upandmakesureeverythinghasbeen

takencareofmakescustomersfeelappreciatedandhappy.

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16 SECTION 5

Revenue

As an old soccer coach used to tell me - ‘if you’re not ten

minutes early, you’re late.’ In the app world, if you’re not thinking

ten steps ahead, you’re going to fall behind your competition.

Figuring out an effective way to monetize your app is a huge

part of making apps a successful part of your mobile presence.

That doesn’t mean you have to be making money from it today -

but you should have a plan for the future.

This section will take a look at some of the popular way

businesses are generating revenue through their apps so you

can pick one that’s best for your company.

Appadoptionisonfire.Ifyou’renotconsideringoralreadyutilizingappsasa

sourceofrevenue,you’remissingoutonahugeopportunity.It’snotenough

anymoretojustcreateanappforyourbusinessandthinkyou’rekeepingup

withtechnology.


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16

Inthisdayandage,yourcustomersareonmobiledevices.Theimportanceofmobilewillbefurther

emphasizedastimespentonmobiledevicesandmobileshipmentsgrow.Logically,ifcustomersarespending

moretimeontheirsmartphonesthananyotherdevice,doesn’tthatalsomeanmobileiswhererevenueisto

bemade?

Rightnowisanopportunetimetogeneratemobilerevenue.Mobile advertising budgets are rising 58.1% per

quarter, according to AppFlood, as mobile ad spend tries to catch up to the time spent on mobile devices.

Thissuggeststhatbusinessesareallocatingmoreoftheirmarketingbudgetstomobilemarketinganduser-

acquisitionactivitiesinanefforttopenetratenewmarkets.

Butthequestionthateverybusinessshouldanswerbeforegettingstartedis“doesmobilemonetizationmake

senseforme?”Aswithanynewbusinessstrategy,youhavetothinkabouttheROI.It’snotonlygamesthat

haveafootholdinthemobilemarket. Businesses from laundry franchises to healthcare services are tapping

into the growing mobile trend and finding ways to diversify their businesses with the intention of adding an

extra revenue channel or expanding to mobile8.

Ifyou’reexploringnewwaystogenerateadditionalchannelsforrevenueorlookingintohowyoucan

monetizeyourbusinessonmobile,wecanboildownthecorerevenuemodelsintofourmainchannels:

1.Freemium

2.Paid

3.Subscription

4.M-Commerce

PART ONE:

DifferentTypesofBusinessModels


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16CHAPTER 16: FREEMIUM APPS

It’safreemiumworldoutthere.Asmuchas95%ofworldwiderevenueonGooglePlay,accordingtodata

fromTUNE,isgeneratedfromfreemiumapps.Thefreemiummodelmightnotnecessarilyearnyourevenue

upfront,butwhenexecutedwell,itcanboostyourbottomlinegreaterthanthoseappsthatgeneraterevenue

fromrequiringupfrontfeestodownload.Underthefreemiummodel,youcanuseeitherin-apppurchasesor

displayadstodriverevenue.

OPTION #1 - IN-APP PURCHASES

Let’sstartwithin-apppurchases.Typicallyin-apppurchases(IAPforshort)arevirtualitemsyoucanpurchase

(forrealmoney,mindyou)withinanapp.Thesecanincludein-appupgrades,in-appconsumables,andin-app

currency,allofwhichwe’llexplainindetail.

It’seasytoappreciatetheflexibilityofin-apppurchasesifyou’readeveloper.Thefreemiumbusinessmodel

appliestoalltypesofmobilegamesandappsacrosstheboard.Infact,ifin-apppurchasesaren’tavailablein

yourappalready,youshouldrethinkyourbusinessmodel(assumingyou’rekeenongeneratingrevenuefrom

yourappinthefirstplace).

In-App Upgrades: Theserequireyouto“unlock”newcontentwithintheapptoprogresstothenext

levelorofferadditionalfeaturesthatweren’tavailableinaversionoftheappthatwasmadeavailable

forfree.

For example, Evernote has the free version of their content, but allows you to upgrade for more

features such as access to notes offline and additional security.

In-App Consumables: ThesewillaccountforthemajorityofIAPs.Byofferingin-appconsumables,

whetherthat’sanextralife,anewwardrobefortheuser’savatar,exclusivecamerafilters,orgame-

enhancingabilities,thecustomersarespendingreal-lifemoneytopurchaseitems.Infact,themost

effectiveappsatgeneratingrevenuearethosethatstrikeabalancebetweenprovidingfreecontent

andencouraginguserstopayforvanityvirtualgoodsandgame-advancingfeatures.Thesegoods

andfeaturesarewhatdrive“whales”(topspenders)tospendthousandsoreventensofthousandsof

dollarswithinapps.


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16For example, Candy Crush Saga lets you play for free, but once you run out of lives, you can either buy

new ones or ask Facebook friends to send you some. This either spreads the word about Candy Crush

Saga or gives them revenue!

In-App Currency: In-appcurrencyisfairlystraightforward.Manyappsorgameswillberunonan

in-appeconomythatincludesvirtualcurrency,whichuserscanpurchaseforcash.Theyspendthe

virtualmoney,andoncetheyrunout,theyneedtobuymore.

For example, Zynga Poker gives new users 20K ‘chips,’ but once you run out you have to purchase

new currency to play with.

Thedownsidetoafreemiumappisthatyou’llneverbeguaranteedtoearnrevenueperuser,asusersaren’t

forcedtopayfortheapp.Infact,just0.15% of mobile gamers account for 50% of in-app purchases in free-

to-play games9.

Butthatdoesn’tgotosaythattheserevelationsshoulddiscourageyourmobilemonetizationgoals.Infact,

majorappsincludingAngryBirds,CandyCrushSaga,andTempleRunarefamousexamplesofprofitable

appsthathaverakedinhundredsofmillionsofdollars(andmore)withthefreemiummodel.

Whilestandoutappsinthemobileecosystemarerealisticallyfewandfarbetween,CandyCrushSagaisthe

quintessentialfreemiumgameandagameitspeersoftenlookupto.CandyCrush’sdeveloper,King.com,

generatesasmuchas$850,000perdayfromin-apppurchases.

However,King.comalsoclaimsthat70%ofitsuserswho’vereachedthelastlevelneverspentmoneyto

advancethroughthegame,whichemphasizesjusthowmuchmoneyCandyCrush“whales”arespendingon

in-apppurchases10.


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IN-APPPURCHASESTIPS

Make the description clear: MakeitclearinyourdescriptionthatyourappincludesIAPs.Althoughmostapp

storestrytomakethisclear,youshouldhavesometransparencyandincludeitinyourdescriptionaswell.You

don’twanttoappeardeceptiveoruntrustworthy.Iftheuserdoesn’tseeitandisangryorfeelsmisled,you

canpointtothedescription.

Test pricing: TestdifferentpricepointsforyouIAPs.Ifyou’renotseeinggreatadoption,trydroppingthe

price(ifpossible)andseehowMoMrevenuescompare.Ontheotherhand,ifalotofusersaremakingIAPs,

youmightbeabletoraisetheprices.Findtherightmixbetweensalesvolumeandpricetomaximizeyour

revenue.

Make IAPs easy:Youcan’texpectuserstomakeIAPsiftheycan’tfindtheplacetoactuallybuywhatyou’re

selling!Makeitclearwhenandwhereusersshouldbemakingpurchases.Withthatbeingsaid,don’tover-do

it.Ifusersfeelannoyedorharassed,they’llabandonyourapp.

Don’t rely on IAPs: Don’tmakeaproductthatisuselesswithoutIAP.PartofwhatmakesCandyCrushSaga

sosuccessfulisthattheyallowuserstoplaythegameforawhilebeforehittingthemwithanIAP.They

alsoprovidealternativestomakingapurchase,andhaveafunandusefulproductevenifyounevermakea

purchase.

TRY THIS

Keepabusinessmodelinmindwhenplanninganddevelopingyourapp,evenintheearlystages.Youdon’t

havetosticktothismodel,butyoushouldalreadybethinkingaboutit.Ifyouaregoingtomakeafreemium

app,planahead.Youwanttomakesurethefeaturesyouprovidearevaluabletobothfreeandpaidusers.The

freemiummodeldoesn’tworkifyou’rereallyjustprovidingapaidappdisguisedasafreeone.


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OPTION #2 - DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Aneffectivesupplementtogeneratingapprevenueyourselfisofcoursethroughdisplayadvertising.You’ve

allheardabouttheFlappyBirdphenomenon,wherebyanindiedeveloperhitthetopoftheAppStorecharts

(beforebeingtakendown)withlittleornomarketingandgenerated$50,000perdayinmobileadrevenue.

Thereareseveralimmediatebenefitstomonetizingbydisplayingmobileads:

Fast to Get Started: Forstarters,comparedtootherrevenuechannels,monetizingappsbywayof

advertisingisarguablythefastestwaytogeneraterevenueforyourbusiness,particularlyifyourapp

boastsahighvolumeofusers.

Theimplementationofadstogenerateimmediaterevenueiseasyconsideringthealternatives.These

stepsincludefindingamobileadnetwork,thenintegratingthenetwork’ssoftwaredeveloperkit,and

finallydeployingamobileadformatthatworksbestforyourapp.

Ofcoursethemobileadintegrationprocessisanoversimplification.Thehardestpartwithmonetizing

onmobiledoesn’thaveanythingtodowithcoding–ratherdeveloperstendtostumblemost

frequentlywhenitcomestooptimizingyouradformatsforgeneratingmaximumrevenue.

Minimal Resources: Sellingin-appcontentrequiresateamtoconceptualize,design,anddeploynew

content.Partnershipsdemandasalesteam.Mobileadvertisingontheotherhandisn’trocketscience

andit’spossibletomanagein-appmonetizationwithminimaladditionalresources.

More Revenue to be Made: Asthemobileadvertisingindustrymatures,we’rewitnessingthe

allocationofmobileadvertisingbudgetsbyU.S.advertisersslowdown.ButChineseadvertisersare

pickinguptheslack.Theirbudgets,accordingtoAppFlood’sQ22014report,aregrowing123%QoQ,

asoverallglobalmobileadspendgrows58.1%.Infact,Chineseadvertisersaccountedfor60%ofthe

totalglobaladspendinQ22014.

TRY THIS

Makesuretolocalizeyourkeywords!Youcanchangeandtargetspecifickeywordsfordifferentregions.This

canhelpimproveyourrankingindifferentappstorestohelpboostdownloads.Youshouldn’tbetargeting

EnglishkeywordsinacountrywhereEnglishisnotthefirstlanguage.Butmakesuretodoyourresearchand

makesureEnglishisn’tthedominantlanguage.


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16Users Are Receptive to Mobile Ads: Mobileusersarebecomingmoreaccustomedandreceptiveto

mobileads.AccordingtoastudyfromxAdandTelmetrics,asmuchas50% of mobile shoppers have

said that they’ve found ads to be helpful in 201411. That’sa113%increasefrom2013.

The Difficulties of Monetizing with Mobile Ads

It’simportanttokeepinmindthatthebestwaytomaximizetherevenueyou’reearningfromyourmobilead

campaignisbybuildingahighvolumeofusers.Let’sillustratewhytrafficvolumeissoimportant.

Click-throughratescanvaryanywherebetween0.23%forthebanneradformatto5.70%forinterstitials,

andevenhigherforothertypesofformatslikelistads(whichsimplylistsrecommendedapps).According

toAppFloodhowever,therateatwhichusersinstallappsisn’tasfrequentasyoumightexpect.Average

installratesforbanneradsare0.93%,whileapplistsonaveragegarner3.76%12.Forevery100clicks,you’dbe

generatingbetweenoneandfourinstalls,whichmightnetyouatotalof$1dollar.Thisiswhyhighvolumeis

soimportant-tomakeanysignificantrevenueyou’llneedtoboostthosetrafficnumbers.

DISPLAYADSTIPS

Format correctly: Makesurethatyouradsareformattedcorrectly,especiallyifyourappisavailableontablets

andsmartphones.Itdoesn’tlookgreatforanadthewidthofaniPhoneshowinguponaniPad.

Consider native: Ifyou’replanningonusingdisplayadsforyourapp’sprimarysourceofrevenue,youshould

considercreatingsomesortofnativead.Aswementionedbefore,theseareadsthathavethesamelookand

feelasthelayoutofyourapp.You’llnoticetheseonTwitterandFacebook.Youcaneitherdevelopyourown

system,oruseathirdpartylikeMopubtohelpyou.

Make it easy to exit:Ifyouradsarepopupadsthatmayblocktheuserfromusingyourapp(liketheads

Pandoraservesuptofreeusers),makeiteasyfortheusertoexitoutoftheadwithoutaccidentlyclickingit.


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16HOW FREEMIUM CAN DISRUPT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Ifyouhavescale,youcaneasilyemployanyoneoftheabovefreemiumbusinessmodelsandmonetize

yourtraffic.Thefreemiummodelshouldprovidecontentthat’sconvincingenoughthatuserswillspend

moneyinsideofanappthat’sfreetouse,orshouldleveragethehighvolumeofuserstomonetizethesmall

percentageofusersthatwillgeneratethelion’sshareoftheapp’srevenue.Whileconversionratestopaying

usersaregenerallylow,themoreusersyourappboasts,thebetteryourchancesareofgeneratingmore

revenueforyourapp.Andaswe’veseenwithbusinesseslikeCandyCrush,onefreemiumappcantransform

anailingcompany(King.com)intoabilliondollarbusiness.


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17CHAPTER 17 - PAID APPS

Payingforapps,bydefinition,isstraightforward.Developerslisttheirappsontheappstoreandcheckoffthe

optiontoselltheappforanominalfeewhichrangesbetween$0.99to$5.99.That price won’t make a dent

in the wallets of most smartphone owners, but can add up to a sizeable amount for developers.

Theelephantintheroomhereistheveryfactthatfewpaidapplicationsremainintheappstoresduetothe

successofthefreemiumbusinessmodel.24outofthe25TopGrossingappswerefreemiumasof9/22/2014.

Beforeyouautomaticallyjumponthefreemiumbandwagon,let’sstartoffbyclarifyingthatfreemiumisn’tfor

everybusiness.Though there are some compelling arguments and statistics floating around the web, the

pay-to-download business model does make sense for certain apps.

Obviously,paidappshavetheirownsetofchallengestoface.It’sinherentlydifficulttoscaleapaidappin

aculturethatnolongerlikesto“payforthings”upfront–atleastwheremobileappsareconcerned.By

requiringpotentialcustomerstopayforanapp,youimmediatelyputupabarrierthatpreventsthemfrom

downloadingtheappasatest.

Youalsocan’tignorethefactthatthe popularity of paid apps are declining rapidly year by year as freemium

took 90% of the total app market share in 201313.

Keepinmindthatthefreemiummodelisamarketingstrategyinitsownrightthatthepaidmodeldoesn’t

haveaccessto.Mobileusersbrowsingtheappstoremightstumbleonafreemiumappanddecidetocheckit

out,butthatacquisitionstrategyisn’tavailablewithpaidapps.Rather than letting a freemium app to speak

for itself, paid app developers face the challenge of convincing users of the value of the app beforehand,

leaving it up to the marketing campaign and hype behind the app to speak on behalf of the app’s quality.

Nowremember,thepaidmodeldoesmakesenseforcertainapps.Justbecausefreemiumismorepopular,

doesn’tmeanthatpaidcan’thaveitsniche.Let’stakealookatwhenapaidappmakessense.


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17WHAT TYPES OF APPS ARE A GOOD FIT FOR THE PAID MODEL?

Whetheryoumakeyourapppaidorfreemiumdependsonthetypeofappyou’reofferingandthequalityof

theuserexperienceyouexpectcustomerstohave.

The biggest difference between paid and freemium is the fact that freemium is best for apps that can

accept micro-transactions for entertainment purposes. Forexample,addingextravirtualcontentthatusers

canpaysmallsumsofmoneyforwithinmobilegames,orproviding$0.99stickersinmessagingapps.

Decidingtorequirecustomerstobuyyourapphingesontheinherentvalueoftheapptotheuser.

Blockbustermobilegamesofconsole-likequalityliketheInfinityBladeseriescangetawaywithofferingpaid

gamesbecauseofthebrandrecognitionandgamequality.ThefirstInfinityBladesellsfor$5.99andthethird

onesellsfor$6.99.

Amongdifferentcategories,photoandvideoappsareoftenofferedaspaidapps.Thismakessenseseeingas

howevenaphotoappaslargeasInstagramisjuststartingtomonetizeitsplatform.Medicalandfitnessapps

forenterpriseorprofessionalusearealsooftenpay-to-downloadandcansometimessellfortensoreven

hundredsofdollarsintheappstores.You’llalsofindmanybusiness&finance,productivity,andeducation

appssellingaspaidversions.

TRY THIS

Manyappsofferhybridswheretheinitialappispaid,buttheyalsoofferin-app-purchases.Ifyoudothis,make

surethatyouhaveagreatappwithouthavingtomakeadditionalpurchases.Ifuserspayforyourappand

thenfindtheyneedtopaymoretounlockusefulfunctionality,theywon’tbehappy.

HOW PAID APPS CAN DISRUPT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Withallthat’sbeensaid,itdoesn’tseemlikethere’sareallycompellingreasontobeoptingforapaidapp

model.Butthereareinstanceswherepaidappsarecapableofdisruptingyourbusinessmodel.Paidappsare

idealforbusinessesordeveloperswhohaveanexistingloyaluserbasethatwouldn’thesitateatdownloading

yourpaidversion.Itcouldalsomakesenseforanindiedeveloperjusttryingtobringinsomeadditional

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18CHAPTER 18 - SUBSCRIPTION APPS

Whilenotquiteaspopularasfreemium,thesubscriptionbusinessmodeloffersanattractivemeansof

generatingrecurringrevenueonaregularbasis.Asubscriptionservicecanbepartofeitherapaidor

freemiumapp,butprovidesauniquebusinessmodel.

Thecaveathereisthattherearen’ttoomanytypesofappsthatcaneffectivelyjustifyaservicelikethis.To

the customer, the value has to justify the price, and recurring payments usually require that apps provide

unrestricted access to a wide dearth of content that’s updated on a regular basis.

Typicallyyou’llfindmusicappslikePandora,Spotify,eBooksubscriptionservices,andmassivelymultiplayer

onlinegamespickingupthesubscriptionmodel.Theseappsallofferunrestrictedaccesstohighquality

contentthatisconstantlychangingandimprovingatscale.

Thediscernablebenefitsofasubscriptionmodelareobvious.You’recollectingrecurringrevenue.Howeveras

greatasthesubscriptionmodelsounds,keepinmindthatifyourappisdownloadedthroughGooglePlayor

AppleAppStore,you’reatthemercyoftheirrules.GoogleandAppleprefertomaintainadirectrelationship

withcustomersasfarasin-apppurchasesareconcerned–whichthesubscriptionmodelfallsunder–which

meanslesscontroloverusers.

Thiscanleadtoafewminorhiccups.There’sanissuewithtransparency,forinstance.Becausethetypeof

datayou’dbereceivingfrombothstoresisaggregated,GooglePlayandApple’strackinginformationisn’t

necessarilysufficientenoughtocatertocomplaintsorrequestsbytracingbacktherootoftheissue.Auto-

renewalsandcancellationsforinstanceneedtofirstgothroughtheAppStoreorGooglePlay,whichmakes

itdifficulttoidentifythesupplychainstartingfromthepurchaseofthesubscriptiontothefulfillmentofthe

orderwithoutcertainprocessesinplace.

EXAMPLES OF SUBSCRIPTION APPS

Althoughfewandfewbetween,subscriptionappshavetheirplaceamongbusinesses.You’ll find music apps

and publications serving content on mobile devices among the most popular types of apps that are based

on the subscription model.


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18TakePandoraortheNewYorkTimesforexample.Pandora,amusicappthatgivesitsusersthefreedom

todecideonafreemium(withads)orsubscriptionmodel,generated$427.1millioninrevenueduring2013.

Pandoradoesofferafreeversionofitsappthatcomeswithafewcaveats:usersmustlistentoads,there’sa

limittothenumbersomeonecanskip,andthequalityofmusicisslightlylower.However,for$4,99/month,

userscanhavefullaccesstotheappwithnoads,skippingcapability,andthehighestqualityofmust.Youcan

seethattheydoagreatjobofprovidingacompellingfreeversionwhilealsocreatingsignificantaddedvalue

ifauserdecidestosubscribe.

Surprisingly, the freemium model is actually a better revenue model for Pandora. The music service is said

to generate more revenue per song from non-paying customers14.

TheNewYorkTimes,whichisadmittedlystrugglingtokeepupwithitscompetitorsinadigitalage,

implementedasubscriptionserviceacrossitsmobilesiterequiringreaderswhowanttoreadmorethanten

articlespermonthtopayforadditionalaccess.

However,todiversifyitsrevenues,theTimesrecentlylaunchedstandalonemobileappsthattheyhopewill

meetthenewsconsumptionneedsofavarietyofdifferenttypesofreadersonmobile.Theseappswillrequire

readerstopurchaseaccessthroughmonthlysubscriptions.Forexample,anappcalledNYTNowwillrunfor

$8permonth,andwillincludeadailyeditoriallycurateddigestofthetopdailystoriesfromtheNewYork

Times.Twoadditionalappsonfoodandopinionpieceswillalsobeavailableassubscriptionmodels,although

it’snotclearhowmuchtheseappswillcost.

HOW SUBSCRIPTION APPS CAN DISRUPT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Therearemanywaysyoucanutilizethesubscriptionmodelwithyourapp.One common strategy we see

is utilizing a subscription offering to entice users to pay an up-front fee. Forexample,youcouldoffer12

monthsworthofaccesstotheappforthepriceoftenmonths,essentiallygivingthemtwofreemonths.You

couldalsooffermultiplepricingtiers,witheachtierofferingadditionalupgrades.Takealookatyourappand

seeifasubscriptionmodelmakessense.Ifdoneright,theycanbehugelyprofitable.


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19CHAPTER 19 - SALES AND MERCHANDISING

Appsarequicklybecomingaviablechannelfortraditionalbrick-and-mortaroronlineretailerstosell

merchandise.Whilesomecompaniesuseappsasadirectretailchannelforalloftheirproducts,othersutilize

themformorespecificornichecases.Thetwomostpopularwaystouseappsforsalesandmerchandising

aredealsandcoupons,andmobilecommerce.

DEALS AND COUPONS

Couponsanddealscanbeusedinnumerouswaysbylargeandsmallbusinessesalike.Althoughthismight

notnecessarilybedirectlytiedtogeneratingaprofit,offeringdealsandcouponsisasolidstrategyfor

collectingshortburstsofrevenue,attractingcustomers,orevenre-engagingexistingusers.

It’simportanttonotethatinmostcases,dealsandcouponsaren’tconsideredtobeatraditionalbusiness

model.AlthoughcompanieslikeGrouponhaveturnedcouponsintoanactualproduct,it’s best to think of

them as a strategy for retaining existing customers in conjunction with other types of revenue models,

including the subscription, freemium, or e-commerce model.

Thatbeingsaid,retainingorfindingnewcustomersisanimportantpartofmonetizingyourappthatshouldn’t

beignored.Withthemobilecouponmodelthere’splentyofflexibilitywithhowabusinesscandeploythis

strategy.

How to Integrate Deals and Coupons

Thereareavarietyofwaystoleveragedealsanddiscountsviamobileapps.Some businesses like to use

them to promote their goods with third parties, while others actually provide the deals directly within their

native app.

Examplesofsomethird-partyappsincludeYowza,whichwillalertuserstomobilecouponsdirectlyfrom

merchantsaroundtheuser’sgeographiclocation;orRetailMeNot,whichaggregatesthelatestdealsfrom

majorbrands.

BusinesseslikeTargetandevenCVS,ontheotherhand,havetakenthenativeapproachandoffercustomers

dealsandcouponsthataredeliveredstraighttotheuser’ssmartphonewithintheirbrandedapps.Convenient

foruserstoredeem,thesemobilecouponscanbescannedstraightfromthephoneattheregister.


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19Asfordeveloperswithmobileappsorgames,thedealandcouponmodelmightbeassimpleasintegratinga

mobileadnetworklikeSparkFlytodisplayredeemablemobilecouponadswithinyourapp,orsendingpush

notificationsforfreeordiscountedvirtualgoods–astrategythatthemobileracinggameCSRRacingusesto

enticeuserstopurchasediscountedvirtualracingautomobiles.

HOW DEALS AND COUPONS CAN DISRUPT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Dealsandcouponswon’tnecessarily“disrupt”yourbusinessmodel,butthinkofitasaninstrumentinyour

mobilemarketingtoolboxthatyoucanutilizetoenticeexistingornewuserstodrivediscountedpurchasesof

yourphysicalorvirtualgoodsthroughyourapp.

Thereisn’tmuchofanexcusenottodeploydealsorcouponswithinyourmobileappifyoucanfindanatural

waytodoso.Regardlessifyourappisbasedonafreemium,paid,orsubscription-basedbusinessmodel,

dealscanbeimplementedreadilywithinyourappontopofthoseexistingmodelswithoutdisruptingtheuser

experience.

MOBILE COMMERCE

Manygameandappcompaniesarefocusedonsellingin-apppurchases,whichisaneasylowmaintenance

option.Buttheimportanceofm-commerce–e-commerceonmobile–isbecomingtoogreattoignore.

Forrester estimates that mobile commerce in the U.S. will account for as much as $114 billion in 2014.

The report also adds that mobile commerce is expected to make up as much as 54% of $414 billion in

e-commerce sales by 201815.

Asyoucansee,increasinglymorebusinessesareturningtomobileforcreativecommercesolutions.Thiscan

includetraditionalretailbusinesseslookingtoexpandtheirdistributionplatformstotargetmobileshoppers,

orcompletelynewcompaniesbuildingabusinessaroundthemobilecommerceopportunity.Mobileoffers

theopportunitytoshakeupanexistingbusinessmodel,andprovidesacompletelynewplatformforselling

goods.


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19EXAMPLES OF MOBILE COMMERCE SUCCESSES

OneexampleofaniconicretailermakingthejumpontomobileisLouis

Vuitton.Theyhavedecidedtoselltheirinventoryofluxurygoods,butina

mannerthat’sspecifictomobile.LouisVuitton’smobileexperienceprovides

userswithasuiteoffeaturestoprovideaconvenientmobileshopping

experience.

TheLouisVuittonappenablesuserstosnapphotosofaLVproduct,andthen

automaticallyopensupaproductpageanddirectstheusertopurchasethe

photographeditem.Traditionally,shopperswererequiredtocalltheirlocal

LouisVuittonretailoutletforaprice,andpick-uptheproductinperson.

TRY THIS

Evenifyoudon’thaveinventoryavailableoryourbusinessisn’tinmanufacturing,youcanstillbreakintothe

e-commercemarketbybecominganaffiliateseller.Thisoptionmightnotbee-commerceinthepurestsense

oftheterm,becausewhatyou’redoingissellinganothercompany’sproductsinexchangeforasmallcut.But

itallowsyoutoavoidthetypicalrisksofmanufacturingsuchasthecostofmaintaininginventoryandshipping

products.Forexample,throughAmazon’sMobileAssociatesAPI,mobilebusinessescanlistAmazonproducts

andtakeupto6%ofthepurchasepriceforeachproductsold.

HOW MOBILE COMMERCE CAN DISRUPT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Just8%ofdevelopersareengagedine-commerceaccordingtoVisionMobile16.Thisisjustafractionofthe

developerswho’veoptedforfreemiumandpaidmobilebusinessmodels.Thereisdefinitelyroomtogrowin

thisspace.

E-commerce is reportedly the highest revenue-generating business model on mobile, withthemedian

revenuefore-commerceappscominginat$2,750permonth.ComparethisfiguretomedianiOSrevenues,

whichgeneratebetween$500and$1,000inonemonthandGooglePlaymedianrevenues,whichgenerate


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19between$100and$200perapp,andyou’llbewonderingwhydevelopersarescramblingtodeploya

freemiummodelinsteadofe-commerce.

Ifyou’realreadysellingproductsthroughabrick-and-mortarstoreoronline,youshouldabsolutelyconsider

buildingamobileapp.Youalreadyhavetheinfrastructureinplacetosellphysicalgoods,theappjustprovides

anotherplatformforuserstomakepurchases.It’sawayforyoutostayaheadofyourcompetitorsandboost

yourrevenue.AndnowyouhaveanentireeBooktohelpyouhandlemarketingyournewapp!

INDIRECT APP AS A CHANNEL

CONTRACT DEVELOPMENT IS THE HIGHEST-GROSSING DIRECT REVENUE MODEL FOR MOBILE DEVELOPERS

Revenue model popularity and median revenue per app per month (n=5,715)

DIRECT APP AS A PRODUCT

Contract work/Commissioned apps

Pay per download

In-app purchases

Freemium

Subscriptions

Per device royalties or licensing fees

In-app advertising

Indirectly (through brand awareness)

Developer services

E-commerce sales

Affiliate or CPI programmes

% OF DEVELOPERS MEDIAN REVENUE

26%

12%

8%

8%

5%

$150

$150

$750

$2750

$1500

26%

24%

22%

20%

11%

7%

$1500

$150

$425

$275

$750

$750

http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/06/7000-app-developers-in-127-countries-say-e-commerce-is-now-the-best-mobile-monetization-strategy/


TH

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NDTHE END

Allthingsmustcometoanend,andunfortunatelythisiswhereI’llhavetoleaveyou.It’sbeenquitetheride,

andIhopeyou’reabletomoveforwardwithsomeoftheappmarketingtacticsyoufoundinthisbook.

Again,I’dliketothankeveryonewhocontributedtothecontentandmadethiseBookpossible.Ifyou’re

interestedinlearningmoreabouteachcontributorandthecompanytheyworkfor,findtheirprofilesonthe

followingpages.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorwouldliketochat,pleasedon’thesitatetoreachouttoanyofus.

Goodluckinallyourappmarketingendeavors!


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Alex Klein

MobileDevHQ by TUNE

OrganizedeBookandwroteSectionOnePartTwo-OrganicAcquisition

About Alex:AlexisinchargeofmarketingatMobileDevHQbyTUNE.Priortojoining

MobileDevHQinAugustof2013,heworkedattheNike+AcceleratorpoweredbyTechStars.Heisagraduateof

theUniversityofWashington,andlovesanythingrelatedtotech,marketing,sports,ortravel.

About MobileDevHQ by TUNE: MobileDevHQbyTUNEistheleadingproductforinboundappmarketers.

Providingdeepinsightsandvisibilityintotheunpaidororganicwaysthatusersdiscoverapps,MobileDevHQ

isaSaaS-basedsolutionforstudyingappstorevisibility,rankings,andcompetitiveintelligence.

MobileDevHQ’smanycustomersincludebrandsandagenciessuchasHotels.com,Realtor.com,andR/GA.

Website: www.mobiledevhq.com

Twitter: @aoklein@mobiledevhq

Interested in MobileDevHQ? Contact: [email protected]

Andrew Hansen

MobileAppTracking by TUNE

ContributedSectionOnePartOne-PaidAcquisition

About Andrew: AndrewistheMarketingContentManageratMobileAppTrackingbyTUNE

andisresponsibleforcreatingandmarketingcompellingandinsightfulcontent.Andrewhasadiverse

backgroundthatincludesriskconsultingresearchandconsumerreporting,experiencesthathelpedhim

learnhowtostudyindustriesandsimplifycomplexconcepts.Hiscurrentfocusismakingsenseofthemobile

ecosystemandhelpingappdevelopersandmobilemarketersimprovetheircampaignperformance.Andrew

receivedaBachelor’sdegreeinInformationSystemsfromtheUniversityofUtahandaMaster’sinInformation

ManagementfromtheUniversityofWashington.

About MobileAppTracking by TUNE: MobileAppTracking(MAT)istheindustrystandardformobileapp

marketerstomeasureperformance,andbuildsbest-in-classtoolstohelpmarketersattributetheiruser


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ESacquisition,engagement,andretentioncampaignstotheappropriatechannelsandpartners.MATprovides

attributionformorethanhalfofthetopgrossingappsintheiTunesandGooglePlaystorestoday.Customers

include:Supercell,Spotify,Kayak,Uber,Square,EA,G5,Sephora,Hipmunk,LINE,Gilt,JackThreads,William

Hill,gumiInc.,Nickelodean,Zoosk,eHarmony,andeBayKorea.

Website: www.MobileAppTracking.com

Twitter: @AndrewHans3n@MobileAppTrack

Interested in MobileAppTracking? Contact: [email protected]

Sylvain Gauchet

Apptamin

ContributedChapter6-TheWebsite

About Sylvain: Beforeco-foundingApptamin,Sylvainworkedforseveralyearson

marketingmobileapps.He’spassionateaboutleanstartup,contentmarketing,andapppromotionandhas

beenlearningasmuchaspossiblesohecankeepsharinginsightsandadvice.Healsolovesfoodandbbqs,

thebeach,goodrumandafunkybassline.

About Apptamin: Apptaminproducesappvideos,gametrailers,andapppreviewsfordevelopers,startups,

andFortune500companies.Theideaisthatvideoisthequickestwaytoassessanapp,andisapowerfultool

forappdeveloperstogettheirpointacross.Appvideoscanbeusedinmanyplaces:appwebsite,Google

Playstore,theAppStore(withAppPreviews),mobilevideoads,Facebookvideoads,etc.

Website: www.apptamin.com

Twitter: @sylvainww@apptamin

Interested in Apptamin? Contact: [email protected]/company:[email protected]

Aaron Huang

Leanplum

ContributedSectionTwo-ActivationandSection3-Referral

About Aaron: Aaronhasabackgroundineconomicsandfinance.Afterstartinghisown

onlineclothingcompanywhileworkinginAsia,hedecidedtomovetoSanFranciscoandhasbeeninvolvedin

earlystagestart-upseversince.Asadigitalmarketingtechnologist,Aaronisadata-drivenproductevangelist


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ESwithexpertiseinanalytics,bothasaconsumer-basedandB2Bmarketer.Mostrecentlyasheadofproduct

marketingatKontagent(nowUpsight)andadvisorandconsultanttoLeanplum,amobileoptimization

company,Aaronhasspearheadedeffortstoensuremarketersunderstandandactondatatoattain

measurableROI.

About Leanplum: Leanplumisafullyintegratedoptimizationsolutionformobileapps.Thecompanyenables

developers,productmanagersandmarketerstounleashthevalueofcustomerdatabyeasilyoptimizing

mobilecontentandmessagingviaflexibleA/Btesting,marketingautomationandpowerfulanalytics.

Leanplumwasfoundedin2012byex-Googleengineerswithyearsofexperienceinvideoadoptimization.

LeanplumgraduatedfromtheTechStarsSeattleprogramandisnowbasedinSanFrancisco.

Website: www.Leanplum.com

Twitter: @Leanplum

Interested in Leanplum? Contact: [email protected]

Ezra Siegel

Apptentive

ContributedSectionFour-Referral

About Ezra: EzraSiegelwastheVPofCommunityforApptentive.He’sanativeofChicago,

andisaloverofsports,music,food,anddrink.Heisanavidtraveler,andenjoysridinghismotorcycle.

About Apptentive: Apptentivehelpsappdevelopersimproveretention,getbetterratings,getmorereviews,

andincreasefeedbackfortheirmobileapps.Manymobileappshavetroublereceivingfeedbackfrom

customers,receivenegativereviewsintheappstore,anddon’tunderstandhowtheycanimprovetheir

app.ByintegratingtheApptentiveSDK,appdevelopersaregiventhetoolstointerceptnegativefeedback,

improvetheirstarratingsintheappstore,andgrowacommunityofloyalappcustomers.Thistoolprovides

customerswithabetterappexperiencebygivingyouadirectchanneltoheartheirfeedbackandhave

conversationsthatenableyoutoturnanappintosomethingcustomerslovetouse.

Website: www.Apptentive.com

Twitter: @EzraMax@apptentive

Interested in Apptentive? Contact: [email protected]


Francis Bea

AppFlood

ContributedSectionFive-Revenue

About Francis: FrancisBeaistheContentMarketingManageratPapayaMobile,wherehe

leadscontentmarketingandcommunicationsforitsprogrammaticmobileadplatform,AppFlood.He’sbeen

atechnologycontributoratCNETwritingaboutthebuddingtechsceneinChina,andhaspreviouslywritten

forDigitalTrendsandTheNextWeb.

About AppFlood: In2012PapayaMobilelaunchedAppFlood,theleadingglobalprogrammaticmobilead

platform.AppFlood’sproprietarytechnologiesdriveperformanceforinternationallycompetitivepremium

advertisersandbrandswithglobalmobileadvertisingstrategies.AppFlood’sSmartConvert™algorithmically

optimizesadvertisers’user-acquisitioncampaignsusingmachine-learningandpredictsusersthataremost-

likelytoconvert.AdMatchPro™mobilizesAppFlood’sexpertiseinbigdataanduser-behaviormarketingto

accuratelytargetrelevantusersegmentsflexibly,reliably,andatscale.Connectedto82,000apps,AppFlood

deliversnearlyhalfamilliondailyinstallsand800milliondailyimpressions.

Website: www.AppFlood.com

Twitter: @francisybea@app_flood

Interested in AppFlood? Contact: [email protected]

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