Do you want to get more people to use your mobile app? If so, you’re not alone. The app market has grown dramatically over the past decade. Currently, there are over 1.85 million apps on the iOS App Store, while the Google Play Store boasts an impressive 2.56 million mobile applications.
Consumers use mobile apps to track their daily activities, find entertainment, engage with brands, shop online, and much more. As a business owner or marketer, there are plenty of exciting ways you can use your application to spark more growth.
One issue many people face when launching their app is they can’t build a substantial userbase. We understand that this situation is frustrating, regardless of the size of your business or industry.
Today, we want to help alleviate this issue by sharing several tips and tricks you can use to get more app engagement and downloads.
Incentivize Downloads
If you want to get more people to use your mobile app, we suggest thinking about how you can incentivize visitors to click the download button. In other words, why should users take the time to download your application to their device?
An app landing page will give you a chance to explain the benefits of your program. You should go beyond listing the features of your application and instead focus on how those benefits will help potential customers.
For example, an email marketing firm wouldn’t simply pitch that their app is great for lead generation. However, they might say that their app is designed to help small business owners grow their email lists. The humanization and clear benefit of the second option mean more people are likely to click download.
You can also make downloading your app an interactive part of a larger event. For instance, if you’re hosting a giveaway, you could ask people to download your application for an additional chance to win. These small but powerful marketing moves can lead to more downloads and brand engagement.
Streamline the Onboarding Process
Next, let’s discuss the onboarding process once someone downloads your app. We’ve all installed an application in the past that was simply too difficult to use. So, we were forced to uninstall. A helpful tutorial or FAQ section could have saved the experience.
You don’t want to put your customers in this situation. We suggest creating a comprehensive onboarding program where users can learn about all of the features and functions of your mobile app.
One way to streamline your onboarding process is to start an email drip campaign as soon as visitors sign up for the app. Welcome emails have an open rate of 86%, mainly because the brand is still fresh in the consumer’s mind.
Some businesses choose to build their onboarding in the app. This method is an excellent way to keep users engaged with your app from the moment they sign in. Ultimately, your onboarding process it’s up to you and your preferred marketing strategy.
Use Personalized Alerts and Offers to Keep Users in the Loop
Let’s stay on the topic of keeping people engaged once they download your app. Did you know that 80% of online shoppers say they want more personalized content and offers from brands? You can drastically boost your in-app engagement and sales by using personalized alerts and offers.
It’s possible to create personalized offers for visitors within your app. We suggest using software with conditional logic to choose when to show specific promotions. For example, you could trigger a popup when a user reads three blog posts about a particular product in your app.
A simple message like, “Psst. You seem to like (product). Here’s 15% off on us!” can result in more sales.
We also recommend asking visitors to enable push alerts. Research shows that 15.95% of U.S. shoppers are likely to subscribe to push notifications if asked. We all have our phones on us at all times. If someone sends a message to your phone, you typically see it in minutes. Now, imagine the impact that could have on your marketing.
You can send out strategically timed alerts for flash sales and when you publish new content on your company blog. Incentivize users to click-through by offering a link to use the coupon that goes back to your mobile application.
Here’s another interesting fact; the average shopper spends 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter every day. You can use some of the strategies mentioned above in combination with each platform’s advertising program to get even more people to download and use your app.
Gather Feedback and Refine Your App
Finally, you can get more downloads and engagement if you’re willing to refine your app over time. Once you start building a small userbase, send out feedback forms and talk to these users on social media. They know what they want and need from your mobile app.
The strategy our team focuses on is identifying our strengths and weaknesses through user feedback. We ask users 3-4 questions, and essentially, they are;
- What do you like about our app?
- What do you dislike about our app?
- What feature would you like to see added in the future?
- Do you have any additional feedback?
All four questions are open-ended, so users are free to type out their thoughts. We review their feedback every week and keep track of common requests and complaints. As needed, we go through and make changes, plus add requested features.
This process allows our app to grow and evolve over time. Asking for feedback will get more repeat visitors because they see that you listened to their thoughts and deliver on your promises. However, all of these changes will also ensure that new visitors have a wonderful experience the very first time they open your app.