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