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Posts tagged mobile marketing tips
India’s Mobile Growth is Through the Roof
Sep 23rd
One of the world’s most populous countries is leading the way as the mobile revolution continues to saturate the globe with mobile devices: India. A recent study by the market research firm Juxt polled an extraordinary number of respondents – 121,311 individuals in 30,066 households across India – and found that the nation now can claim roughly 554.8 million mobile users!
That’s right, there are more mobile users in India than there are people in the United States. And what’s amazing is that this figure was only half as large a few short years ago.
According to the study, these users employ 643.4 million active SIM cards, and there are approximately 773.9 million live SIMs in India. Of these users, 23.8 million individuals access the Internet through a mobile data connection such as GPRS or 3G. More interestingly, a million of those users connect to the Internet exclusively via mobile.
No desktop. No laptop. Just portable, mobile Internet accessed through a handheld device.
The great age of the keyboard and mouse has peaked and is now declining. The new age of touchscreens and miniaturized predictive typing is on the rise, and India is demonstrating the trends quite clearly.
What might surprise you, though, is that a majority of the users who access Internet exclusively through mobile data connections are in rural areas. You might not associate rural communities with being technologically progressive, but in this case, we’re guessing that mobile connections provide convenient access in locations where obtaining a reliable hardwired home connection is difficult. [Commenters, if you’re familiar with the reasons behind these stats, we’d love to hear more!]
Indeed, a slim majority 54% of India’s mobile users live in rural areas. And yet mobile saturation is only at 36% (urban mobile saturation is far more developed, as you might expect, having reached 70%). This means that opportunities for growth among rural mobile users in India are quite robust. For small businesses in India and app developers, the message is clear: the always-growing mobile space is practically begging for increased attention, and rural users should be at the center of your efforts.
What do they want? Well, according to the study, landline users are focused on games, videos, and music, but mobile users are all about communication. Thus, social networking, instant messaging, and e-mail are the favorites of the mobile user. Keeping in touch, it seems, is the most useful feature of mobile devices. And users are keeping in touch more than ever.
The numbers don’t lie. If you ignore mobile, you do so at your peril. The users can’t get enough of it, and if your business focuses on mobile, they won’t be able to get enough of you, either!
Bizness Apps Tip - Use a Loyalty Feature to Boost Repeat Business
Sep 12th
More revenue! More revenue! More revenue!
In a material world, this is the obsession of many business owners. And in order to get it, they try many things. Most of these revolve around gaining new business through promotions, special offers, discounts, referrals, and more. But while most owners are chasing new business, they’re overlooking a far more reliable and profitable source of new revenue: current customers.
“Current customers? I already have them! I need to increase revenue, not solidify my current revenue streams.”
Focusing on current customers CAN increase revenue. Just because a person already knows about your business doesn’t mean that they’ve maxed out their usage capacity for your products or services. Instead, current customers are one of the most cost effective sources of new revenue available to your business, because repeat shoppers spend more and are far easier to persuade than strangers. In fact, as one marketing strategist and author reports, repeat shoppers can spend up to 33% more than first-timers.
So, how do you get current customers to spend more? A simple strategy: start a loyalty program using your app!
With Bizness Apps, loyalty programs are included at no extra cost in your monthly bill, and they’re quite powerful for increasing the revenue you get from your existing customers. According to a recent study by the National Restaurant Association, 72% of customers say that loyalty programs are “extremely” or “very likely” to drive repeat business.
The logic is fairly straightforward. If a person already likes your current offerings, they’ll like them even more when they get rewarded for making purchases or for visiting your location. And that’s just how a basic loyalty program works.
We’ve all used one before. The most popular example is a program that rewards customers after a certain number of purchases. For example, “Buy 6 Ice Cream Cones at 7th Heaven Creamery and you’ll get the 7th Cone Free!” The count is usually kept on a punchcard or stamp card.
A Bizness Apps loyalty feature operates the same way, just virtually.
Instead of a physical punchcard or stamp card, each user will track purchases through your app. When they make a purchase at your location, they can pull up the loyalty program tab and your team members can tap the screen and enter a simple code to record the purchase. The purchases will then be tallied onscreen. When the virtual card is “full,” your team members can process a redemption and reset the card.
Your customers will love it, and will probably spend more at your business after implementation. And it’s already included with your Bizness Apps mobile app subscription! Give it a shot, and you’ll be glad you did.
Learn more about Bizness Apps loyalty features here.
Loyalty Tab from Bizness Apps on Vimeo.
Mobile Loyalty Apps: The Huge Opportunity Most Small Businesses Are Overlooking
Aug 20th
If you’re a small businesses owner, you want to increase sales, right? (It seems we always start off our posts this way, but it’s only because increasing profit seems to always be on the minds of business owners. We can’t imagine why… )
Well, if you want to boost sales, there are many methods and strategies you can use. But none can help you make the most of your existing customer base quite like a mobile loyalty program can. Your existing customers are your most receptive audience, and a mobile loyalty program gives them a reason to increase the amount of business they do with you, as well as the amount of engagement they have with your mobile app.
There is a long list of other benefits to offering a mobile loyalty program, too. Here’s the short version:
Benefits of mobile loyalty programs:
• Increased customer spending. Economics 101 teaches us that we generally do more of a thing that we’re incentivized to do. Mobile loyalty programs incentivize spending. Therefore, customers spend more.
In short, the message to customers is, “Keep buying, and you’ll get a reward.” So they do. We can’t count how many times this has worked on us as customers. For example, why go to another quick sub shop when two more purchases at Subway will get you a free sandwich? Subway it is!
• New customer acquisition. About 40% of consumers will change buying habits to maximize loyalty rewards. If you want new customers, the promise of rewards is just as powerful an enticement to strangers as it is to existing customers. Heck, you might even get back some lost customers when they see that a business they’ve used in the past is now sweetening the deal.
• Increased visit frequency. 35% of people will drive out of their way to use a business that they have a loyalty program with. If you want to see customers more often, a mobile loyalty program will probably bring people in more frequently, especially when you can push notifications to users and connect with them while they’re out and about, through their mobile device.
• Increased product awareness. Have a new product that you want to promote? Make it a loyalty reward, and more customers will get familiar with it, boosting future sales (provided the new product is good, of course).
• Increased customer activity tracking. A mobile loyalty program lets you leverage the power of analytics to gain a wealth of info and insights into your customers. And with access to device data, you can even figure out where and when customers decide to make purchases, and how to best design your rewards program.
• Increased customer satisfaction and retention. 62% of customers report that they are more likely to continue doing business with a company that has a loyalty program. ‘Nuff said.
That’s a lot of hype you’ve got there. Are any of these benefits actually realized?
Yes! About half of business owners report that their loyalty program is “somewhat effective.” As with any business practice, what you get out of it depends largely on your own input. We suspect that, over time and with the right tools, a dedicated approach can yield extremely cost-effective results.
On that point, some business owners worry that the cost of rewards handed out to increase sales won’t leave much of a net benefit at the end of the day. The cost is actually much lower than most owners think, however, due to the fact that redemption rates are far below 100%. In fact, roughly one-third of loyalty rewards earned are never redeemed!
Loyalty programs are popular and expected. It’s time to get on it.
We’re quickly reaching the point where customers expect loyalty rewards even from small, local businesses. Total loyalty program memberships are now over two billion in the aggregate, with total redemptions nearing $50 billion. Offering a loyalty program is pretty much par for the course, now, and is an easy way to gain an edge on your competition.
And passing on one is an easy way to leave a space open for your competitors to gain an edge on you.
4 Tips for a Strong LinkedIn Page for Your Mobile App Company
Jul 1st
“LinkedIn? Why do I care about that? I need downloads, not corporate connections!”
Good news – you can get both from LinkedIn!
Not only can your mobile app development company connect with recruits, colleagues, and more on LinkedIn, but you can actually promote products there as well. And here’s the best part – the people you impress with your product on LinkedIn are likely to be industry insiders whose recommendation is more valuable than a garden-variety one.
When it comes to favorable reviews or testimonials, gaining the attention of a fellow developer or other tech industry participant can be hugely valuable. They tend to be more active online, and are generally more willing to speak well about a product that impresses them. And if you catch the eye of a major tech blogger, you’ll be in great shape.
So, how can you make sure your page is helping your business and gaining you the kind of attention you want from colleagues and others? Using these four tips:
1. Create a memorable image
LinkedIn has changed over the years, and the most noticeable difference is that companies can use banner images to spice up their pages. Upload a nice banner that incorporates your logo, and your page will pop out from the mass of black-and-white text pages that predominate on LinkedIn.
Also, this should go without saying (but a quick review of pages revealed that, sadly, it does not): make sure your image resolution and size is optimal for the LinkedIn banner specs. If your banner looks sloppy, you won’t be making a very good impression at all. You’re an app company – a tech-savvy and attractive online image is a must!
2. Be social
Don’t view your page as a static website. Instead, add it to your list of social media outlets to update regularly. You can post news, announcements, info about projects, and the occasional promotional message or offer. (LinkedIn is all about business, so why not conduct some while you’re there?)
3. Use keywords
When writing your company’s textual description sections, be sure to use keywords that are relevant to those you want to bring to your page. This can mean incorporating words that recruits would use, as well as keywords that prospects might use. Choose your words carefully, and you’ll enjoy a bit of organic search traffic in addition to the activity from members of your current network.
4. Provide links
Don’t forget to put up a download link every now and then. You’ll be surprised what can happen when you’ve got a thriving LinkedIn page!
5 Tips for Increasing Your Clients Mobile Marketing Spend
Jun 30th
Many businesses that want to increase revenue often focus exclusively on gaining new customers. But while this can have tremendous long-term benefits, there’s another strategy that shouldn’t be ignored: boosting sales from existing customers.
Existing customers already enjoy your product, and selling to them should be significantly easier than selling to strangers. For that reason, it can often be quite cost-effective to boost revenue by expanding relationships with customers you already have. The following tips are useful strategies that you can employ to do that.
1. Look for natural upsells
Unless your business only offers a single product, you may be missing opportunities to upsell to existing customers. If they need one solution in your industry, they may need related items as well. For example, resellers that offer mobile app development using our platform might want to also offer mobile websites to existing customers. These folks have already demonstrated an interest in pursuing mobile strategies, and it wouldn’t be surprising if some of them wanted to explore the possibility of using multiple channels at the same time in order to enhance their mobile presence.
2. Study your customers and listen to them
Nothing could be more valuable than customer feedback and customer activity analytics (if applicable to your industry). By listening to what your customers want, you’ll likely learn which gaps in your offering need to be filled. These missed opportunities often represent additional income you could be earning by solving problems of customers, and may help you boost average customer spend.
3. Reward loyalty
This is probably an obvious strategy, but it is also a powerful one that we didn’t want to leave out. If increased spending leads to rewards at your company, you’ve set up an incentive structure than can help boost revenue. If you’re concerned about adding revenue only to give it back in the form of rewards, remember that rewards don’t have to be costly. If you’re creative, you can find ways to show appreciation to loyal customers that don’t cost you anything (check out our post on boosting loyalty through apps for more on that topic).
4. Share promotions with existing clients
All of those great promotions you come up with to gain new customers can sometimes serve a dual-purpose. When you run a new promotion, consider offering something similar to your current customers, as well. Some teaser discounts and other things will be inappropriate, of course, for sharing with your existing customers. You don’t want to cannibalize your own revenue base. Other offers, however, might fit. Keep current customers in mind and strive to run concurrent promotions where it makes sense to do so.
5. Keep in touch
Spam is bad, but the occasional message to your customer base is a good idea. You generally want to stay top-of-mind, and a decent sales boost can often come through simply putting yourself in front of your customers. This doesn’t have to mean a formal offer or solicitation. Sometimes a friendly, “Hello!” or other communication is all you need.
4 Affordable Marketing Strategies for Mobile App Companies
May 30th
All right, so you’ve developed an amazing app and it’s time to spread the word, hit the top of the charts, and get rich. First things first: you’ll need a Super Bowl commercial. Studies show there’s simply no better way to reach millions in a short amount of time …
What’s that? $3.8 million dollars for 30 seconds of airtime is too much?
Okay, nevermind. Unless you manage to get adopted by Bill Gates, you probably won’t be able to afford to go the Super Bowl ad route. Let’s go to Plan B. Plan B includes the following four budget-friendly strategies that will let you promote your app without breaking the bank:
1. Reward customers
Except for the word “free,” nothing entices a download as much as the promise of earning some kind of reward for doing so. While you have to avoid violating any app marketplace’s terms of use, the more you can offer prizes, discounts, gifts, and other rewards to users for downloading, sharing, rating, and reviewing your app, the better.
The reward doesn’t have to be expensive, and it pays to get creative, here. You can offer winners a free download of another app that you or a partner company developed, a free pass to an event, or (if your app is a game) even incorporating the winner into your game. Give users a reason to help you out.
2. Toot your own horn
Press releases are an underrated tool for spreading the word about your app. If it’s inventive, better than the competition, more full-featured than the others out there, or has something else great going for it, you have a shot at getting some decent press. But don’t expect the New York Times to promote your app for you. If you have a neat offering, however, smaller bloggers and niche outlets may well be interested in producing a write up.
Also, if a formal press release intimidates you, don’t be afraid to reach out to members of the “Internet press” directly with a simple email. You’d probably be surprised at the responses and results you can get this way.
3. Be a thought leader
When it comes to the topic addressed by your app, it pays to be a bit of an authority on the subject. For example, if your app helps families design and lookup fire safety plans, it would be great to have a blog about fire safety. The more relevant content you produce about your topic, the more credible your app becomes. Your blog also is a great promotional tool, even if there aren’t many fans. You never know who will read your material and then go on to spread the word on social media or elsewhere.
4. If all else fails, bite the bullet
… and buy some ads!
We know, we know. This is all about affordable marketing. But you don’t have to go crazy, here. A limited placement or two through Admob, Inmobi, Mobclix, or another network can deliver excellent value, depending on your ad and your app.
Remember, “affordable” doesn’t always have to mean “free.” Sometimes getting great value is the best buy of all.
Good luck out there!
5 Tips for Making Your Mobile Marketing Company Look Bigger
May 24th
Let’s face it: even with the return-to-local movement, people still sometimes prefer established companies. Whether they should is up for debate, but the perception held by certain consumers that, “Big companies produce better products” is something every app developer should consider when marketing.
To that end, the following five tips are strategies that may help newer developers avoid losing downloads from users who aren’t comfortable using a product from an unknown company. Implement them, and your app will get a credibility boost instead of paying a “startup tax.”
1. Court the press
If a user Googles your app company, and the only hits they get are your company’s website and your listing in an app marketplace, your presence is too thin. To help get the ball rolling, prepare a simple press release and distribute it using a common outlet like PR Newswire. Then, reach out to Internet bloggers or other journalist who may be interested in a writeup about your app.
The important thing will be to have some kind of hook that makes your app worthy of a post. Anything innovative or otherwise interesting about your app (or your company’s story) may work. Then, once you’ve gotten a few reviews or articles published, searches for your app will look a lot more robust.
Press, even small press, can help your app company look bigger. Press will also help your app gain traction with users and the app industry in general, so your efforts can show returns in several ways, if they pay off.
2. Have a good-looking website
You don’t need to push any boundaries of design, here. You just need to make sure that when someone visits your site, they think,
“Wow. So clean, smooth, and easy to use! And the information I need is right here. I’m sold.”
instead of:
“Uh … what country are these guys from? Is this thing going to give me a virus? I can’t even figure out what the features are … I’m out of here.”
The point is – avoid clutter and awkward design. The main keys are:
• Description. A simple description of your app should appear right up front.
• Features and Benefits. A few of the most important features and benefits should not be far behind.
• Video. Consider including a simple one-minute demo or explanation video.
• Reviews. Include a couple of reviews or testimonials.
• Download. Ask for a download and make the button easy to see. If your app is free, say so.
The rest of the information you want to share can come on other pages. Take a look at Evernote’s site for a good example of how to implement these tips well. (Tell me you don’t want to download that app!)
3. Hide personal stuff
Whatever you do, don’t use Gmail addresses, personal cell phones, or other information that screams, “Sole proprietor.” Even if you have to use shared staffing solutions, it may be worth it to project the image of a substantial organization, as opposed to a shoestring startup.
In addition, if you make it easy and painless to ask questions about the app and get support, your reviews will be much stronger than if your “customer support department“ is one guy who just refers people to a FAQ page and disappears.
4. Talk about big projects you’ve worked on
If your team is cobbled together from developers who work full-time jobs for big companies, that’s a plus. In your website’s “About Us” section or in your app marketplace listing, reference other big companies and blue-chip market sectors your team has worked for. If members of your team have had a hand in notable projects, include that as well. These things will go a long way toward bolstering your company’s credentials and credibility.
5. Show logos of big companies
If you’ve created apps for any big companies, or runs with support of leading partners, say so! Nothing inaccurate should be said, but to the extent you can incorporate familiar logos and company names into your project honestly, you should. There’s no shame in leaning on successful partners or customers as a way of demonstrating legitimacy.
You may be small today, but sometimes you just have to fake it ‘til you make it. Good luck!
