This sponsored post is produced by Tapjoy.
Today’s brands face a difficult challenge. With consumers now spending more than half of all their digital media time using mobile apps, brands must either adapt to the evolving digital landscape or risk missing out to more mobile-savvy competitors.
Brand such as McDonald’s, Chipotle, Walgreens, Starbucks and many others have successfully used mobile apps to help build loyalty, drive sales and improve the overall customer lifecycle — but a whole lot of other brands have struggled to find an effective strategy. Simply having an app does not equip a brand to operate in the new digital world; the app has to support the company’s overall goals while enhancing its brand identity, and it must be accompanied by a cogent product and marketing strategy.
Some people might be surprised that the marketing playbook for successful branded apps wasn’t pioneered by traditional “marketers” at all.
The group that cracked the code? Mobile game developers, who have been studying, testing and optimizing app behavior for years. Because the competition for users — and customers — is so fierce, game developers have gotten very sophisticated in how they acquire, engage and retain their players.
Tapjoy has been working with the best mobile game developers for years, and we’ve observed 10 ‘musts’ that any brand should keep in mind to optimize engagement in a branded app.
Top 10 tips to maximize a branded mobile app
1. Build something great
With more than 2.5 million apps available through the App Store and Google Play, consumers have plenty of options to choose from, so if an app doesn’t deliver obvious value, it’s not likely to get much attention. As game developers have realized, it’s hard enough for even great apps to get noticed, but even more difficult for less-than-great apps. So brands must start by building something great.
2. Onboard new users with an excellent “FTUE”
The first session that a new user has with an app is so important to game developers that they have a common acronym for it: “First Time User Experience,” or “FTUE.” One out of every four apps downloaded are abandoned after the initial use, demonstrating how important it is to put your best foot forward right away and give users a reason to continue using your app.
3. Use in-app messaging
In-app messages allow developers to communicate with their users in a variety of ways — everything from offering tips and tricks on how to use the app more effectively to promoting special offers or currency discounts. For instance, a game developer might push a message to a user who has just run out of currency asking if they’d like to earn more points by watching video ads. Brands might try using in-app messaging to highlight certain features, announce special promotions, or notify a consumer when she is close by to a physical storefront. The key is to keep it targeted, relevant and helpful.
4. Update app content regularly
Game developers understand that the best way to keep their users playing a game over the long haul is to continually release fresh content so there’s always something new to explore. This strategy is so crucial to many game developers that there’s a name for it: Games-as-a-Service (GaaS). Brands should take note and make sure to update their own apps with fresh new content and features as regularly as possible.
5. Leverage game mechanics to drive engagement
The term “gamification” refers to the act of non-gaming apps, web sites or services leveraging what are traditionally thought of as gaming elements to drive user engagement and retention. By incorporating game mechanics such as achievements, rewards, quests, bonuses, collecting, progression, competition, and more into their apps, brands can give their customers a fun experience that also motivates them to come back and continue to engage day after day.
6. Segment users to deliver targeted, customized experiences
By segmenting users based on criteria ranging from demographics and geography to device type and their in-app behaviors, game developers are able to deliver custom messages, rewards, offers, or even entirely customized game experiences that match those users’ interests and needs. Brands must learn to do the same if they are to get close to the promise of one-to-one marketing.
7. Conduct special, limited-time, in-app events
Many game developers will regularly host in-game events such as Daily Challenges, One-Day Sales, Livestream, and more. Brands can take a cue from these game developers by conducting their own special events that might be used to introduce a new product line, make a special announcement, or to simply bring their communities closer together.
8. Re-engage users through ad campaigns
Many game developers will use ads that re-target their existing users to deliver offers urging them to re-open the app and conduct some type of action within it, such as completing the next level or checking out new content. Brands can also use retargeting campaigns to re-engage with current users or even to encourage lapsed users to return to the app after a period of inactivity.
9. Allow users to customize their experience
One of the best ways to get users to keep using an app is to create some type of barrier to exit that makes it difficult for them to simply walk away. Game developers often allow players to personalize their experience by setting up profiles and avatars or by customizing weapons and tools to their liking. Brands should take note from these game developers and figure out ways to allow users to customize the experience.
10. Measure, analyze, and optimize
An entire industry has sprung up around app analytics, geared to help developers understand how their users are behaving within their apps. These tools allow game developers to optimize their KPIs by conducting A/B tests, splitting users up into cohort groups, targeting user segments more effectively, and so on. Brands must learn to not only track their user behaviors but understand which changes have the biggest impact on their key metrics, and optimize their apps accordingly.
There is no specific formula for operating a branding app, and brands that do so must study what works best for their own apps and optimize those efforts accordingly. But follow these ten rules, which have been proven time and again to work by some of the most sophisticated mobile game developers, and the results should begin to point up and to the right.
Peter Dille is the CMO of Tapjoy, a global leader in mobile app-tech and monetization.
To go deeper, download Tapjoy’s white paper on the top lessons brands can learn from game developers.
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