Sometimes marketing feels like treading water. Your job is to keep the brand bobbing along, and when the latest trend rolls in, you have to decide whether to ride the wave or keep paddling until something looks more promising.
When it comes to the mobile wave, the latest decision is to app or app-not. With more than 1 million apps in Google Play and the Apple Store alone, you’re probably paddling as fast as you can to join the crowd.
But before your brand rushes to adopt a “me, too” mobile strategy, or takes the cheap and cheerful route of repurposing your website, ask yourself this question: Does the customer really need this? Is this something they’ll use again and again? Customers are going to carry your brand in their pocket; how will you capitalize on that immediacy? Could you damage the brand experience you have so carefully crafted by rushing into something no one uses?
When brands focus on three simple objectives—awareness, trial, repeat—it often leads to a surefire strategy that helps keep brands out of the app graveyard, says Hugh Park Jedwill, executive director of the Heartland Mobile Council, which educates brands on how to use mobile effectively. Create mobile content and a user experience sticky enough for someone to latch onto, or you’re toast, he says.
Think of it this way: The average consumer has 41 apps on his or her phone, so if you want to nudge your way into regular rotation, your app has to pack a one-two punch of value and utility. That lighter app was fun for two minutes at a concert, and the coin toss app was helpful in settling a bet, but now what? If someone uses your brand’s app and asks that same question, you’ve missed out on making a meaningful connection with a potential customer.
Branded apps such as Absolut’s Drinkspiration, a fun, well-designed app that serves as a pocket bartender, cost a lot of money to build. But the focus on awareness rather than repeat use is a missed opportunity.
The early mobile marketing days were about the fun factor, creating a cool experience, and just getting the app out there in general. Now, Jedwill says, “People start to see that it is more powerful than a little toy, and as a result, it can become a stronger piece of the overall marketing strategy.”
Context, Continuity, Connection
Context and continuity should play a key role in mobile strategy. Consumers search, plan, shop and connect on the go. Then, more than half of them continue that activity online.
Give people a reason to connect with your brand by creating engaging content that speaks to an event or routine in a person’s life, and be sure to provide a next step.
Start with a seamless user experience and add information, entertainment or pure utility, and you could end up with an app worthy of a user’s Top 40.
Starbucks’ app, for instance, lets customers pay with their Starbucks Card, locate the nearest store, and even download a free song of the week. The brand zeroed in on repeat usage by positioning itself firmly in the pockets of frequenters, as part of their daily Starbucks routine.
Misses within the app space lack a hook that meets the crucial mobile objective: repeat. No direct link to purchase the product? Fail. No means to chat with the brand in the social sphere? Not smart.
As you see that app wave swell, you should be able to answer: Why do your customers need a mobile app from you? And why would people need to download and use it repeatedly? If you don’t have ready answers for those two questions, keep treading water. Save the time and money on development and redirect those resources to something better suited to help your brand swim.