To understand the impact personalization can have on app sales, all you have to do is look at some of the top mobile apps for Apple, Android and Windows phones. Popular mobile marketing apps with a focus on entertainment, dining and shopping are all about catering to real-time needs of a consumer’s personal favorite foods, stores and venues. A few apps that do it well include Great Food Nearby, Shopular Coupons, Yelp and Shop Savvy.
Three of the most downloaded apps of all time – Facebook, YouTube and Google Play — are all for personal entertainment, social networking and sharing. Seventy-six percent of all smartphone users operating on iOS or Android have downloaded the Facebook app. YouTube has a download rate of 53.7 percent and GooglePlay is close behind with 53.5 percent. Just behind those top three, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and Pandora all fall above a 40 percent download rate. Other popular apps like Uber, GasBuddy, Shazam, Instagram and Pocket are all about making the smartphone user’s experience as personable and convenient as possible.
Though many of the most downloaded apps don’t have a mobile marketing focus, all of these apps do have a personal focus. If consumers can’t connect with a mobile marketing app in a personal way, why should they even bother downloading it? Successful mobile marketing apps know how to reach customers, from providing timely coupons to short-lived offers and special mobile-only deals that are tailored to their specific interests and tastes.
Why the personal approach wins
Of all of Apple’s most downloaded free apps, very few have a mobile marketing focus. The most popular apps have a social networking, lifestyle or entertainment focus – so what makes mobile marketing apps stand out? Consumers are willing to open themselves to marketing tactics if the value of the app is high enough. On the list of Apple’s most downloaded free apps, Pandora places second on the list. While it’s not a traditional mobile marketing app like Groupon or LivingSocial, Pandora includes quite a few ads – but consumers are still willing to deal with ads because in exchange, they get to curate an entirely personalized music experience. Few other music apps, if any, offer a personalized experience on par with Pandora.
Even Groupon, a mobile marketing app that seeks to reach customers and get them to purchase a good or service, still ranks on Apple’s most-downloaded list because of the highly personalized experience it offers. Consumers can receive short-lived offers, deals and promotions on goods or services from industries that they’ve specifically selected.
Benefits of the Personal Approach
· Increase customer engagement. When you enter a store, eat at a restaurant or visit a bar where everyone knows your name, you’re more likely to engage with the staff – and they, of course, are more likely to engage with you. Consumers like to be recognized, catered to and approached on a personal level. Onceyou’ve done that, your customers will be more likely to engage with you, click on links, buy goods or services or keep coming back for more.
· Increase conversions. Once customer engagement increases, conversions are sure to follow. Even large companies like BMW have seen a $500,000 jump in revenue and 30 percent increase in conversions just by personalizing text messages to U.S. customers.
· Improved customer retention. A personalized approach to your mobile marketing efforts can help keep the customers you already have. According to a study by Econsultancy, post-purchase loyalty programs that send out personalized offers is the most popular way to connect with customers and encourage them to make more purchases in the future.
Make the effort to get personal and deliver relevant offers and information to your customers. For consumers, a little personalization goes a long way.