10 ways to optimise your m-commerce app for reach, engagement and profit

e27.co

The art and science of a successful m-commerce app

Mobile commerce is a booming industry. eMarketer statistics find that m-commerce sales will be around US$242.08 billion in 2020. While there is big opportunity, you need to expect big competition, too. If you want to stand out from competitors, your platform needs to give your users an extraordinary experience.

Here are 10 things you will need to focus on.

1. Good use of visuals

Images are a great way to spice things up on your m-commerce app. Product photography is very important in convincing users about the qualities of a product. Remember that users are seeing the product on their device screens, and they have no way of using their tactile or other senses. Golfsmith, for instance, has found that a 36o-degree view of its products has increased conversion rates by at least 10 per cent. M-commerce platforms can even increase conversion by 30 to 40 per cent than product pages without good images.

It’s even better to go beyond photos. M-commerce platforms that feature short videos about the product can increase engagement, especially if these can help the buyer get a better idea of how to use the product. According to a survey of retail brands, increasing photo and video usage also increases average order value (AOV) and conversions.

2. Fast app and access speed

Most mobile users are impatient, so ensure that your app loads quickly. Users have a small screen to work with, which makes it frustrating if content loads slowly.

Mobile page speed increases user interaction and conversion rates, as well. According to a report by Soasta, mobile pages that load 1 second faster get 27 per cent higher chances of conversion. Meanwhile, according to Kissmetrics, 47 per cent of mobile users expect a page to load within 2 seconds; otherwise, 40 per cent say they will abandon mobile content that does not load past the 3 second mark.

You can use load testing tools like Pingdom, or compare your app or mobile website load speeds with competitors’, so you know if you need to optimise further. You can do this by minimising design elements and optimising your infrastructure for fast loading times, especially on mobile devices and slow internet connections.

3. Top-notch security

Website hacks and attacks are on the rise, and it is also not difficult for mobile platforms to be attacked. Any security breach — especially one that can potentially be used to steal customer data — can result in a decline in trust when it comes to your brand. According to a Vanson Bourne survey, 33 per cent of users are more likely to spend more in m-commerce platforms if they find the app secure.

4. Audience targeting

Success in online commerce means you are getting the right kind of traffic from the right source. Determine the right strategy to increase engagement. Find out what kind of content your audience wants, how to market it, and how to target the right audiences in the first place.

This also includes frequency of publishing new content, as well as targeting the right demographic — age, sex, geography — plus other factors like interests, social networks and the like. You will need to use data on your target market’s interest to your advantage.

5. Optimising social media reach

Social media can be a huge source of traffic. If done right, you can build a solid following through social media channels, although you will need to optimise your content strategy for the different networks, like Facebook, Pinterest, and the like.

According to an IAB survey, 60 per cent of mobile purchasers who really want to buy look for new products and services on social media first. Over 33 per cent of m-commerce customers share their shopping experience on social media.

Here’s a tip: Whenever you start pushing content on social media, make sure to target it at the right audiences, use the right timing, and utilise relevant and timely content.

6. Optimising UX

A well-designed mobile app plays a vital role in converting audiences into customers. First impressions last, and one thing you can learn from your competitors is how well they design their mobile app.

Don’t just count on a mobile version of your e-commerce website, either. According to eMarketer, 86 per cent of m-commerce app users share their experience, while only 14 per cent of mobile website users are similarly engaged.

Thus, it pays to go beyond designing your app as a mere minification of your desktop version. Make a purpose-built app that should deliver a better user experience. Users don’t like to buy or sell using an app that is cluttered and confusing. If your app has too many features or modules, then you will need to reduce it to the necessities, and provide handy guides so that users will be able to take advantage of the features. Navigation should be convenient and not confusing.

According to Appboy, the first impression of your app is 94 per cent design-related. Hence you have only one chance to impress your target audience. Don’t miss it!

7. Convenient payment options

For any commerce-focused app, payments should be a priority, as it is one way through which you can build trust and confidence among customers. Reputable e-commerce and m-commerce spend significant effort in ensuring a secure and fast payment process for customers.

You can also deploy multiple payment options, to cater to customers of all kinds. As per the survey by IAB, 40 per cent of mobile web purchasers use credit cards. Thirty-seven per cent use online payment services, while 25 per cent pay through a mobile app. Thus, it pays to offer choice!

8. Mobile-first (or mobile-only) approach

Beyond e-commerce, you can opt for a mobile-first or mobile-only approach. According to Criteo, 34 per cent buyers prefer buying or selling their goods through a mobile application, so you can perhaps skip the website and go directly to building a mobile platform. Myntra, for one, has decided to shut down its website and go mobile-only. It reasoned that 90 per cent of traffic comes from mobile devices.

9. Fly high with analytics

Just like a website you need to keep track of how many customers are downloading your app, what activities they do while they are using it, and what parts of your app are the most popular, in terms of engagement. You can deploy A/B testing, customer segmentation, retargeting, and even use marketing automation, in order to increase leads, conversions and return customers within your app.

You can also keep users engaged outside of your app through push notifications, reminders, and other features that can help them find them find the best deals, for instance.

10. Incentives and solid customer support

Incentives can be a good way to attract people into downloading and using your app. According to an eMarketer forecast, 87.4 per cent mobile users are likely to redeem coupons this year — a consistent growth from previous years.

It’s not enough to attract new users, though. You will need to provide solid support to existing or even new customers who may have valid concerns. This increases customers’ trust, satisfaction and loyalty. As per a Bain survey, increasing retention rate of 5 per cent will lift up your business profit over 25 per cent.

The takeaway

Mobile native apps are an effective way to build customer loyalty because they engage customers in an interactive manner on a regular basis. Success in m-commerce will require effort on your part, though, in ensuring the right targeting, adequate engagement, and the right use of data, among others.

Forget Downloads and App Stores: The Future Is Streaming

adtmag.com

Here's an early 2017 prediction for you: the future of mobile app development lies in streaming, not the current, cumbersome system of app stores and downloads.

And guess what? It's already happening. Heavyweights such as Google and Apple have dipped their toes in the app streaming waters, and smaller companies such as Glu Mobile Inc. and 1APP have followed suit.

While their efforts vary in many ways, commonly cited benefits of app streaming include bypassing the app stores operated by Google and Apple (which, for obvious reasons, don't seem to be too keen on supplying totally streamed apps, but rather partially streamed apps). Mobile developers often decry the app store approval process, difficulty in getting their apps discovered by users, low revenue opportunities and other problems with the traditional store-based approach.

1APP is among the latest entrants into the new mobile tech space seeking to disrupt that traditional approach, having last week announced a new cloud-based OS that allows instant access to mobile apps without any downloading required.

The company's "manifesto" says in part:

While hardware has dramatically increased, and the app store economy had led to an initial Cambrian explosion of new types of software in the form of apps, the transmission of apps has been stuck in the dark ages.

Being tied to stores and downloaded software creates a situation where only the biggest app developers and platforms can succeed, and even then only with enormous amounts of marketing dollars. We started 1APP because we believe instant access of apps, delivered wherever and however users want it, is the next necessary phase of mobile, and will transform the ecosystem for app developers, platforms, device makers and carriers alike.

Under the hood, the new cloud OS is based on Android source code and leverages a proprietary Linux Kernel that enables Android to run natively on servers. The streamed apps can automatically tune the UI according to specific device capabilities and network conditions. The company said this can be accomplished as simply as changing one line of code.

[Click on image for larger view.]The 1APP Approach (source: 1APP)

"By rendering an app as a simple weblink, apps can be instantly accessed, embedded or shared inside any Web-connected environment," the company said in a news release last week. "Existing apps can be uploaded to the 1APP cloud in a process that takes just a few minutes and makes these apps instantly available on any platform including iOS, Android, Windows and more. In addition to enabling instant access to apps, 1APP allows apps to be discovered and used in context during the natural course of a user's mobile activity, including being delivered and launched inside messaging and social apps, listed in search results or embedded as fully functional apps within other relevant apps."

This approach is akin to Google's Android Instant Apps, a preview of which was announced in May.

"It evolves Android apps to be able to run instantly, without requiring installation," Google said. "With Instant Apps, a tap on a URL can open right in an Android app, even if the user doesn't have that app installed.

"As a developer, you won't need to build a new, separate app. It's the same Android APIs, the same project, the same source code. You'll simply update your existing Android app to take advantage of Instant Apps functionality. In fact, it can take less than a day to get up and running for some developers, though the effort involved will vary depending on how your app is structured. You modularize your app, and Google Play downloads only the parts that are needed, on the fly. And when you do upgrade, your app will be available to more than a billion users on Android devices going back to Jelly Bean."

Note that Android Instant Apps don't replace traditional Android apps, and the preview technology has some limitations.

"Android Instant Apps functionality complements an existing Android app, but does not replace it," says a FAQ. "Android Instant Apps uses the same Android APIs, the same project, the same source code. Android Instant Apps restricts some features that might not match users' expectations of an app that is not installed. For example, an Instant App can't use background services, do background notifications, or access unique device identifiers."

Google's main competitor in the mobile space, Apple, also seems to be experimenting with the new approach, supplying dynamic content to traditional apps, though not supplanting them. With the introduction of iOS 9 at last year's developer conference, it introduced On Demand Resources.

"iOS 9 introduces On Demand Resources, enabling the efficient delivery of rich games and full featured applications using dynamically loaded content," Apple said at the time. "Significantly reduce the time between purchasing and running an app from the App Store, while also decreasing the required storage space by downloading and retaining only content that is necessary. Dive into the latest enhancements in app packaging and learn the APIs to allow your app to acquire only its essential resources."

According to its On-Demand Resources Essentials site, "On-demand resources are app contents that are hosted on the App Store and are separate from the related app bundle that you download. They enable smaller app bundles, faster downloads, and richer app content. The app requests sets of on-demand resources, and the operating system manages downloading and storage. The app uses the resources and then releases the request. After downloading, the resources may stay on the device through multiple launch cycles, making access even faster."

The dynamically provided resources can be any type of resource supported by bundles, excluding actual executable code.

Apple said its approach enables smaller app sizes, provides for lazy loading of app resources, and remotely stores rarely used resources and in-app purchase resources.

App streaming may be especially suitable for gaming apps, and Bloomberg earlier this month reported on game maker Glu Mobile Inc., which is experimenting with this technology.

The report says in part:

One of the problems is there are just too many apps, even within games, and that's made it harder for people to find ones that interest them, said Richard Au, a senior technical director of a Glu studio.

Streaming "presents the experience of your app without all the barriers; that really helps with discovery and brand awareness," Au said. The ability to tap into apps through social media also boosts engagement, he said. Friends or Twitter celebrities might invite users to join them in games by clicking on a link.

Of course, as the Bloomberg report says, connectivity is an issue with streaming apps. However, new technologies are continually boosting the offline capabilities of mobile apps, and those efforts are bound to advance further as app streaming takes hold.

It also remains to be seen how suitable app streaming is in the enterprise, where issues such as app store approval and discoverability aren't as pertinent.

However this burgeoning technology shakes out, it's bound to have a significant impact on many mobile developers and users.

"It is just not practical for users to keep downloading apps endlessly," Bloomberg quoted 451 Research analyst Castanon-Martinez as saying.

The New Set of Rules to Successfully Launch Your App

business2community.com

Every day, over 1,000 apps are launched on the ever growing marketplace of mobile apps.

Take a minute to wrap your mind around that. As of 2016, there were an estimated 2.2 million apps in the Google Play store and 2 million apps in the Apple App stores. However, just a sliver of these apps are downloaded, and even fewer are used regularly. A recent study showed that almost 90 percent of apps are downloaded just once and then deleted.

The global database of app content is growing every minute, making it ever more challenging for app developers and marketers to successfully launch their product.

The App Checklist sheds light into the process of successfully launching an app and provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide to launching an app- covering everything from securing technical requirements and setting a marketing timeline, to tracking downloads and in-app activity and everything in between. It was published by the marketing analytics platform, Branch.

Branch studied thousands of apps to understand what works and how to subsequently make mobile content better. Their mission is to help increase mobile conversion, retention and engagement through deep linking, user routing and personalized app experiences. Broken down into Tech and Marketing Prep, Pre-Launch, Brownie Points, Launch Day and Post-Launch, the checklist ensures you’re on track to app success.

Here are 7 key strategies to launching a successful app

1. Create measurable goals for success

Quantifying the success of an app can be difficult if you haven’t thought about it during the pre-launch design stage. There are plenty of free analytics tools available at your disposal. Figure out which ones are best suited for your app content and create a robust plan to determine at what point in time you’ll need to call upon them. 

2. Know how much is too much

We’ve all been used to pull-information, which is the idea that whenever we want something, we can go find it. Push notifications capitalize on our reliance on technology to the point where our devices know more than we do. When setting up an app, it’s important to embed push notifications within the UX. Have a strategy to navigate the fine line between dormancy and a phone that’s constantly buzzing.

3. Enable deep linking early on

The best content is both shareable and searchable. However unlike web content, in-app content isn’t publically accessible. With deep linking, you can take charge of your mobile content strategy by getting insights into which pages perform best and helping others share your app content.

4. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel

Every month 50,000 apps are released, which gives you very little room to say “I didn’t know” when it comes to something as important as launching your app. It’s important to do your research, understand the competitive landscape and use the wealth of knowledge and examples that’s already out there.

5. Pick me, pick me!

“How do I get people to notice my app,” is one of the most frequently asked questions. Today, there is still no direct way to pay for a placement in the app marketplace. Unlike sponsored posts on Facebook or promoted Tweets in your newsfeed, the app battleground is completely fair game for those who dare to enter. However, there are still some fairly impactful strategic tactics you can deploy that will help your app move up the ranks along the way– like building an Android and iOS version, or simply pitching your app to the mobile moguls themselves. It never hurts to ask!

6. Beta launch your app

People like to be first, and Beta launches are no different. It makes users feel special and exclusive– like they have access to something no one else does. But the favor is easily returned; as the app creator, you will receive valuable feedback from real users, be notified of bugs, and maybe even score a few free marketing points from early adopters. A Beta launch can help you navigate the transition into the launch-phase.

7. Plan your next move, yesterday

As soon as you launch your app, you should have an update ready to go. Although it may seem counter intuitive– why wouldn’t you just give them the most updated version when you had it?– it’s extremely helpful for your long-term plan. Users are excited to see apps regularly updating. It’s an indicator of quality.

The 2017 App Stores Changes: How make the most of the latest trends

smartinsights.com

Search Ads are just the beginning of a big year for Apple

The public-facing changes made to the App Store in Fall 2016 have been nothing short of monumental, but for Apple the shift marks only the beginning of a new methodology for interacting with developers and consumers. As we roll into 2017, Apple’s recent updates will begin to solidify into a new App Store hierarchy, one which will include Search Ads as a core pillar and send a friendlier message to developers.

App Store Optimization experts have been preparing for a major shift in the App Store for some time now. After all, Google introduced Search Ads to the Play Store in February of 2015, themselves following in Facebook’s footsteps. Apple is methodical, though, and the inevitable rollout of ads has come to impact the entire App Store experience.

First, the ads themselves. Over 65% of all app installs originate from search. The implementation of Search Ads represents one of two prongs in a tactic by Apple to move App Store search away from long, overstuffed app titles and back into a realm they can control and monetize in-house. Now, developers will be able to create Search Ads using the metadata (title, keywords and description) from their App Store listing, set their own budget, and easily launch ads targeting specific search terms relevant to their apps.

The other side of the coin here is the need for shorter App Store titles. Apple recently sliced the title character limit from 255 characters to a mere 50, chopping off a whopping 80% of available title real estate. A popular tactic in ASO has always been title tagging, or placing relevant, highly searched keywords in the title as a sort of subtitle or explanation of the app’s features. Nothing has changed regarding the practice itself; it’s still a great way to increase your app’s rankings portfolio and inform users about the many functions of your app. Now, you just have significantly less space in which to do it.

Shortened titles and App Store Search Ads have already rolled out, but their effects will be felt well into 2017. Apps that don’t shorten their titles after a warning from Apple will be removed from the store within 30 days, potentially clearing hundreds of thousands of apps from the App Store.

While Apple may be clearing out thousands of apps from the store, the increased focus on shortened titles and Search Ads will make ASO more important than ever. It’s worth noting that when you create an ad, you will only be able to target and bid on keywords that are relevant to your app. The way that you make an app relevant for keywords is through ASO. Creating relevancy for highly-searched keywords and phrases in Search Ads should be a great way to expand your potential audience, with built-in analytics giving you the tools to prepare and maintain a successful campaign.

This leads to the third pillar of Apple’s App Store renovation, one which hasn’t been as public facing. In general, Apple is manoeuvring their revenue sharing model to prioritize subscription-based apps as services such as Netflix, Spotify and HBO NOW remain fixtures on the Top 10 Grossing charts.

Apple announced earlier this year that they would be altering the cut of revenue given to certain developers. The company has traditionally taken a 30 percent cut of app revenue, and this will remain the case for most apps. For subscription-based services, however, Apple will reduce that cut to 15 percent once a user has maintained a subscription for over a year. This in turn incentivizes higher quality and retention for the services themselves. The change comes as more and more services begin to explore the subscription model.

So how do these changes impact your app? If you run a subscription-based service, Apple’s revenue changes should make retaining subscribers even more of a priority, with the chance to increase your cut of subscriptions to a hefty 85 percent.

Apps with more traditional revenue models aren’t going to be left in the dust, though. With potentially hundreds of thousands of abandoned apps leaving the store and Search Ads taking over as a core pillar of optimization, Apple is paving the way for a less cluttered App Store. To take advantage of this, you must pinpoint the highly-searched keywords that your app ranks for, determine potential keywords which your app has yet to break into, and funnel the above information into a new optimization - potentially including Search Ads to expand your search profile.

How to Market Your Business App Almost for Free?

bdaily.co.uk

Today, companies require marketing budgets as much as the cost of the whole manufacturing process. They pay media and marketing companies so much money that the MRP of the product could be many folds higher than the original manufacturing cost.

But, in today’s technologically advanced world, many ways have emerged to market your product almost for free of cost and having a really big impact compared to the high-budgeted marketing campaigns.

1. Social Media

This would be most vital prospect in marketing for free. Everyone is present on social media, including your prospective customer. Also, most social media sites are free to use. That is bliss. You don’t have to physically go door to door to each of your customer to sell your product. What’s more? Most of the time, people on the social media sites already have been categorized according to their likes and dislikes, thus you can specifically target only the people who have higher possibility of becoming your customer. Not so long ago, it took a considerable amount of money to gather contact information about prospects, filter them according to the people who are likely to buy your product. Today, you are getting it all for free.

To attract your customers on social media, stay highly active with posts, replies, messages and all the capabilities and options your social media site provides you to interact with your customers. From time to time, you can host online contests which will raise the awareness of your page or business app greatly. You can give away free gifts that will get you more likes, subscribers and followers. Also, to increase customer satisfaction, have a chosen customer every month, which gets some free stuff. This will keep the retention ratio high.

Thus, you can leverage social media very powerfully and to an extent that you can even solely depend on social media for marketing and see good results, if you chose so.

2. Content Marketing

Words, that’s what most search engines are after. And if your words are qualitative, they will promote you, for free.

If you chose to go for content marketing, write very good, qualitative and useful articles, PRs, eBooks, etc and put them on your website and then publish/submit them on articles/blogs/content submission sites and search engines. Whenever people will search for the keyword relevant to your content, your article/website will show up and thus, gives you one more lead for your product.

You only are required to focus on the quality of the content as people who read your article would judge your product from the content quality first. So, be very specific and qualitative in what you write.

3. SEO Optimization

SEO optimization comes after or during the content creation. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engines relies on keywords and specific anchors basing on which they present the top links according to the searches.

Though, you can get a professional SEO optimization services, you can also do it yourself to some extent with good-enough results. Go online, search for do-it-yourself SEO and apply the insights on all of your content including articles and website content. Boom! Your articles and website hikes to far better positions on search engines.

4. Video Marketing

People are consuming videos a lot. And YouTube being the second most used search engine in the world proves that. Make tutorial, instructional or basic informative videos regarding to your business app and upload them to all the video sharing websites. People would like it, spread it and help you market your app for free. Gangnam Style is just an example of how much impact a video can have.

5. Hyperlocal Marketing

Market your app locally. Be it participating in local events, seminars, newspapers or spreading the word through flyers and pamphlets, hyperlocal marketing generates a great local awareness.

6. Podcasts

Podcast informative articles, video, audio, informative pieces to podcast websites, radio, and other similar channels. The continuous and repetitive podcasts generate awareness of your product and could lead the prospects to your website or your physical location or directly contact you.

7. Trades and tie ups with other businesses

Trade or tie up with other businesses. For instance, cabs promote car-washing companies and in return get free car washes. Both gain something without spending anything. Try to find what type of businesses could tie up or trade in with your app and could promote your app for free.

Internet has bestowed us great capabilities. By leveraging them, you can run your business very nicely at minimum cost. Are you in need of developing a mobile apps? Just call us.

Cross channel game advertising and the holistic approach

appdevelopermagazine.com

Surprisingly for a mobile-centric world and an industry dominated by mobile games, game marketers are still spending a hefty amount of marketing dollars on television ads. TV isn’t dead yet, but ‘cord-cutting’ is a phenomenon among the millennial generation that can’t be denied. For those still tuned in to TV programming, their attention is increasingly divided between the big screen and the small ones – smartphones, tablets, and computers. In such a competitive space, more and more game marketers are looking to optimize media campaigns through a cross-channel approach that puts smart technology and data to work to target individual users.

Matomy, a marketing technology company founded in 2007, offers customized, data-driven performance and programmatic solutions, supported by internal media capabilities, for both advertisers and publishers.

Matomy's holistic mobile advertising agency, mtmy, is fueled by an in-house Data Management Platform (DMP), and offers a fully-managed service across channels including video, display, social, email and search. Matomy's programmatic platforms include the MobFox SSP, the video advertising platform Optimatic, and the mobile demand side platform myDSP. 

We recently caught up with Sagi Niri, COO/CFO of Matomy Media Group, to chat about why game developers and marketers should rethink their media strategies and optimize cross-channel advertising through behavioral profiling and lookalike targeting in order to reduce wasted ad-spend.

ADM: What is cross-channel advertising and how does it differ from traditional advertising today?

Niri: Traditionally, marketers work with multiple media partners for a diversified campaign that targets TV, Facebook, YouTube, and various mobile and display publishers. For example, 40% of an ad budget might be dedicated towards TV, 30% towards Facebook, 10% for YouTube, and so forth depending on the company's available marketing budget. However, brands are missing out on a huge opportunity to target customers throughout their personal journey – on the various devices and channels they use during the day – and therefore wasting advertising dollars.

This is why we’re seeing an increased interest in a cross-channel approach, where marketers seamlessly and interchangeably use multiple channels to market, sell, and interact with customers no matter what platform they are using. For instance, when a customer uses your mobile app to look at a product but doesn’t complete the purchase, you can use a cross-channel approach to remarket that product by serving up ads for it even when the customer is on another channel or platform (say email or social media). Marketers can adapt their media campaigns for each customer segment to target them on the channel they are on in order to increase the likelihood that the ad is actually being viewed and engaged with.

ADM: Why should game developers and marketers shift their media strategies to a cross-channel approach?

Niri: The mobile gaming market is exploding with 1.75 billion smartphone users expected to frequently play mobile games in 2016 and revenue to surpass console and PC gaming for the first time. Yet, mobile game marketers are still spending millions on TV advertisements each month. They need to recognize that traditional advertising channels have been disrupted by new media. Today’s gamers are juggling multiple-devices, often using their phones while watching TV – so it makes more sense to reach gamers on the devices they’re on and where advertisers have the power to track user activity across channels.

Hundreds of thousands of game apps become available each year in what is already a highly-competitive market. As such, user lifecycles are often short with gamers downloading an app, playing for a bit, forgetting about it, and moving on to something new in a matter of days – but this problem can be overcome with a cross-channel approach. The lifetime value (LTV) of mobile game users can be maximized along with the efficiency of campaigns by targeting users wherever they are and whenever they’re on in order to re-engage them to play the app, entice them to reach the next level, or make an in-app purchase. TV ads might raise game visibility and attract users, but they do nothing for meaningful engagement and effective monetization.

ADM: Where does behavioral targeting come in? How can it be used to optimize cross-channel media strategies?

Niri: Developers, publishers, and advertisers have an incredible amount of user data at their disposal. From which we can gain an understanding regarding app-specific user behavior – especially high-paying users – and identify “lookalikes” with similar profiles to widen the pool of potential customers. By analyzing their virtual and physical behavior, we can know what device and channel they’re most likely to use at any given point in their day. With the right technologies and a holistic approach, we can target them across platforms with the most relevant ads.

While one can advertise by looking at the varying demographics for TV channels depending on the program or time of day, there is no way to accurately track viewer engagement or link it to customer action. Whereas, through behavioral targeting and a cross-channel approach, we know who, what, where and when to spend advertising dollars so that brands get the most bang for their buck.

ADM: We continue to hear more and more about the need for a ‘holistic approach’. What does this mean? Why is it the future of advertising?

Niri: The holistic approach is becoming increasingly popular as we continue to see consolidation within the advertising industry and a growing convergence between ‘creative’ and ‘ad-tech’ offerings. A holistic media agency offering a full-spectrum of advertising services can leverage insights from

Sagi Niri,Matomy Media Group

both publisher data and app-specific user behavior, and apply them across multiple channels in order to optimize audience-targeting. This cross-channel integration of marketing activities also maximizes return on investment for real-time bidding (RTB) buys and streamlines the process of working with multiple media partners. 

ADM: What are key concerns for advertisers and media partners when it comes to cross-channel ads?

Niri: Although cross-channel ads offer greater penetration, engagement and high-value results, the industry still needs to overcome some barriers before advertisers and media partners will fully turn to this approach. These include variations in how ads are consumed on different platforms from news sites, to social media platforms, or game apps; a lack of standardization across desktop, mobile and connected devices; as well as challenges in measuring and attributing ad performance. However, the benefit of working with a holistic ad agency, is that there is less complexity in the media campaign process and an agency offers creative marketing solutions that can adapt ads for the appropriate platform. 

ADM: What other opportunities does ‘new media’ offer game advertisers over traditional channels like TV?

Niri: In addition to more penetrative ad campaigns, game simulation or ‘playable ads’ are the next big thing in game advertising –essentially mini game demos within the ad. Unlike TV, mobile devices create opportunities for a personal, interactive experiences. Users can trial games with playable ads before downloading, resulting in fewer wasted installs. I expect the game industry will see many more simulation advertisements in the coming year.

Are You Using All 5 Personalized Marketing Tactics?

business2community.com

It wasn’t that long ago that the capability to seamlessly add a user’s first name to communications or online experiences was an exciting way to personalize in digital marketing. We’ve come a long way over the years and more advanced mobile marketing automation (MMA) platforms have allowed for personalization to go from this simple first step to more complex—and powerful—possibilities.

Increasingly, customers expect a personalized experience from their products; they want to see recommendations that reflect previous searches or purchases, playlists that track favorite songs, and systems that remember previously entered information. Since the majority of users demand and expect personalized experiences, it’s all the more important to harness the capabilities of your MMA and develop thoughtful campaigns. Careful use can really pay off—Appboy has found that personalizing messages increases conversions by more than 27%.

Since there can be some confusion about what “personalization” in a marketing message or campaign means, mainly because it can mean a lot of different things, we’re laying it all out.

Personalized marketing can include customizing the copy or content of a message based on available information, segmenting campaigns for targeted groups, and guiding customers through lifecycle stages. And it can mean all of these techniques used together, which serve to create a truly unique experience for each user.

Making it personal with user data

With the advent of robust databases integrated with MMA, there are many possible ways to customize your messages and experiences based on the information you have on user events and attributes.

So what does it look like to personalize based on different information?

1. First name

You can always start by including the first name of users (once they’ve given it to you). This allows you to develop a friendly tone and show that you know your user and can be more effective than a generic, “Dear valued customer.”

2. Other events and attributes

Beyond first name, you’ll want to personalize messages with events and attributes that help you reach your goals. If the purpose of a push notification is to encourage a user to open your music app, entice them with a reminder about music they’ve enjoyed in the past. If the goal of a News Feed campaign is to keep a user reading in your media app, provide links to content that matches the preferences they set in their onboarding. The sky’s the limit when it comes to this kind of personalization, but remember the trust implied when a user sets preferences and conveys interests by using your app, and use that information to provide a positive experience.

3. Location-based

If you have permission to access location information, you can develop some highly relevant campaigns by connecting users to their area—and avoid confusing or bothering those in other cities. This can work very well for companies with brick-and-mortar locations, local events, or other location-specific promotions.

Dynamic content capabilities can help you take this a step further by integrating with outside APIs like weather or other local details, which you can tie into your messages for greater relevancy.

4. Delivery time

Personalization can also come into play beyond the content of the message. Customizing send times for messages, based on prior engagement periods, can help ensure your message arrives at a time when it’s actually likely to be seen. Users most active during morning transit might receive the same message as the parents who only have time to spend on their devices after kids have gone to bed. With a sophisticated MMA, a marketer can set up a message with send-time optimization and have this done for them, instead of having to set up multiple campaigns.

5. Segmentation to deepen relationships

Personalized marketing can also mean different approaches to content and campaign strategy. Segmentation can help you identify groups that will need unique or overlapping strategies that could lead to different message variants (such as member vs. non-member) or entirely different campaigns for different stages of the user lifecycle (like new, active, lapsing, and power user).

For example, you can send app rating requests to segments of customers who are loyal users, or who have accessed advanced features of your app or site. Members of your loyalty program can receive discount offers that reward and encourage continued engagement, while non-members can receive campaigns that tout the value of signing up.

If your users span the globe, you’ll also want to consider how language can impact your conversion rates. Common Sense Advisory found that 55% of people will only make a purchase if the message they receive about it is in their native language. If you don’t have the capacity to hire employees to help with content in key languages, consider using freelance translators or a service, which can be a worthy investment. Keep in mind that human translation (with an expert) is much safer than leaving things to Google Translate, which could lead to embarrassing or offensive cultural misunderstandings.

What’s next?

What can we look forward to for the next phase of personalization? The answer may lie in AI. Some companies have developed chatbots that aim to feel like a live conversation, and there’s a good chance that artificial intelligence such as this will increase in 2017.

A few final thoughts

All of these personalization techniques work together to help establish you as a helpful expert, guiding the experiences of your users with personally relevant information.

With this broad capability, it’s crucial to personalize the right way by ensuring the value of the personalization is apparent and you have built a trusting relationship with users. By asking for information through signups and opt-ins, you can avoid seeming creepy or making users wonder how you accessed their information.

How can you ensure your personalization is effective? Plan out your key data for collection, focus on the purpose of your messages, and don’t forget to test and improve over time.