Study: Fake retailer apps bedevil mobile shoppers

retaildive.com

Dive Brief:

• Two out of every three retailers still don’t have an official Apple iOS or Google Android mobile application, leaving open an opportunity for fake retail apps to emerge, according to research by commerce platform Branding Brand.
• The New York Post reports that some fake retailer apps, such as one for Coach, have tried to lure customers through search ads promising promotions and discounts, noting that consumers are sometimes using fake apps to shop without realizing they are imitations — for example, one shopper almost lost $200 trying to buy leggings through a fake Dillard's app.
• Part of the problem, according to Branding Brand, is that Google has been lax about policing Android app submissions, and that Apple's once-rigorous application review process apparently is not as sound as it used to be, either: Apple now allows app operators to buy search ads through its App Store, and some ads are purchased by fake operators intending to improve their position in search results.

• Dive Insight:

  The ultimate point of the Branding Brand research is that retailers really should enable their own mobile apps as soon as possible, or someone else may do it on your behalf — and potentially damage your reputation and your relationships with customers in the process.
  That's not the biggest reason retailers should have an app. They should do it because it makes strategic sense to broaden a brand and selling capabilities by leveraging mobile channels. Some retailers are way ahead of others in this regard, and in how they engage mobile users.
  Merchants who haven't adopted apps probably have their reasons why they haven't, or why they think their customers don't want an app. Having said that, it is kind of hard to imagine that any self-respecting retailer wouldn't want some kind of mobile app, let alone two out of every three retailers. And what better time than the holiday season to get your app up and running?
  If retailers still don’t feel they need a mobile app, they might want to consider some other results from Branding Brand's study, which found that 50% of consumers admit to downloading shopping apps at least once a month; that 69% enjoy using shopping apps because they are more convenient than websites; and that 74% expect to use an app to actually buy things.
  These findings are very encouraging, but there is also a clear problem in the app ecosystem. Google has never been as proactive as Apple in protecting the integrity and security of apps on its platform, and Apple has never been shy about touting its security edge. Apple also has done a lot to showcase retailer apps, like creating a shopping app category in its App Store. Now, however, Apple search ads designed to help legitimate app developers and operators appear to be helping fake apps get attention, though it's difficult to understand what's really happening because Apple hasn't commented publicly yet. That in itself is a problem.
  Retailers that don't have apps should re-evaluate their positions on that because mobile shopping is happening all around them. But it would also be nice if app stores made it harder for that to happen, too.

5 app monetization strategies to remember in 2016

appdevelopermagazine.com

Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, deep learning and user interfaces, our mobile devices are more accessible and user-friendly than ever before. People are downloading more apps and spending more time in those apps. There are now over four million apps in the Apple and Google app stores – Apple received 75,000-80,000 app submissions per month in last few months.

While this is great for consumers, it’s become much harder for app publishers to gain traction and actually make money through their apps. As venture capitalist Josh Kopelman wrote almost a decade ago, the penny gap – “getting your users to pay you anything at all” – is the highest hurdle for any venture to overcome. The rise of the “try before you buy” trend in app stores only makes matters worse.

The good news is there are a number of monetization strategies for app publishers to keep in their arsenal.

1. In-app Revenue

While nothing new, in-app purchases and advertising remain paramount for monetization.

In-app purchases are based on the premise that if a user enjoys using an app, they are more likely to buy things within it. For gaming apps, such purchases might allow users to unlock new levels or content, exchange virtual goods and services, gain more advanced capabilities, more playing time or more lives.

In-app advertising grew by 66 percent to $21 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow to $35 billion over the next years. 

- Banner ads are the least invasive kind, as users can view them without halting their activity in the app.

- Interstitial (full-screen) ads can yield 5-10 times the per-click revenue as banner ads, however, they must be displayed at the right time. For example, with gaming apps, an optimal time would be after a user completes a level or upon exiting the app.

- Video ads are most effective when their content is authentic, entertaining, emotional and relatable. Users may prefer video ads that play with the sound turned off. Rewarding users with in-app credits for watching a video add is also successful in gaming apps. Vertical video ads in Snapchat and Instagram take advantage of the vertical form factors and stand out from competing ad providers.

- Other rising in-app advertising trends include native advertising, augmented reality geofilters, and object recognition in ads.

While in-app advertising can provide speedy monetization, it can also decrease app retention rate if used improperly. Regardless of which kind you use, make sure to do so strategically and creatively.

2. Charging for apps

As I mentioned previously, the penny gap is the most difficult hurdle to jump in terms off revenue. Considering 95 percent of apps are free to download, it’s especially hard in the app store. However, there are mobile users who will pay up for higher quality niche apps that cater to a very specific need – some niche apps can charge as much as $999 per download!

While such a price point is a fantasy for most app publishers, an alternative solution would be to offer two options – a free,ad-supported version alongside a paid, ad-free one. 

3. Sidestepping Ad-blockers

Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends Report revealed that 400 million mobile users globally block mobile ads and is expected to grow. A way of reaching audiences is to bypass ad network entirely, by way of:

- Sponsorships: For example, Nike placing ads directly in the Weather Channel app, offering suggestions for weather apparel based on local weather conditions.

- Partnerships and Affiliations: For example, Uber and Pandora recently formed a partnership that enables Uber drivers to play music from Pandora, and a Nikon Lenses app has affiliations with lens renters to give photographers more access to professional equipment. 

4. Enhancing Discoverability

It goes without saying that the easier it is for people to find your app, the more likely you are to acquire users.

First and foremost, let’s talk about App Store Optimization(ASO). In Apple's App Store, over 65 percent of apps are discovered via explicit searches. In order to increase discoverability within the app store, your app name and description must include strong, relevant keywords and graphics.

Search ads, announced by Apple in June 2016, also help promote apps in relevant search results. Relevance is determined by app developer provided metadata (title, keywords, description, reviews, ratings, install- and uninstall-rate, ad click-rate, etc.), and users are targeted based on geography, gender and age. In order to take full advantage of search ad exposure, app developers must set aside budget for improving their metadata and bidding on cost per tap (CPT) and cost per acquisition (CPA).

Many publishers focus on promoting their app within the app store, but you must remember to think outside the box – literally. As much as 35 percent of apps are discovered outside the app store, through advertising on the web and other apps, maintaining presence on the web, social media advertising, public relations and brand building, as well as content, influencer and word-of-mouth marketing.

5. Auto-renewable Subscriptions

The introduction of auto-renewal subscription model has the potential to make indie app development far more sustainable, as it gives users the full functionality of a product without having to “own” it. The subscription model works particularly well for apps that provide access to content, news and editorial articles, media, regularly updated features or any app that relies on a backend service. 

Apple pays 70 percent of revenue to developers in the first year and 85 percent after one year for lapse-free subscriptions (excluding a 60-day grace period), Google also announced 85 percent payout to developers for subscriptions.

In Conclusion…

As the level of competition in the app market continues to increase, the monetization strategies used by app developers are evolving just as quickly. The important thing to keep in mind for any monetization strategy is to know your user base and make sure your techniques cater to their behaviors, emotions and tastes. When you can achieve that, the success and growth of your app will follow.

Marketers Beware: The App Landscape is Changing

mobilemarketingmagazine.com

Cristina Constandache, VP at Cheetah Mobile, shares her insights into how consumers are changing the way they interact with apps, and what mobile marketers can do to keep up.

Mobile is taking centre stage at a rapid rate. According to Mediapost, 2016 is the first year when worldwide mobile ad spend will surpass desktop ($99 billion and $97 billion respectively), and the UK is the only place in the world besides China where mobile accounts for over half of national ad spend. Great news for marketers, who can rest assured that their mobile ad spend is money well spent, as long as they take into account the changing rules of mobile marketing.

For one, we used to scroll and scroll through the myriad of apps that populated our smartphones until we found the one app we needed. Each app would serve just a single purpose, and branded apps blossomed in their thousands on the iOS App Store and Google Play. But this is no longer the case – in fact, according to ComScore’s 2015 US Mobile App Report, quite the opposite. Consumers are now spending 80 per cent of their smartphone time in just three apps, while those that aren’t favourites are out of the game.

So on the bright side, consumers are engaging for longer with the apps they do use. But to stay among those prized few, marketers must use all the user retention tactics at their disposal. What we’re seeing from the mobile frontline is that developers with a strong focus on delivering valuable content, whether editorial or video, are much more likely to successfully retain and engage users.

The appetite for videoIn an undeniably fundamental shift, 53 per cent of all online video viewings in Europe now happen on mobile, according to Ooyala’s Video Index 2016. It’s no longer up for debate whether video should be mobile-optimised – in fact, video must be mobile-first.

Smartphones are highly interactive devices compared to TV, for example, and ads must reflect this. That’s why integrating interactive elements such as mini games or micro quizzes are favoured by many mobile marketers. It’s a similar story for the vertical video format: perfectly suited to the mobile screen, vertical video has rapidly overtaken the landscape format of laptops, pioneered by apps like Snapchat, musical.ly, and Periscope.

Cheetah Mobile is partnering with popular social video apps like musical.ly to bring on the vertical video revolution. Video demand will continue to grow exponentially, but it’s not only video consumers are asking for.

No news isn’t good newsJust like video, editorial content from publishers is in high demand. News streams are found everywhere on mobile from the Facebook app to the iOS home screen. Why? Deloitte research shows UK citizens collectively look at their smartphones over a billion times a day – and if we’re constantly on our phones, the last thing we want is nothing new! The demand for news content is increasing dramatically because we interact more regularly with our devices and expect something new every time we pull down to refresh.

This is the logic behind our recent acquisition of News Republic, a leading mobile news app that tops the charts on iOS and Google Play in many markets around the globe. News content adds value to the user experience and generates high levels of engagement – especially when there is a locally-relevant, personalized news experience powered by a combination of machine intelligence and local editors in individual markets.

Easy ways to embrace mobileThe mobile marketing rulebook might have been revised, but marketers just need to keep pace with where consumers are and what they want – which, let’s face it, has always been their remit. Here are three considerations to revise your mobile strategies in line with changes in consumer behaviour:

Invest in editorial and video content. Consumers’ appetites for mobile content are surging, and marketers can use this to their advantage to drive the best ROI and ensure high levels of user retention. To avoid being left without enough mobile-optimised content to fill digital and emerging channels, brands must begin thinking now how they can allocate resources or showcase user-generated, influencer, and other third-party content to maintain supplies and high standards.

Think vertical. Cisco has predicted that by 2019, 75 per cent of all mobile traffic will be video content. This content must be optimised for mobile, which increasingly means vertical. These days we’re not so willing to turn our phones sideways, and brands must take this into account. As for the benefit for them – many app makers are finding that users are much more likely to finish a vertical video ad than a horizontal one.

Make a move into the app ecosystem. Your brand should be able to offer an app that’s more than a one-trick pony. By integrating social functions, e-commerce, and third party services, as well as funnelling in all that great editorial and video content you’re creating, your app will easily be branded a favourite by your customers and stay in their top three, safe from deletion.

While it may seem like the playing field is shrinking as consumers focus their attention on fewer apps, the growing demand for more content – editorial and especially video – should be seen as an opportunity, not a restriction.

Meet the mobile experts - the Mobile Prodigies

bizreport.com

New research from Verve redefines Millennials and Generation Z into one expert mobile demographic and reveals just how much value they put on their mobile devices.

When you combine Millennials with Generation Z you get 'Mobile Prodigies', according to Verve.

"You already know them," says Nada Stirratt, CEO of Verve. "These are the mobile users that just a few years ago - some of them barely old enough to read at the time - already knew how to take Mom's phone and swipe, pinch, scroll, and download an app or a song. Many of them have never lived in a world without mobile, and their devices are part of their personae - mobile is their link to social currency, new discoveries, and the pursuit of new ways to interact."

When looking at this new group it is plain to see the role of, and value attributed to, mobile in their lives. Among Mobile Prodigies, a whopping 96% make in-store purchases based on ads they've seen on their mobile device and nearly two-thirds (61%) buy in-store based on a mobile ad at least monthly.

And, Mobile Prodigies have their own ideas about what constitutes a good mobile ad. Nearly half (46%) cited mobile ads that can be saved for later followed closely by ads from a trusted source with a safety 'seal of approval' (45%) and ads that add a coupon or offer to their mobile wallet (40%).

Mobile Prodigies are also driving the app ecosystem with 80% spending more time in apps today than they did a year ago. For them, app browsing and discovery is nearly compulsive and 60% of those involved in Verve's study download one or more apps weekly.

"They are incorporating apps that feature innovative content and creative into nearly all the ways they work, play, and shop - while carefully granting mobile marketers measured access to device data so long as the apps and creative they experience meet their expectations around context and quality," said Stirratt.

3 Gamification Tips That’ll Increase App Engagement

.business2community.com

Gamification is a term making headway in the mobile world. The power of play through mobile apps is no stranger in our daily lives from our commutes to work to passing time in the doctor’s office. Users don’t even realize there’s a bigger reason behind the hype of the game. Gamification extends beyond the mindless addictions from AngryBirds to Farmville. If done right, it impacts buyer behavior, engagement and that intrinsic app loyalty that no paid advertising attains. There are countless examples of large corporations where their app bombed due to engageless or uninteresting content. For every 9 apps that fail, there is 1 amazing app that takes off epically. Users will never revisit your app unless they’re motivated or having fun. Gamification is no marketing jargon or fad, so get acclimated with these tactics.

1. LET YOUR MOBILE CUSTOMERS TAKE OWNERSHIP & POSSESSION

Many loyalty programs flop due to complicated, long-winded customer journeys that lead to a mediocre reward. Naturally, users want to choose what kind of possession they’d like to receive. Personalization has always been a key component of Starbucks so let’s divulge on the classic example of their Rewards Program card which was used back in 2012. Users begin by registering My Reward through the application. Based on a points system, users would be reinforced with a coffee cup becoming filled after making a purchase. Depending on how loyal the user is, the Starbucks Reward card had three personalized levels. For example, they could choose whether to receive a birthday gift card vs a coffee mug if the points afforded such rewards. In short, allowing the user to take ownership on the possessions they want brings instant loyalty to their brand.

2. GIVE MOBILE CUSTOMERS A WAY TO TRACK THEIR GOALS

As cliche as it sounds, everyone has a goal. Some want to lose weight, some want to save more money while others want to become more productive. When Nike took on an unorthodox product in their portfolio back in 2012, they knew the FuelApp band wouldn’t take off without motivating users through a tracked commitment. The more the user moved, the more points they accumulated. And the more active they were, the closer they came to reaching their fitness goals. By enabling a tracking system, users could see how many calories they burned, graphs displaying time per sessions, intensity levels, and above all, their total NikeFuel points which enforces brand recognition. Likewise, the app hosts local communities that encouraged members to engage by sharing, commenting or reaching a goal together.

3. DON’T JUST REWARD THE BEST EMPLOYEES OR MOBILE CUSTOMERS

Tackling employee engagement and productivity is a challenge no company avoids. Deloitte created an interesting program called Deloitte Leadership Academy that boosted their community engagement and employee training. Instead of solely focusing on rewards to those far-fetched, high-performing achievers, Deloitte made sure to get everyone on board and actively incentivized to participate. By fostering small communal leaderboards, participants could see their 10 closest competitors. In addition, the board would reset every seven days to show new interests among users.

Therefore, higher ups, like executive members could stay in the loop if they miss out due to business travel. Also, Deloitte kept the rewards relevant to their employees. Instead of being awarded an irrelevant badge for completing a simple task, DLA gradually acclimated users with the system. Rather than watching an uninteresting introductory video which explained the purpose of the academy, users were given the personalized learning path that they wanted to pursue. This level of customization provided a unique sense of ownership in the users learning process which in turn increased engagement with the system.

In short, if done right, gamification can boost loyalty and engagement and entice users to buy, stick with a goal, or learn. Once users are hooked, they invest the most invaluable resource of all…Time. And the more a users spends time on your app, the more likely they’ll be engaged, motivated, or likely to buy.

The New Era of Music Marketing

vergecampus.com

In 2013, when Beyonce surprised the world by dropping her self-titled album completely unannounced, many music critics quickly acknowledged the significance of the release and noted that it would be a turning point in how an artist promotes their music. They were right– to an extent.

An album drop with no previous announcement is one thing, but 2016 has proved that an art form has been created out of album promotion. The year has seen musicians and artists alike create marketing and promotional campaigns that are so out of this world it is almost hard to believe it is all for an album. Beyonce stuck true to her form and came back this year with Lemonade, which was the first visual album of its type. It aired in full on HBO but received almost no promotion besides a teaser trailer which was released three days prior to the showing. Still, the album broke records and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling almost half a million copies in the first week.

The lack of marketing and surprise factor allowed both Beyonce and Lemonade to go viral and the fact that both albums also debuted at number one also shows the power that social media has in translating those impressions to sales.

Beyonce created a trend with this “surprise” album release formula, but it has been reconstructed by quite a few notable artists this year, leaving what honestly looks to be a scary sight for the future of music marketing.

This year saw Kanye West travel to Madison Square Garden to have a fashion show that was being live streamed in movie theaters across the country. He promoted the show solely through social media and created hype by getting into Twitter fights with Wiz Khalifa and changing the title of the album three times. He said the Madison Square Garden show would be an album premiere. People though he might perform or show a video but instead, Kanye just walked out and plugged in his aux cord and played a rough, seemingly unmastered, album through the speakers. He did not release the album after the show. He didn’t release it the next day either. He waited almost a week before then actually releasing the album– and even then, after it was posted, he continued making changes to the music.

You would expect fans to be mad about that. For the album release to receive heavy criticism. For people to get tired of waiting. But you’re wrong, the album debuted at number one, and, since it was a Tidal exclusive, Tidal became the most popular app on the App Store. The only promotion for that album was Kanye’s Twitter. There was no major marketing campaign for the album. No late night appearances or interviews.

Kanye pushed his fans to the limits but still, his album release was just one of many which somewhat followed the surprise-album formula. Radiohead slowly removed themselves from the Internet, deleting Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even turning their website into a blank white page. The artists said nothing to the fullest extent possible. They erased themselves from the Internet and then suddenly– they dropped an album. It debuted that week at number three on the charts. Chance The Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, Rihanna, and Drake, all followed suit with surprise releases of their own. Frank Ocean decided to redefine the entire game and release two albums in the span of two days after previously taking a four year hiatus.

The marketing industry has seen a complete overhaul with the mass popularity of social media over the last few years. Artists are now making it seem like album promotion, or at least the type that an advertising firm can provide, is becoming less and less important. Creating a connection with your fans is what sells albums now and social media is the gateway to creating those connections. Redefining album promotion as a whole with every new album release seems to be the new trend and no one really knows what the future could hold. However extreme or nonsensical it gets, advertisers will need to keep up with the pace.

The Top 9 Smart Mobility and Mobile App Marketing Trends for 2017

tgdaily.com

Mobile is now more than a disruptive technology. It has already made a generation of people rethink how they work and interact. But the new marketing trends are impacted by smart mobility too.

Enterprise mobility trends conversely form every organization’s IT strategy. Every mobile app development process constitutes strategy, software, and development methodology that should be aligned to the current landscape of different sectors.

Here are the top enterprise mobility trends that will impact mobile app marketing for 2017:

1. Employee mobile application adoption forcing diverse marketing strategy

Nearly 61 percent of smart mobility measures surveyed by Forrester are ushering in new mobile services for 2016. Close to 60 percent are now adjusting their budget for securing mobile app resources.

The focus has shifted from B2C applications to the B2B environment. This will cause a significant change in marketing approach as mobile app marketing will drive publicity through various venues and devices too.

2. Pairing mobile app adoption with analytics

The industry can now bank on its marketing strategy by integrating their mobile apps with enterprise platform analytics, to assess their sales and response. One can bank on the IoT market to usher in more data based on the offerings. This will pose a challenge on mobile app marketing since each strategy would need to be prompt and active based on the data being entered.

3. Mobile Applications Ruling initiatives

A plethora of mobile endpoints will bring a degree of stability to diverse infrastructures. This will bring mobile app marketing of a different kind owing to the varied platforms on the play along with the nature of mobile apps in question.

4. Security and risk awareness bring top concerns

It is important for every mobile app marketing strategy and system to be a closed system or else there would be some element of danger to the information of an enterprise. Enterprise IT contends with mobile enterprise devices that use corporate resources and data. Security cannot be compromised in any way, which would mean that marketing platforms need to bank on strong, effective and secured applications.

5. Use of mobile UX design of higher pedigree

Both customer and the employee demand a one-of-a-kind experience. With limited time and budget, developing great employee mobile apps is not always possible. The rest of the load falls on effective mobile app marketing to deliver on effective strategies to address this difficulty, work on creative capabilities and differentiated offerings.

6. Massive proliferation of mobile-connected smart objects

As the number of smart objects continues to grow, mobile apps will be integrated with several objects to enhance its features. The marketing opportunities are enormous since gadgets include a remote control, diagnostic tools and even sensor-driven actions. With each USP, the marketing approach needs to be more innovative and smart.

With the connective mobile-centric analytics and cloud-powered databases, the enterprise focus will be related to infrastructure efficiency, and strong ROI-driven application systems. The volume of data needs to be managed efficiently, and the connected marketing campaigns need to highlight the USPs better.

7. More mobile investment means better marketing ideas and campaigns

As the mobile investment is reaching sky-high, the competition is bound to get tougher as the days go by. Enterprise mobility is reflecting on IT investment priority that seeks to enhance outreach programs, bolster productivity and even thwart competition. With a slew of new communication opportunities because of smart mobility in the workplace, companies are trying to outdo their counterparts with more energetic marketing campaigns for their products and services. Improving employee flexibility is just about the first step with BYOD doing the rounds. But a well-rounded organization will get optimal mobile applications that bring in a unique mobile experience for its customers and users.

8. The bigger the data, the better it is for marketing opportunities

Big Data’s relationship with mobile apps is under close scrutiny and the future trends are expected to bring enterprises with a harmonious relationship with Big Data, mobile apps and BI approaches. Mobile applications backed up by data can deliver clear information to end users and even prompt new people in the crowd to opt for mobile-backed solutions. Accuracy in data processing and business intelligence derived from mobile apps will serve to be a major differentiator for enterprises to bring in innovative results in terms of their offerings. The best of the best organizations are sure to have one foot dipped in Big Data trends while opting for smart mobility within the organization. And mobile app marketing strategies would not lag behind in leveraging the technologies for assessing consumer behavior patterns and future growth potential.

9. Wearable devices and their Differentiating Power with Mobility

Smartphones are now passé as the smartest devices on offer. With the advent of wearable devices that are even banking on the growing IoT juggernaut, one can expect the world tomorrow to be a connected jigsaw of technology. Healthcare is already using wearable technology better with millions of devices being offered in the market offering better health assessment of its users. But the future is yet to come and the marketing opportunity to interact with prospects, leads and clients will surely change for the better. Even the costs would match the benefits on offer, since the applications are too good to miss for most utilities.

It is certain that wearables are here to stay, but one cannot overreach its success. Smart watches and fitness trackers have bolstered the trend this year, but soon one would find people wearing them in workplaces as part of BYOD policies. Business marketing tools are sure to change their nature. Who knows, tomorrow smart glasses will feature in enterprise rotation for niche verticals efficiently!

Conclusion

We have now seen enterprise IT being pushed to the wall. But if we embrace the trends affecting enterprise mobility adoption, one can expect cool things in store. Also the mobile app marketing strategies are sure to renew their approach, to match ideas, budgets, technologies, and even the interest of the audience. One would have to match mobile innovation with cyber-security for better results in the near future.