LIVE FROM APP PROMOTION SUMMIT, LONDON: Developers must provide users with a “magic moment” when they realise the app is improving their lives in order to build loyalty and advocacy, Aurelie Genet, mobile marketing manager at train ticketing app Trainline, said.
From her experience, this can be achieved by building user segments based on behaviour, using robust tracking of events, and setting unique identifiers for every user.
In the case of Trainline, segments include commuters who occasionally check train times, mobile ticket adopters who prefer tickets on their phones to printing them out, and frequent travelers who do both.
Once identified, developers should define a funnel (i.e how a user got to a particular stage) and the value of each segment and then work with data scientists and analytics firms to map the path that gets a user to their “magic moment”.
For Trainline the path is such: a user will check train times through the app around three times, before deciding to bookmark a trip they make frequently, and then actually purchasing a ticket through the app.
The second step is to build a contract strategy. Sending emails requires an opt-in (and spamming risks users opting out). In-app notifications are handy to point out new features, but the person needs to have the app opened for this.
Then there is advertising, for which marketers will need to set a budget and target audience and make use of deep linking to get consumers to a specific landing page.
She also pointed out it is important not to retarget a user who has already completed a call to action as it is likely to put them off.
Space Ape Games
Trainline has been around for some time but what do developers do when they are starting right from the beginning?
This is where Space Ape Games’ user acquisition lead, Saikala Sultanova (pictured, left), shed some light, having recently launched Transformers: Earth Wars.
Developers should start with tracking events, the more the better, then narrow down the ones that matter most to users.
According to her, the best predictors of user lifetime value (LTV) are: day one retention, number of battles fought (in the case of their game), when the first purchase was made, and how much in-app purchase revenue a user generates.
However, it is likely to take time for users to make that first purchase or fight a battle, and developers can’t always wait that long.
In that case, there are some optimisation indicators that campaign managers can use to make decisions early on.
This includes finishing an on-boarding tutorial, going up a level, initiating a payment and leaving a rating.
To get an idea of overall revenue, she recommends putting together in-app purchases and ad revenue with retention and K-factor (growth rate) and subtracting store fees and charge backs (e.g. refunds).
It is also important to measure and compare LTV predicted vs actual rates to understand an app’s performance, she said.
Her advice to developers, particularly those from small businesses, is to aim high and be ambitious but always have a contingency plan so when they go live a plan B can help them stay on track to achieve their business goals.
Comments