Article by Irem Isik, Head of Marketing, Storyly
2022 was the year of the post-covid rebound following the two years of lockdowns and restrictions. Not for the mobile ecosystem, though.
With more and more consumers relying on a tiny device in the palm of their hands, the mobile landscape was already thriving with accelerated growth thanks to the changing habits throughout the pandemic. The number of hours consumers spent using apps increased to 5 hours on average per day, according to data.ai.
Now in 2023, the recession-ridden market, rising user acquisition costs, and shrinking budgets are shaping and will continue to shape the year, business plans, and marketing strategies. But it’s not like we are going to drop everything and wait until this perfect storm comes to an end. Great opportunities can arise from challenging times. So, the utmost important item in your marketing toolkit this year will be your creativity.
But that’s not all. Here are the key strategies that will help mobile marketers to thrive and achieve their goals:
Inspiration
Mobile users do not follow a strictly linear, single-visit funnel anymore. In eCommerce, for instance, the shopper’s journey starts on social media or search engines. That means you have an opportunity to generate demand during this discovery stage, and here’s where inspiration can help. Spicing up the discovery journey with a dash of inspiration can drive revenue and app engagement. And might I remind you that in 2021, SurveyMonkey found that shopping websites are Gen-Z’s top go-to source for inspiration?
Gamification
This is nothing new, but I can say that it is here to stay in 2023 and beyond. People love gamification because rewards and a sense of competition transform simple everyday tasks and activities into fun and engaging experiences. Daily trivia quizzes, scavenger hunts combining online and offline, rewarding specific milestones like first purchase and gamified onboarding flows… It’s all up to your imagination, but it will definitely make your users come back for more.
Personalisation
This is like walking on a tightrope for mobile marketers. Because amid the increasing data privacy concerns of consumers and new regulations going into effect, it is becoming even more challenging. But it is also a must because that’s what consumers today expect from brands. One way to tackle this paradoxical challenge is to collect zero-party data – the kind that users voluntarily share with you. So many of our customers gather actionable insights by creating interactive Storyly Stories with elements like quizzes, open-ended questions, and polls and collecting zero-party data.
Brand communities & collaborative conversations
The competition in the mobile landscape is fierce, with millions of apps trying to capture the attention of users and 25% of apps being abandoned after just one session. So, to stand out in the crowd, you need to differentiate your app, and in-app communities could be the answer. This involves connecting with users directly while helping them connect with other users. A strong in-app community could greatly impact your key metrics as the users are more likely to stick with your app.
This also means giving a voice to your users with user-generated content. Users today increasingly demand collaborative conversations where they lead the conversation, and they prefer created content over curated, polished, and branded ones. As a result, user-generated content is becoming more popular. This year, give a platform to your users and remember, this will probably result in assets that you can use in marketing and advertising.
Short videos
I’m sure we all know it from experience: Our consideration spans are shorter. So, providing the audience with bite-sized pieces of information is an important part of communication today. Even better if the content is in video format. Animoto found that users preferred the video at four times the rate of the text description when they were asked to choose between reading a product description and watching a short video about it. So, this year make sure you benefit from short-form videos to entertain audiences, answer questions, and offer valuable content in various ways without taking up much of their time.
To conclude
Consider these strategies as investments in loyalty and retention. Carefully and consistently implemented, they can help you achieve your goals in mobile marketing and unlock success.
