mobile apps - route to next gen mobile consumer engagement

Mobile Apps – The Route to Next Gen Consumer Engagement 1

Mobile Apps The Route to Next Gen Mobile Consumer Engagement

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Introduction

Brand Alignment

App Engagement Uncovered

Push Technology

The Next Generation

Case Studies and Examples

Conclusion

About Donky

Introduction


According to ABI Research the mobile app industry

is worth $27 billion, which proves that the market

has reached a level of maturity that demonstrates

that not having an app makes a business one of the

minority not the majority.

Many businesses are now rushing to create an app

to remain in the race, not willing to be the last over

the finish line. Executive teams across the globe are

pushing their teams to develop apps as fast as

possible, often without a clear mobile strategy or

plan in place. Unfortunately, this kind of behaviour

can easily cause more harm than good with research

by Harris Interactive showing that 90% of users had

their experience of a brand tarnished by a poorly

performing app; 75% described annoyance and 69%

frustration. Typically these feelings are driven by

slow or difficult to navigate apps, where customers

aren’t getting the information they want or expect

at an acceptable speed.

In a world where broadband, Wi-Fi and even 3G or

4G speeds are consistent and often lightning fast,

the user is expecting every interaction they have

with their device to occur at the same speed and

with the same quality.

Apps are becoming more and more of a

requirement in consumers’ day to day lives, whether

it’s checking sports results, playing games, looking

at the weather or socialising; they are becoming

reliant on the ever present technology contained in

the device in their pockets.

If an app is not capable of meeting this expectation,

it is likely to fall behind in the eyes of the user, and if

they visit the app again, it will be to uninstall it.

Users’ expectations of business’ online and mobile

presences have been very high for a while now, and

are forever on the up, alongside the expansion and

development of technology. Brands need to focus

on how to identify and meet those expectations

across all their marketing channels.

Introduction


A business’ app is the personification of their brand;

it represents them in the mobile space, just as a

shop or office does on the high street. Everything

from the interior décor down to the packaging or

bag the customer leaves with reminds people of the

brand and so increases not only brand awareness

but positive feelings among their consumer base

and target market.

When building an app, a brand should be delivering

this same level of care and attention to the user as

they would an in-store customer. They must think

about how they would usually engage their

customer base and increase loyalty, for example;

• Create a personal touch by starting direct

conversations with customers

• Build trust by rectifying mistakes in a timely

manner and taking clearly communicated steps

to prevent them occurring again

• Ask their opinion, regular customer surveys can

provide valuable feedback and suggestions as

well as making consumers feel more engaged

and needed

• Surprise fans with birthday or special offers; go

over and above what is expected

• Staff training and product knowledge is incredibly

important to customer experience, when

customers visit, they need to trust the brand

implicitly

This sort of experience is key to creating a strong

fan base among the customers of the brand.

Businesses everywhere are aware that fans are our

most loyal supporters and are capable of doing far

more to market a brand than any advertising

campaign could even hope for. By encouraging

sharing and discussion between consumers it is

possible to introduce a great way to construct a fan

base which will grow the business and its sales

organically.

Brand Alignment


Amazingly, apps are reducing the use of even

mobile browsers. A recent Nielsen study showed

that 87% of U.S. consumers spent the majority of

their time on a mobile app rather than a mobile

browser – up from 81% last year and 73% two years

ago. So as more and more consumers want to

spend time on their smartphones in-app, what are

brands doing to deliver a rich and engaging app for

them to use?

It seems not enough, as many are consistently

failing to recognise user behaviours and tailor their

offering to match.

The following app behaviours can be observed in

everyday life, in ourselves, friends, family or even

strangers, but how often do marketers pay attention

to what is happening around them?

• Social apps allow us to stay up to date, not miss

the latest news, photo or story to share with

friends or family; interesting to note that 60% of

twitter users access it through their mobile.

• Gaming apps are addictive, creating a desperate

need within us to complete the next level or

compete with a friend; for example Angry Birds

now has nearly 2 billion downloads.

• Show-rooming has become an almost staple part

of our shopping experience; users are finding the

best products and prices online or in app whilst

on the move.

According to a new study from Localytics, 26% of all

apps downloaded are opened just once, and then

never used again. To ensure an app doesn’t fall into

that group, it’s imperative that it services a defined

user need.

In the last 12 months 51.64% of top app downloads

have been gaming apps followed at some distance

by productivity apps at 16.25%. Branded apps

hardly features here at all, exposing their weakness

in not first understanding a user need before

developing their app.

App Engagement

Uncovered


Businesses are often only creating what could be

termed “outbound only” apps where users are

unable to engage with each other or the brand. The

need for 2-way communications in every platform

has become patently obvious over the past decade,

so why aren’t brands delivering this to their app

users?

Interestingly, the variation between devices in terms

of types of app used is huge:

Another noteworthy fact is that of the 29 apps

installed on the average device, 10 are used each

month and 8 are paid apps; showing that given the

right set of tools or engaging content, users are

happy to pay. For example, the latest craze of Candy

Crush Saga by King.com has users spending vast

quantities of money on a seemingly pointless game,

just to beat the next level. Further demonstrating

the proposed analysis that users are addicted to

their phones, and all brands need to do is present

them with something useful enough to latch onto.

App Engagement

Uncovered


Having discussed the importance and relevance of a

mobile app for businesses, and how consumer

engagement with apps is really reflected in most of

their “outbound only” methodologies that don’t

reflect behaviours. It is important to note here, that

there are examples of businesses pushing the

boundaries with their apps and creating new,

interactive and engaging app experiences to help

develop their brand personality in the eyes of the

consumer.

Below are just some of the examples that can be

observed, of companies taking the next stage in

terms of app development.

Audi Augmented Reality

The car manufacturer in partnership with Metaio has

created an interactive manual for their A1 and A3

products, allowing users to browse the features and

functions of the cars as well as details of over 300

different car parts. All the data for the app is pulled

from the cloud, allowing it to be accessed at all

times by the user.

Although the app is currently iOS only and requires

the user to be connected to the internet to access it,

it shows a distinct growth spurt in terms of

producing an application on the basis of fulfilling a

user requirement as opposed to ticking the

proverbial box.

This interactive manual is a fantastic tool to allow

users to lose their battered hard copies in favour of

an entirely mobile alternative. However, the addition

of a forum style connection with Audi might allow

users to ask questions and request information from

Audi; increase the 2-way interactions within the app.

Smart Starbucks

The coffee chain has combined several key mobile

marketing features into its app. It all began with the

store locator, which is still a large component of the

program. The Starbucks app also uses the

smartphone as a loyalty card, making it easier to

manage balances and reload money. In some stores,

the mobile device can actually be used to pay for

purchases.

Case Studies &

Examples

http://www.starbucks.co.uk/

http://www.audi.co.uk/


One of the highlights of this app is the ability to

create personalised drinks. It adds a game-like

element that encourages shoppers to be creative

and explore the full line of Starbucks products. For

the health-minded, the app also includes nutritional

information about its food and beverages. It’s a

good example of how brands can make details

about their merchandise accessible in a fun, new

way.

By creating an element of gamification in their app,

Starbucks has instantly enabled an additional

stream for users to further engage, they could

extend this by creating a user to user

communication environment to allow consumers to

share their newly created drinks with one another.

Also the use of in-app rich advertising could

promote seasonal drinks or offer coupons for

frequent users.

Walgreens Pharmacy

Flurry chose the drug store chain's app for its "Refill

by Scan" feature, which lets customers order

prescription refills by scanning the barcode directly

off the pill bottle. Users can also receive push

notification reminders when prescriptions are ready

to be refilled.

Other features include photo, allowing users to take

pictures with the phone, and then upload them to

their Walgreens photo album and pick up the prints

within the hour, along with more prosaic features,

like a store finder and coupon information.

A great addition to such a 2-way and engaging app

would be a chat function, allowing users to

communicate with the pharmacy to ask questions in

a controlled, secure environment – or arrange

appointments. Walgreens could also consider using

rich advertising to promote offers for photography

or coupons.

Case Studies &

Examples

http://www.walgreens.com/


Push notification systems on mobile operating

systems act as a method of notifying the handset an

installed application has data waiting for it from an

external system. It is referred to as push as the client

establishes a connection into the push notification

servers and only has data pushed down to it when a

notification is pending, therefore avoiding costly

polling. In general data is pushed from external

system to the mobile operating systems push

servers and then down to the handset when

available.

For mobile marketers this means a way to push out

updates, offers, promotions or news to their app.

Not a new technology the service is available for all

major smartphone operating systems and is

completely optional for the end user. It’s reasonably

simple to opt-in/out of any push notification from

within the app settings. This means that it provides

a great way to safely, and consensually

communicate with an engaged mobile audience

with outbound content.

However, push is not without its limitations, it allows

for a very short (small) message to be transmitted

containing only plain text.

Push Technology

Small means a limit of 256 bytes which equates to

128 characters, and although sending a message

this small is perfectly acceptable, in the case of SMS

for example; often businesses might have more

information to share with their users.


Push is also an outbound only solution allowing an

app to transmit to the mobile but not allowing the

user to respond.

Another and usually unnoticed aspect of push

technology is that it completely lacks any reporting.

How are modern marketers managing without their

usual in depth analytics and information? From

every campaign deployed there should be a simple

expectation of reporting around how engaged our

audience is, and how connected they are with our

brand or offer.

Push Technology

Further to this, push notifications are not usually

stored in an inbox, once clicked or dismissed they

are gone and the user cannot retrieve them if

required. Providing this sort of feature within an app

can dramatically increase engagement and re-visits;

imagine if the service could offer 2-way

communications.

By triggering push notifications based on interests,

location or time-zone (the simplest of targeting

tools) a business can reach its customers with

messages that are relevant and timely. When the

user clicks on the notification they are brought to

the app, where hopefully their attention will be held.

There is no facility for driving consumers to a

specific area of the app; they are just dropped on

the homepage as if they had launched it manually.

Although push is a very interesting tool for

increasing engagement and driving app usage it is

reasonably limited in terms of how much it actually

has to offer marketers and as a result, businesses

should be looking for more alternative technologies

to enthuse their customers.


It has become clear during this whitepaper that

apps are becoming more and more relevant in the

wake of the smartphone revolution. Consumers

don’t just like apps; they need them. They’re

entertainment, a news source and education. As

people get busier, apps help them stay on top of

things and keep them connected in a world that

moves as fast as they can tweet it.

Mobile app technology of the upcoming few years

must be capable of increased user interaction and

2-way engagement instead of a one way delivery of

content.

Furthermore, simply delivering that content without

a specific targeted approach, personal to the user

will not create the same experience that the user

would receive if they were to visit a brand in person.

Companies branching out into mobile now must

find a way to bring the targeted nature of other

direct marketing techniques (email, SMS) to their

apps.

It’s interesting to note at this stage that research by

SAP shows that men and women have different

expectations when it comes to apps. Women want

simplicity and look for an easy-to-use interface that

takes them to the end result as painlessly as

possible. Men, on the other hand, are interested in

functionality and whether an app properly serves its

The Next Generation


purpose. It seems that in general consumers are

looking for an app that makes them more

productive, so there would be limited value (if any at

all) in producing an app that does nothing for the

user.

As well as helping businesses deliver and receive

content from the user, mobile technology of the

future must be capable of linking back all that

activity to a central CRM or marketing database,

from which all consumer analytics are calculated.

Businesses need to be able to tie all mobile (as well

as other channel) communications together to

create an omni-channel connection with their users.

Once technology allows everyone to clearly tie the

user of an app to a view on the desktop site or to a

purchase in store, brands will be able to

communicate effectively to their customers with one

united voice. Avoiding a situation with some brands

at the moment, where customer experiences can be

muddled by old data or duplication of contacts.

The Next Generation


This whitepaper has uncovered that the app

industry is enormous; its value is constantly being

contested between the two biggest players, Apple

and Android. iOS continues to lead the market and

generates over two-thirds of the revenues for

smartphone and tablet. This seems to expose that

although Android apps outnumber Apple apps, iOS

users are much happier to part with money to enjoy

their apps.

Smart marketers need to drive their efforts towards

those iOS users and meet their needs in order to

drive revenue and m-commerce through their apps.

The current rush to develop an app to complete a

task is not an effective way to deliver ground-

breaking and engaging technology to the user, it is

simply not going to meet their expectations and as

has already been mentioned, do more harm than

good.

Users are expecting the same level of care and

attention they would receive in store, they want

instant access and smooth, intuitive design and

navigation. Apps need to work as well as the best

desktop sites, if not better; as they are smaller, more

compact and using a more sophisticated

technology.

Simply delivering a nice looking app is no longer

enough; businesses must meet these expectations

and in fact exceed them to please the user.

Customer service is hugely important to the success

of any business in any sector, and it is the most

appreciated of all aspects of the business;

consumers want to be treated well and are willing to

pay for it. Two thirds of consumers say that a

positive customer experience caused them to spend

more and eight out of ten would pay up to 25%

more for a superior service (thedrum.com 2013).

Although these statistics reference the in-store retail

space, it is not a huge stretch to assume that those

people would also be happy to part with more

money to improve the experience they get in app.

Current simple push technology is not enough to

excite users; it isn’t going to help businesses build

interactions like they would in email or in-store

campaigns and that’s what needs to be achieved.

There are many companies out there already

working on creating apps that deliver the kind of

interactivity the user is expecting, as covered earlier

in this paper.

Conclusion


Creating solutions that save people time and energy

and make interacting with the brand not only useful,

but fun!

Gamification like in the Starbucks app is a fantastic

way to engage users and keep a brand in the

forefront of their minds; and more than that make

them fans.

Conclusion

More important however, is the fact that even those

who are currently excelling, can be improved upon;

there is always more to offer and brands that lead

the way must always be looking for the next-gen

technology to deliver rich, exciting, engaging and

targeted content to their users, through their app.


There is a clearly demonstrated missing link within

the mobile industry, where brands simply aren’t

willing or able to tie their in-app experience to that

of in-store. Donky is a new technology developed

for in-app engagement to help businesses increase

consumer engagement and interaction through

their apps, and as a result customer loyalty. It also

offers some particularly unique solutions to increase

app lifespan and make an app one of the 10 that are

downloaded and used every month (if not more).

Simple Push

Donky takes push a step further by using push

notifications as a simple way to notify the user and

bring them back to the app where they can share,

engage and communicate to their hearts content.

By utilising Donky messaging, brands can create an

in-app environment to build engagement, loyalty

and trust with their users and ensure they continue

to use that app over anyone else’s.

Top Features

• Wake up the phone with a notification that must

be read

• Drive traffic back to an app to increase

engagement

• Deploy to iOS and Android phones

2-way Push

Donky begins to demonstrate its power when this

service is used. The “duplex push network” as Donky

calls it, allows 2-way conversations to take place

between the user and the business, using push

channels as a wake up services as opposed to the

delivery system. This feature is actually based on an

OTT network.

Top Features

• Create conversations with users

• Enable an inbox for users to send and receive

from

• Attach images to messages

About Donky


Rich Messages

The next generation of push messaging; create

personal, rich and engaging content to deliver to

customers. No need to involve a technical team;

simply use Donky’s Campaign Builder to create

HTML app pages containing media such as images,

videos and coupons.

Top Features

• Send rich content out to app users and use

replies to engage them

• Create advertising or offers with HTML and

images

• Drop the prefabricated inbox straight in with

minimal development time

Social Chat

Enable app users to communicate with their

contacts over a dedicated OTT network through the

app. Drive increased engagement within the app

and encourage longer stays in-app by creating an

in-app eco-system where users can chat, share

content and socialise.

Top Features

• P2P in-app OTT network to allow users to

communicate with one another from within the

app

• User tracking and management to prevent fraud

and trolling

• Allow user to share and converse without ever

leaving the app

About Donky


donky

mobile apps - route to next gen mobile consumer engagement

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