Did you know that according to a research report published by Flurry, last year US consumers downloaded an average of 8.8 apps each month? That alone is a lot, but when we dug a little deeper into the data, we found that 20% of US consumers downloaded a staggering 17 apps a month— that’s about 32 million US mobile consumers downloading 17 apps every single month!
As new apps continue to flood the market, a major challenge for mobile marketers now is not just getting people to download their app, but to keep using it over time. App owners try to keep their users engaged by:
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Using notifications to remind them to complete an activity that they have started already. This is a common tactic among gaming apps like Words With Friends, Ruzzle and Trivia Crack.
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Pointing out new features with in-app notifications.
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Continually improving the app to keep users engaged.
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Limiting the time users have to complete a task, another favorite tactic of games.
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Adding the social login option so users can engage people they know.
Another common approach to increase app usage is to advertise the app. For this, marketers need look no further than Google’s new Mobile App Engagement Ads that can run on the Search Network and the Display Network. These ads allow you to re-engage an audience that may have lost interest in your app.
Although Google released this new type of ad quietly, it’s bound to cause a big shift in AdWords mobile campaign management for app owners. Previously, search and display ads for mobile apps were focused on capturing new users. These ads could be hyper targeted to users with a specific version of a mobile OS but they couldn’t be aimed specifically at users who already had the advertiser’s app installed.
With the new mobile engagement ads and some additional remarketing tags in the app, AdWords can finally re-engage your existing users. With the new tags installed, you can aim your ads at 4 user segments:
1. All users of your app
2. Users who have a specific app version
3. Users who have or have not used your app recently
4. Users who performed specific actions in your app.
Additionally, if the marketer is using AdWords to track in-app conversions, they can segment out higher lifetime-value customers and target them more aggressively than other users.
Acquiring new consumers in the mobile app market is increasing in difficulty and cost-per-install (CPI). Because of this, mobile app engagement ads will be a vital tool for your efforts to increase your users’ lifetime value. Embracing this one small step can be a giant leap towards your app’s success and longevity.
