4 Strategies to Re-attract Users Interest to Your App

Most marketing strategies for mobile applications are aimed at making users download an app. No doubts, installs are important. However, if an app is installed and not used regularly, it reduces chances to raise your popularity and to make it bring some additional income.

You are still hesitating if re-engagement is important? Just have a lookat official statistic of recent years:

• Jen Taylor (Digital Development department in A&E)
• Richard Ha (Marketing Department of Zillow)
• Esther Hwang (Marketing Department of Poshmark)
• Sean Ellis (CEO of GrowthHackers)

If you are about to build an effective and real-working strategy, including a stage of regular re-engagement is a must.

Mobile Re-engagement Strategy: How It Works

Mobile re-engagement is another part of marketing strategy for mobile applications. It’s aimed at re-attracting those users who downloaded an app and haven’t shown any activity for a long time after that.

While there are many marketing tools and tricks that help to sell an app, there are only a few to remind user about an installed appand to attract customer’s attention repeatedly. We’ve found out several most effective principles that show good results in mobile re-engagement:

• Deep Linking;
• Paid Social;
• Push Notifications;
• Paid Search.

Include all of these elements to your re-engagement strategy or use those that will work best in your case.

Best Practices For Effective Re-Engagement of App Users

Deep Linking

Links are something very common for all internet users when we think about web. We see links on sites, given by search engine or placed inside adverts. Not all marketers know that nearly the same practice can be used for applications.

Several years ago linking an app was something impossible. An application could be connected to its icon on device screen on at application store only. Now, technology of deep linking allows using active links that leads not only to a main page of an application but also to a screen that looks most attractive to potential users. Using deep linking is a good way not only to sell application but to re-attract those users who have the app already installed.

How to use it: Use deep linking when you want to direct users to something they may like in your app. Save their time and re-direct them to attractive screens, instead of sending your consumers to main page of an application.

Paid Social

Social sites are great platforms to advertise your applications. However, here you can not only hit new potential customers but also remind your existing customers about your app. Popularity of adverts on social sites like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter is growing fast. It’s especially effective for promotion application: light, entertaining content is easily accepted on social sites. There are many tools to remind users about your product: you can use posters, videos, one or several images and links. You are also able to engage popular communities and leaders of minds to promoting your applications.

Detailed targeting that is offered by most of social sites or can be provided with separate marketing tools, allows hitting only those users who have your app downloaded on their devices. Targeting tools can find your existing clients by e-mails, user IDs or even user name on social site. That is very comfortable and allows aiming your advert at most desirable group. In addition, your adverts will be shown to mobile or tablet users only, so they can return to your application directly.

How to use it: When choosing a platform, count on those social sites that showed better results when attracting users. It’s more possible to reach your existing customers on the same platform where they reacted on your ads before. Don’t count on one advert version only. Try some variations with different pictures, calls-to-action or videos.

Push Notifications

Push notification is a message that can be automatically sent to a mobile holder who installed your app before. Usually, notifications inform users about updates, promos or other pleasant news and stimulate your customer to check the app again. It can really work to re-attract people to your application. At least, more than 80% of app developers who regularly use push notifications reported it being effective. Another great plus of push notifications is that most users don’t see them as something annoying. They will only receive a textual message like any system notification. The only rule: don’t use notifications too often and try to reflect only real and actual information.

How to use it: Push notifications are important only when they are comfortable. If they are accompanied by loud sound or are sent in inappropriate time, they will work opposite. Your client will simply delete an app if a notification will interrupt business meeting or will be received at night. Be ready to make your messages silent, short and understandable, it’s also a good idea to send them when your users are supposed to have free time.

Many users feel insulted when they receive notifications without their permission. Ask your users if they allow your app to send notifications about promos and updates when they install your app.

Paid Search

Developers promote their apps with Google advertising or other similar services. Nowadays you can easily connect your app to some keywords and allow search engines showing a link to your app to mobile internet users. This strategy works similar to SEO promotion. If you’ve ever promoted your site using Google AdWords, you understand how it works.

When users click a link that looks relevant to their search request, they are redirected to main page of an app or o one of its screens.When ordering paid search promotion, you can aim your adverts at those users who already downloaded your app before.

How to use it: Choice of proper keywords may play the main role for paid search strategy. Try to select those keys that are directly related to your application, its services and functions. At the same time, think about those features that have fewer competitors.

If you use deep linking, promote links to relevant screens not to a main page of an app. That will save time of your app users.

General Advice For Effective Re-Engagement

Try several tools

Even an experienced marketer won’t tell you which re-engagement practice will work best in your case. It’s better to try several strategies and several platforms to find those that will work better for you. Don’t try to apply someone’s else experience to your case fully. Your app is unique and your users may have something different from others - don’t afraid to search for your own working approach.

Measure results of campaigns

It’s very important to monitor results of each campaign and to evaluate changes when using new tools or elements. Building a clear statistics picture will help you find your best approach and use your investments wisely.

Summary

Even if you have good selling rate and positive marketing results, include re-engagement tools into your strategy. Nowadays, when most apps are free or affordable and there are great diversity of them, many users don’t use application often. To download an app to use it once or twice and simply forget about it - is such a common practice for modern users.

Using some re-engagement practices, you can not only attract new clients but get more benefits from existing customers, re-attracting them and connecting them to an app they already have on their devices.