A common mistake brands make when it comes to mobile advertising is viewing it as purely a growth play: focusing solely on clicks, installs, and users. Mobile advertising can be so much more and support the entirety of the marketing funnel, from awareness to retention.
For big brands, market retention warrants a much bigger focus, as well as brand building and content distribution. Expanding the definition beyond pure growth and understanding how bigger brands think can also be a game-changer for smaller, emerging brands.
With mobile advertising, everyone should think bigger. What “bigger” looks like depends on whether your brand is established or emerging.
Facebook: A case study in thinking bigger
Consider Facebook as an example. Their mobile acquisition strategy isn’t completely about attracting clicks and installs through web, social, or in-app advertising. They also have one of the largest on-device presence of any app on the market. Facebook’s main concern? Protecting their market position.
Facebook makes no secret about pre-installing their app, and correctly points out that it makes them similar to “web browsing, messaging, email, video, photos, music, and other popular apps and features” that already come on smartphones. So, Facebook builds partnerships with OEMs like Samsung to ensure their app comes pre-installed.
Facebook is most vulnerable whenever a user gets a new device. That’s when someone is most likely to recycle their apps or look for something new. If they haven’t been using Facebook regularly, it may slip their mind to reinstall the app on their new phone. Additionally, they can ensure their apps continue to work “on the device over time” by providing updates and notifications through system apps that provide security and user experience improvements.
With the app already on their phone, a person can be nudged back into engagement due to familiarity with the app icon or after receiving a push notification.
This allows Facebook to protect their market share and deepen retention and engagement as well. In this way, what some consider an acquisition strategy — pre-installed apps — can also be a retention and brand engagement play.
4 questions for big brands ready to think bigger
Other big brands can take a cue from Facebook. The average 30-day app uninstall rate is 43% in the U.S. With a bigger approach to mobile advertising, brands can not only acquire more users, but retain more and reduce app churn. Consider the following:
- Can you use content syndication to grow your app presence? Mobile advertisers can partner with other apps to distribute their content and drive more engagement, installs, and clicks back to their app. For example, news apps can distribute their content through aggregators like Flipboard. Retail brands can promote their app through coupon apps and online marketplaces like Retailmenot or eBay. Travel brands, hoteliers, and airlines can syndicate content through travel apps.
- Can you distribute your content elsewhere on-device? Today, there are many other places an app can be present on-device beyond the app itself. Brands can develop custom widgets for the iPhone’s home screen or Today View, increasing visibility and keeping their app top of mind. News screens, portals, and other content areas are other distribution options.
- What can you do to convert your mobile web users to app users?It’s easier to acquire website users, but app users convert at a 300% higher rate, according to data by Branch.io. Push web users to install with a prominent banner at the top that encourages them to download, or experiment with full-screen ads or ever-present “open in app” buttons at the bottom. For specific products, use contextual advertising with deep links that go directly to the product in the app.
- How can you use your brand strength to your advantage?If your app icon is widely recognizable, use it to your advantage. App notifications and pre-installs (like Facebook) can be your friend. Consumers seeing your brand on their phone can build brand familiarity and equity you’re driving elsewhere in your advertising efforts, pushing them to engage. Another way to extend your presence is by highlighting the importance of being on-device through your other channels. For example, if email or SMS are important channels, having your app pre-installed and ready to go makes the user experience frictionless as users switch from messaging or their email app to your app.
Strategies for emerging brands
Of course, emerging brands will be justifiably much more interested in growth. However, they shouldn’t ignore what bigger brands are doing. It helps to understand how they think. By thinking big, emerging brands can become big.
For example, consider if you have a healthy meal delivery app, like Green Chef. Is your market only people interested in organic food, or is it the entire meal delivery market? The answer is likely to evolve as you grow as a business and need to attract more users or expand your total addressable market. You can test the market using some of the strategies outlined above. Experiment with mobile advertising to drive more interest, familiarity, and downloads — as well as increased engagement among your existing users. Understanding where demand for your product is ubiquitous can help you determine how to spread your distribution wider.
Look for non-traditional options that can help you stand apart from the competition, too. Cryptocurrency app Coinbase’s Super Bowl ad brought their brand to a national level, and with a colorful bouncing QR code, directly connected the TV to the smartphone. Their app installs skyrocketed 309% after the ad aired, and grew another 286% the next day. To boost their user growth and awareness, Buy Now, Pay Later app Klarna partnered with WISH, a shopping marketplace app, to offer BNPL to Wish users.
Mobile advertising: Bigger than acquisition
Mobile advertising can do more for your brand than pure acquisition. When looking for mobile advertising strategies and partners, think about how they can help you with everything, not just growth. Large brands should think holistically, while emerging brands should think ahead about what they can do to be a bigger presence beyond the category or vertical they might be boxed into today.
