Brand Love = App x Experience

Recently I took a step back to think about just how much my app clients have grown in the last 18 months.?Yes, they achieved record downloads but, in my opinion, they benefited most from “quality time” with their customer base.??

Across all app categories, from shopping to business apps, the dollars and time spent on apps surged in 2020 (App Annie). Business apps usage soared 200%, and gaming and shopping apps saw a 25 point increase in usage on shopping and gaming apps. “One of the biggest areas of growth we saw on mobile was in time spent — a product of both more people using mobile apps and spending greater time in them each day.”?

And while this is good news for the app industry, developers face the challenge of just how many apps are out there. So much so that 27% of app users do not have their favorite brand’s app downloaded. Differentiating from the ecosystem requires a different strategy than simply focusing on acquisition. Users’ expectations have become more sophisticated, and brands will need to consider how they can delight, inspire, and help their users. Meaningful engagement requires more than a transaction. Users want an experience, and will go where they find the best ones. Our latest research supports this. In the retail industry 63% of consumers will continue to seek out the best app experiences even once stores reopen, as I recently shared in Think with Google.

I think back to how I weathered the pandemic with my family. I’m reminded of the app and mobile experiences I turned to. I downloaded food delivery apps like Uber Eats because I needed a break from cooking, and fitness on-demand apps like Peloton because I couldn’t go to the gym. And as our merged living and workspaces made us a little (okay a lot) stir-crazy, I sought virtual ways to “go out.”?

For example, I watched the Balenciaga runway show on my mobile, which is a luxury fashion house founded decades ago by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. The virtual runway show was experienced through Oculus glasses that were sent to over 300 guests worldwide (Vogue). “So vivid were the details that you could turn to the people around you and study their body language and wardrobe … sitting there felt exhilaratingly real. At one point, I caught myself thinking I should be wearing shoes, then remembered I was alone, on my sofa, in London,” said writer Anders Christian Madsen.

Similarly, I watched Travis Scott in a Fortnite concert, along with a reported 12 million players. Fortnite is the wildly popular battle royale game from content developer Epic Games.I was blown away by the concert experience presented in a “gaming” format. TechCrunch called it “a gloriously surreal ‘astronomical’ event.”?

These stories of innovation and experimentation coming out of the pandemic will continue to change users’ expectations and transform the digital landscape. While there is no taking away the in-person concert or a fashion runway experience, we now have options we could have never imagined. But with more options, app makers will be pressed to capture and keep our attention, especially given apps will be competing with in-person events too.?

HOW CAN BRANDS SHOW UP FOR THEIR USERS??

Connect web and app tracking into a single unified customer view. In a privacy centric world it’s more critical than ever to harness the power of your first party data.??

• Focus on building a connected experience for consumers across all mobile platforms.?
• 72% of customers are more likely to be loyal if the experience is personalized with rewards and benefits; and 75% of users will stay loyal if the transaction is seamless. Direct more users to apps, driving first-time purchases with deep linking.?Whether they are booking a hotel, shopping for clothes or thinking about their next DIY home improvement.?
• Leverage Google’s suite of product updates that offers better mobile experiences and results by taking users of your app from your Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, and Hotel ads directly to the relevant page in your mobile app.Engage both new and existing users, not just new customers.?
• Unify measurement across all customer touchpoints, and leverage the power of your app data with Firebase.?Integrate the Firebase SDK.?By Integrating the Firebase SDK, Advertisers are able to effectively track installs and in-app actions of their app users, this data allows advertisers to better optimize App Campaigns as well as understand the Cpp’s individual value

In short: Connect your experiences, leverage deep linking and unify with Firebase.

Brands must demonstrate they are listening to consumers and their audiences.?Capturing consumer engagement will depend on developing creative and compelling app experiences. Every user wants to feel that personalized experience that goes way beyond expectations, myself included.