The coronavirus epidemic is a huge blow to the economy and a test for many companies. However, the market hates vacuum and every, even worldwide tragedy, has not only its losers, but also winners. It is no different in the case of the mobile application market. Recent weeks have seen increased traffic in app stores and increased sales through the mobile channel.
It is therefore a good time to verify whether companies have approached the issue of digital transformation and the mobile first approach responsibly. Current times are a test for applications and their strategies. Good optimization and the right approach to app marketing are at a premium today and it's worth doing good to survive.
At a time when applications must fulfill various roles ranging from being a sales channel for products and services, to loyalize customers with the brand, to customer service. The right approach to the promotion, management and optimization of mobile applications should be a key concern for management boards and managers wanting to go through this crisis unscathed.
Therefore, it will be important to focus on making the application generate real measurable value in real business indicators. In this article, I will describe the individual elements of mobile app marketing, which need to be emphasized in the near future, so that companies and applications come out stronger and more stable after the crisis.
App Store Optimization
I start analyzing app marketing during the crisis by discussing a very important element of mobile app marketing - App Store Optimization. Many companies in the SME sector (although it applies to large too :)) due to the current situation, the inevitable decisions postponed for years to launch the online/mobile sales channel have accelerated. Mobile applications are a better sales channel for many of their advantages over classic online, and nowadays, not noticing their potential is a huge mistake.
If we already have an application, we must also have strategies for acquiring users. ASO is an acquisition channel that we definitely can’t forget about. In the long run, App Store Optimization can become one of the beneficiaries of ongoing changes. People are forced to buy online and mobile, and even the part of the society that normally had aversion to the application is now learning the application because there is no other way.
So if we want to sell on mobile we must acquire customers. You have to be present in places where people have contact with our application. Such a place is the App Store or Google Play and also other app stores. In these difficult times, you also need to pay attention to budgets, so basing your strategy on acquiring users only on paid methods (Paid User Acquisition) is not a good attitude. You should skillfully balance ASO and paid UA, but about Paid Acquisition later.
What should be realized about the ASO is the fact that right now is the moment when these activities should be implemented or, if they are already implemented, maintain and place special emphasis. For at least several reasons:
- If your competition does not do this, then you definitely should - it’s the best moment to distance them. When the situation stabilizes in a few months, it may turn out that you significantly overtake them,
- If the competition gives up you shouldn’t - same reason as above,
- If the competition does not let go, you also shouldn’t - to not stay behind your competition.
- Users will still need products and services, so let's care about their experiences, which in mobile may be at a much better level
In the media we hear all the time that in the face of a new situation we should not panic. We should also apply this rule in the case of ASO. Remember that users acquired organically from ASO have higher retention, LTV, so the effort we put into obtaining it will have better results. In addition, if we now have more time, it is worth taking actions for which we did not have enough time so far. In addition, companies that have not paid much attention to diversify the sources of user acquisition should start doing so as soon as possible - it will pay off in the future.
Search Ads
In matters related to paid advertising activities, in addition to standard acquisition methods, we should think about ads in application stores such as Search Ads. This is an underestimated element of paid acquisition and should be carefully looked at. At a time when acquisition costs need to be optimized even more by combining existing methods with ASO and Search Ads can give spectacular results.
It is likely that most App Store publishers that display ads on Apple Search will not be seriously affected by changes in user behavior resulting from COVID-19. Publishers of applications in the categories: Games, Business, Education, Entertainment, Photography, Fitness will benefit from the crisis, because users increase the use of applications belonging to these categories.
This will negatively affect bids and conversions in categories such as: Travel, Booking and Transportation.
Mobile Strategy
Recent events with the coronavirus mean that companies wanting to successfully sell in the mobile channel must put a lot of emphasis on mobile strategy. It is all the more important that since everyone will now migrate to the mobile channel, the application market will be even more crowded than before. A properly selected strategy and effective use of all available options for optimizing the mobile application are required if we want to successfully do business in mobile. Emphasis should be placed on improving the love score of the application, the appropriate use of analytical methods and appropriate data analysis to continuously optimize the application strategy and provide users with the best experience.
Contact with the client
Transferring businesses to mobile and making the application the main source of revenue for companies will result in greater interest and the level of customer expectations. Before starting cooperation with the client, a much more important element will be the explanation of what will be the transfer of business to the mobile channel, based on what tools it will be made, when and what effects we can expect. In summary, customers will be more demanding, so educating them will be very important. They need to see in the app marketing agency not only experts, but also a flexible partner who will help them through difficult times.
Is it worth giving up or delaying app marketing activities?
When the crisis comes, companies look for all possible sources of savings, the costs associated with advertising the application seem to be among the first to "cut off." And of course in many industries it is justified, because it is hard to expect to sustain spending on app marketing, when we have to, for example, reduce the number of employees. However, other crises, such as the one related to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, have shown that giving up activities such as marketing is not a good decision.
App Marketing (ASO, Search Ads, etc.) allows you to earn money, especially ASO leads to the acquisition of high-quality users with great retention rate when they are looking for applications to achieve their current goals. What's more staying at home is conducive to shopping, searching, playing, etc.
App Marketing is measurable and flexible. Thanks to careful analysis of data, you can focus on buying-focused activities within your budget - Everything is a matter of strategy!
The market hates vacuum. If your application is not in the places where it is best to attract a user, your competition will definitely be there.
Despite the difficult situation, the world does not end. People will still need products and services, and app marketing is the best way to get the best users.
In a while, everything will return to normal, and thanks to the appropriate application strategy implemented now, you will gain more and much longer than a short-term crisis.
Reducing the budget for activities with the application will end up losing users and reducing sales. That is why it is so important to implement / maintain- if not develop - App Marketing activities, in particular ASO or Search Ads.
App Marketing - start today!
These days are a great opportunity to gain an advantage over the competition.
The well-known quote by Warren Buffet "be greedy when others are afraid" is by far the best advice in the current situation. Canceling or pausing your budget for app marketing is "short-term" thinking and can end up a lot worse than we think.
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