In 2021, a key focus for brands will be on how they can retain their app users. Here’s how to get started.

The mobile app economy saw its share of challenges in 2020, but it was also one of the fastest-growing marketing channels. While smartphone usage and mobile internet penetration have grown over the last five years, the impositions of lockdowns and social restrictions further led to their growth and relevance. Apps emerged as the single-most important platform for individuals and businesses to stay connected for work, entertainment and socialising. And with it mobile marketing became the most critical and effective medium for marketers, a fact that a number of industry data and studies established. It showed that after the onset of the pandemic, marketing professionals were relying on the mobile medium to enable brands to engage with their customers effectively. The fact that app downloads reached an all-time high in the pandemic reiterates the growth of mobile app marketing,

“The mobile app economy has shown enormous resilience to the challenges posed by COVID-19, with many app verticals - such as gaming and entertainment - experiencing strong growth in 2020. Even those that suffered at the start of the pandemic, such as the travel sector, rebounded strongly in the following months” shares Shubham Jha, Sales Manager India at Adjust, the mobile measurement company that works with over 2000 advertising partners and 30,000 customers.

An acceleration towards an app-focused world

The growth in the mobile app economy presents a huge opportunity for businesses. Shubham shares an interesting observation about the mobile medium drawing a captive audience over the last few years. “In 2018, mobile subscriptions outnumbered the global population with 7.9 billion connections versus 7.7 billion people. The pandemic simply accelerated this trend towards a more app-focused world.

But for brands to get ahead and take advantage of this opportunity, they will need to understand the basics of mobile marketing. Adjust's popular Back to Basics guide is arguably more relevant than ever. Designed as a comprehensive introduction to the industry, it provides the knowledge that brands and marketers, especially those who are just starting out, need to start making smart, tactical decisions that will drive growth.

With over 70 percent of mobile marketers saying COVID-19 strengthened their business and recent findings by Adjust showing that India was the fastest-growing app market in 2020, there is huge potential for those app developers and marketers who master the basics to grow their business in 2021.

With a strong push towards a more app-focused world, Shubham believes that 2021 is likely to have an increasing number of businesses investing in their apps and using them as a primary channel to interact with their users. “However, to place the apps at the heart of their marketing strategy, traditional brands will need to invest in them. And, for these brands as well as those that have already made the shift, a key focus will be on how they can retain the users and also build more utility into their app.” He adds, “The pandemic has also proven the value in going one step further and really thinking about what it is your users need, especially in very difficult times. As with any successful brand, it’s about putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and seeing what small things your company can do to make their lives easier and safer.”

Why it's time to revisit the mobile marketing basics

To stand out in an increasingly crowded market which is getting even more competitive, mastering the basics of mobile marketing will be non-negotiable for brands and marketers alike. There will be increasing pressure to build capabilities which will help them drive, measure and repeat positive results. Here, a big barrier is a lack of understanding about the skills and capabilities needed to segment, target and re-engage audiences that are rapidly evolving. What makes this trickier is that mobile marketing requires brands to understand, work and collaborate with a complex ecosystem, comprising agencies, app publishers, and ad networks, among others. This could make the mobile marketing journey more daunting than it is.

Adjust’s Back to Basics guide covers everything from what goes into tracking and measurement, to how to construct your marketing stack .It covers aspects such as the different types of ads that brands can run and how they can be priced, the most common ad formats to enable reach and engagement, and the role of ad networks among others.

It provides detailed information on important aspects related to mobile advertising. For instance, when talking about measuring mobile paid ad performance, it points out that working with an attribution provider gives marketers visibility into every aspect of their app and the ability to cope with the complexity of data. It adds that independent attribution providers (those that do not have a media buying arm) are trusted players able to measure and report on campaign performance and act as “a single point of truth”.

Given the prediction that mobile marketing will continue to drive momentum for brands in 2021, it goes without saying that mobile needs to be at the core of a brand’s marketing strategy and overall business infrastructure. Irrespective of whether users continue to be largely stay-at-home, or slowly return to their on-the-go lifestyle, mobile will continue to be where the action and relationship will be built. For this, brands and marketers need to make an effort to understand the mobile ecosystem and its working better.

Download the ‘Back to Basics.’ free e-book today.

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