Image credit: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock
Post originally published on VentureBeat
Marketers love to complain about mobile developers not understanding the importance of proper marketing. And yes, some developers are so passionate about their creation that they believe it will be an instant hit independently. But I recently encountered the opposite phenomenon, which is also disturbing: mobile developers and marketers focus on marketing without connecting the process to the product itself.
Many people in the mobile industry believe that the rule is: grow first, market last. In reality, however, both processes are part of an ongoing process – continuously corroding each other. Here are three reasons to include a product manager in your app marketing team to get it all done:
1. You’re Losing It (And You Don’t Know Why)
The mobile world has moved from measuring app installs to finding loyal users, however, this new state requires investigating where and why apps are losing users. Communication campaigns attract users, but if those users have trouble at first encounter with the product, they won’t stick around for long.
Taking the somewhat frustrating churn rate data and translating it into actionable conclusions is no easy task. After identifying specific parts of the process where the app seems to lose contact with the user, the next step is to diagnose the problem that needs to be fixed: Is the app requesting too many app permissions right away? , causing users to view the application as gratuitously intrusive? Is the pre-registration procedure unattractive? Ineffective push notification mechanism? There is no separation between marketing and product when it comes to answering these questions.
2. Your product is a marketing tool (and you don’t use it)
Mobile holds many surprising marketing opportunities, including those that exist in the actual product. Some examples include encouraging social media sharing as part of the application process or finding the elusive k-factor that will make an app go viral and turn users into ambassadors. We’ve all downloaded an app because a friend recommended it or shared their experience on Facebook (ok, we get it, you’re a runner!).
Another way to turn a product into a marketing tool is to use the app’s flow to learn more about the user’s experience before they jump to the reviews to achieve better rankings and avoid failure. one star. Reaching users through a product they already use makes sense, but it requires a change in mindset.
3. Technology or leave it
New technologies that originate in the mobile product and influence its marketing results are constantly emerging and improving. The increased use of new methods such as deep linking, mobile search, and app indexing, has essentially made app content an important aspect of mobile marketing. be mobile.
Even simpler actions like analyzing App Store data, drawing the right conclusions, and acting accordingly, all start with implementing the right analytics tools. Studies show that not enough mobile marketers practice this and those who actually see much better results. The same goes for using A/B testing tools, sending personalized push notifications, or understanding the built-in limitations of working with iOS versus Android – all of which require a combination. between technical skills and products.
“Cross-platform” is a common term in the mobile space, but it’s time for us to adopt an interdisciplinary approach. All signs point in one direction: We should start to see mobile development and marketing as a cohesive, indivisible unit.
