Apps continue to be one of 2017's hottest mobile marketing trends. Here are four success stories that can help overcome the challenges and guide you to 'appily ever after.
1). Life Is Good: Life is good.According to Marketingland, lifestyle brand Life is Good "built a content-first app with an 89% retention rate." In an industry where 80 percent of app users churn after a month, that's an astonishing stat!
What's their secret? Instead of following the crowd and building an app around sales, Life is Good focused on content, and that's a big reason why " it keeps users coming back for more."
By designing a mobile app that puts content - and user engagement - at the forefront, the brand also handed their fans tons of functionality. Users open the Life is Good app to grab stickers and emojis that are unique to the brand. So instead of just visiting the app for practical ecommerce purposes, users drop by to join in on the fun. 'Appily Ever After Tip: Think beyond sales. Load your app with content!
2). Hours: Timely InnovationsJeremy Olson and his team had a dream: Build a time-tracking app to help SMBs and freelancers maintain a record of their work. The Olson gang worked tirelessly and shoved their fledging App, Hours, to the back burner on numerous occasions.
It took countless hours to build Hours. Years, in fact. Once Hours was ready, they didn't let the fact that they were a relatively unknown, independent developer stop them from successfully marketing the app. Jeremy Olson and company constructed an email list via a series of optimized blogs - then shared the app with their. Next, Olson convinced influential publications such as Forbes and TechCrunch to feature the app. The payoff: Hours rocketed up the Apple app store chart, eventually becoming the top-grossing business app. 'Appily Ever After Tip: Put in the necessary hours to develop your app. And don't ever give up!
3). AIRBNB: Paying the rent.Airbnb is built around a simple enough premise: " Book unique Homes and experience a city like a local." This app, now a global phenomenon, has some 150 million users and three million listings. According to Appsamurai, two of Airbnb's key building blocks are personalization and solid design principles.
Personalization: Despite the fact that Airbnb serves a global customer base representing many different languages and cultures, the app gives users "the feeling that the service was created for them."
Design: Appsamurai's take: "A great experience comes from a well-designed app; knowing this fact, Airbnb's owners took time and created an amazing user interface respecting Google Guidelines for the process." 'Appily Ever After Tips: The app should make users feel special. Be creative while following established principles to enhance the user experience.
4). Uber: Drive a simple point home.So what was the inspiration for this global phenomenon - and all-time killer app? Well, quite simply, the two gentlemen who founded Uber "found themselves in the city of Paris and need of a cab." The result? The Uber app - and a company recently valued at $50 billion. With variations on the app including food delivery, helicopter flights and boat rides. 'Appily Ever After Tip: Boil down what your company offers. Is there a simple problem you can solve - better, faster or cheaper than someone else? Use this inspiration as a point of entry as you craft your app. Apps aren't just for big businesses with deep pockets.
So study the success stories of these groundbreaking apps. Visit our mobile marketing archive for ideas and inspiration. And then, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, get ready to enjoy 'appily ever after.