How to drive mobile app discovery and engagement with user invites
For every emerging business with ambitious visions of launching their product and having users crash their servers with purchases, the reality quickly sinks in; it’s a tough world out there, and competition is steep.
With more than 2 million apps in the App Store, 3.5 million apps in Google Play and more than 200K new apps every month, app discovery is a real and alarming challenge.
There are endless opportunities to stand out from the crowd and expand your reach. But just before you dump more marketing budgets on sophisticated paid campaigns, make sure you don’t neglect the obvious – word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM).
According to a great deal of research, not only is word-of-mouth the #1 source of app discovery globally, it was also found to increase the customer loyalty of your existing users by having them engage more with your app.
This is something that marketers simply cannot afford to ignore, and it emphasizes just how important of a role word-of-mouth plays in mobile user acquisition and engagement strategies.
You’ve been invited…
There is one key point that every business considering or instituting a WOMM strategy needs to think about: the user experience.
The ultimate success or failure of your WOMM hinges on how you connect with your users; both the existing and the newly acquired user. Remember, no matter how generous your referral program is, if you don’t prompt the offer at the right time, in the right place and with the right user experience, you are going to fail.
Hacking word-of-mouth with AppsFlyer’s User invites
AppsFlyer User Invites builds on OneLink deep links, which ensures a frictionless user experience across every platform.
Here’s how it works:
The referrer
When an existing user wishes to ‘invite a friend’, he will be prompted to select how he’d like to spread the word; SMS, email or social. A (deep) link will be automatically generated for easy sharing through the desired channel.
Access to the user’s contacts is key for delivering the right user experience and avoiding your user having to type in names, phone numbers or email addresses manually.
Once the invite is sent, you will be able to measure the users that are most likely to invite friends, as well as their preferred channels, by generating a custom in-app event or using the ready-made measure InviteSent in-app event already encapsulated in the User Invites’ API.
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The new user
As mentioned before, links generated by AppsFlyer’s user invites are deep links. A
s such, when the new user clicks on the invite’s link received, he will be sent to the specific in-app destination directly-regardless of whether or not he has previously installed the app (first routed to the app store in the latter case).
When the new user installs the app from this link, AppsFlyer passes data such as the referrer name, his avatar, the campaign name, promo code, discount and more to the app, delivering a contextually relevant experience based on these data points as soon as the user launches the app for the first time.
Amplify the effectiveness of User Invites (tips)
- Be Creative: Avoid dummy text. Seriously. Take some time to develop creative and personalized content based on the stuff you already know about your users. Your users are smart, and with the deep insights into your users’ segments available on AppsFlyer’s dashboards, so are you.
- Personalize: Use the referrer’s user information to personalize the onboarding experience for the new user. If you’re in gaming for example, instead of a general message, welcome the new user with a personalized message such as “Hey John! Join your friend Michelle in an epic battle after you complete the tutorial”.
- Incentivize: Give your users a good reason to connect. The key is to offer the right incentive at the right time. This will be different for every company. Depending on the industry, you may want to offer discounts on items in your user’s wish lists, unlock more levels in your game or offer more storage space just when they’re out of juice.
- Optimize: Never stop evaluating your performance and making course corrections. Adaptability and agility are key to long-term, sustainable growth.
Bottom line
Mobile today is more agile and fragmented than it has ever been. While every existing user can lead to an opportunity, it’s important to do things the right way.
With AppsFlyer’s User Invites, hacking word-of-mouth is easy. It’s about a unique and frictionless user experience. A share-worthy experience. And its performance? Just watch the conversion and retention rates on your AppsFlyer dashboard turbocharge.
Want to learn more about User Invited Talk to your Success Manager or schedule an AppsFlyer demo today.
