4 Overlooked Ways to Give Your Mobile Engagement a Push

Everyone nowadays is operating in our new mobile environment. People are using their smartphones and other handheld devices to quickly navigate their surroundings. Whether they are looking for a good restaurant or consulting their tablet for the best place to buy organic produce, mobile engagement is the wave of the future that we are all surfing on today.

Whatever the circumstance, the implementation of mobile apps is taking over the marketplace providing us with an excellent opportunity for staying engaged with our customers. The number of people downloading and utilizing these tools are growing astronomically.

Forecasters are saying that more than 268 billion apps will be downloaded worldwide in 2017, up drastically from 2.5 billion in 2009.

We can either sail along successfully with this quickly rising tide or be left alone, stranded on a desert island. Here are four, often overlooked methods to strategically navigate this mobile marketplace:

#1 – PUSH NOTIFICATIONS: Sometimes it isn’t enough to share only messages about upcoming sales and discounts with customers. Appreciated nonetheless, people now want relevant and valuable information in real-time that can be viewed on their mobile device or tablet. These instant alerts are often called “push” notifications, and people are embracing them more and more.

One might compare push notifications with the weekly newspaper advertisements from supermarkets that stuff our mailboxes. These are being slowly replaced and accessed more now through their smart device. Some retailers are even showing their competitor’s higher price next to their own. You will now see people in grocery stores comparing these prices on their smartphones.

#2 – PERSONALIZATION: Again, using the concept of a message being more relevant or appealing, the key here is to present an offer that is targeted to a more specific audience. By gathering data from recent purchases and using other demographic information, a customized message can be delivered that looks less like a form letter and more like a personal invitation.

Imagine that a restaurant chain, “Captain’s Catch”, is offering a special on salmon this week. Using POS (Point of Sale) applications, the establishment could access all the diners who ate seafood in your establishments last month and invite them over.

They would see something like this on their screen: If you’re stumped for dinner tonight (their first name), the Captain’s Catch in (their city) just got a boatload of fresh salmon delivered and we’re passing the savings on to you.

#3 – URGENCY: Similar to enticing a seafood lover with a fresh catch, urge your customer into making an immediate purchase today. Rather than just telling a consumer that “time is running out” or “while supplies last”, use something more relevant like a “cart abandonment” strategy. If your online shopper had left something in their shopping cart, send them a notice that inventory is low on that item. Offer them an additional discount or free shipping if they order today.

#4 – THE RIGHT RHYTHM: Last, but certainly not least, find the right rhythm to your mobile messaging campaigns. Track both the positive and negative outcomes from your deliveries. Examine the number of uninstalls of your mobile app directly alongside the revenue generated from your messages. You can ensure that you are not annoying your users by “over-sharing” your information.

Our customers are moving forward with their use of today’s technology trends, and we should stay on track with them by optimizing our content to fit their buying strategy. And as mobile continues to become more intrinsic to how we search, learn and discover, products and services will instead be pushed on us by people we already know and follow on social media. Knowing this, it’s important for brands to know how to reach the influencers. Follow these tips to give them a push!

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