For a long time, the prevailing wisdom in the mobile world was that there were limited channels and opportunities for brands and publishers to engage consumer app users. To challenge the
conventional way of doing things was simply bad business.
But the restless demands of alternative device manufacturers and others, coupled with moment-in-time convergence of exploding global
markets, powerful technologies and new business partnerships makes it the perfect time to get in the game.
Consider: There is already well more than 1 billion users around the world getting
their apps (and by extension, their ads and other content) from someone that didn’t exist five years ago.
There are three main drivers for the shift from a closely held market to open
competition and global opportunity:
- Device manufacturers, publishers and networks have much more cohesive partnerships and business models than ever before;
- Developer networks
are large and growing and seeking new and better ways to monetize beyond old revenue sharing models; and
- App discovery and engagement techs, now pervasive in the marketplace, are
strategically positioned along the key points in the customer journey where the permissions that power the future of app commerce occur.
If you want to win in these new mobile
channels, delivering a unique and optimized experience to each and every consumer is key.
The new mobile players are succeeding by using the best of a new breed of technology that leverages
user-granted personal data, including geolocation, device data, demographics and psychographics. That’s combined with powerful predictive analytics models to engage consumers with the optimal
message and UX at precisely the ideal moment to inspire a purchasing decision.
Let’s be clear, not only is your app’s mastery of these new techs vital to your success, the consumer
is demanding that you know more about them. Users don’t want impersonal, homogenized experiences.
The point of installation, in particular, is pivotal in this process because it is here
that the user does, or does not, give their permission for apps or brands to access their underlying data that lets the magic happen. Earn the user’s trust and confidence leading up to this
moment and you get the data and the long-tail dollars. Fail to do so and go to the back of the line, a position from which you will probably never re-emerge.
Success in the highly competitive
and fragmented mobile apps marketplace will grow from gaining an early introduction point in the user journey, beginning with app discovery and engaging all the way through installation and optimizing
UX to increase monetization opportunity.
Trying to enter the game without a strategy that’s built on leveraging established trust – either directly, or through strong branded
relationships – and you’re doomed to failure.
Vendors, partnerships and marketplaces outside of the traditional app universe will succeed at breaking-through because the confluence
of technology, market opportunity and consumer demand are creating the conditions for success now.