A New Mobile App Economy for 2022

Notable 2021 Trends and Impacts

Modern smartphones have evolved at an exponential rate. With faster connection speeds, larger screens, sharper resolutions, and more memory, customers can do so much right from the palm of their hands.  That’s why it’s no surprise that consumers are spending more and more time on their mobile devices.

Users spent an average of 4.8 hours a day on their mobile phones in 2021.

More time spent on mobile phones has shifted how businesses interact with consumers.  According to data.ai’s (formerly App Annie) The State of Mobile in 2022, users spent an average of 4.8 hours a day on their mobile phones in 2021.  This poses a significant opportunity for app businesses.

However, with 2 million apps launched in 2021, and global consumers downloading over 435,000 apps per minute, the amount of competition in this space poses a formidable challenge.  How can you increase engagement and promote your app in a crowded market?

Let’s look at some trends based on other findings in this report and what they mean for mobile engagement. 

More time is spent on mobile phones than on watching TV

In general, consumers spent more time on their mobile phones, with 3.8 trillion hours spent worldwide — even exceeding the time they spent watching TV. There were 230 billion app downloads with increases in some emerging markets such as India, Pakistan, and Peru at the top. Of the $170 billion in consumer spending on apps and games, 233 apps and games made over $100 million, increasing by 20% from 2020. Demographic trends showed differences by gender and location in preferred app categories.

Consumers spend $16 billion on mobile games

Consumer spending on games totaled $16 billion. Hypercasual games topped the emerging genre category, and 4x march-battle strategy games saw the most monetization. The data.ai report also noted different subgenre preferences by generation (Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X and Boomers), geography, and gender.

Downloads for meditation apps decreased, dating apps almost doubled since 2018

Subscription apps, like health and fitness and dating, also saw significant increases.  Health and fitness saw download numbers higher than before COVID and continue to be high.  While the number of downloads decreased for meditation apps, the total time people spent in the app increased.  There were also notable generational differences among categories, such as walking, fitness, and meditation apps.

Dating app spending almost doubled in 2018, exceeding $4 billion. Increased spending revolved around four countries (the US, Japan, the UK, and China), and generational differences in-app preferences were prevalent. 

Food and drink apps had a nearly 50% increase in sessions

Apps, such as those in food and drink and travel, have seen a rise in usage. Food and drink had a nearly 50% increase in sessions, totaling 62 billion sessions. Consumers were focused on speedy delivery and often searched for apps by brand. 

Travel app downloads increased in the last half of 2021. Rideshare apps saw demand normalize, if not increase.

Finance app downloads increased by nearly 30%

Finance app downloads increased by nearly 30% to 5.9 billion. There were distinct trends between generations and locations. For example, Gen Z consumers, appreciating the quick, easy, and flexible use of financial apps, were more likely to use trading apps, neobanks, and money transfer apps. Geographically, neobanks and financial apps were more prevalent in areas with fewer retail banking options.

Mobile retail saw an 18% increase in time spent in apps, totaling more than 100 billion hours globally. Overseas brands also expanded their global reach, and smaller retailers competed with larger shops by running comparable promotions around big events.

Finance and shopping apps are not tapping enough into Gen Z market

Understandably, the insights show marked differences in behaviors and preferences between demographics, such as gender, age, and geography.    

For example, different generations show different preferences for specific mobile game types.   Gen Z customers are also major social and video content consumers, but there’s also an opportunity for finance and shopping apps to tap into this market. 

This reinforces the importance of knowing your audience.  And not just that, but the same messaging approach in terms of marketing and content can’t be applied uniformly.  

You can use segmentation to target your messaging based on multiple attributes (as many as 2,000) in your user profiles.  And advanced capabilities like those in Leanplum allow you to take it a step further by segmenting through real-time user behavior within your app or metrics like recency and frequency for increased personalization to send messages to the right people at the right times.

Mobile ad spend has increased by 23%

Investment in mobile ads increased by 23% in 2021 and is projected to continue at a high rate.  With more money going into mobile advertising, you want to ensure you maximize your investment by optimizing your campaigns.

You can use data and analytics to identify which campaigns yielded the highest results and engagement.  You can also run A/B tests on different elements to see which ones perform the best.  

In turn, you can combine your findings with Leanplum features that allow you to customize your campaigns to quickly switch out copy and content and remote configuration capabilities to determine which elements are displayed.  This way, you can ensure you’re showing the most relevant content to your audience segment.

In-app engagement and revenue impact

Data in the health and fitness app category showed that popular meditation apps saw increases of 25% in customer spending and 12-15% for in-app time.  Yet, the number of downloads decreased from the previous year.

This highlights the importance of putting efforts beyond customer acquisition and into retention and getting customers back inside your app or continuing to engage with your app.

Cross-channel messaging allows you to send push notifications and emails to re-engage users outside the app.  In addition, Leanplum Variables let you create and customize seasonal events or promotions within the app to create new and engaging experiences for your users.  

With Leanplum’s remote configuration capabilities, you can also change your app based on real-time user behavior, creating unique experiences based on customers’ preferences and history.  This type of personalization can lead to higher engagement rates.

Competing in the modern mobile landscape

Mobile trends, especially within social media, show that consumers are increasingly seeking experiences that offer opportunities to be creative and build relationships.

With the right amount of targeting, optimization, and personalization, you can create messaging and experiences that build those connections and help your app stay relevant to consumers in this ultra-competitive mobile world. 

Interested in learning more?  Check out some of these additional resources:

• Check out our extensive research and findings on personalization’s impact on Mobile Games and Subscription App engagement.
• Take an inside look to see how you can leverage Leanplum to build engagement through your app messaging and experiences with our interactive Product Tour.
• See Leanplum in action with a complimentary personalized Product Demo.

The post A New Mobile App Economy for 2022 appeared first on Leanplum a CleverTap Company.

Companies today are faced with a problem: cutting through all the chaos.

There are many elements outside your control when it comes to your customers and getting them to engage with — or even open — your messages.  

What you have within your control is the timing and content of those messages.  And whether you’re blasting messages for the sake of getting something out or trying to make a sale (which today’s savvy customers can often see right through).  Or if you’re trying to build a meaningful relationship by sharing value and content that speaks to their needs.  

The reciprocity of giving your customers something back in exchange for their time and attention is a building block to long-lasting connections.  

Here, we’ll discuss a 3-step strategy you can use to stand out in the crowd.  And the good news is — it all begins with data you have easy access to your own experience as a customer.

1. Turn the tables

We’re all consumers and customers in our own right.  You know what works for you and what doesn’t.  Coming from that perspective, you can ask yourself:

• What do I want or need from this mobile app?  What goals do I have in using this app?  Am I looking to be entertained?  Do I need quick access to reliable information?  Do I need to get something done fast?  
• How would I want to feel at the end of an interaction with this app?  Empowered?  Comforted?  Inspired?  Relieved?

Looking at your app from a customer perspective gives you essential insight into creating experiences and communication that resonates. 

2. Put your customer journey under a microscope

Once you’ve started looking at the results you’re helping your users get, it’s time to take a hard look at the different touchpoints along your customer journey.  

Does each interaction foster the feelings you want to evoke in your customer?  Does it bring them closer to their objective?  In other words, are your customers benefiting in some way?

A part of this is to listen to what your customers have to say.  Even if your customers or users aren’t in an active dialog with you, they’re sending you clear messages through their actions.  

You can see what content they engage with, events they participate in, characters they chase, and bundles they purchase.  You can see whether they’re clicking on your push notifications or simply ignoring you.  Or whether they’ve logged into the app or recently made a purchase. 

With the right tools, like Leanplum’s mobile engagement platform, you can do this all in one spot.  You can combine engagement data and analytics with powerful A/B testing capabilities to identify which app elements activate your users.  

That valuable data is how you generate engagement that connects.

3. Exceed your customers’ expectations

Now that you’ve done the work of looking at your customer journey, you can see the gaps between what your users want and expect and the reality of their app experiences.   

You now have to fill in those gaps and continually improve, iterate, and fill them in some more.  This means finding ways to deliver more for your customers and users and designing an app experience that speaks to them through a deep understanding of their behavior, patterns, and preferences.   

With Leanplum, you can create optimized, data-driven campaigns to send content targeted to what your customers need when they need it most.  Advanced targeting and behavioral segmentation help you give your users personalized experiences — all in real-time.

Communication that builds relationships

Building connections that stand out from the competition and keep you relevant to your customers takes more than batch and blast messaging.  Customers expect you to listen and understand their needs to create experiences and content that addresses those wants. 

Ready to start a conversation that your customers want to continue?  It all begins with empathy and a different perspective to craft hyper-personalized content and communication.

Interested in learning more?  We’ve got resources for you:

• Check out our extensive research and findings on personalization’s impact on Mobile Games and Subscription App engagement.
• See practical examples of ways apps successfully incorporated personalization into their CRM strategy in our discussion panel at the App Promotion Summit.
• Take an inside look to see how you can leverage Leanplum to build engagement through your app messaging and experiences with our interactive Product Tour.
• See Leanplum in action with a complimentary personalized Product Demo.

The post Mobile Engagement Is More Than Just Messaging  appeared first on Leanplum a CleverTap Company.