How to market your ecommerce app. A Poq Studio report

Transcription

1 How to market your ecommerce app A Poq Studio report

2 MOBILE APPS FOR ECOMMERCE A mobile app is a valuable tool for ecommerce brands. It s a whole new sales channel, and a way to market to your biggest fans. Your current customers are your most lucrative resource as a retailer. Research from Adobe shows that it takes 7 new customers just to equal the value of one repeat purchaser. So it s worth spending time, money, and attention on your existing customers which is exactly where an app can help. It s vital that you get the word about your app out to your existing customers. At Poq Studio, we ve interviewed many fashion consumers about their mobile shopping habits, and the number one thing we hear is that people would love to download their favourite brand s shopping app but only if they heard about it. And often, they haven t. This document is packed with tips for ways you can get your customers to download your new mobile app, and get more sales! Topic Page Number Launching your App 3 App Store Optimisation 4 Social Media 5 Marketing 6 On Your Website 7 Paid Advertising Tools 9 Blogs 10 In-Store 11 Long-Term Downloads 12 Marketing Your App The Checklist 13 2

3 LAUNCHING YOUR APP The launch of your app is crucial The more downloads you get, the higher your app will climb up the charts, and the more people will see it. So you ll get even more downloads, your app will climb higher, and you get the picture. This doesn t have to mean a complicated marketing campaign you can work it into your existing marketing efforts. We recommend launching the app on your website, your blog, and all your social media channels at the same day, increasing the chance that users will hear about it. You should also set-up any press and PR activity for the same date. Note: It usually takes a week for Apple to approve an app after it s been submitted. However you can mark it for release it on a particular day once it s been approved. 5 IDEAS TO PROMOTE YOUR APP AT LAUNCH: Offer an incentive for the initial purchase period: Our clients Tatty Devine did this, offering a free gift of an egg brooch with every purchase from the app over the launch date, which was a bank holiday weekend. This also enabled them to use the pun-tastic tagline App-y Easter. Set up a special app-only discount code for the initial purchase period: This encourages people to both download and buy from your app as soon as it s launched, so they don t miss out. Tie in the app launch with a calendar event or special offer: Christmas and Valentine s Day are obvious choices, depending on your product range. But think wider what about school holidays for childrenswear, high summer for swimwear brands, festival season for fast fashion? Offer an exclusive new product on the app first: releasing it on your main ecommerce site a week later. You could base the whole launch on this product, highlighting the mobile-first aspect. Hold an app launch event for bloggers and press: This could be a good way to encourage the word to spread about your app amongst opinion leaders. 3

4 APP STORE OPTIMISATION Apple have a search algorithm that determines where you sit in search results. It s affected by factors like the number of downloads, your active users, and the ratings you get. However, there are parts you can control in order to optimise your chances of being found on the App Store. App Store Optimisation is a very new topic, but there are some accepted guidelines to make sure consumers can easily find and download your app in the App Store. 5 GUIDELINES FOR APP STORE OPTIMISATION: Your app icon, app name, and section of the App Store: For ecommerce brands, these are quite standardised. Your app will be in the Catalogues section of the store, your app icon should be your logo, and the name should be your brand name. Keywords: You have 100 characters. You need commas but not spaces, so for instance you could have shoes,heels,shopping,retail,sandals. Try not to choose too many similar words, as it may be seen as spam by Apple. The app description is vital. It should clearly state what the app does, but also needs to sound enticing to encourage people to download. The first sentence should sum up the app, as this is all consumers will see to begin with. Avoid long paragraphs in favour of bullet points and summaries of features. Screenshots: You get to add 5 screenshots of the app to your App Store profile. You should definitely use all of them. We recommend a shot of the homepage, a product page, a category page, and an image of any special features you have within the app. Choose pages with colourful imagery a set of five beige shoes, for example, probably won t grab people s attention. Encourage reviews of your app: We don t recommend adding fake reviews, but you can customers and ask them to review your app, or use a pop-up asking downloaders to add a review if they ve enjoyed using the app (ask your developer about this). 4

5 SOCIAL MEDIA Social media can be a great way to promote your app at launch, but also as a regular feature in your social media editorial calendar. 6 IDEAS FOR PROMOTING YOUR APP ON SOCIAL MEDIA Use Twitter Cards to deep-link to products in your app: Twitter launched this initiative in April 2013, and it lets you link to products which your app. The link then opens up within the app (if users have it) or as a link to download the app (if they don t). More information here. Use hashtags on Twitter: You can link this with Twitter Cards deeplinking as explained above, or just use it as a regular feature on your Twitter account. Encourage customers to tweet about purchases they ve just made via the app with a bespoke hashtag. Create an album on Facebook containing screenshots of your app, and pin the same images to Pinterest: You can do this on launch, or whenever you have a new collection or product line to show off. Creative competitions: The great thing about mobile apps is that you can access them anywhere and everywhere. You could hold a competition for the best images of customers using your app in far-flung or unusual places. Get moving with film: Think about using a short Vine clip, an Instagram video, or a longer Youtube video to showcase your app. It could be a straightforward look at how the app works, or you could try something creative. A cute Vine idea could be videoing a product in your app on a phone screen, and then having it materialise in real life. Check out some examples of how brands are using Vine here. Create visual content around your app: Screenshots of your app will only take you so far. For added interest, you could consider staging your own photoshoots perhaps a model dressed in your product shopping on her phone or tablet? Or a beautifully lit product shot with an iphone centre stage, showing your app? These will help with promoting your app on Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr, which are all very visual platforms. 5

6 MARKETING Your marketing lists contain your most loyal and engaged customers. And is rapidly becoming mobile. Stats from Knotice at the end of 2012 found that 41% of all s were opened on mobile devices, with 29% opened on smartphones and 12% on tablets. This makes the perfect place to market your app, and you should tie in marketing with the rest of your app promotion. A stand-alone is a good idea on launch. Include some beautiful screenshots of your app and talk about the benefits of being able to shop and browse for products wherever you are. Promote your app using your regular e-newsletters: As well as mentioning your app when you launch, add a link to your app in the footer of your regular campaigns. Keep talking about the app: If you add a new feature to the app, make it a feature in your regular e-newsletter. You could also set up your marketing programme so that everyone who opens the on a specific device gets special content about downloading the app. Here s a good example from Dorothy Perkins of how to remind customers that they can shop on mobile. See the little phone icon in the top right? 6

7 ON YOUR WEBSITE: It s important to feature your app on your website. It should have a prominent position on your homepage. Your customers won t download your app if they don t know it exists For people who visit your website on their iphones, there s a standard Apple card which pops up at the top of the screen to let them know they can download your app, or invites them to open it if they have already installed it. It looks like the image on the right. This is the recommended way to promote your mobile app. You may see sites with big pop-ups or intro screens asking users to download their app, however Google does not look kindly on these and they could lead to your site being downgraded in search ranking. The Apple card can be done very simply, so speak to your app developer to make sure this is installed. Topshop are great at promoting their app on their website. They have a permanent link to their app in the small print at the bottom of their homepage, which looks like this: But they also have a stand-alone page for their app, which looks like this: 7

8 Make sure you include screenshots and a list of benefits. CHECKLIST FOR WHERE TO PROMOTE YOUR APP ON YOUR WEBSITE: A mention somewhere on your homepage As an Apple banner on your mobile website A stand-alone page about your app with screenshots and a list of benefits A link to your app on every page, in the top or bottom navigation menus 8

9 PAID ADVERTISING TOOLS There are currently two main options if you d like to pay for promotional ads for your mobile app. Facebook Mobile App Install Ads: These ads pop up in the newsfeed of people browsing Facebook on their phone, with a big install button so mobile users can download your app straight away They look like the image on the right. You set them up using the Facebook ad manager, and they offer a wide variety of targeting options. You can choose to target particular demographics, interests, geographical areas, and even fans of your own Facebook page. If you re interested in finding out more about these ads, we ve written a full guide on how to use them, which you can download here. Google Mobile App Extensions These are ads that appear for users searching Google on mobile. When searchers click on the link, it either opens up your app (if they already have it), or goes straight to the app store so users can download your app. They work like standard Google ads, where you bid on different keywords, and your ad then appears to searchers googling those keywords. You access them from your existing Google Adwords account. If you d like more information on these, Google have a comprehensive guide which you can see here. 9

10 USING BLOGS TO PROMOTE YOUR APP On your own blog at launch: If you have a blog for your store, you should post about your app when it launches, including info about any special offers or discounts that you re offering initial users. Publishing blog posts on your app: If you re putting blog posts on your app as well as on your main website (which we would recommend), then make sure you tell blog readers about it! Let them know that they can catch up on the go. An icon in the sidebar of your app, as Topshop have done, is a great idea. Blogger outreach: If you already have a list of bloggers that you work with, it s a no-brainer to promote your app to them. Here s some ideas: Send your blogger database a teaser a few weeks before release so they know it s about to launch, followed by an announcement at launch. Another option is to give a special discount code to selected bloggers in exchange for a review or a mention. Think about tying in the launch of your app to a blogger party or event. Maybe you could do a styling session or a giveaway. 10

11 IN-STORE If you re a multi-channel retailer with bricks and mortar premises, it s crucial that you let people know about your app in-store. You should aim to have your app available for consumers to browse within your shop. Many stores are now providing in-store ipads, and there are companies specialising in the right hardware to display them. Having your app displayed on a tablet like this means consumers can check for different sizes and colourways even if they are out of stock within your specific shop. 4 WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR APP IN-STORE On the shop counter: We ve seen this done a few ways, including a sticker that lists all the ways to shop, including online and on mobile. On your bags: You could add small icons of a phone, tablet, and desktop computer, just to let people know they have shopping options. Signage: This is where some great images could come in handy. Either a screenshot of the app, or a shot of someone dressed in your products using their phone to shop. Create a new looking sign which you can use in every store. Catalogues and marketing materials: If you produce any printed marketing materials, remember to mention your app. Think of your app in the same way as your website URL put it on everything routinely. If you re a pure-play online retailer, what about promoting your app when you post items to customers? You could: Include a promotional leaflet with every order for the first month after launch Add the information to your receipts Print a small phone icon on the outside of your packaging materials. 11

12 HOW TO ENCOURAGE DOWNLOADS LONG-TERM Like anything else online, promoting your app is a case of keep going, and keep tracking. Build your app into your marketing plans for the year, making sure you regularly remind customers that it exists. One good way to keep consumers interested is to keep adding new features to your app. Talk to your developer about the kind of extras you could add in. At Poq Studio, we release a new version of our app platform regularly, with new features inspired by our clients. Whoever you choose to build your mobile app, make sure you find out how easy it is to freshen up your app every so often. Keep an eye on user ratings and reviews to see what people are saying about the app, and if you regularly survey customers, add some questions about the app to find out what they think. USEFUL TIPS You need to know when anyone mentions your app so you can capitalise on any attention. Set up a Google Alert, or use a service like mention.net, and add your name + app, so that you ll get first notice of any coverage. Make sure you re tracking app statistics regularly. At the minimum you should be recording and monitoring user downloads, the number and time of sessions that users are spending on the app, the product pages that they re looking at, and revenue via the app. Do another mini marketing push every time your app has a major update, or you add any new features. 12

13 APP MARKETING CHECKLIST: You should be mentioning your app in all these places: Ø Your main ecommerce website, including a stand-alone page Ø marketing campaigns, in the header or footer Ø In-store, on packaging and carrier bags Ø On post and packaging materials, or as an insert with orders Ø On your social media biographies, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,Tumblr, and any other channels you use. Ø On any printed marketing materials 13

14 At Poq Studio, we re experts in getting fashion retailers mobile. We re trusted by over 20 of the UK s most innovative fashion brands. Interested in getting your own mcommerce app? Visit our website at 14