Mobile app marketing is all about engaging with your customers from the time they first hear about your app to the time they become regular and loyal users. In order to do this effectively, you must figure out your potential audience, where to find these people and what to say to them.

Think of mobile app usage as a “funnel”. There are many funnel stages, but here’s a simplified view.

The funnel concept is useful, but in reality users often go back and forth between stages. So you may also hear this referred to as the “mobile engagement loop” or “customer app lifecycle”.

Each phase of the lifecycle requires different strategies and tactics for engaging your customers.

The first part of building a successful app is getting people to download it. From a messaging perspective, you need to convince potential users that your app can solve their problems. Some of the most common channels for sending these messages include:

When determining your acquisition strategy, it’s important to track your cost per acquisition, or CPA. some channels – such as your app store listings, web pages, or organic social posts – cost nothing, but are time-consuming to manage. Other channels – such as paid advertising – can be expensive, but are easier to optimize and scale. Determining the right balance of acquisition campaigns is critical to the long-term success of your app.

Comparing CPA to customer lifetime value will tell you whether an acquisition strategy is worth the money and time you invest. And the lifetime value calculation depends heavily on your ability to activate and then retain the users you acquire.

Once you get your users to install your application, you must get them to use it. Most users abandon the app within 7-14 days of downloading it, so it’s important to have an effective messaging strategy that reminds users how to use your app and why. Learn how you can increase app retention and revenue in this on-demand webinar.

Using these strategies effectively depends on whether your users actually see the messages you send. The likelihood of this happening depends on choosing the right messaging channel out of the three available.

Each of these channels has a different way of activating users.

Once you’ve activated your user, you’ll need to think about keeping them as a user for the long haul.

Keeping your users engaged is a long-term proposition. Retaining users is especially important because it is a key factor in calculating the lifetime value of your customers and, therefore, the profitability of your efforts.

Imagine the difference between the two.

• 10,000 new users, 10% of whom stay, on average, for a month, versus
• 5,000 new users, 30% of whom stay for an average of two months.

In the first example, your 10,000 new users are reduced to 1,000, and then after a month, half of them leave. That’s 500 net users.

In the second example, your 5,000 new users become 1,500, and after two month, only 70% of them leave. That’s 1,500 net users, which is three times as many as in the first example, even though you gained half of them.

Want to learn more about how to create a mobile app experience to connect with your customers at every stage of their app lifecycle?