It’s no secret that mobile apps have a lot to offer brands that take advantage of their many benefits. One of the most notable benefits of mobile apps is the instant line of communication with consumers that gives insight into what catches their attention — including brand incentives.
Matteo Gasparello, Director of Marketing with Blue Label Labs, an award-winning mobile app development company, spoke to us about the best incentives for driving consumer engagement on mobile apps.
When figuring out the best consumer incentive for any marketing channel, the first step is outlining a set of criteria for your brand to follow. In speaking with Paula Glynn, Director of Search Marketing & Digital Strategy at PixelStorm, we were told consumers generally prefer incentives that fall under four categories: convenient, personalized, timely and rewarding.
Gasparello agrees. He says the best way to implement these incentives is by understanding your audience and what they are looking for.
“My colleague Ashkan, Blue Label Director of Sales, points out that there are many different brands competing for consumer attention, so personalization and curation should be at the top of your checklist. The best way to cut through the clutter is by leveraging your relationship with the end user: Learn what they like and deliver around what you’ve learned,” Gasparello said.
“If you’re a restaurant, you should have more options than a static freebie after spending X dollars. Don’t just slap a well-liked dessert into the system and be done with it — not everyone likes sweets, meaning you’re not going to engage with these users when they receive zero actual benefits from your rewards,” said Gasparello.
Personalization isn’t something to gloss over, either. In Gasparello’s experience, he’s seen that giving creative control in the form of customization garners the most engagement from consumers.
“Some people would still use the Starbucks app if it only offered a Mocha Frappuccino with no customization abilities, but like the 'dessert' example from earlier, some people simply don’t like certain taste profiles. Having options at least gets people to look, and this alone is enough to get people looking. When it’s a free program, this is usually enough to get people started, which will allow you to learn from their actions and better personalize your deliverables,” said Gasparello.
While personal preference will have some effect on how certain consumers feel about your incentives, there are other factors that impact every consumer across the board. Consumer psychology is one of them.
More specifically, the way consumer psychology shows up in B2C marketing. Gamification is steadily growing in popularity among mobile app users, and it's largely due to the psychological elements that are present in the marketing strategy.
“Gamification works because of human nature. We like to compete and 'grow' things, be it our bank account, score in a game and so on,” said Gasparello. “Connecting this growth to real rewards gives people more than just dopamine release by providing something of real value that, when executed properly, keeps them coming back around.”
Executing the incentives Gasparello mentioned will come down to your ability to create a well-oiled system that ebbs and flows with your audience and their interests.
“Staying on top of a system's performance requires constant monitoring and further using the information you learn to make adjustments accordingly. As such, analysis and ongoing strategy must be regularly tackled to ensure you’re getting the most out of your solution,” said Gasparello.
Strong mobile app incentives are one of the ways you can serve your audience and ensure they’re getting the most out of your app.
