Over the past decade, mobile usage has skyrocketed. More people than ever are turning to their phones and tablets for their shopping or general internet needs before any other device. And year over year, mobile technology is only growing more functional and sophisticated, with no signs of letting up.

According to a Gartner press release issued in early 2016, “Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 349 million units in the first quarter of 2016, a 3.9% increase over the same period in 2015 […] Smartphone sales represented 78% of total mobile phone sales in the first quarter of 2016.”

This growth has accelerated the necessity for more innovative mobile marketing strategies. Marketers across every industry are looking to adopt a more well-rounded plan for mobile, ranging from notification use, mobile friendly emails, mobile app development, and much more. Apps in particular are taking a lead in mobile marketing.

Money is being poured into app development, and the volume of mobile apps has increased 196% since Q4 of 2014, according to a report by Kenshoo.

However, even with those numbers, mobile marketing tactics cannot exist in a vacuum. They should work within the brand’s overarching omnichannel marketing strategy. Customers should be able to move seamlessly from the website to the mobile app without missing a beat. Below are three ways to ensure an app integrates with the brand’s united omnichannel strategy.

Personalize the Mobile App Experience

Customers are placing even more importance on personalization from the brands with which they engage. Marketers are tasked with consistently delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time, and that becomes even more important when it involves mobile apps. By even having a brand’s app on their phone, customers are offering marketers access to their lives on a deeply personal level.

By offering specific product recommendations, in-app messaging, and links, marketers can significantly increase the level of personalization their customers feel. Marketers can also automatically trigger personalized responses as the app is used, boosting conversion rates and increasing overall engagement with customers.

By integrating this personalized mobile experience with other channels, things like product recommendations can carry over. For example, if a customer looks at a product on a website, then moves to the app, offering recommendations on the app based on the product viewed on the website creates that truly personal omnichannel experience.

Track Mobile App Behavior

Tracking the way customers interact and behave while using the app gives marketers valuable personal data directly from the customer’s mobile devices. In addition to providing unparalleled insight and knowledge about target groups, accurately and efficiently tracking mobile app behavior allows marketers to measure the performance of mobile app marketing strategies and their business’ critical impact.

Tracking the various app events, from installs to key interactions, is critical in providing detailed reporting, segmentation and campaign triggering across channels. That is, tracking a mobile app install can be the trigger event for a new SMS targeted message or a highly targeted social media ad. The data gathered from these behaviors goes directly into omnichannel decision-making.

Be Data-Driven

Marketers should make decisions on mobile app marketing based on all available data, but that doesn’t mean collecting data solely from app usage and behavior. Again, mobile app marketing strategies need to work in lockstep with all other channels to create the seamless, omnichannel user experience customers desire. Marketers must use data mined from each channel to make the best strategic marketing decisions. By combining that data with the customer profiles and automation tools available, the need to optimize and refine certain strategies becomes clear.

Final Thoughts

There are many different tools and technologies available that may end up hindering a marketer’s capability to perform. All too often, marketers face high expectations, but feel limited by marketing platforms that are supposed to help with apps, SMS, email, social, web, etc., but only create barriers to execution. Today’s marketers need solutions that allow them to deliver exceptional experiences like the ones mentioned above, regardless of channel. That smart integration of mobile apps and mobile marketing strategies into an omnichannel experience, empowers mobile marketers to deliver critical increases in traffic, leads, engagement, and revenue.

As the world’s leading B2C marketing cloud platform, Emarsys is already developing best-in-class mobile and SMS marketing experiences for clients. The Emarsys B2C marketing cloud gives marketers the ability to create seamless, omnichannel marketing campaigns.

To learn more about how Emarsys can help your company with their mobile needs, head here.

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