You’ve invested tons of resources into building a custom mobile app for your business. That’s awesome. Unfortunately, that’s only half the battle. You still have to figure out how to get people to use the app regularly. That’s where mobile app marketing comes into play.
There are many ways to promote a mobile app. However, this article will focus on how you can leverage email marketing. Why?
Think about this for a moment; 99% of consumers open their emails daily. There’s no doubt that email marketing can be incredibly effective at mobile app promotion.
So, in this post, you’ll learn four email marketing tips you can use to promote your mobile app and increase app engagement.
1. Build an email list
You need a targeted email list to do effective email marketing for mobile apps. If you don’t have a list, where should you send your promotional emails in the first place?
You can build your email list by conducting a free email search or by using a newsletter pop-up or a simple signup form on your website. They can collect relevant email addresses and names. You can even ask for other details so you can later segment users and send personalized content. Just don’t go overboard with your form fields. Three to five fields are enough.
Creating website pop-ups and simple sign-up forms to capture email addresses doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Nowadays, email newsletter software like GetResponse offers excellent pre-designed templates. You just need to customize them and you’re good to go.
But speaking of copy, what should you include in these critical components of email marketing in the first place? Your simple sing-up forms and pop-ups must have unique headlines and a call to action (CTA) button. For your headline, you want to specify what people stand to gain when they subscribe. For your CTA, just make sure it’s clear and action-oriented.
Remember that building your subscriber list isn’t enough. You need to grow it as well. The good news is there are many strategies you can implement here. How about promoting your lead capture forms on social media accounts you manage to reach a wider audience?
You can even grow email lists with podcasts if you have one (mind you, many apps like Tyfone, a mobile banking app, have a podcast). Just ask listeners to refer as many subscribers to you as possible. The person with the most successful referrals can then get a reward from you. This marketing strategy won’t just help you increase the number of individual subscribers. It will help you improve listener engagement as well.
2. Create compelling subject lines
To effectively promote your app using email marketing, you need to get them to open your email in the first place. That’s why compelling subject lines are key.
To ensure an effective email marketing campaign, just follow these tips when creating a subject line:
- Keep it brief: Your subject line should be concise. To improve readability, it should have less than 50 characters.
- Personalize: Include the recipient’s name or any pertinent information from the sign-up process. This way, your recipient will know from the get-go the email is intended for them.
- Make it interesting: Why not use emojis and wordplay to make your subject lines more appealing?
Running out of good subject line ideas? You can leverage AI to craft compelling subject lines. All you need to do is provide the topic and goal of your message, and it’ll generate several subject line variants for you.
3. Implement a drip campaign
Subject lines aren’t the only things you should focus on in your email marketing for mobile apps. How else will people know about your app if they don’t consume your email body in the first place? You don’t want them to just open your emails. You want them to consume them, too.
That’s why you need to create compelling content for your email as well. For this, you can implement a drip campaign.
A drip campaign involves sending a series of pre-scheduled emails to users over a specified period. This tactic is particularly effective for nurturing leads. Why? With drip campaigns, you’re sending email content that’s not generic. Instead, you’re sending email content that’s relevant to the subscriber’s journey.
Plan your drip campaign strategically, starting with a welcome email upon subscription, like the one above. Welcome emails provide a unique opportunity to get the attention of app users and make an impactful first impression. Note that people who open at least one welcome email from your company read 40% more content from you for the next six months.
Use this email type as an opportunity to generate interest in your mobile app. For this, you can include the instructions people need to follow to get started on using it. See how AirBnB did it:
Your follow-up emails can then highlight key features of your app, provide tips and tricks, and showcase positive user reviews.
If you notice your email subscriber is no longer using your app, why not launch a re-engagement campaign? Offer incentives to get them to use your app again, like a discount if you’re a shopping app, for example.
A feedback email campaign should also be part of your campaign. This type of email is not just a great way to promote your mobile app. It’s a great way to improve it, too. You can use the feedback you generate from users to adjust your mobile app’s features and improve user experience.
You can use your own analytics to ensure your emails align with subscriber behavior and preferences. Good email marketing platforms can provide you with this relevant information.
4. Monitor and analyze results
An effective email marketing plan goes beyond sending emails; it involves continuous monitoring and analysis of campaign performance. You can then use the insights you gain to improve your email marketing for mobile apps.
Monitor and track metrics such as:
- open rates
- bounce rates
- click-through rates
- conversion rates
- unsubscribe rates
Other information, such as the time of day when the emails were opened, is also relevant. This will help you determine when you should send your emails to increase your chances of getting them opened.
But where do you get all this information? A good email marketing platform with a detailed reporting feature can give all this information to you.
Once you have all your data, make an accurate assessment of what works and what doesn’t in your email marketing for mobile apps. Then create a plan of action.
For instance, if your open rate is low, then you can tweak your subject line. If your clickthrough rate is high, then you can use similar copy for your future emails or retain your call-to-action.
Experiment with different email element variations to find what works best for your target audience. You can A/B test practically everything, from your email copy to your subject lines, CTA, and email design. Just make sure you test a few elements at a time. If you test too many in one go, you’ll have a hard time determining which changed email element actually helped improve your campaign.
In closing
To promote your mobile app successfully, you’ll need to develop a comprehensive email marketing strategy.
In this post, you learned four tips on how to run a successful email marketing campaign for mobile apps. Build a mailing list and create compelling subject lines. Also, run drip campaigns tailored to your subscriber’s behavior. Finally, monitor and analyze results.
Follow these email marketing tips, and you’ll promote your mobile apps effectively and boost app user engagement. Good luck!
Author bio:
Meet Michal Leszczynski, Head of Content Marketing and Partnerships at GetResponse. With 10+ years of experience, Michal is a seasoned expert in all things online marketing. He’s a prolific writer, skilled webinar host, and engaging public speaker. Outside of business hours, Michal shares his wealth of knowledge as an Email Marketing lecturer at Kozminski University in Warsaw. You can reach out and connect with Michal on LinkedIn.
Author bio: Meet Michal Leszczynski, Head of Content Marketing and Partnerships at GetResponse. With 10+ years of experience, Michal is a seasoned expert in all things online marketing. He’s a prolific writer, skilled webinar host, and engaging public speaker. Outside of business hours, Michal shares his wealth of knowledge as an Email Marketing lecturer at Kozminski University in Warsaw. You can reach out and connect with Michal on LinkedIn.