Always Going North – Notes on customer acquisition, growth, and app marketing

A Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation

On May 20, 2020

The top priority for marketers is generating leads. (HubSpot, 2020)

49% of companies report that increasing customer acquisition is their primary objective. (Ascend2, 2020)

Getting more leads seems to be a permanent item in the wishlist of many business owners and marketers. After all, leads are the lifeline of every business.

I’m going to write a series of posts around the topic of online lead generation. The first one is the one you are reading: An introduction to lead generation, and some strategies that you can start implementing right away.

Without further ado…

How to build a successful app referral program

By O. Sentrec

On September 21, 2017

In App Marketing, Customer Acquisition

Turn your app users into advocates

A referral is when somebody recommends something to someone else, and a referral program is a deliberate, sustained system of soliciting and encouraging referrals. This system typically involves some sort of incentive structure.

A referral program adds to the virality of your app and gets your potential customers to trust your app as it has been referred by a friend or a colleague. It’s one of the most effective tactics for app growth. After all and according to Nielsen Global Trust Advertising survey (2015), the most credible advertising comes from the people we know and trust.

83% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, and 66% trust consumer opinions online

Even unsuccessful referrals have significant marketing value because they introduce a brand or a product into public consciousness.

Build a message center in your app to keep users engaged

By O. Sentrec

On August 30, 2017

In App Marketing

Push notifications and in-app messages are temporary which means that if the user has not seen them or he has dismissed them, he has no access to them anymore unless you have built a message center in your app.

An in-app message center (app inbox) can capture and store messages your users want to keep track of. Its implementation can complement your overall mobile messaging strategy.

Message centers generate better response rates. According to Urban Airship research, message center content generates 8x the read rate of push notifications alone. Also, message center read rates more than double when used in combination with a push notification.

Increase user retention and engagement with in-app messaging

By O. Sentrec

On August 20, 2017

In App Marketing

An in-app message is any message sent to the user within the app itself. It is a native part of the app experience because it looks and feels like it belongs in the app. This is a good channel for onboarding, tutorials, promoting in-app content, and to communicate with your active users inside your app. However, it’s an underutilized tactic with untapped potential (only 1/3 of apps employ this tactic). The main reasons for the underutilization are that they are considered too similar to mobile ads and the same as in-app chats.

Some brands don’t use in-app messaging because they think their users will perceive them as mobile ads and this will generate a bad user experience. It is important to understand that they are two different things that serve different purposes.

Choosing the push notification platform that better fits your needs

By O. Sentrec

On August 10, 2017

In App Marketing

Some of the things you need to consider before choosing a push notification platform for your business.

Type of message you are going to send

There are two types of messages that you can send as push notifications: Mechanical push and behavioral push.

Mechanical push. These are the messages sent after a specific activity. They are triggered by a user action or a predetermined time or event.
Mechanical push notifications are immediate, list-based, or event-triggered.

Behavioral push. These are personalized messages you send based on the past activity of the user in your app or real-time information like location. These push notifications are highly targeted, timely, personalized and deep link into a specific page of your app.
Behavioral push may not make sense for apps that are very transactional or if you don’t have the necessary resources to set up these campaigns.