Four Strategies for Creating Membership Apps that Increase Engagement and Build Your Brand
The increase in ad-blocking features reveals what many of us already know, people don't like advertisements. They especially do not like advertisements that interfere with their entertainment or information gathering. As mentioned in an earlier post, one way to completely avoid ad-blocking features while still engaging mobile users is to create membership apps for customers. The entire app experience is connected to your brand, keeping your brand at the forefront of the users' experience.
Building on this idea, what are some techniques designers and developers can use to keep your brand in the forefront of your customers' minds? What follows are four ways to keep your app engaging and relevant:
1. Provide information
When it comes to delivering information in an efficient manner, many developers and even some designers, admit that function is more important than form. In other words, information doesn't have to be pretty. This is incredibly true when member apps are designed for business functions, but functionality is also relevant to busy consumers. The marketing specialists at Hubspot call attention to HTML tables, remarking that "What matters most is that you remove any friction that keeps people from easily consuming the information that they want."
Know what kind of information your users want from the app and then deliver that information in the most seamless, frictionless way possible.
2. Provide entertainment
Apps like Netflix and Spotify are the most obvious and popular entertainment apps, but Wired listed a few other entertainment apps that appeal to specific, if not niche, interests like Clash of Clans, an app that "about 90 percent of the people on the bus are doing during your commute." Engaging customers during their down-time is one sure way to keep your brand at the forefront of their user experience.
3. Provide personal content and context
The elements of information and entertainment are important because they make the app useful and necessary. However, many users have come to expect that from well-designed apps. To really make your app stand out, it is necessary to provide personalized content within the appropriate context. Providing context adds another layer to engagement because it focuses on time. When an app provides users with the right information, in the right way and at the right time, users develop a greater connection with the app. The reason? The app is deemed more personal.
For example, when you access your favorite restaurant's app during the middle of the day, the app might prompt you to make a dinner reservation or it might prompt you to order lunch, all based on your past behaviors with the app. This kind of personalization streamlines the user experience, rather than forcing the user through a series of generic screens or buttons. Another example is Uber, and the app's ability to locate the user's location without the user having to input any information.
4. Cultivate a sense of urgency and promote competition
When time is counting down, a customer's sense of urgency goes up. They feel the need to beat the competition and will act quickly. Think of Amazon's Lightening Deals or Ebay. Apps that feature special, time-sensitive deals encourage users to check their apps frequently for updates. Another way to leverage the human desire for competition, is to create friendly competitions among members in the form of sharing contests or online games that reward speed.
Apps like Facebook are described as sticky because users return again and again. They return for socialization, information, entertainment and (hopefully) a positive experience. Though your brand's app may not reach Zuckerberg proportions, it can target your specific audience and increase your brand's relevance. For more information on building the best app for your business and your customers, please contact us.