With a return user rate of under 50 percent for all apps, selling a service through a mobile app is an uphill battle. With this in mind, Phil Leslie hosted a workshop focused on customer acquisition in the mobile space on Thursday morning at 1871. Leslie, the founder of ProOnGo, a mobile expense tracking company that works on a software as a service model (SaaS), shared tips on how to optimize mobile apps and websites and how to convert casual browsers into paying customers.
Starting with pre-release marketing, Leslie talked the audience through the process of acquiring a new customers in the mobile space and why a shift to the web may be beneficial. He refers to the customer acquisition process as a “funnel”—to make a mobile business plan work you, you need a strong flow at the top because you will lose customers at every step. With multiple steps, from download to account creation, register to subscribe, and finally increasing average revenue per user, businesses in the mobile space need all the help they can get.
Step 1: Determine price
Start by focusing on the top of the funnel. The first major decision is to determine your price. Free is not an option: a free app is not sustainable, lacks a business plan and quickly goes out of business. If you are unsure, Leslie recommends just guessing for the initial price—you an always change it later.
Step 2: Optimize app store description
The next obstacle is crafting your app store description and attempting to optimize it for SEO. Rapidly changing and less mature then website SEO, Leslie says there are no tricks to this black art. The solution: day-to-day attention, effort and focus are they only way to track what works.
Step 3: Get usernames
When you reach the username creation stage simplicity is key. Leslie discovered that Android and Blackberry software allows app creators to pre-populate a username based on the users current email addresses synced to their phone. This is an ideal situation because it cuts down on the number of fields users need to complete to get to the next step.
At this point, an obvious call to action is needed above the fold. Leslie uses OpenID, a platform that allows companies to partner with another service, eliminating the need for users to create a new account. An example of this is the “sign in with Facebook” button that is seen all to frequently across the web. Leslie only recommends doing this with a site partner that you are symbiotic with—don’t just choose Facebook because it is popular. This incredibly powerful tool not only allows you to skip an entire part of the funnel, it also makes the experience easier for the user.
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