10

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High Performance
App Marketing

BIG
BRAND
STRATEGIES
For Mobile App Marketing

LEVERAGING MOBILE TO BUILD

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS,
DRIVE REVENUE, AND GROW
MARKET SHARE

10

BIG BRAND STRATEGIES

For Mobile App Marketing

LEVERAGING MOBILE TO BUILD CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS,

DRIVE REVENUE AND GROW MARKET SHARE

The time for big brands to get strategic about marketing their apps is now.
Mobile apps are no longer standalone entities for big brands. What were now seeing is brands integrating mobile apps into their business models and their overall
marketing strategies -- to build closer customer relationships and drive business.
Its no longer enough for brands to just have an app (or a suite of apps) and
promote it through traditional channels. Now that brands recognize the impact
mobile apps are having on business, their focus is shifting to employ a strategic
marketing approach to their apps.

With our Hyatt smartphone

app, it took 10 weeks to
launch and three days for us
to do our first million dollars

All this means that big brands are starting to treat their apps as more than just
another channel theyre treating them as a business. And theyre getting serious
about marketing their apps, by putting the marketing resources behind them and
incorporating apps as part of their ongoing strategy.

of revenue. Comparatively,
it took 11 months to achieve
that following the launch of
our mobile website. What
mobile doesespecially the

Top-tier brands like Coca Cola, Sephora, Wal-Mart, and many more are all
publically talking about the central role apps play in their marketing strategy.
Here, well describe what some of those brands are doing, how theyre doing it,
and outline 10 strategic moves brands are employing to get more strategic about
their mobile apps.

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appis provide consumers

with instant gratification for
what they need, when they
need it, how they need it,

wherever they need it.

John Wallis, Global Head,

Marketing and Brand Strategy,
Global Hyatt Corporation 1

The Time Is Now

EXPLOSIVE MOBILE GROWTH DESERVES DEDICATED MARKETING

Mobile is quickly becoming the go-to way a growing segment of consumers
interact with brands, and apps are rapidly becoming the dominant avenue for this
interaction. The stats and predictions are overwhelming:

Mobile app downloads doubled in 2012 to 46 billion2
Downloads will double again in 2013, reaching 81 billion, on their way to
310 billion by 20163

Mobile apps will generate $35 billion in revenue by 20144 and $74 billion
by 20165.

10% of online retail dollars spent in Q3 2012 were on mobile devices,
and that share is expected to increase to 12-13% during Q4 20126.
Customers expect apps to be part of how they interact with your business. In fact,
theres an entire category of consumers who prefer to do business from mobile
apps. In fact, Gartners Brian Blau predicts that by 2016, mobile app use will
surpass the use of Internet domain names, making apps the No. 1 way of
engaging with brands.7
But as Coca-Colas Tom Daly recently described it, consumers have never
been more connected but its never been harder to connect with them.8
Simply having apps and promoting them through existing channels isnt enough.
To claim space on their customers phones, large brands are learning that they
have to aggressively market their apps, getting them into the hands of customers
before their competitors do.

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By implementing a rich
mobile app, Nordstrom
can engage and transform
customers from occasional
visitors to loyal customers by
having them download the
app for faster, more frequent
and higher value experiences
whether they are at home,
on the go or in a Nordstrom
store. In doing so, Nordstrom
will drive incremental sales,
increase customer loyalty and
learn more about consumers
buying behavior to serve them
better in the future.

Luxury Daily,
November 17, 2011 9

FIKSU CLIENT EXAMPLE:

Finance Company Goes Big for Apps

The client:
Financial services company
$100M+ revenue
Public company (NYSE)
~15 million active customers
Actively marketing their mobile app for 2+ years
Mid-six-figure monthly spend

The challenge:
Their online user base is shifting to mobile
Smaller competitors were threatening to disrupt their business

How Fiksu helped:

Consistently kept client in the top ranks of the
App Store - ahead of competition
Acquired millions of users
Kept cost per acquisition below targets

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There are three key lessons to be learned from this client:

1. E
 ffort and execution matter

2. K
 eep testing and optimizing

3. F
 ind your ideal rank

The company runs a steady, continuous campaign, targeting the ideal user
across an array of different traffic sources including leading ad networks,
social channels, and real-time bidding exchanges (RTB). They also develop
high quality creative assets, track their ROI through to the last dollar, and
occasionally use a burst strategy, putting out an extra blitz of ads to
maximize results when needed.
No matter how good campaign results are, its essential to test new ideas
and traffic sources. This client uses Fiksus optimization technology and
performance data to make ongoing optimization decisions, keeping cost-peracquisition low while finding ideal customers. They also dedicated 10% of their
monthly budget to testing new ideas and channels, many of which eventually
make their way into the core marketing stream.
As well discuss, every app has an optimal sweet spot in the app stores, and
its not necessarily as high as you can afford to stay. This client has figured
out what rank gives them the best ROI and how it changes over time. To get the
most out of your app marketing dollars, you need to determine this optimal rank
and what you need to spend to stay there.

Some of these lessons may be unfamiliar to marketers new to mobile. But thats just
the start lets take a look at how mobile app marketing differs from online and
traditional marketing.

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App Marketing Requires

a Different Approach
App marketing is an entirely different world than what many experienced
marketers are used to in both digital and traditional channels, incorporating
different dynamics that require different marketing approaches. Here are some
of the differences app marketers are facing.

Unfamiliar channels

Of course, brands with large customer bases can drive app installs through
traditional customer touch points and promotion. But to quickly reach the massive
volumes of app users required for success in this space, marketers depend on
mobile advertising networks, such as Googles AdMob, Apples iAd, and emerging
sources such as real-time RTB exchanges.

Many brands are now promoting their apps through these dedicated app
marketing channels because they are by far the most effective way to capture
high volumes of new users quickly. But how do you decide which networks to
work with? What method do they use for ad tracking? Do you have to integrate
SDKs from several networks? How do you deal with all the different reporting
formats? These are brand new challenges that marketers need to address to
have success.

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In the ten days since the

iPads debut, its TV-show
watching app has been
downloaded 205,000 times,
giving the Walt Disney Co.
(DIS) unit a presence on
nearly half the 450,000
devices that Apple says it
has sold. Moreover,
users have watched at
least part of 650,000 television episodes using the app,
generating several million
ad impressions.

Wall Street Journal, 4.13.10 10

Targeting challenges

Due to both technology limitations and privacy concerns, mobile ad targeting isnt
as sophisticated as what marketers are used to in the traditional online marketing
world. Marketers used to precise demographic targeting will have to adapt to new
technologies and approaches for reaching those users that can help you achieve
the best performance and ROI.

Downloads often dont lead to users

Even when you succeed in getting your app downloaded, it doesnt mean the
customer will actually use it. Only a fraction of downloads convert into
productive users.
According to a recent industry study, more than a quarter of downloaded apps
are used only once, and then abandoned.11 If your app marketing generates too
many downloads by non-engaged users, your results will take a significant hit.
Fortunately, there are integrated tracking and optimization technologies that help
marketers identify the traffic sources that drive more than just downloads
but quality, loyal users.

Marketing goals are different

App marketing also requires balancing an entirely new set of marketing goals
from achieving a certain rank within app stores, to acquiring users that actually
use your app, to a target cost-per-install. These are new types of goals for many
marketers, and require new measurement approaches.

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Store dynamics

Where do users search for apps? Overwhelmingly, they use the two major app
marketplaces: Apples App Store and Google Play. As an app marketer you need
to understand and address new dynamics associated with the app stores such as
achieving optimal rank, understanding the relationship between ad spend and
organic users, and the factors that drive rank in each store.

Users have now listed 100

million items to its marketplace using the eBay app,
by taking a picture of the
item with their phone
and uploading all the data
within minutes.

Organic users

Your app will be downloaded by two types of users:

1) ad-driven users -- downloads by users that are driven from your paid ads
2) organic users -- downloads by users that find your app naturally when
browsing the stores.
Organic users are considered to be the highest quality users and there are
proven approaches that can help you capture more of them and reduce your
overall cost-per-acquisition.

Ad tracking and attribution

A key consideration for app marketers is ad tracking and attribution, which

is required to reveal whats working and where to focus marketing spend.
Mobile ad tracking presents unique challenges for app marketers because there
is no industry standard on the iOS platform, and many of the tracking options
have tradeoffs. In addition, some marketing channels and networks only support
specific tracking solutions, so you need to understand the range of tracking
solutions thats right for your marketing plans.

EBay previously forecasted

that it would hit $10 billion
in revenue on mobile this
year. Based on last years
gross merchandise volume
of roughly $60 billion, that
works out to 16 percent of the
companys revenue.

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allthingsd.com, 9.24.2012 12

10

Mobile App Marketing

Strategies For Big Brands

1. Bring App Stakeholders Together As One Team

2. Put Dedicated Marketing Resources Behind Your App

3. Set App-Oriented Marketing Goals

4. Market Your App On Mobile Media

5. Target Optimal App Store Rank

6. Target Loyal Users

7. Use Optimization Technology To Drive Marketing Performance

8. Choose A Proven Mobile Marketing Technology Partner

9. Test, Learn, Implement, Repeat

10. Establish A Feedback Loop With App Development And Business Stakeholders

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1. B
 ring App Stakeholders Together
As One Team
Who owns your app marketing strategy?

Is it a centralized marketing department? A marketing team within a business

division? Or maybe the e-commerce business? Does your company have multiple
apps, marketed by different groups?
Its not uncommon in large organizations for some controversy to exist regarding
who should own the app marketing strategy, and often several players can make
a valid argument.
Try to steer clear of territorialism and unite all of the app stakeholders to work
as one team to align overall goals and avoid power struggles. Pulling a team
together from different departments and divisions can often be difficult, but it will
go a long way towards making your app marketing strategies more successful.
Ideally your organization will benefit from regular, ongoing communications
among all the key players, from app development and business stakeholders
to you as the app marketer and even to outside partners such as your agency.
By bringing everyone together as a team, you have an opportunity to get everyone
on the same page and build a successful app business.

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FIKSU CLIENT EXAMPLE:

Major Telecom Services Provider

One Fiksu client demonstrated this approach well. As a large corporation,
it would have been easy for them to fall into a trap of having multiple apps
managed by various business units. Instead, they:

Set up a central product group to focus on their apps

Conducted weekly calls with an external developer,

the marketing and strategy people, and their
external agency

Reviewed a six-month marketing calendar.

This helped them hit multiple app marketing goals

and minimize confusion and surprises down the line.

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2. P
 ut Dedicated Marketing
Resources Behind Your App
Apps are revenue-generating vehicles and deserve dedicated marketing
resources. Capturing and maintaining app market share requires marketing
resources, just like any other product. Its no longer enough to simply market
your apps at your traditional customer touch points. To build market share,
brands must go out and get app users through proactive marketing and this
takes resources.
According to the Mobile Marketing Association, marketers currently allocate
less than one percent of their marketing budget to mobile advertising. However,
based on the MMAs detailed ROI analysis of mobile, the optimal percentage of
a marketing budget to spend on mobile is seven percent, on average, and up to
nine percent for brands with higher app involvement.13
Many big brands have started to put the necessary budget and staff behind the
marketing of their apps, and those are the two key components. It takes people
power to manage the strategy and execution across the many mobile app marketing vehicles, and as the MMA describes, the scope of the mobile app opportunity
also deserves a significant app marketing budget, separate from other channels.
App marketing budgets should also be planned for ongoing promotion. Limited-time burst campaigns can quickly boost an apps rank and drive downloads,
but the effects dont last. To maintain visibility in the app marketplaces and bring
in new users on a continual basis, your app promotion needs to be ongoing.
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The Creative Ideas app

allows users to find
inspiration and home
improvement content
where and when they
want to interact with it.
We are at almost 800,000
issues downloaded.

-- Sandy Culver,
Consumer Marketing Director,
Lowes Home Improvement 14

3. S
 et App-Oriented Marketing Goals
As with any marketing program, mobile app
marketing programs should be measured against
specific, measurable goals. App marketing
presents an entirely new range of marketing goals,
with different corresponding strategies and tactics.

R
 ank Reach (and maintain) a target app store rank, either overall
and/or in-category

Youll most likely wind up with several goals,

some primary goals that directly reflect on your
marketing successes, and other secondary goals
that measure more detailed aspects of your
campaigns. Whats important is to consider
your goals beyond the obvious goals of rank or
downloads, through what youre trying to achieve
for the business after the download, and align
your marketing strategies to these goals.

L
 oyal user acquisition Drive downloads from users that make
a purchase, use the app repeatedly, or take other actions that
support your overall app strategy

D
 ownloads Generate a certain number of app downloads on
a daily/weekly/monthly basis
C
 ost-per-download Stay below a threshold cost to
generate downloads

R
 evenue Hit targets for revenue generated directly through the app
O
 rganic user acquisition Acquire a target number of organic users
those who download the app without paid marketing influence
K
 ey performance indicators Post-download user actions:
repeat use, clicks, session length, clicks to online store, in-app
purchase, other
Competition Achieve higher app store rank or more downloads
that competitors
N
 ew customer acquisition Acquire a target number of
new customers
E
 xisting customers Generate a target number of downloads
from existing customers
G
 eography Generate a target number of downloads in key
geographies
Velocity Meet defined metrics within specific timeframes

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FIKSU CLIENT EXAMPLE:

Leading Fashion Retailer

Client Goals
While rank goals arent ideal for every brand, this brand-name
fashion client knew that store visibility was going to be essential
to acquiring the large numbers of users needed to hit their
in-app purchase goals.
Their app was new, so they set an achievable rank goal of top
30 in their category. Based on their research and comparative
data, they knew that getting into the top 30 would help them
generate large numbers of users cost effectively.

How Fiksu Helped

Using a combination of Fiksus centralized media buying
and optimization technology, they were able to achieve a rank
between 20 and 30 within weeks
And theyve maintained it to this day, over one year later.

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4. M
 arket Your App On
Mobile Media
Some brands with large customer bases are confident that they can drive a lot of
users simply by promoting apps through their existing customer touch points, such
as stores, web sites, or traditional mass media channels. However, many marketers
have found that promoting their apps through these channels is no longer enough.
Brands are now committing an ongoing portion of their overall marketing spend to
promoting their apps where mobile users are: mobile advertising networks and
real-time bidding exchanges. Advertising on these dedicated mobile media
channels is the fastest way to build and sustain a large user base.
Its true that most users find apps in the app stores but discoverability of any one
app among thousands of competitors isnt something you can count, no matter how
well-known your brand is.
The impact of mobile ad buys cannot be underestimated. Apps with high app store
rankings and market share are almost always backed by continuous marketing in
the form of paid media buys through mobile advertising networks and real-time
bidding exchanges. These dedicated mobile channels enable brands to achieve
an initial rank boost then maintain that rank over time to drive discoverability
and installs.

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In addition to advertising on mobile channels, marketers have learned that

working with several ad networks, rather than just one or two, increases their
success by up to a factor of ten. This multi-network approach helps marketers
reach their largest potential audience, guard against audience saturation,
and maximize ROI by identifying opportunities for lower acquisition costs.
There are different types of dedicated mobile marketing vehicles from which
to choose:
Ad Networks: Aggregate traffic from publishers like mobile web sites and apps
that display ads.
Incentive Networks: Provides a reward to a user that downloads and engages
with an app. Otherwise known as an install. Apps with good initial engagement
mechanics can obtain new users at a low cost. Examples of incentive networks
include FreeMyApps and SponsorPay.
Premium Traffic: Web and app publishers with their own ad serving capabilities
and sell inventory direct to very large buyers or aggregators. Examples include
Pandora, The Weather Channel, and Twitter.
Real-Time Bidding Exchanges: A rapidly growing advertising channel where
high-speed, automated technology runs auctions on an impression-by-impression basis. (See next page.)

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We launched an iPhone
app in the United States
about a year and a half ago.
It is now processing around
15% of all the WesternUnion.
com transactions that go out
from the US. Europe will be
the next area where we roll
this out.

Gregg Marshall,
Global Head of Sales and Business
Development, Mobile Transaction
Services, Western Union 15

The Emergence of Real-Time

Bidding Exchanges
One of the more rapidly growing developing ways app marketers are accessing mobile media is through real time
bidding (RTB) exchanges.
Real-time bidding gives marketers an effective, cost-efficient way to target precise audience segments -one impression at a time. RTB achieves this through online auctions that work in the same manner as bidding
on AdWords.
RTB systems auction media inventory on a per-impression basis: every time an ad slot becomes available due to a
user opening an app or mobile web page, an RTB exchange makes that impression available for bidding. Advertisers
are given highly granular targeting data to programmatically evaluate the impression and generate a bid for the
impressions. The exchange delivers the ad to the auction winner within milliseconds. This provides advertisers with
the ability to reach high-value prospects at the cost theyre willing to pay, rather than purchasing bulk impressions.
Real-time bidding offers one of the most cost-effective ways to identify, target, bid on, and buy impressions based
on specific acquisition goals and at a target cost. Buying media impressions through RTB exchanges helps
app marketers:

Access highly targetable traffic for better performance

Drive high-value users

Achieve substantial cost efficiencies

Realize higher marketing ROI

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FIKSU CLIENT EXAMPLE:

Global Electronics Manufacturer

Client Goals
A large ad agency worked closely with Fiksu to deliver for their client
a multi-billion dollar manufacturer of some of the worlds leading
consumer devices.
The client had only a few weeks to acquire a large number of app
users globally, in 13 different languages.

How Fiksu Helped

The agency worked with Fiksu to market their app
across dozens of ad networks, RTB, and direct
publishers, with a goal of driving high volumes
of usage during a worldwide marketing push.
The result: hundreds of thousands of app downloads
ahead of their deadline and under their CPA target.

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5. T
 arget Optimal Store Rank
Mobile media advertising will drive users to download your app. But its just as
important to reach users who are browsing the app store for new apps and
the way to do that is to get your app into the top of the store rankings. If youre
not near the top, youre not likely to be seen, never mind downloaded.

Rank is all about acquiring organic users

Organic users are those who install your app through natural discovery while
browsing the app store, as opposed to those that are driven to the app by a paid
ad. Organic users often become higher-value users but in the rank-driven
environment of the app stores, paid users have an important role to play beyond
their individual value.
As weve pointed out, high rankings are key to being discovered by organic
app searchers and one critical factor in ranking is total download volume:
the more downloads you get, the higher you rank. And thats where paid users
come in.
Paid mobile advertising continually drives more downloads, which raises your
apps rank and visibility within the stores, so it can then be discovered by organic users. This is called organic lift and it should play a central role in your app
marketing strategy.

The mobile app is probably

our first aggressive initiative
aimed at strengthening
loyalty among current and
potential new guests.
We wanted to deliver an
extension of our brand
experience and give people
a reason to engage with
the Dennys brand.

John Dillon,
Vice President of Brand Marketing
& Product Development, Dennys 16

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Because rank is so critical to obtaining organic users, one method of achieving

higher rank quickly is to conduct a burst campaign with an incent network.
A burst campaign concentrates advertising spend over a short period of time
to quickly drive a high volume of downloads. When done correctly, a burst
campaign results in a prominent ranking in the App Store, causing a spike in
organic installs. Once the campaign is generating a substantial amount of
organic downloads, you can dial back the spend to just the level necessary to
sustain your download numbers.

Optimal rank

To capture organic users most efficiently, its important to think in terms of

optimal rank, rather than simply highest rank. This is because there is a point
of diminishing returns associated with rank. For example, an app may get more
organic users at rank 5 than at rank 10 but the cost of maintaining rank 5
might more than offset that advantage.
Marketing platforms such as Fiksus use algorithms to determine an apps
optimal rank by monitoring the relationship between ad spend, rank, and
organic downloads, then optimizing campaigns to deliver the rank that drives
the most organic users at the most efficient cost.
As you develop your user acquisition plan, think not only in terms of download
numbers, but also in terms of number of organic users. As you track your
advertising program, you will be able to track your organic lift and optimize to it.

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We now have planograms

for every store in our app, so
we know every item thats on
a shelf by store and where
its located. You can create a
shopping list in the app and
theres a button that with
one click, the items on your
list appear on the store map,
which is a representation of
the store.

Rich Lesperance,
Director of Digital Marketing and
Emerging Media, Walgreens 17

FIKSU CLIENT EXAMPLE:

Multinational Media Corporation

A multinational media organization went from treating their app as
a loss leader to expecting ROI results and achieving them.
With both Android and iOS apps, they attained a top ten ranking
in their category with their initial app marketing efforts.
However, over time they realized that even though they had the
budget to stay top 10, their overall campaigns were more
effective when they targeted ranks in the low 20s.

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6. Target Loyal Users

As you run your advertising across mobile ad networks, you will also want to
think in terms of loyal user acquisition not just downloads.
A loyal user is a user who takes actions that lead back to ROI.
For example, a loyal user may be one who:

Uses the app repeatedly

Clicks through to your online store

Downloads a coupon

Makes an in-app purchase

Places an order

Registers for a service or newsletter
Whatever the conversion metric is, it is loyal users on whom you build your
app business.
A download, or even an app launch, doesnt mean that you have a loyal user
that translates into a business result. Data shows that many users abandon an
app after one or two uses, and that high download numbers are often just part
of a high churn rate. To truly drive business from your app, loyal user
acquisition is more important than driving large volumes of downloads.
And there are technology solutions available that help you identify and target
these loyal users.

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Starwood has seen a 300

percent increase in mobile
booking revenue generated
this year compared to the
same time last year, per the
hotel chain. This data is
a serious indication to the
future of booking travel.

luxurydaily.com, 12.12.12 18

7. U
 se Optimization Technology
To Drive Marketing Performance
Optimization is one of the most
critical components of your app
marketing program.

This is because mobile ad targeting is not as sophisticated as what youre used to when working with traditional
marketing vehicles. As you plan your mobile media buys,
there are limited targeting criteria to help you determine
which ad networks will cost-effectively deliver the
largest number of downloads, which will drive loyal
users who spend money, and which will merely
consume your budget.

This is where optimization technology

comes in.

With optimization technology, you can gain detailed

insights into the marketing sources that are delivering
on your goals. Whether thats driving loyal users, minimizing cost-per-download, or attaining optimal rank,
optimize lets you zero in on those outcomes during the
campaign. An optimization solution will help ensure that
your ad spend is focused on the marketing sources that
are delivering the results and ROI youre seeking.

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The best optimization technology employs intelligent

algorithms that evaluate thousands of targeting combinations. That can include variables such as networks,
time of day, device, operating system, geography and
more. Those algorithms also depend on having a massive database of historical outcomes - billions of events
- to best predict how to allocate future efforts. This level
of detailed optimization cant be done manually.

Plan your optimization up front.

Too often, app marketers treat optimization as an afterthought. As programs run and they see that theyre not
getting the results they had hoped for, they scramble to
figure out how to readjust their mobile ad spend.

Not all optimization is created equal.

When evaluating marketing technology partners,

youll encounter the term optimization used in many
different ways. For maximum value, its important to
look carefully into exactly what an optimization solution
really provides.

Characteristics to seek in an
optimization solution
There are five characteristics to consider when choosing an optimization solution:

1. Provides automated optimization

As your campaigns are running, automated

optimization technology feeds performance data into
an optimization engine automatically, and uses
algorithms to optimize media buys based on the best
price/performance results. Report-based solutions
simply tell you which ad networks are performing
the best, leaving you to analyze large amounts of
data and take action to adjust your buying plans
across multiple networks.

2. Optimizes on post-download events

Rather than optimizing based on download data, the
solution should be able to track post-download user
events, such as the loyal user events we described in
strategy #6. This helps ensure that media spend is
allocated to the sources that are truly driving
business results.

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3. Integrated with ad tracking

and attribution

Data obtained through ad tracking software or

network dashboards isnt immediately actionable,
due to the manual nature of the data analysis.
They dont build in any algorithms that make
optimization decisions, such as what media is most
cost-effective, how to bid, or how to manage volume
and budget.
Unlike manual reporting-based methods, an integrated approach allows you to take advantage of more
detailed data and respond immediately to cost or
volume issues. Automated decision-making about
what media is most cost-effective, how to bid,
and managing bids and budget yields significantly
more cost-efficient results.

Characteristics to seek in an
optimization solution
4. Enables Broad Media Deployment
The optimization engine is integrated with ad
networks and real-time bidding exchanges to
enable optimization across your entire media buy
simultaneously. It can also identify new media
sources that are highly likely to perform well.

5. Provides Store Optimization

The optimization engine monitors the relationship

between ad spend, app rank, and downloads, and
optimizes to achieve the rank that delivers the most
organic users at the lowest cost.

For more information, read

Optimization for Advanced App Marketers.

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8. C
 hoose a Proven Mobile
Marketing Technology Partner
As you get strategic about your mobile app marketing, youll want to partner
with one or more vendors that provide technology solutions for app marketing.
Traditional advertising agencies may have considerable expertise in user
acquisition and brand marketing, but as weve described, mobile marketing
demands very specific expertise and technology.
Coca-Cola executive Tom Daly recently emphasized this idea, saying that one
of his main goals for 2012 was finding and connecting with the best partners
for mobile marketing. He mentioned that mobile marketing is a different skill
set than digital marketing, and that his focus then and now was on finding
partners who know how to really collaborate so he could invest in the best
and execute on his vision for mobile.19
MillerCoors Director of Digital Marketing Steve Mura echoed the point,
describing how you need the right partners to help you win in the mobile
space. We need someone who lives and breathes mobile, he said, both for
technology and for mobile media management.20

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Mobile sales continue to rise

sharplyup by 46.9%and
now account for 18.5% of
total online sales.

Nick Dutch, Multimedia Manager,

Dominos Pizza Group 21

One of the reasons these big brand executives are so eager to find partners for
their app marketing is the range of technologies and skills required to succeed
with mobile marketing:

Centralized media buying Partners that provide one central point of

contact to buy mobile media from numerous media sources.

Ad tracking and attribution Software that tracks, measures and

reports on marketing performance, and also attributes user actions
back to the original marketing sources.

App usage analytics Software that tracks and reports on how your
app is being used.

Optimization Technology that uses algorithms to optimize your advertising to the marketing sources that deliver the best price/performance.
If your agency manages your app marketing programs, you may want to explore
with them the subject of partnering with a high performance mobile app
marketing platform provider to help them drive results for your business.

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9. Test, Learn, Implement, Repeat

As marketers, we often rely on extensive testing of
promotional strategies, messaging, creative, and other
aspects of our campaigns and programs before launching them on a grand scale. The same holds true for app
marketing, but its more important in the app marketing
world not to fall into the trap of analysis paralysis over
long periods, because the market moves so quickly.
Because mobile apps are a relatively new space companies can easily fall into the test and retest trap. What
marketers need to understand is that the opportunity is
large enough and happening fast enough that its more
important to get out there in the marketplace rather
than to test and refine marketing programs over extended periods. You dont want to get stuck in test and learn
mode because the market is developing so rapidly: you
need to be getting results now, before you may know the
perfect approach.
Its okay to test and learn what does and does not work,
and to then make adjustments. Thats a key component
of the optimization described in the previous section.
As you see what works best you can then start to scale
and refine your campaigns. But dont wait for perfection
before you dive in.
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Build testing into your budget

In addition, as your campaigns and programs are

running, its important to devote a percentage of your
budget to testing new media sources. There are dozens
of excellent media sources on which to promote your
apps, and theres no way to know which will perform
best without testing.
From ad networks, to premium web and app publishers,
to RTB exchanges, you may be missing out on potential
opportunities to improve price/performance and
identify highly productive users if you dont test new
sources on an ongoing basis. Identifying new media
sources also helps you avoid potential audience
saturation when advertising for long periods of time.
Media testing is also useful in identifying up-and-coming sources before they become mainstream, while their
costs are relatively low, and helps you remain more
competitive by taking advantage of newer sources
before your competitors.

10. E
 stablish a Feedback Loop with App
Development and Business Stakeholders
You can do a great job marketing your app but, at the end
of the day, if the app doesnt provide value to your users
and doesnt work well, the app will not be successful.
In addition, even the most widely adopted app must be
updated regularly in order to provide new motivations
for users to engage with it. Marketers are in a unique
position to gain insights to improve the app, as well as
the business impact of the app.
App marketers can add strategic value to the app business by establishing a formal feedback methodology
with both the app business stakeholders as well as the
app development team. Set up a monthly or quarterly
feedback session with the stakeholders and review your
findings and recommendations.
There are a range of ways you can provide feedback:
Metrics reporting You can study metrics regarding app
downloads, store rank performance, cost-per-download,
organic lift, media source performance and other
marketing metrics to provide insights that can help
guide decisions.

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App landing pages A good feedback loop can help

optimize app store landing page components, including
screen shots, app descriptions, ratings, and even
your icon.
App consistency - If your company has multiple apps,
and particularly if theyre managed by different groups,
your input can help ensure consistency across them,
including logo usage, cross promotion, and overall user
experience.
Ad testing You can conduct testing in new geographies
to help the team make decisions on launching in new
markets.
Conversion rates You can track app usage and
conversions to see if an app is generating the desired
user engagement and ROI.
You can be highly successful at marketing your apps
and getting them downloaded, but if theyre not used,
all that great marketing doesnt matter. By establishing
a marketing feedback loop with the business and
development teams, you can make an impact beyond
just promoting the app by contributing to the app
development and business direction.

Checklist:
Developing
a Mobile App
Marketing
Plan
If your apps are strategic to
your business, they should
have the backing of a formal
marketing plan. Heres a
marketing template that you
can customize to match your
particular situation.

App Marketing Plan Template

1. App name
2. Platforms (iOS, Android, etc.)
3. M
 arketing goals (Rank, organic users, downloads, cost-per-download,
loyal users, revenue, other)
4. K
 ey performance indicators (Clicks to online store, in-app purchase,
session length, repeat usage, other)
5. Geographies (Countries in which to run marketing programs.)
6. M
 arketing channels (Mobile ad media, PR, social media, display ads,
search engine marketing, emails, etc).
7. M
 obile media channels (Mobile ad networks, incent networks, bidding
exchanges, etc.)
8. Media plan (List ad networks, timeframe, cost structure [CPC, CPI, etc])
9. App store landing pages (Components, creation, responsibilities)
10. M
 arketing attribution and optimization strategy
(What is the strategy, technology usage, responsibilities)
11. Ad network SDK integration with apps (Requirements, responsibilities)
12. Outside vendors (Ad agency role, partner selection, technologies)
13. Localization/translation (Languages, vendor)
14. Measurement and reporting (What is being measured, how, frequency)
15. Budget

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16. Timeline

Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform

High-Performance App Marketing
For Big Brands

Is your company taking a strategic approach to mobile

app marketing? Fiksu invites you to learn how were
helping big brands build big app businesses with our
award-winning mobile marketing solutions.

Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform

The Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform is used by

businesses worldwide to remove the complexity from
app marketing and drive exceptional business results.
The Fiksu platform combines centralized mobile
media buying with advanced attribution and optimization
technology, to help marketers acquire large volumes of
quality, loyal users, with outstanding marketing ROI.

Centralized Media Buying from the

Worlds Largest App Media Inventory

The Fiksu Platform is tightly integrated with top mobile

media sources, for centralized buying from the worlds
largest volume of mobile app media inventory. Fiksu
provides access to 95% of the worlds - iOS and Android
mobile inventory.

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Campaign Planning and Implementation

Fiksus experienced service team provides ongoing
support from app marketing experts with strategic
knowledge, deep experience, and the resources to help
you achieve marketing campaign excellence. Fiksu
provides numerous services based on your needs,
including: strategy and planning support, advertising
program development, and campaign execution.

Agency Support
Fiksu partners with advertising agencies to provide
access to the Fiksu app marketing platform, along
with expert support in a range of areas based on your
agencys requirements, including campaign planning
support, access to mobile media sources, optimization
technology and more.

Footnotes
Page 2
1

CMO One-to-One: Hyatt Builds Loyalty With Integrated Marketing - eMarketer

Page 3

eMarketer, Paid vs. Free Mobile App Store Downloads Worldwide, 2011-2016. September 11, 2012
ibid
4
http://www.growthink.com/content/10-incredible-mobile-marketing-statistics-every-entrepreneur-must-know
5
http://www.eweek.com/mobile/apps-marketing-and-the-cloud-gartner-predictions-for-2013/
6
http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/The_Imminent_Mobile_Commerce_Avalanche
7
http://www.eweek.com/mobile/apps-marketing-and-the-cloud-gartner-predictions-for-2013/
8
Mobile First Look, 1/17/13, Coca-Cola: Mobile the closest you will get to your consumers
9
http://www.luxurydaily.com/nordstrom-builds-cross-channel-engagement-with-interactive-mobile-app/
2
3

Page 6
10

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/04/13/abc-sees-success-in-ipad-app/

Page 7
11

Source: Localytics, July 2012

Page 8
12

http://allthingsd.com/20120924/ebays-mobile-momentum-100m-app-downloads-100m-items-listed/

Page 12
13
14

MXS: Mobiles X% Solution, Mobile Marketing Association, August 2012.

eMarketer, Lowes Crafts Creative Ideas for the iPad, June 7, 2012.

Page 16
15

eMarketer, Western Unions Mobile payments App Finds Its Niche, October 16, 2012

Page 19
16

eMarketer, Dennys Serves Up Loyalty with Launch of Mobile-Local App, July 12, 2012

Page 20
17

eMarketer, Walgreens Mobile Tactics Include foursquare and Store-Inventory App, November 5, 2012

Page 22
18

http://www.luxurydaily.com/starwood-boosts-mobile-booking-by-extending-spg-app-to-android/

Page 26

Mobile First Look, 1/17/13, Coca-Cola: Mobile the closest you will get to your consumers
Mobile First Look, 1/17/13, MillerCoors: Why mobile is a key social medium for the nations No. 2 brewer
21
eMarketer, Mobile Sales a Bigger Slice of Digital Revenues for Dominos in the UK, November 12, 2012
19
20

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High Performance
App Marketing

Fiksu is used by 30 of the 50 highest-grossing app

publishers to achieve exceptional app marketing results:
60 percent reduction in media costs
3
 00 percent increase in loyal user acquisition
Downloads generated to date - 860 Million
Loyal users to date - 390 Million
US Office

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Phone: 855-463-4578
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Copyright 2013 Fiksu. All rights reserved. Fiksu is a registered trademark and the Fiksu logo is a trademark of
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are the property of their respective holders.

Contact Fiksu Today

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