April 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the market for a long time but has hit the mainstream market in the year 2017. AI is all around us; Smart Assistants such as Alexa, Cortana, Siri and Google Assistant live in our phones. It’s influencing our search on Google or what we see on our Facebook and Instagram feed. DemandBase reveals that Artificial Intelligence will revolutionize marketing industry by 2020. A report made by Tractica forecasts that Virtual Digital Assistance will reach more than 3.3 billion devices by 2020.
Source:
​https://www.demandbase.com/press-release/marketing-executives-predict-artificial-intelligence-will-revolutionize-marketing-2020/
https://www.tractica.com/newsroom/press-releases/virtual-digital-assistant-technology-is-expanding-beyond-smartphones-to-penetrate-additional-consumer-devices-and-enterprise-markets/

Tamara McCleary, International branding expert and Thulium CEO, Tamara McCleary is ranked by Klear in the Top 1% of global Social Media Influencers stated that, “Artificial Intelligence offers a unique opportunity for brands to harness machines to build a more seamless, engaged, personalized relationship with customers.” She says whether it be talking machines that learn and offer dynamic pricing or integrated chatbots to deliver customer service within a faster timeframe, “AI can facilitate a brand’s understanding of their customer, the market, as well as, the identification of areas of opportunity not currently being served”.

​Further, Principal analyst Peter Cooney expressed the impact of Artificial Intelligence for customers. “Virtual digital assistants represent the fusion of speech recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and artificial intelligence (AI) and hold the potential to have a transformative impact on consumer and enterprise user interfaces. The market is at a stage where the underlying technology is capable of delivering a very robust solution, but there are advancements still to be made across the board to improve digital assistants and drive further market growth and customer acceptance.”

Marketing

Targeted Online Ads
What do you mean by targeted ads? Say for instance, you are scrolling through your Facebook app and you see an advertisement of a trip to Italy. This information is received to the advertisers by using AI marketing tools which will analyze the search terms and user habits to display that advertisement. Hence, for the next couple of hours, you will see posts about travelling to Italy in sidebars. These targeted ads are a great investment for the advertiser because it gives the customer what they are looking for and chances of the sale are much higher.

Automated Customer Service
As we know, more and more companies have been using chatbots for diligent customer service. They are just as effective as using to a customer service executive. Although, at this time they can only handle basic questions, but brands are still trying to push the boundaries.
These chatbots provide 24/7 customer service with almost no waiting and personalized customer experience which is recorded by the AI from the customer history and past interactions. Remember, AI can deal with hundred of hundreds of repetitive, menial tasks and requests with ease. Only the most complex issues will require human intervention.

Apps

AI Integrated Apps will increase
By using Artificial Intelligence algorithms, an app can provide you with ample information. For instance, Kraft Foods iPhone Assistant can guess the number of people in your family and suggest you dishes that you can make from leftovers. It can also make lists for shopping for day-to-day use, special events or holidays. It can also recognise if you have a loyalty card at a supermarket.
Douglas Karr, Founder of the Marketing Technology Blog and CEO stated that a lot o time is spent in configuring and moving data. He predicts that, “the API of the future will be a drag and drop, intuitive user interaction that will move us away from working on the programming problem and closer to simply working on the business problem”.

Improved App User Experience
The purpose of AI is to ensure that your life is refined. It wants to make your daily chores easier so that you can concentrate on the big picture. In the future, apps will interact with only images and voice, leaving the old ‘texting’ behind. Intuitive pages will help us find solutions faster and they will be more precise. For instance, localisation of search engines will help the search be more precise.
Chris Messina, Developer Experience Lead at Uber and who invented the hashtag said that, “AI can help make software experiences more forgiving and flexible. AI can help brands and companies also be more adaptable to the level of sophistication of each customer, making on-boarding funnels smoother and more personalized”.

Personalized Mobile Advertising
Personalized information is the key to good marketing strategies or targeted advertising. The evolution of AI technology wants the customer to experience a user friendly and ‘human like’ machine that gives the correct information at that exact moment. As Sarah Austin, Artificial Intelligence expert says “Personalization requires emotional intelligence.”

Automated Reasoning
With AI in the scenario, we can now give machines a ‘human-like’ capacity by empowering them to purpose in themselves without any human interaction. Once modified, apps are able to examine the user’s activities in the app and provide snappy solutions. For instance, the Uber app uses AI to recommend the most ideal route to the destination by accessing the time of the day and the traffic routes. It does this by analyzing the data from other Uber drivers who have taken similar courses in their past trips.
Jesse Stay, Futurist, Author, Founder and Principal of Stay N Alive states that “controls like Google Home and Amazon Echo will be able to recognize not just what people say, but who’s saying it and tie that to individual accounts and preferences”. She believes that brands need to be looking at APIs for platforms like Smartthings so that they can become a part of the household.

Mobile

Semantic SEO
Voice commands make life so much easier. It’s now very common to give commands to your phone like, “Call mom” or “Call dad” or “search for Chinese restaurants near me”. This is why brands have been investing in the AI that analyses the semantic phrases that link to their product. Voice operated search is mostly used in mobiles hence, the brand needs to make sure that their sites are mobile optimized.

Facial Recognition Software
The facial recognition software allows brands to connect to the users in an unprecedented way. AI technology now can register your face in the data system and can recognize your face in stores and recommend products. As Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling Author and Social Influencer said that we want our smartphones to be smarter. The more intuitive the apps get, the faster and more efficient we become. He stated that, “the trick is finding the balance between privacy and convenience”.

Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and get even bigger. The brands are constantly trying to upgrade the lives of their customers by ensuring personalization of their product. The key is to find the right balance between evolution and control. Innovations brought by AI will affect mobile apps and mobile marketing in the same time. If we steer them in the correct direction the effects will by rewarding for app owners, marketers and of course, for the end users.

​After putting in months or years of hard work of creating an app, the most vital thing is rolling it out in the market. The mobile ecosystem is ever-changing and sometimes you might feel lost determining the best marketing strategies for you mobile app promotion. Remember, content is king, so use your words wisely.
Your pre-launch marketing should be stretched out over a period of three months. Condense the most important elements of pre-launch one week before rolling out the app and push the rest of the items to the post-launch roadmap.
Let’s take a look at the 33-Step guide to market you mobile app into the play store and making your app a success. 

 
1.Fix a release date
It is very important that you schedule a launch date taking into account fixes and bugs that you might find during your final review stage. Don’t try to scram in last minute “things to do” just before the app release. For instance, Apple has a strict review process and the changes suggested might delay the process. The hard launch should be planned at a date that you know you wouldn’t have to further delay.

2.Determine the demographics of your user
According to the research done for your app during the planning stage, determine the demographic that you will be targeting. Understand who your target audience is and determine the features that you need to highlight while marketing the app.

3.Competitive analysis
As there are millions of apps in the market, there are definitely quite a few apps that are similar to yours. Make a list of the top 10 competing apps, their current price (if your app is not free), their ranking, their version type, their features, their reviews by the users and then compare them with your app. Think of how your app solves a pain point for the user or find the x-factor that it can offer to users. This will determine your entire marketing strategy.

4.Establish your Unique Value Proposition
As mentioned in the earlier point, determine what makes your app unique and capitalize on that.

5.Define the message of your brand and its positioning
A story behind the app can help you market your app to users that identify with the struggle or the reason your app was made. For example, a helpline app for safety of woman travelling at night (or day) will strike a chord with the female demographic. Here, the brand’s voice will be a woman.

6.Brand styling
Your marketing strategy needs to have a particular font, logo or image that the user will recognize. For instance, if your app has used cartoon images in the app as well as, to promote it, the marketing strategy should revolve around cartoonish elements.

7.Make a pitch deck
If you wish to attract investors to buy into your app, you need to make a visual representation of the story behind your app along with its mission and vision. The pitch deck needs to be concise and easy-to-understand.

8.Prepare your Press Kit
Once your app launches, you will need to send out app details and pitches to several marketing agencies, users or potential investors. You need to create your press kit that has high-res images of your app’s logo, screenshots, marketing images and content that includes information about the app’s functions and features.

9.Create a Media List
In today’s digital world, the best way to PR your app is by using influencers, publications and bloggers that have a huge audience. It’s even better if you filter them according to your app’s target audience. Connect with them and give them a brief about your app. Also, try to work out a promotion strategy with them.

10.Create a website, micro site or landing page
Create a launch page or a small video trailer about your app.

11.Create an address book with the emails acquired
A good marketing plan involves sending emails to users interested in your app. Keep your followers updated on the launch date, new updates, features, etc.

12.Optimize your app for mobile visits
Most searches are done through the mobiles. Ensure that your marketing strategies or tools are optimized for mobile.

13.Establish your monetization strategy
Mobile app monetization can be done through freemium based apps (in-app purchases), ad-supported or subscription-based. Choose your strategy as it is a key element that you need to work with during your app marketing process.

14.App Store Optimization (APO)
App Store Optimization involves optimizing your App Store page to rank higher in search results and convert at a higher rate.

15.Choose a keyword for your app name
A good title for your app will attract users to download your app. Use a keyword that helps the users search for your app. Keyword research is probably the most crucial part of ASO. A great tip would be to create long and short tail keywords.

16.Highlight the features and benefits in the app description
Note down the features and benefits in the app description to attract the users to download the app. List the feature/benefit that makes it different from other apps, first in the list.

17.Add key screenshots and videos in your app description
iOS and Google Play both allow for a short video preview of your app. Use this to show off game play, demo functions to compel users to download it.

18.App category
It is very crucial to select the correct category for your app. For example, if you have made a game that is adventure, don’t categorise it in sports.

19.Create a content marketing strategy
Drive traffic and brand awareness with content and build trust with your users through your content. Create a quality blog with great content and keywords so that it appears on the first page of search engines.

20.Set up social media pages
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social platforms let you expand your web presence and allow you to directly communicate with your target audience. Regulate your posts and engage with your users through these pages.

21.Set up Google Alerts
Set up a branded keyword alert to track places that users are talking about your app.

22.Create promotional offers/discount coupons
Offer promotion and discount coupons on products in the app or for a partner company. For instance, a coffee shop can have a certain percent of discount on updating a code in the app.

23.Plan contests and give-away gifts
Planning contests is a good way to communicate with the user. The chances are that the user will visit the app more often for playing contests or winning merchandise.

24.Collect reviews
Set up alerts for your users to post a review about the app. After two weeks is the best time to ask for a review.

25.Track user acquisition
Use an attribution platform like AppsFlyer or Kochava to keep track of where your downloads are coming from.

26.Link to your app
Create a link of your app that you use in all forms of communication, it could be emails, posts, images, etc. Anything that interests the viewer could become your potential user if a link is provided in that vey post.

27.Engage with your existing users
It’s imperative that you engage with your current users and hold their interest. You don’t want to end up with users uninstalling your app.

28.Apply for mobile app awards
This can help you reach new networks of potential users.

29.Push notifications
Push notifications have been shown to increase user retention, with statistics showing anywhere from a 56% to a 180% improvement. Users who have opted into receiving push notifications exhibit 88% higher app engagement than those who haven’t.
Reference site: http://info.localytics.com/blog/app-user-retention-improves-in-the-us

30.Focus on customer service
Ensure that if your user is facing difficulty with your app, there is a way that they can contact you. A prompt reply and a solution can really help you gain loyal customers for life.

31.Organize a Burst Campaign
“Burst campaign” is one of the most popular techniques used by mobile app marketers who want to climb the app store ranks. The idea of a burst campaign is to provide a “burst” of exposure for your app in which you aggressively purchase paid media exposure over a short period of time- usually 24 to 72 hours, depending on budget.
The goal is to get as many paid installs as possible, boosting your rank.  All this with the hope of increasing the volume of quality organic installs – that should follow when the app is finally ranked high enough to be discovered.

32.Offer referral bonus
Offer your users a bonus when they advertise or help you spread the word. “With a staggering 3900% growth rate, Dropbox is an excellent example of how powerful referrals can be. The company had just 1,00,000 registered users in 2008, which climbed to a staggering 4,000,000 registered users within a mere 15 month period as a result of their referral program.”
Reference site: https://www.referralsaasquatch.com/dropbox-customer-referral-program-by-the-numbers/

33.Continuous updates and maintenance
Based on the feedback received and the bugs pointed out by the users, ensure that the new version doesn’t have the same. Continuous maintenance and updates for the apps ensures seamless working of the app for the users.
​
Conclusion
These strategies will help you promote your app for a long-term. Engaging with the users is of utmost importance. The marketing strategies should be based on your target audience. The true success of your app does not lie in the number of users or downloads but is based on the functionality and user engagement of your app. 

​It has just been a few years that the entire world has been taken to storm by mobile app development. There is a massive playing field for developers considering that they can deliver on Android and iOS platform. Every need now has an app! For instance, you can sit at your house and order from your favorite restaurant, you can call a cab to your doorstep and even get your house groceries delivered to your doorstep.
Apps that are built for enterprises need to be built for a certain purpose. They should be meticulously planned and carefully decided, only then can a company build a top enterprise mobile app. There have been a lot of instances where businesses have achieved unimaginable success by developing an effective mobile app. 

What if you have an exceptional idea but you don’t have the resources or skill set to make it a reality? The most logical step is to outsource the app development. But when you choose your third-party vendor, you must ensure that you do not making these 7 mistakes.

Weighing Skill and Cost

Firstly, you need to begin with verifying the credentials of the party that you are going to outsource your app. Who were their clients? What apps have they worked on prior? Try and download these apps to understand the look and feel of what the outsourcing developers are capable of.
Coming to the cost aspect, remember that if the developer firm or contractor gives you an exact price tag in five minutes after you’ve described your app to them, there are setting you up to fail. To truly calculate the cost, the developer needs to calculate the functional and non-functional elements and needs several other details. So if he just gives you the cost in a few minutes, it’s definitely a concern.

Functional and Non-Functional Requirements

Document your functional and non-functional needs – don’t make the list too short or too long. Also, don’t try to move too fast and skip the essential details.

Functional Requirements:

• List down the core features
• List the differentiating features
• Mention the functionality of the app
• Jot down the user experience from start to finish

Non-Functional Requirements:

• Ensure that your app is secure for the user, especially if you are developing an e-commerce app where monetary transactions take place.
• The performance of the app should be seamless. This is possible if you understand the usage and guess the amount of users that are going to be using the app. The key is finding the sweet spot where you are not over or under built.
• It’s important to understand the language your app is built on? In case of any discrepancies, can it be taken over by another developer? It’s good to know that in case if things go wrong with the current developer, it doesn’t make impossible to maintain your app. 

Monitoring the Development of Your Project and Communicating your Requirements

The first thing before beginning the project is to prepare the project brief and ensure that everyone is on board. Keep a close eye on the documentation and app development process; don’t assume that people know what to do and what the next logical step might be. Guide them!
If in doubt, spell out the screen, feature, button or project element, clearly, in the scope of work. If you have outsourced your work to an efficient software agency, they will look for gaps in your brief and challenge any assumptions or loopholes that they discover.

Failure to Prototype

After the interface of the app has developed, it is only logical you test out the prototype. It is very important to test the prototype of the app, especially if you are a non-technical founder. Imagine waiting till the end to discover that your app hasn’t turned out the way you wanted it or more than 50% can’t log in to your app or ending up with a complicated and confusing user interface.
Also, the best way to get honest feedback about the app is to make other users test it and mess around with the features of the app.

Product Testing

There are two kinds of product testing approaches; the first one is the manual approach and the second one is the automatic approach.

Manual approach: In this approach, you will need to run through all the different user flows and possible scenes that the user might face while operating your app. If your app uses location services, ensure that the search is based on that particular geographical location. For example, if you are in New York and you get a list of restaurants in China, then your app isn’t meeting your user’s needs.

Automated approach: It’s not always easy to do a manual testing, especially when you have a big app with numerous possibilities. In this case, you can use the automated approach. It runs through basic screen functionality, crash reporting and even how the app would work on different smartphones or iPhones. Automated testing comes at an additional cost, so ensure that the same is discussed with the outsourced agency.

Lack of Code Reviews

As development progresses, it is important to perform consistent code reviews. This is equivalent to being a spellchecker for your code. This applies for both software; Android and iOS development.

Manual codes: While updating manual codes, one must check for syntax, standardization, structure and other vital details. This review should be ideally done by a senior developer, technical architect or team lead.
Static codes: Static codes can be reviewed by several open source tools that run automated reviews and flag security problems. If you are unable to run the reviews, your app developer can run it for you.
Hence, it is important for the outsourcing party to be open to communication and being transparent about the progress and updates on the app. These tests should be run periodically and the results should be shared with you.

Poor Marketing and Ignoring Room for Improvement

You need to treat your Enterprise app like a commercial app. You will need to create interest in the employees about the app. To ensure that the employees use the app regularly, you will need to make them see the benefits and offerings of the app or provide them with a good incentive to log on to the app.
Once the app is rolled out in the Enterprise, you need to collect user feedback. Ignoring the feedback is only going to hamper the number of app users. Your app will be rendered useless in just a short period of time if there aren’t any active users.

Conclusion

If you take into considerations all the points mentioned here, you will steer clear of the mistakes or pitfalls. Remember to manage the project brief, test the prototype and carry out the testing and coding phases. Implement standard meeting with your outsourcing company. So, learn the technical jargon, roll up your sleeves and proceed to outsource your genius idea and turn it into an app.