Mobile app experience company Airship has released data from its latest annual global survey showing that consumers want to be wooed and are willing to share their personal details with their favourite brands: 77% of UK consumers said they would share their interests relevant to a brand for personalised interactions and special incentives.
So what are consumers looking for in a prospective brand partner? Flowers and chocolate? Not necessarily. The “Mobile Consumer 2023” survey, commissioned by Airship and conducted in partnership with Sapio Research, among 11,000 consumers globally, found that consumers typically turn to apps to simplify their lives. Rather than deals and loyalty rewards, the top reasons customers keep coming back to apps are “ease of use” (42%) and “simplifies my life” (29%), while “saves me money” (23%) was the fourth main reason. Convenience is everything.
Consent and value are important to every relationship. The survey revealed that consumers are most willing to receive mobile app notifications in exchange for “immediate discounts or loyalty reward points” (47%) or “order confirmation and receipts” (28%). For comparison, “personalised offers based on browsing behaviour or past purchases” and “special offers triggered by location” saw the most growth year-over-year as motivators to opt-in to brand communications on smartphones, followed by “immediate discounts.”
“predictive suggestions based on everything a brand knows about you”
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Personal data and notification opt in are incredibly valuable to brands, as it empowers them to personalise offers and app experiences to each individual. But marketers need to tread carefully, or else they may come off as creepy: “predictive suggestions based on everything a brand knows about you” ranked as the least useful form of personalisation, favoured by just 21% of UK consumers.
Also, much like any date, first and second impressions are everything: 49% of UK consumers will decide whether to delete an app after just a couple of uses. And with plenty of fish in the sea, the top reason to delete apps is to free up phone storage (34%).
To avoid deletion, brands need to swiftly establish an exchange of respect and reward with new app customers — qualities that are fundamental to any long-term relationship. They need to clearly communicate how they will improve a customer’s life, demonstrate their value and deliver on their promises. If they fail, they are likely to be dumped and left unfulfilled.
“These findings show brands can build valuable, long-term customer relationships if they master great app experiences that respect and reward them,” says Tom Butta, chief strategy and marketing officer at Airship. “Like any successful long-term relationship, this requires understanding their needs and creating mutually beneficial exchanges in their moments of attention.”
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