With millions of mobile apps available on smartphones, it’s easier than ever for users to forget about your app or, worse, move on and start using your competitor's app.
That's why mobile app retargeting has become a crucial part of the mobile marketing process.
By using the best practices for mobile app retargeting, you can keep your users engaged and maximize the potential of your mobile app users.
At Kurve, we understand the importance of this in boosting user engagement for businesses looking to stand out in the crowded app marketplace.
In this guide, we'll explore its key benefits and provide actionable insights and best practices for businesses looking to set up and optimize a retargeting campaign.
What is Mobile Retargeting?
Mobile retargeting is a powerful digital marketing strategy that aims to re-engage and retain users who have previously interacted with a mobile app.
It involves serving personalized ads or in-app messages to those users based on their behavior, preferences and interests, encouraging them to revisit the app or complete a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Mobile retargeting is designed to remind users of the value of your app and nudge them toward a desired conversion goal. It can be executed across various ad networks and platforms, such as social media, search engines, and other mobile apps.
By using data-driven insights and dynamic creatives, mobile retargeting allows businesses to deliver a tailored, relevant experience that maximizes the chances of winning back their target audience.
What Makes Mobile Retargeting a Unique Strategy?
Compared to other forms of retargeting, mobile retargeting presents unique opportunities for businesses to create a more engaging and customized user experience. Here are some key aspects that set it apart:
- Mobile-specific data: Mobile retargeting campaigns leverage data specifically collected from mobile devices, such as device type, operating system, location and app usage patterns. This information allows marketers to create highly targeted ads tailored to the user's mobile experience.
- In-app messaging: Unlike other retargeting strategies, mobile retargeting allows businesses to engage with users directly within the app. In-app messaging can promote special offers, deliver personalized content, or remind users about abandoned carts, creating a seamless and uninterrupted experience.
- Real-time personalization: Mobile devices provide an always-on, always-connected environment, allowing marketers to capitalize on real-time data to deliver personalized ads and messaging. This level of personalization increases the likelihood of user engagement and conversion.
- Cross-device targeting: Mobile retargeting campaigns can leverage cross-device targeting, helping marketers reach users across multiple devices and touchpoints. This ensures a consistent message and experience, regardless of whether the user interacts with your app on their smartphone, tablet or desktop.
By leveraging these unique features, mobile retargeting can deliver a highly personalized and engaging experience, ensuring your app stays top of mind for users and driving better results for your marketing efforts.
How Does Mobile Retargeting Work?
Mobile retargeting uses tracking technologies, such as cookies or mobile device IDs, to identify users who have previously interacted with your app. These identifiers are then used to create a list of users eligible for retargeting campaigns.
Once you have a list of users to target, you can create tailored ads or messages for potential customers that resonate with their preferences, interests and past behavior. This could include showcasing products they've browsed, promoting personalized offers or sending reminders about abandoned carts. These customized ads are then served to users across various ad networks, platforms and channels, including social media, search engines and other mobile apps.
Throughout the campaign, monitoring performance, analyzing user engagement and optimizing your retargeting efforts are essential. This involves adjusting targeting parameters, ad creatives and messaging to ensure maximum effectiveness and engagement.
Now that you understand how mobile retargeting works, let's explore the distinct features that make mobile retargeting an invaluable tool for businesses looking to boost user engagement and drive conversions.
What Are the Benefits of Mobile Retargeting?
Mobile retargeting offers a range of benefits for businesses seeking to boost user engagement and drive conversions.
One such example is the success achieved by Packed.co through their collaboration with us here at Kurve. By isolating audiences and setting up dynamic retargeting ads, we helped Packed improve its campaign performance and reduce acquisition costs (learn more about the project here).
Now, let's explore the key benefits of mobile retargeting in more detail:
Improve ad efficiency and save money
Mobile retargeting enables businesses to focus their ad spend on users who have already shown interest in their app, leading to a higher return on investment (ROI). Focusing on a more relevant audience can reduce ad spend waste and improve overall ad efficiency.
Increase Sales
By reconnecting with users who have shown prior interest or have made previous purchases, mobile retargeting can drive incremental sales. Users who receive personalized, relevant ads are more likely to complete a purchase or take the desired action within your app.
Boost Brand Awareness
Regularly exposing users to your brand through mobile retargeting campaigns helps reinforce your brand message and keeps your app top of mind. This increased brand awareness can lead to higher user engagement and, ultimately, more conversions.
Engage customers and build loyalty
Mobile retargeting allows you to deliver tailored content and offers to your users, improving their overall experience with your app. By providing a personalized, seamless experience, you can foster loyalty and encourage users to return to your app time and time again.
Drive in-app conversions with a personal touch
By leveraging user data and behavior insights, mobile retargeting campaigns can offer a personalized experience more likely to result in conversions. In addition, by addressing specific needs and preferences, these campaigns help guide users toward desired in-app actions, such as making a purchase or upgrading their account.
Influence shoppers effectively and quickly
Mobile retargeting enables marketers to capitalize on real-time data and user behavior, allowing for rapid adjustments to campaigns and messaging. This ensures that you can quickly respond to market trends and user preferences, increasing the likelihood of influencing purchase decisions and driving conversions.
Best Practices for Mobile App Retargeting
To maximize the impact of your mobile app retargeting campaigns, following industry best practices that ensure a positive user experience and drive desired results is essential. Here are six key best practices to consider when implementing mobile app retargeting:
Don’t Be Annoying With Your Ads
Strike a balance between being persistent and respectful when retargeting users. Overexposure to ads may lead to ad fatigue and damage your brand image. Ensure your ad frequency is reasonable and adjust based on user engagement and campaign performance.
Give retargeting the same design love as UA
Treat retargeting campaigns with the same attention to detail as user acquisition campaigns. Invest in high-quality creatives, compelling copy, and eye-catching visuals to make your retargeting ads stand out and resonate with your target audience.
Always personalize
Use the data you've collected on users to create personalized ads that cater to their interests and preferences. Customized ads are more likely to capture attention and drive engagement, leading to higher conversion rates and improved campaign performance.
Segment Your Audience
Divide your target audience into smaller, more defined segments based on factors like user behavior, app engagement and purchase history. You can deliver more relevant messaging and drive better results by tailoring your retargeting campaigns to each segment.
Don’t Only Focus on Unconverted Customers
While retargeting is often used to re-engage users who haven't converted, it can also be a powerful tool for nurturing existing customers. For example, consider targeting users who have made purchases or engaged with your app in the past to encourage repeat business and foster loyalty.
See Retargeting as an Extension of User Acquisition
Integrate your retargeting strategy into your broader user acquisition efforts to create a seamless marketing ecosystem. By considering retargeting as an essential component of your overall marketing strategy, you can ensure a consistent brand message and user experience across all touchpoints.
Final Thoughts
Mobile app retargeting has become an indispensable tool in the ever-evolving digital landscape. By following best practices and creating a personalized, seamless user experience, businesses can harness the power of retargeting to drive engagement, boost conversions and stay ahead of the competition.
Remember to monitor, analyze and optimize your campaigns as you embark on your mobile app retargeting journey. Continuously test different creatives, messaging and targeting approaches to identify what resonates best with your audience. Ultimately, successful mobile app retargeting is an ongoing process of learning, iterating and refining.
Navigating the world of mobile app marketing can be challenging, but you don't have to go it alone. At Kurve, we specialize in crafting tailored mobile app marketing strategies that help businesses unlock their full potential. Our expertise in mobile app retargeting and our data-driven approach ensure that your app stands out in the crowded marketplace and connects with the right audience at the right time.
Ready to elevate your mobile app retargeting game? Let's chat and find ways to 7x your app growth rate through retargeting.
