Having a mobile app for your business doesn’t only mean showcasing your products and services and doing just buying and selling. It is a platform to build a strong brand-loyal community that has the power to boost your organization’s marketing efforts
Today’s mobile world has become highly connected, and simply having a well-designed app isn’t enough to boost customer engagement or build brand loyalty. Stats show a whopping 25% of downloaded apps are abandoned after just one use. This highlights the need for mobile app development companies to go beyond transactions and create a more engaging experience.
The solution to this problem is building a brand-loyal community within your business’s mobile app that will enhance long-term relationships with users, increase engagement, and fuel organic brand promotions.
Let us discuss this in-depth in this article.
Why Mobile Apps Need More Than Transactions?
As mentioned earlier, a significant portion of users abandon apps after a single use. This leads to revenue loss and missed opportunities. Apart from that, a strong community encourages a sense of belonging and keeps users coming back for more than just transactions.
A vibrant community keeps users actively interacting with your brand, leading to higher app retention rates. This can tremendously increase customer engagement as well. On top of that, community discussions provide a treasure trove of user feedback and suggestions, that can assist in product development and marketing strategies.
Loyal community members are like brand ambassadors, who promote your app and products organically through word-of-mouth and social media. It is like increasing your marketing efforts without increasing marketing spending.
How to build a community-centric mobile app?
A mobile app development company can create an app that can increase user interaction and connection. Digitlay is a leading mobile app development company that emphasizes the importance of incorporating these features during the development process.
- Increasing user interaction and connections
- In-app forums and Discussion Boards: Dedicated spaces for users to discuss topics, share experiences, and ask questions.
- Direct Messaging and Chat Features: Enable users to connect with each other directly, which enhances a sense of community.
- Encouraging User-Generated Content (UGC): Allow users to share photos, videos, and reviews, creating a dynamic and engaging environment.
- Gamification and Interactive Features: Integrate game mechanics like points, badges, and leaderboards to drive user engagement and friendly competition.
- Prioritize User Experience to build Community
- Seamless Onboarding and User Journey: A smooth onboarding process and intuitive user experience are important for keeping users engaged from the start.
- Personalized App Experience: Personalize the app experience based on user preferences and behaviour to make them feel valued.
- Rewarding User Participation: Incentivize user activity by offering rewards for posting, commenting, and participating in discussions.
Different ways to keep your community engaged
Content is King and now queen as well. So, creating a compelling content strategy is a must.
Personalize content on the app for your audience. Develop content that resonates with your target audience, and address their interests and pain points. Another way to boost engagement is leveraging different content formats including texts, videos, and images. Use a variety of content formats to keep users engaged and cater to different learning styles.
User-generated content is also a great way to increase engagement. This includes user-generated content like reviews, photos, and stories to showcase the community and empower users.
Additionally, host live events like AMAs (Ask Me Anything) and webinars to foster deeper connections and address user questions in real-time.
It’s not only a one-way traffic. Encourage two-way communication
Actively manage your community by responding to comments, addressing concerns, and facilitating discussions. Promptly respond to user queries and address feedback to show you value their input. Recognize and appreciate active community members to make them feel valued and encourage further participation.
Reward with exclusive offers and benefits. Give value more than they imagine
Implement a loyalty program that rewards users for their activity within the app. Offer early access to new features and products to your loyal community members, making them feel valued. Provide exclusive discounts and promotions to your app community, incentivizing purchases and downloads.
Maintaining a Healthy and Positive Community Environment is Important
Not only you must build and encourage a community engagement platform but ensure there is a positive environment for the same. This includes:
- Establishing a clear community guideline
Implement clear guidelines to prevent spam, harassment, and inappropriate user behaviors or comments. Encourage respectful and constructive conversations within the community.
- Proactively Moderate and resolve conflicts
Proactively monitor the community and address negative interactions promptly to maintain a positive environment. Implement measures to ensure user safety and security within the app, such as user verification and reporting features.
How can you measure the success of the Community?
There are a few ways to help you gauge how your business’s mobile app community is performing such as:
- User Activity Levels (Posts, Comments, etc.): Track user activity levels such as the number of posts, comments, and shares to gauge community engagement.
- App Retention Rates: Monitor app retention rates to see how long users stay engaged with your app after downloading it.
- Customer Satisfaction and Sentiment Analysis: Conduct surveys and analyze user sentiment to understand their satisfaction with the app and the community.
Not only that, you can use these community insights to grow your business. You can use community feedback to gain valuable insights to develop new and innovative products and improve existing products and services. You can also utilize community discussions to understand user preferences and tailor your business’s marketing and brand strategy accordingly.
Popular case studies
Here are some examples of mobile apps that have successfully fostered thriving communities:
- Strava: This fitness app allows runners and cyclists to track their workouts, share their routes, and compete with friends, creating a strong sense of community among athletes.
- Reddit: This social news aggregation platform boasts a diverse range of communities built around specific topics and interests, fostering user connection and discussion.
- Duolingo: This language learning app gamifies the learning process and allows users to connect with other learners, creating a supportive and motivating environment.
Conclusion
Building a thriving mobile app community requires a long-term commitment. A mobile app development company like Digitlay can help you craft a community-centric app experience, but ongoing management and engagement is important for success.
A loyal and engaged community increases brand loyalty, customer lifetime value, and fuels organic growth. By prioritizing community building, you can transform your mobile app from a mere transaction tool into a vibrant hub that fosters brand advocacy and drives business success.