Are You a Rookie, Expert, or Simply the Most Interesting App Marketing Expert in the World

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The most interesting app marketing expert in the world? Nope, that would not be me, but for a second I had you thinking of a suave, debonair developer about town, effortlessly flowing push notifications from their fingertips, all while surrounded by a bevy of beautiful people in the most exotic places you can imagine.

What made me think of that? A recent photo (shown here) caught my eye that was posted as part of Localytics’ Annum Munir’s weekly marketing analysis. We visit the Localytics blog on a regular basis because they are really smart people who post really smart content.

The photo aside, Annum’s premise for her blog post is that developers can make “rookie” mistakes if they don’t really understand different approaches to subjects like user acquisition and monetization, looking only at the surface, not understanding the deeper aspects of various approaches.

She provides five rookie vs. expert scenarios and of course, the rookie looks rather bad each time.

The five scenarios she covers include:

(1) Are Push Messages Ads?

Rookie Says: “Yes! Just use them to push your products”

Expert Says: “Nope! Push messages should be used for engagement.”

(2) Who Do I Send Push Messages To?

Rookie Says: “Everybody. Broadcast these messages to as many people as possible.”

Expert Says: “Send push messages only to relevant user segments.”

(3) How Many Push Messages Do I Send?

Rookie Says: “The more the merrier.”

Expert Says: “It depends on your audience and the type of app you have.”

(4) Can I Connect Push Messages?

Rookie Says: “No! Each push message should be a stand-alone communication.”

Expert Says: “Yes! Chain push messages in a series to continually nurture.”

(5) Do I Need Both Push and In-App Marketing?

Rookie Says: “Nope! Push is powerful enough to be the only app marketing tool you use.”

Expert Says: “Successful app marketing requires both push and in-app messages to work in harmony.”

Of course, she goes into much more detail why the rookie is wrong and the expert is right. And if you’d like to see more of Annum’s insights on push messaging as a marketing vehicle, you can check out an on-demand webinar she has hosted with Localytic’s Richard Sgro.