This document discusses engagement and how to trigger repeat behaviors on mobile apps. It provides examples of how companies can use customer data from mobile interactions to better understand purchasing habits and design loyalty programs. Specifically, it finds that orders from multiple devices generate more value, apps that create relevant engagement increase brand perception, and addressing lapses in app use can boost retention. The document emphasizes testing engagement strategies with data and aligning mobile touchpoints to customer goals.

6. What is Engagement?
Sharing + Virality
How to Trigger Repeat Behaviors
Questions?

7. ABOUT BRANCH
$113 million in funding across 4 rounds
100+ Employees, 60% engineering
Offices in SF, NYC, India, Russia,
Brazil, UK
24,000 apps across the globe using links
2+ billion monthly users

8. Search
Deep Linked Email
Social
Deep Linked Ads
Web-to-App
Campaigns
BRANCH LINKS SOLVE MOBILE LINKING

11. What is Engagement?

12. The process of actively building,
nurturing, and managing relationships
with customers.

13. https://blog.branch.io/jet-app-banner-for-increased-app-traffic
More costly to acquire users vs retain one
7x
WHY FOCUS ON ENGAGEMENT
It’s the first step for growth

14. Let me tell you a story

15. After four months of development
10

16. Play Store and TechCrunch Feature
5,300

17. The trough of despair
400

18. Raised money & Facebook app installs
11,000

19. Paid install was ROI negative
700

20. We tried everything we could
200

21. And couldn’t figure it out
200

22. Our choices were limited

23. It’s an industry problem
The 1000th most popular app of all
time has 0.2% the adoption of the
1st.
And they shut down in 2015.
1st, Facebook
10th, Skype, 12%
1000th, Pixable, 0.2%

24. It’s hard to acquire and retain users on mobile

25. • Purchasers
• Responders
• Evangelists
• Loyal
HIGHLY ENGAGED CUSTOMERS
4 CHARACTERISTICS

26. Engagement

27. Source: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-Apps-Crushing-Mobile-Web-Time/1014498
19 minutes
per day
1.9 hours
per day

28. Source: https://www.internetretailer.com/2014/08/13/jackthreads-proves-deep-linking-e-mail-apps-boosts-sales
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/time-spent-mobile-browsing-vs-apps-2015-9
Apps convert 120% better than the mobile browser
App users are 2.5x as engaged as mobile web users

29. User A
engages in app
User A
shares app
User B
clicks on link
User B
downloads app
User B
engages in app
User B
shares app
Double viral loop
1
2
3
4
5
• @mada299
Viral Loops

30. First impressions matter!

31. PERSONALIZED WELCOMES
Welcome users with
rewards and context

32. CUSTOM ONBOARDING
Engage new users with custom welcome
78%
conversion to signup

33. Capture intent!
Instacart + Yummly

34. APP TO APP AFFILIATE ROUTING
Partner with adjacent businesses to drive mobile commerce

35. APP TO APP CONNECTIONS
Drive value with links that keep content
35%
one-week retention

36. Sharing + virality need engagement

37. Engaging content = engaged users
who share

38. Humans crave the opportunity
to give advice and offer tips
Why advocate marketing works -
your best customers love to help
out, but especially if they offer
practical value.
@mada299
USEFULNESS

39. Users click and share because
something drives an emotion in them.
In general, positive emotions make
people share (the happier the post, the
more likely it is to be shared)
Negative emotions drive more clicks.
High arousing emotions drive more
shares @mada299
EMOTION

40. The 7 High-Arousal Emotions That
Make Your Content Contagious
EMOTION
@mada299
1. Awe 3. Anxiety2. Anger 4. Fear

41. The 7 High-Arousal Emotions That
Make Your Content Contagious
EMOTION
@mada299
5. Joy 6. Lust 7. Surprise

42. INCENTIVES
@mada299

43. Incentives
@mada299

44. Invite a friend to skip the line
Incentives
@mada299

45. 29%
Referral best practices
It’s better to get something than a discount on something.
Give an incentive
If you can only reward one, reward the new user.
Two-sided are best
Make it incredibly easy for users to share.
One-step sharing is best
People share when it makes them look good.
Appeal to ego
@mada299

46. How to Trigger
Repeat Behaviors

47. Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized
activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole
business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is from the
customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing
must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.
There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a
customer. Because it is its purpose to create a customer, any business
enterprise has two – and only these two – basic functions: marketing
and innovation.
– Peter Drucker, “the founder of modern management”

49. Characteristics of Mobile Devices

50. Managerial Questions
How to Trigger Repeat Behavior
• Is investing in mobile channels worthwhile?
• Do customers interact differently depending on which device they are on?
• Is mobile the cure-all remedy?
How to Strategize Using “Big Data”
• How can I make sense of all the consumer data I have?
• How do I measure success?

51. Touchpoints

52. Research Example 1: Grocery Shopping on Mobile Devices

53. Data includes information on customers, transactions,
SKU, and sessions
Customer
Demographics
Order Item
Details

54. Research Design
Jun 2012 Jun 2013
Before the
campaign
(pre period)
After the
campaign
(post period)
Oct 2012
• “Natural experiment” with “big data”
• Matched sampling to create a “pseudo control group”
“a method for selecting units from a large reservoir of potential controls to
produce a control group of modest size that is similar to a treated group with
respect to the distribution of observed covariates” (Rosenbaum and Rubin
1985)

55. Purchase Behavior, Before/After M-Shopping Adoption

56. Multi-device orders generate the most
value
•Orders placed with both PC and mobile channels have more
items
•Orders touched by all three device types – PCs, tablets, and
smartphones – have the largest basket size
•Smartphone-only orders have the smallest basket size
•Orders touched by smartphones lead to the next purchase
the soonest

57. Habits

58. • Dependent variable: “how mobile” an order is
• Independent variables: Number of Past Purchases and
Cumulative manufacturer share-of-requirements in the
category
• Beta regression with random effects
What do customers buy when they have to rely on mobile devices?

59. Buying Strategies
Rank Most M-Shopped Categories
1 Weight Loss/Stop Smoking Aids
2 Beverages - Water/Seltzer/Tonic
3 Dairy Milk/Drinks/Half & Half/Cream
4 Fresh Market Produce Fruits
5 Health & Fitness Needs
Rank Least M-Shopped Categories
1 Stuffing
2 Stationery Products
3 Light Bulbs/Electrical Supplies
4 Body Lotion
5 Batteries/Film/Audio Video Tapes

60. Information

61. Research Example 2: Branded App in a Loyalty Program
Jan 2011 Apr 2014
Mobile App
Check-insInformation Lookup

62. Point Accruals, Before/After Adoption of
App Features

63. App Users and Value-to-Customers

64. Responses to Email Promotions

65. Mobile App Disengagement

66. When customers lapse in their app use…

67. Beware of Pitfalls

68. Creating Relevant Engagement with a
Branded App
The effectiveness of a mobile touch point is caused by the
intensity that participants think about how the brand helps them
achieve a goal in their lives.

69. Simply put, Marketing is a process
It is important to know
your process…
•Design and features
•Align
•Purpose
•Content
•Timing

70. Some Takeaways – Mobile as a Shopping Channel
• Ubiquitous access to storefront
• Integrated marketing communication
• Habit reinforcement
• Long Live PCs? Not at all!

71. Some Takeaways – Mobile as a CRM Tool
• User-friendliness
• Personalized information
• App value to customers and perceived utility
• Complement brand value to customers
• Avoid “un-sticky” pitfalls

72. Some Takeaways – Data-driven
Strategies
• Theories → Data / Systems → Models
• Incorporate into business processes
• Mindset of a data scientist
• “Treatment” of interest
• Baseline (e.g., matched control group) to quantify success
• Know what “Big Data” can help solve

73. Contact Information & Acknowledgement
• Rebecca Wang, Ph.D. rwang@lehigh.edu
• Spiegel Research Center, Northwestern University http://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/branded-app-roi/
• Always welcome questions, ideas, and discussions
• More than happy to help brainstorm research designs
• Wang, R. J. H., Kim, S. J., & Malthouse, E. C. (2016). Branded apps and mobile platforms as new tools for advertising. The
new advertising: Branding, content, and consumer relationships in the data-driven social media era.
• Wang, R. J. H., Malthouse, E. C., & Krishnamurthi, L. (2015). On the go: How mobile shopping affects customer purchase
behavior. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 217-234.
• Kim, S. J., Wang, R. J. H., & Malthouse, E. C. (2015). The effects of adopting and using a brand's mobile application on
customers' subsequent purchase behavior. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 31, 28-41.

75. Questions?
rwang@lehigh.edu
branch.io
mada@branch.io