Sports marketing is an amazing challenge for any marketer. Digital era allowed sports fans to experience their favorite sports and teams in unimaginable ways. But how do you connect with your fans if you are not a renowned, multi-million dollar club?

There are quite a few simple ways to create engaging sports marketing campaigns and make your fans feel like they are part of one big family. Here are 5 tips on how to engage fans using simple sports marketing tricks – and we added a few examples to give you a better idea. Yes, this works for total beginners too!

Create a fan persona

There is nothing worse than striking the wrong tone when you are trying to speak to the sports fans. You may want to sound friendly, upbeat, and up to date with “funky youths” but you may end up looking like this

One excellent way to avoid that disaster is to create a (fan) persona. Persona is a profile describing your average fan’s name, age, income level, education, profession, lifestyle, and attitudes. It is a highly detailed description of an imaginary person intended to give representatives of your target audience a “human form”. Here’s one example.

Created in Hubspot

Since sports fans in most cases come from very diverse demographic and social groups, the best criterium for segmenting personas in sports marketing is their lifestyle and level of engagement. The Couch Carl persona was based on a study by agency Team Epic, which segmented sports fans into five distinct categories.

Source: Sports Business Daily

• Couch curmudgeons – the oldest and least active, watching sports at home, and unlikely to spend a lot of money on merchandise or tickets.
• Alumni association – older male sports fans with high income and heavily invested in college sports.
• Superjocks – mostly male, young, highly social and active group with high income and enthusiasm for engagement and attending live events.  
• Receptive and limited – both male and female sports fans with below-average income, taste for pro sports and NASCAR. Highly receptiveness to ads and sponsors’ message.
• Fitness edge – a female-dominated group, young, physically active, with average income. Into Olympics, active on social media and selective with their purchases and choices.  

If you want to learn more about developing personas, here’s a detailed handy guide.

Once you understand who are your fan personas, you can focus on providing them with the best experience within the marketing channel they prefer.

Use classical content

Content marketing is one of the most popular marketing strategies for a good reason. According to a 2015 IBM Digital Experience Survey, 56% of marketers believe that personalized content boosts engagement rates and helps consumers remember a brand. It establishes a relationship based on trust, allowing you to assert your sports brand as a source of guidance and authority.

When we say engaging content, we mean highly targeted articles that respond to the interests of each persona specifically. This content doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the sports team. Nurturing a high-quality relationship with sports fans is all about giving them the relevant information they need when they need it.

Remember the famous 80/20 rule. Use just 20% of your content to promote your sports brand, and the rest 80% should be content that interests your audience and involves them in conversation. A commentary of your team’s latest game is equally good as a listicle on top 10 running shoes or a funny YouTube video compilation – if that is what your target sports fans care about.  

Use interactive content

If you are looking for the cheap, yet effective way to skyrocket fan engagement in sports marketing – look no further than interactive content such as polls, surveys, calculators and quizzes. More than three-quarters of marketers agree that interactive content helps them stand out among their competitors, attract attention, and enhance retention of their brand messaging.

Interactive content gives sports fans the opportunity to be more than just bystanders – they can be supporters, critics, brand ambassadors, but most importantly, they can be a part of the group.

Thanks to social media, creating interactive content that boosts fan engagement has never been easier. You can run polls on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, asking fans for their opinions on the latest news or even events that go beyond sport.

You can create special calculators to help your fans calculate their fitness level or measure it against famous sports players.

You can ask your fans for more elaborate opinions in the comment section of the posts. You can organize live Q&A via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Reddit.

Extra tip: Boost engagement on any piece of content by piggybacking on the trending hashtag or topic. Are your fans impatiently waiting for the next episode of Game of Thrones? Are they discussing the latest season of Stranger Things? A perfect opportunity to pop into the conversation with a witty tweet or sports/TV show meme!

You can get playful with quizzes, entertaining your fans or inspiring their sense of belonging and need for competition. To give you an idea just how irresistible quizzes are, take into account only one BuzzFeed quiz has been viewed over 22 million times, and liked over 2.5 million times. Quizzes can do similar wonders in sports marketing.

The possibilities are endless. Quizzes with headlines such as “Which Melbourne City player are you?” or knowledge-based “How well do you know Australian cricket team?” are a powerful fan engagement generator. On top of that, quizzes can help you gather invaluable information about your fans’ preferences, attitudes, and lifestyles, and they can also be a great lead generation tool.

Finally, you can organize competitions, encouraging fans to create branded content. For example, you can challenge them to take funny photos with your merchandise, and reward the winners with season tickets.

Create a personalized app

If you are looking to further deepen the fan engagement and turn it a unique fan experience, there are fan engagement platforms that blend every sports marketing strategy we’ve been talking about. Think about them as a membership card that provides subscribers with exclusive content, discounts, gifts, and personalized experience.

In turn, the entire process of fan engagement via events, news, quizzes, games, and purchases takes place within the platform. This gives you real-time insights into your fan’s needs, allowing you to shape a laser-focused sports marketing strategy for the seamless fan experience.

One of such platforms is FanTribe, which integrates real-time gamification, and social and reward strategies into a unified fan experience. Most importantly, it is open to fans, sports clubs, and sponsors, tying all the elements of sports marketing into one channel.

Think of the future – it’s virtual

At this point, major outlets and media platforms such as Fox Sports, ESPN, YouTube TV, Hulu, and others are allowing users to connect virtual reality headsets to their devices. According to Goldman Sachs, VR market revenue will exceed the television market by 2025.

“In the near future, we will purchase products in real-time as we watch live events through VR,” Travis Cloyd, co-founder of Sports Tech Media told Forbes. “This is the first time in history when sports technology gives us the edge not only in training, or observation but also in fan engagement.”

Digital marketing is a field that keeps its practitioners on their toes – and adjusting to the new, virtual reality, is a new glass ceiling for sports marketers. Adopting these technologies is one way to stand out among the competitors – and in fans’ eyes.

Conclusion

If there is one final tip for sports marketers, it is one that seems highly counter-intuitive compared to the 5 tips we just listed. However, it works in perfect harmony with them. Go offline.

When we look at the most powerful sports clubs and brands in the world, it is almost impossible to fathom that once upon a time, they had very humble, local beginnings. If you are starting your sports marketing from scratch, keep one eye on your local community.

Get involved. Sponsor local events and athletes. Organize a charity or open class. Each of these small acts will reflect on your brand, shaping an image of a sports brand that is giving people what they essentially need from clubs they love and support – sense of purpose and belonging. With that in mind, any fan engagement strategy will come easy to you. Drive measurable ROI and create a brand experience your future customers will love with our FanTribe Platform.

FanTribe is available globally, and new clubs can be on-boarded within a matter of weeks so don’t get left behind. Join the revolution. Your fans will thank you.

Why not see what our customers are saying about us and how we approach your project

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post How Sports Brands Use Marketing To Connect With Fans [2020] appeared first on Gomeeki.

An app developer is a certified professional that transforms your idea for an app into an actual product that is launched and used on designated platforms (such as Android or iOS). Mobile App Developers deals with the “technical” components that go into bringing an app to life, such as coding to accommodate features and design. An app developer can be certified in specific areas of ios and Android development platforms. 

It is usually recommended that you hire a team of app developers from a development firm so that your app idea will receive input from a diverse group of app developers. In addition to your app’s pre-launch procedure, an app developer will also monitor and analyze your mobile app.

Let’s get started:

Global market revenue in mobile app development doubled in less than five years, according to Statista reports. It is only natural to assume this environment attracts a formidable workforce, enabling you to have your choice of top-notch mobile app developers.

In that case, you may be surprised if we tell you that hiring talent is one of the biggest challenges startups are dealing with. Moreover, software developer positions have been among the hardest to fill. The reasons boil down to this:

• Good mobile app developers cost (a lot of) money. 
• With a big pool of candidates, it is hard to nail down who has the right set of skills
• Companies and their recruiters often don’t know what they are looking for

In this guide, we will show you how to follow 5 simple rules to avoid these shortcomings and save your business a lot of time, energy, and money.

Here’s the kicker:

According to the State of Software Development in 2017 report from Coding Sans, around two-thirds of startups consider work experience as one of the most important hiring criteria, followed by cultural fit and test project and side projects. This is a good starting list – but the mistakes we mentioned above always creep in. How do you avoid them? Follow these rules.

Rule No. 1: Don’t go for the cheapest

It’s a given – you have a set budget, and you cannot go beyond it, especially if you have a startup. But it’s a cold hard fact: developing mobile apps is not a cheap endeavor, and the more money you want to make, the more you will have to invest.

You are an architect, a mobile app developer is a builder. If you hire the cheapest builder, you will save some money initially. But if your entire house collapses because the foundations were faulty, re-building it will end up more expensive than cashing out for the good builder from the get-go.

Spending those extra dollars to engage the services of a reputable firm may pinch in the beginning. But that well-spent money will certainly outweigh the risk you would take with a cheap, low-quality app development team. If you invest in a high-quality app team, your app will accrue value over the long term, ensuring your business’ success.

Rule No. 2: Set the App Development Framework

Many companies’ upper management and recruiters simply don’t know the intricacies of mobile app development. After all, if they did, they’d be the ones developing the app, right? But if you want to hire excellent mobile app developers, you will have to learn something about mobile app development – or consult someone who is an expert.

This needs to happen before you even post a job opening. This way, you will be able to list a very specific set of skills you are looking for, and immediately disqualify those who don’t fit in. Start from the basics:

Decide which type of app you want

There are three basic types of mobile apps. Native apps are built for a single mobile operating system exclusively. Hybrid apps are built using multi-platform web technologies. Web apps are responsive versions of websites that work on any mobile device.

Each type has its pros and cons. For example, native apps ensure high performance and good user experience, but they are more complicated to develop. You can find more details about the types of apps here.

Focus on the benchmarks of specific app category

Are you developing gaming, lifestyle, or travel app? How much maintenance and updates will it require? All of this affects your business model, marketing strategy, industry benchmarks, and yes, the app development process.

For example, any banking app requires solid inbuilt security features like encryption and data loss prevention. You may find a stellar mobile app developer, but if they lack experience with this type of technology, you are wasting each other’s time.

Once you set a basic framework for your app, you can focus on the details of mobile app developers’ expertise.

Rule No. 3: You Need an App Developer, Not a “Ninja”

As we mentioned, if you are not 100% sure what makes a mobile app development expert, consult one.

For example, let’s say you opt for a native banking app. This means your mobile app developer candidate needs to be an expert with programming languages Swift and Objective-C (for native iOS apps) and Java or Kotlin (for native Android apps).

Moreover, since native apps are built using specific Integrated Development Environment (IDE), your target app developers should be capable of working with the IDE of your choice. Finally, you expect them to be well versed with writing secure code, data encryption, high-level authentication, cryptography tools, etc.

Yes, it sounds like an alien language and it may be daunting. However, being specific significantly decreases the chances that you’ll hire an app developer who is better at selling themselves than writing code.

So, avoid looking for ninjas, gurus, and rockstars who are “always on top of their game,” and focus on hiring app designers who are good at the specific things you need.

Rule No. 4: App Developers Experience

The level of experience you need from mobile app developers depends on the complexity of your project. If you are building a simple app, there is nothing wrong with giving a chance to a beginner or intermediate app developer who wants to polish their skills.

But if the stakes are high, don’t risk it. For a native app, you want app developers who know their way around and have enough knowledge to come up with creative solutions when faced with challenges.

The more credentials, the better. Ask for certificates, degrees, recommendations from former clients, colleagues, or employers. Most important of all, ask for their portfolio. There is no better way to rate candidates than their past work.

Rule No. 5: Culture fit is a big deal

While it may sound hippie at first, culture fit is a genuinely important part of the equation when you are hiring app developers.

App development is usually a long process that requires a lot of coordination in the team. These people don’t have to think the same way about every issue in this world. However, they do have to be able to overcome challenges constructively, even when there are differences in opinions and approaches.

This is possible in an environment that fosters a healthy relationship between the employees. This relationship extends to upper management as well. Developing an app puts a lot of time, money, and energy on the line. Bottom line, you want to do it with a team who wants the app to succeed as badly as you do.

Conclusion

If you follow these five rules, you will discover a solid pool of app developers talent. How do we know? Because we stuck to them when we were building the leading mobile app development team at Gomeeki.

Still feeling overwhelmed or in need of advice? Simply give us a call. Whether you need expert opinion or app development services, you are in safe hands. No fluff, no ninjas – just pure knowledge and experience!

Why Gomeeki?

Gomeeki will work with you to fully understand your app development needs and put in place the best plan for your business. Our team of mobile app developers in Sydney, Australia understands the essential ingredients for the development of a winning mobile app, even when challenged with seamless integrations into complex business environments and legacy systems.

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post How to Hire Top App Developers (In 2019) appeared first on Gomeeki.

Imagine yourself with the bad flu, in need of an emergency antibiotic prescription, or doing lab tests that might send you running in 10 different directions. You open your clinic’s mobile app, and you’re graced with news about doctors’ latest local volunteering activities, but there is no option to set up an appointment or access your test results. For the majority of healthcare app users, this is a fairly common experience – and it’s about time that healthcare app developers take a hint.

Healthcare app development is a thriving business – two-thirds of the U.S. hospitals have their own mobile apps. However, the enthusiasm does not transcend across the aisle – only 2 percent of the patients are using them. Why? Most of these apps do not have any practical value and do not enable patients to access their medical records, schedule an appointment or have their prescriptions refilled. How come? It turns out that healthcare app developers rarely ask for patients’ opinions and avoid the pesky logistics behind making an efficient mobile app.

Here are the five ways to turn competitors’ shortfalls into opportunities for your healthcare app development.

1. Healthcare App Survey

Figuring out what patients want doesn’t require an enormous stretch of the imagination – we’ve all been in the same sickbed. Being practical is the essential quality of a healthcare app, and there is not much need for reinventing the wheel – the gist of it comes down to “on-the-go” way to cut the waiting, cut the walking, cut the searching and cut the talking. If your app is not doing one of those things, you’re doing it wrong.

As a patient, you want your smartphone to provide you with the following conveniences of 21st-century progress:

• Access to medical records, lab results, and doctor’s reports
• Appointment scheduling system
• Drug prescription management system
• News and reminders
• Waiting time estimates
• Access to the database of practicing physicians
• Payment system
• Maps with detailed locations and directions
• Medical information and options for tracking health metrics

Once the basics are established, there are a few pitfalls that might turn a great idea into a failed project.

2. Healthcare App Development Goals

It may sound alluring to create an app that can meet all the patient’s requirements in one click and one place. But think again – you don’t want to end up with a massive labyrinth that promises an entire clinic on patient’s palm and then bugs out when the user tries to schedule an appointment.

Define your primary goal. If your app’s purpose is to cut the patient’s time in the waiting room, make sure you gather relevant data about the healthcare institution in question. Where is the patient flow busy? Do you want to focus on the entire clinic, or on known hot spots?

Same goes for apps that track health metrics or serve to inform and educate users – it is better to focus on one specific area and provide detailed, insightful analysis than to offer a little bit of nothing about everything.

3. Network to Get Work

If you want to be thorough, get ready to dial a few numbers and knock on many doors. Everything matters – from macro to micro level. Consider this – while one app can work great in a country where average doctor to patient ratio is 1:350, it may be rendered useless in countries where one doctor serves more than a thousand people.

The approach to scheduling, billing system or drug prescription differs significantly for users with private insurance and those who are under the auspices of universal free healthcare. In Australia, patients have a choice between universal Medicare and private plans – and each app should be able to address particular problems and priorities of these two groups of users.

4. Privacy is Non-Negotiable

The sanctity of patient’s right to privacy, famously enshrined in Hippocratic Oath, does not apply only to doctors – it applies to you too, in a way. In Australia, you are considered a “health service provider” if you provide any health service and hold health information.

Thus you are obliged to meet relevant domestic legal guidelines about privacy – The Privacy Act (1988), the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Act (2012), and Healthcare Identifiers Act (2010).

The privacy policy should be clearly outlined to the user before the app is downloaded. Data encryption, strict authentication requirements during the sign-in process and enabling an app for a limited amount of time are some of the security measures that will add layers of credibility to your product and your customer’s protection.

5. Make it Look Good

If a person is sick, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t depress and irritate them further with either bland and boring or overly flashy, complicated design.

For a patient who is using your app to schedule an appointment, create a visual antidote to an impending visit to a sterile hospital environment. Offer some cheerful, colorful design to users who track and manage their chronic condition.

But tweaks that glue people to their smartphone screens aren’t limited to sound looks – many developers recommend adding games and quizzes for enhanced users’ experience. For example, you could do this with educational apps developed for medical professionals.

Conclusion

One of the most ironic twists of healthcare apps’ failure to deliver is probably the fact that medical professionals are largely ignored target audience. The app store is buzzing with thousands of fitness, wellness and dieting apps that look like each other – mostly because they are easier to make. Apps that make dreaded visits to the doctor easier are far fewer and involve serious logistics – and they are the key to your success.

Although the risk of wading into uncharted waters may seem a bit discouraging, it is a pool of original ideas which can materialize into unique and successful projects. More importantly, the development of logistics- and medical professionals-oriented apps can help you assert yourself as an innovator and leader in the field that is still unforgivably unexplored.  The market value for healthcare applications recently reached $26 billion – so why wouldn’t a chunk of that progress and profit belong to you?

Our fast-growing team of 40+ mobile app developers have experience across iPhone app development, Android app development, native app development, responsive websites, system integration & cloud technologies. We will tailor our approach to suit your needs.

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post Top 5 Tips for Healthcare App Development appeared first on Gomeeki.

Why Cross Platform App Development? Imagine you are CEO of a chain of clothing stores. You serve customers of literally all genders, ages, shapes, and sizes. But how much business do you think one of your stores would get if it only sold one size in each piece of clothing? Not very much, right? Uh oh! Your profit margins aren’t looking good at all! So, what do you do? You open your doors to an array of sizes and styles! The only way to serve your customers fully is to be versatile!

Today, versatility is everything. We know that for anything to succeed, it must be in high demand and come in a variety of materials, shapes, and/or sizes. So, it’s crazy to think that an app built for one platform can reach its true, full potential. Think about it. If you have an app built for Android, you will be missing out on all the users who have Apple IOS devices (and vice-versa). Cross platform app development is the smart way to go if you want your app to be fully and richly successful! To further that thought, let’s look at the pros and cons of cross platform app development.

Pros

Cross Platform App Development Costs/Time to Develop

Using the cross platform method, developers create one code base. This means that you only have to build the app one time, using a universal code base. If you didn’t use the cross platform app development method, more time and money would be spent to complete the development cycle of the same app on different platforms. You will save on development costs and time by sticking with one, cross platform method.

Cross Platform App Development have Larger Outreach 

Like we said earlier, if you have a cross-platform app, you will reach many different users instead of just one group that uses one platform. You began the app development journey for a reason. Please don’t restrict your dream of helping others and building your business by offering your app to one platform’s users. Imagine all the users you will reach with the cross platform app development approach.

Use of Each Platform’s Development Tools

Some development “tools” available on one platform may not be on another. A development tool is used to develop an app and can come in many forms (such as a programming language or an interface design). Think of it like this: Each platform as a toy chest. Each chest has a set of building blocks that are unique and only in that one chest/platform (like a different color, size, or shape). If you want to build a castle with those blocks, your castle will be much larger, interesting, and eye-catching if it uses a variety of blocks from each chest (platform). An app that uses cross platform development builds an app (the castle) with tools (the blocks) from a variety of platforms (the toy chests). When you build an app with only one platform, you can only use development tools that are specific for that platform.

Cons

Interface Issues

All user interfaces have issues. It’s just a fact of life that we must accept and work through. These issues usually come in the form of guidelines that are specific to one interface. For example, Apple is infamous for its strict guidelines. Having to accommodate these guidelines takes time. So, when building a cross-platform app, you will have to make sure that all coding adheres to the guidelines set out by each platform you are utilizing.

Lags Between Updates

When a new version of your smartphone’s software is released, what do you do? You download the new software, right? Once the software update is complete, you may notice some of your apps begin malfunctioning/freezing. This is because the app’s development team hasn’t released an update yet to accommodate the new software version. Your cross platform app development may take a little longer to update since it is built to be compatible with many different platforms instead of just one. This is especially true if 2 or more of the platforms issue system updates around the same time. Basically, in general, lags between software updates and app updates can be expected (unless you have a psychic on your development team!).

Working Through Each Platform Tool’s Disadvantages

All platform tools will have disadvantages that will need to be worked through. If you build an app for one platform only, you will be able to tackle these disadvantages quickly. But, if you build a cross-platform app, you will have to work on several different platform tool disadvantages. Now, if you aren’t on a tight deadline, go ahead and follow the cross platform app development method so you can work through each platform’s quirks early on. This will save you time later on.

You may be wondering, “So, does my business need a cross-platform app?” Or you could be thinking you just need a little more guidance before making your final decision. We’ve got you covered! Here are a few guideline questions to ask yourself:

What’s my app development timeline?

When you first begin your app development, you need to figure out when you want your app to launch on each platform. For example, if you want to release your app for the IOS platform in a month (tight deadline), then native app development (not cross-platform) will be a good choice for you. This is because Apple uses Swift as its programming language. Swift is easy to use and will take less time to develop an app with. Once your app is launched on the IOS platform, you will be able to begin work on your Android version, without being rushed.

On the other hand, if you need to launch an Android app in a short timeframe, cross-platform app development will be the best option. This is because Android’s default language for app development (Java) is more complex and may present you with more difficulties to handle. A cross-platform coding will help to eliminate some of those difficulties by building your app with a basic code.

What’s my app development budget?

Here’s the deal: Budget is a big part of app development. So, when you are trying to decide if you should do a platform-specific or cross platform app development, take time to consider the app development costs of both options. Talk with your app development team and come up with estimates for each platform being developed separately, and then a cross platform app development estimate. Typically, cross platform app development is cheaper, but that’s not always the case. Keep in mind that the costs will not only depend upon the platform but also all the components you decide to go with for the app.

What will be my app’s feature set?

If you have an app that will be the center of your business (like stemming a business from your app) or want complex features or animations, a native app (not cross-platform) is right for you. With a native app, you will be able to implement a fast integration of new features, monitor the app’s performance, and provide an enriched user experience. On the opposite hand, if you have a simple app that doesn’t have a lot of customization/features, then cross platform app development is the way to go. The basic coding will be able to accommodate simple features without issues.

My digital strategy: Does cross platform app development fit in?

If your current digital strategy and resources include a website that has many features, interactivity, and complex functions, then cross platform app development is not the best path for you. Developing your app to mirror the bells-and-whistles of your website will present many headaches. Think about it like this: Imagine you have a large, framed portrait in your home. The many precise details are what make the portrait unique and beautiful. Then, a family member asks you to take a picture of the portrait with your phone’s camera and send it to him for an art appraisal. Will the appraiser be able to see all the details from that one small photo on your phone? Absolutely not. The same thing is true for an app. If you try to fit all the things that make your website great into an app, going with a cross-platform’s basic coding won’t do the trick. You need to carefully develop the app on each platform so that your users won’t be disappointed by the loss of features and interactivity they once experienced on your website. Cross platform app development is best used for a business who hasn’t developed a website yet.

Bottom Line

If you are looking into developing your app with the cross platform method, we hope this article will give you some guidance and clarity on what exactly a cross platform app is. There are pros and cons to every situation and deciding whether to use a cross platform or native app development method is no different. The early stages of app development are when many important decisions are made. But, we want you to know: You don’t have to make these decisions alone!

Why Gomeeki?

At Gomeeki, we develop both cross platform and native apps for a variety of clients. Like most development teams, we believe in versatility and the customization of apps to fit your ideas and needs. With years of experience to back us up, we stay up-to-date on the latest platform releases and update our clients’ apps accordingly. 

We work tirelessly to be sure your expectations are met, and you are more than satisfied with your decision to choose us as your app development team. We look forward to speaking with you!

The post A Step-by-Step Guide to Cross Platform App Development appeared first on Gomeeki.

Nothing in life should be taken for granted – especially someone’s love and dedication. This is especially true in sports, where fans are not merely people who root for a certain sports club – they are often part of the club’s brand and identity, a hammock for the difficult times and in the end, the reason competitive sports exist. Even the most die-hard Sports fan need to feel that this love is mutual, which is why driving fan engagement should be at the top of your priority list at the beginning of every professional sports season.

However, keeping thousands or millions of people happy may prove to be a tricky task – to make sure all fronts are covered in your sports marketing plan or fan engagement strategy.

#1 Victory is Sweet; Thrill is Even Sweeter

Success has always been the best aphrodisiac, they say – and it’s a good feeling to always be on the winning side. Ask Brisbane Broncos fans – you don’t have to be from Brisbane or Australia to love the team that is simply the best.

But one can’t live only from legacy, and in certain ways, creating ‘in the moment’ thrills maybe even more difficult than winning medals and trophies. To hit the right spot with your fans, in good and bad times, it is of tremendous importance to understand the fan to drive fan engagement/customer engagement.

The imperative of delivering goods on the pitch does not need a lot of elaboration. Memorable victories, last-minute score-changing points, virtuoso passes, prodigal players and perfectly-synchronized teams create the legend of the club. It lives on for decades to come and still draws in thousands of wide-eyes young fans.

So who are your Sports fans?

According to the study conducted by Deloitte Sports in the United States, fans’ motivations differ greatly between the various sports – so make sure you don’t make presumptions based on things that happen in the neighbor’s pitch.

On average, around 40% of all fans in the United States felt that their hometown was a primary factor in choosing their favorite sports club or team. Another two significant drivers of loyalty are current living location and family history – implying why branding of the clubs in NHL or NFL or IPL is so tight-knit with local geography, history and culture.

However, you may notice something different in basketball, where “dream teams” and “star players” often carried a bulk of the club’s fame and industry trends. This is not surprising if we take into account that NBA fans are two times more likely to switch allegiances as their favorite player changes teams.

Deloitte study also found that people who played in respective club’s youth league are 50% more likely to become self-described “fanatics,” and was spending 2x more money than “regular” fans. Speaking of spending, millennials on average spend $20million more than the older fans on memorable experiences, including pre- and post-game events meet and greet and premium seats.

#2 This is Where Sports Fan Engagement Comes in

Catch them while they’re young

Engaging your youngest fan bases on a local level doesn’t have to be too costly an investment, but it is a long-term strategy to build your fanbase for the future. Visits to the clubs’ museum and stadium, organizing meets and greets or game day and making sure that enhances the fan experience and is a way to have an entire family involved in your club’s activities for years to come.

No other experience can replicate the connection that a young boy or girl form with your team when their first loss and triumph occurs in your club’s colors. If you want lifelong loyalty, make sure to create lasting memories and loyalty programs. 

Example:

Take our most recent partnership. We’ve just signed on to work with NFL heavyweights, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Our end-to-end fan engagement solution is granting the diehard fans of the Jags the chance to interact with their team in a whole new way. As they look to establish themselves in the UK, FanTribe gives them the power not just to reach a whole new audience but reach them in a way not previously possible

#3 Fan engagement ideas

How does fan engagement help brands to connect with consumers? It’s never been easier to establish instant sentiment from your fans. Ask for their opinions! Who is the best baseball player? Who do you want to see in our team next season? What do you think about game schedules? Did you like the food?

Ask these questions in a Twitter poll, on Facebook, Instagram, or even through an organized “Ask me anything” event on Reddit, better still do it in an incentivized environment through FanTribe’s interactive polls and surveys engine.

All of these details are a part of the fans’ broader experience, a way to show them that they are appreciated, consulted and that their enjoyment is your priority. Games organized at noon during a scorching hot day may evaporate your fans’ enthusiasm to show up next time. You may be told that 4-inch hot dog for 10 dollars is seen as a rip-off or that shipping service for fans’ merchandise takes forever. Each of these bad experiences could drive people into another club or code’s arms – so pay attention to the details.

#4 Your Fans are Your Sports Marketing Team

If millennial fans are ready to pay a whopping $20million extra for a better experience, both minor and significant investments in technology can come a long way. Give them a fast WiFi connection in the stadium – and your fans will be engaged and serve as your marketing army by creating a buzz in real-time whenever your game is on.

This buzz extends to the fans who choose to stay home – if the atmosphere is lively, noisy and seats are gleaming with teams’ colors, your revenue does not stop at the count of sold-out stadium seats. Tampa Bay Lightning came up with an impressive trick to make sure their stadium is all blue, black and white – the club sold jerseys with embedded RFID chips to season ticket holders. The chip enables fans to get 25% discounts on club merchandise, foods, and drinks – thus driving both season ticket sales and desired dress code.

You can never be too good or too famous to personalize your fans’ experience further – offer them a customized club mobile app with a variety of features: latest news, hot scoops, opinion polls instant replays and rewards. Legendary club Brisbane Broncos “ FanTribe” app enables fans to get all the behind the scenes action, buy limited offer merchandise, unlock exclusive rewards and compete against each other to earn the status as the clubs number one fan. All this and an ever-growing list of features.

#5 Social media networks are a two-way street

Mobile Apps and social networks don’t only offer a way to interact with fans and keep their interest sparking – they are also a valuable source of data that can drive your future fan-engagement strategies.

Dig into this gold mine of insights, because collecting and analyzing data about your fans’ habits and preferences can further personalize your mobile fan engagement strategy. While some of these upgrades require significant financial investments – most of them have a simple and original idea at their core. Once there is a good idea, it can materialize into engaging action with relative ease and a little bit of goodwill.

The consistency of messaging and innovation are not necessarily at odds with your fan-engagement strategy. Delve into your fanbase, nurture it, take notes and keep in mind – technology is your best friend.

Fan Engagement Platform

Following this recipe, we here at Gomeeki created the “FanTribe” Fan engagement platform, where fans and ‘fans-to-be’ can explore the club’s history via interactive experience for free, connecting ‘in the moment’ thrills with the great triumphs and stellar moments of the past. 

FanTribe is the modern sports fan loyalty and fan engagement platform that helps clubs,  sports teams/ sports brands, and leagues to effectively deliver personalised experiences via relationship marketing strategy that drives actionable insights and profitable growth.

Why FanTribe?

FanTribe takes fan experience and community engagement to a whole new level while enabling a marketplace that opens new commercial models and opportunities for your Baseball/ Football or College sports club. Drive measurable ROI and create a brand experience your future customers will love.

Why not see what our customers are saying about us and how we approach your project

FanTribe is available globally, and new clubs can be on-boarded within a matter of weeks so don’t get left behind. Join the revolution. Your fans will thank you.

The post How to Boost Fan Engagement in Modern Sports & Post COVID? appeared first on Gomeeki.

The process of building your app seems like the most challenging step until everything is done and you run into the next milestone – delivering it to the users. If you want to submit your app to the App Store and gain access to 1.4 billion Apple devices around the world, you have to follow certain rules and guidelines. 

App Store currently has more than 1.8 million apps, and this number keeps growing, albeit much slower compared to the Google Play store. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up on Apple, particularly if your app belongs to its most popular categories such as gaming, business, education, lifestyle, and entertainment. 

Here are the steps you need to take to submit your app to the App store.

1. Prepare with the iOS 12.2 SDK

This is the step you’ve probably been aware of as you were building your app. Since March 2019, if you want to submit your app to the App Store, you have to build it with the iOS 12.1 SDK or any newer version.  It has to support the all-screen design of iPhone XS Max or the iPad Pro of the third generation. This also includes optimizing for the latest features, making changes in memory accounting, as well as updating compatibility.

Your app needs to be up to date with the latest iOS devices, including iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, the 11-inch iPad Pro, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. You will make sure of that by updating your information property list with the latest requirements. You can also repeat this every time you update your app. 

The final step before going to the app store should be testing. App Store recommends that you test with the simulator in Xcode 10.2.

In order to use the required software and later submit your app to the App Store, you need to be a member of the Apple Developer Program.

2. Create an App Store Connect account

The Apple ID you have from the developer program is a way to sign in to App Store Connect – mind it, this ID cannot be simultaneously used for distributing music, movies, books or for business management. 

Once you sign in, you can assign roles to various team members. You can control their access to developers tools and the actions their accounts can perform. Keep in mind that onboarding your team is not possible if you enroll in the developer program as an individual user. 

3. Add and Test Your App 

Adding your app to the App Store takes a few preparatory steps with your account. First, you have to sign the Paid Applications agreement and add your company’s contact information, as well as tax and banking details. All developers need to submit the U.S. tax forms, and there are also specific forms for Australia, Canada, Japan, and Brazil.

Once you settle this, you can start adding information about your app, including description, keywords, up to 10 screenshots, as well as pricing plans. Make sure this information is clear, informative, and enticing. Take special care to upload good screenshots – these are the first things your future users will see.

Upload the app utilizing Xcode or Application Loader. This does not mean your app goes public – it is only available in the Activity section until you choose what to do next – test or publish it.

App Store also offers one extra feature prior to the release of your app – beta testing it with TestFlight. This feature enables you to upload a beta version of your app and invite up to 10,000 testers. You can do this via email invitation or sharing a public link to the app.

Keep in mind that the app you submit for review and, ultimately, to the App Store, has to be final, tested, stable version with all required metadata and functional URLs. Messy submission or a buggy app will result in rejection and prolonging the release.

4. Submit the App for Review

Once everything is ready for release, it is time to submit your app for review. If you want to make sure this process goes as smooth as possible, you need to be aware of some App Store’s basic guidelines and requirements.

App Store has detailed, clearly outlined safety guidelines, so your app should not contain any content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, risks physical harm, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. This is particularly important for apps with user-generated content, where you need to provide a mechanism for managing this content. This includes filtering, reporting, and deleting objectionable content. 

Apps that belong in the Kids category have a specific set of guidelines. They cannot include external links, purchases, distractions, third-party advertising or analytics. 

All apps have to operate in line with legal requirements regarding users’ privacy, collection, and handling of their information. Your app also has to comply with any relevant legal requirements in every country where the app is available.

It goes without saying that your app has to be original. Also, the App Store puts a special focus on sleek, innovative app design. Finally, the app you submit to the App Store has to be more than just a “repackaged website”. It needs to be useful, unique and have a clear value proposition. 

You can find more details about the App Store’s requirements here. 

Conclusion

Once you submit your app for review, it will take some time to have it vetted. The status of the review process will be updated in your App Store Connect account. In general, gaming, gambling, and lottery apps are likely to take the most time for review, since these are the most heavily regulated content in the App Store.

In case you are running on a tight schedule, you can request an expedited review. Once your app has been reviewed and approved, keep in mind that it will go public on the date you set for release. Also, it will take around one day for the app to appear on all storefronts. 

Finally, submitting is not where your work ends. Your app needs to go through regular updates, which you can set and manage using your existing App Store Connect account. Apps that do not keep up can end up removed from the App Store – so don’t let all the hard work go to waste. 

All you need to do is give us a call or simply fill in the below form – we will take it from there

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post How To Submit Your App To the App Store in 4 Steps appeared first on Gomeeki.

Keeping up with changes in the digital industry is a two-edged sword for mobile app designers. Major app redesigns often end with backlash and lost revenue – and not even the giants in their respective industries are immune to redesign fails. 

Snapchat’s 2017 app redesign disaster cost the company 5 million lost users and a 36% decrease in ad views and revenue. After six months, they rolled back on changes. In 2018, Instagram fell into the same trap by completely redesigning their app, which was followed by a massive user backlash. Eventually, they gave up on the changes. Some businesses never recover from bad app redesign apps.

It is not surprising if you are cautious or confused when it comes to shaking up things with your app. As mobile app developers, we have a lot of experience with clients who are unsure of how to give their app a new look. Here’s our list of legitimate signs that it is definitely time for app redesign.

1. Common customer requests

Encouraging people to review your app has multiple purposes. Reviews enable you to measure overall customer satisfaction, identify strong and weak spots in your application, and they are a great marketing tool for building social proof.

While you cannot meet every demand your customers have, after a while you should be able to analyze feedback and put some of it into action. A lot of negative reviews can be fixed with minor changes, but if a larger pattern emerges across several app functionalities, app redesign is a better solution.

Tracking customer feedback is particularly important for businesses which launched their app without doing extensive research into their target audience and market. Businesses which apply this approach often stack up minor changes that eventually result in unstable apps. After a while, this will also call for a total app redesign. 

2. Things could get simpler (and prettier)

User experience is a fluid process, and this fact often turns out to be a UX shortfall of businesses who don’t know when to stop when it comes to tweaking their app design (we’re looking at you, Facebook).

When it comes to mobile apps, your reasoning should be simple – can a certain action be done in fewer steps without confusing a user? If the answer is yes, you have a green light for a redesign.

One way to be sure is to use heatmaps and screen recordings (within the app or conducting user tests) to determine common problems in the way users are interacting with an app. Another is to focus on so-called “micro-conversions”. 

This means putting aside the big goals of the app (sign-ups, sales, etc.) and focusing on small, immediate goals within the app – using the search feature, reading or uploading content, verifying the account, adding friends, etc. Long story short, focus on micro-conversions enables you to understand whether the app does what you intended it to do. 

In mobile apps, design and looks are closely intertwined, so redesigning your user experience usually goes hand in hand with changes in your visual identity. Freshening up your logo, icons, and looks is a good option for apps that feel a bit outdated and need adjusting for new devices and platforms.

3. Your app has evolved

When you launched your app, you may have had a broad idea of what your potential customers need, and went on to use their feedback to fully shape your product along the way. Other businesses conduct in-depth research and have clearly defined buyer personas from the get-go.

In both cases, it is quite possible to start your mobile app with one business goal in mind and end up with a completely different one. In multiple feature apps, some features often end up prioritized by users, while others may be completely pushed aside. 

For example, you created an app that was originally intended to be a booking app. You added a feature like a comparison based on rating, prices, availability, etc. After a year, reports imply that few users use the app for booking – but plenty of them are using it to compare restaurants.

Similarly, your app may have attracted a new group of users – the ones you did not have in mind when you created an app. Sometimes, the initial app design cannot meet their needs. For example, the app design can be too complicated for older, less tech-savvy users.

Spontaneous evolution of the product is the strongest call for an app redesign. Basically, in this case, an extensive app redesign means you are adjusting your product to your customers’ needs and priorities.

App redesign may be a slightly greater challenge in cases of accommodating new user groups. If there are several distinct demographic groups among your target users, your app redesign will require you to find a common ground for their needs and preferences. 

4. Market has evolved

Industry and technology go forward and keeping an eye on your competitors is one way to ensure you maintain your hard-won competitive advantage.

App redesign prompted by developments in devices, platforms, and user habits is a no brainer. Any app that begins to look obsolete or unfunctional in the new environment is a fertile ground for a redesign.

On the other hand,  making changes based on your competitors’ moves can be a slippery slope. Merely copying their features can hardly be called an app redesign. Taking your competitors’ features, adjusting and simplifying them based on your users’ needs is an important redesign task for every app. 

5. Your goals have evolved

We talked about an app redesign when your customers’ needs change. In this case, it is not their needs that have changed – it’s yours. Many apps try to assert their new business goals through redesigns and new features. Sometimes, users go with it, and other times, they switch to competitors because they feel what they signed up for is no longer there. 

So what is the middle ground? Before you start planning a redesign haul, make sure you conduct serious market research. If your new business goal is motivated by innovation, current trends or solid market forecast, it is a good reason to consider an app redesign. However, make sure that there is a market demand for this revamped app you have in mind. Also, conduct research among your customers to see how receptive they would be to this change.

In general, the app redesign should assert changes spontaneously. Your customer base’s favorite features should remain at the center of user interface and experience.

Conclusion

A solid redesign requires serious preparation. It takes time, hard work, and significant investment, so your app redesign should not be a change for the sake of a change. Every new line and app feature should be meaningful and serve a concrete goal.

You need an experienced team that will safely guide your app redesign from idea to solution. With dozens of products and apps under our belt, our developers at Gomeeki have seen and done it all – from the simplest apps to end-to-end strategies and executions for some of the most intricate and data-intensive solutions in the market.

All you need to do is give us a call – we will take it from there and give your app a new life. 

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post 5 Good Reasons for App Redesign appeared first on Gomeeki.

Launching a mobile app can be difficult, confusing, and will test your patience on occasion. However, if you follow these 30 steps, some of those stresses will be eased, if not eliminated!

Pre-Launch App Marketing Strategy

1. Identify Target Audience: Decide who will be using your app and why they need your app.
2. Register Domain and Landing Page: Have your app development team register a domain and create an app name in the app store & landing page for your app. This holds your “spot” in the app waiting room.
3. Claim Social Media Handles: Create social media pages and claim hashtags that are directly related to your app.
4. Create a Promo Video: Give a one-minute pitch about your app in the form of a promo video so that users can get a taste of what your app will be like.
5. Find an Online Niche: There are so many chat rooms and forums out there, so you are sure to find one that fits in your app’s “niche.” Advertise and conduct surveys in these forums to drum up anticipation for your app’s launch.
6. Find Reporters and Influencers: Locate any person that can give your app an edge once it is launched. This can be by advertising the app (reporters) or endorsing it (influencers).
7. Research App Submission Guidelines: Not every platform is going to have the same submission guidelines. So, be sure you know all the guidelines and that your app follows them to avoid launch delays or cancellations.
8. Identify Success Metrics: Discover what will push your app into the winner’s circle. Also, identify successful marketing and monetizing techniques that can be used prior to and after launch.
9. Build a Feedback Loop: Make sure you have a way for your users to send feedback about your app. Their suggestions and concerns will help you improve the user’s experience.
10. Plan a Beta Release: A beta release is a time when the app is made accessible to a small group of users for the purpose of testing mechanics and providing feedback.

Three Weeks Before Mobile App Launch

1. Compile a Press Kit: Create a directory of your app’s assets, including links to social media pages, website, etc. Sending a press kit to reporters, influencers, bloggers and journalists will help maximize the odds of media coverage for your app’s launch.
2. Send a Pitch: Now that you have identified reporters, influencers, bloggers, and journalists that may be interested in covering/endorsing your app send them a pitch email that briefly provides information about the app and links to its press kit.
3. Decide on App’s Messaging Descriptions: Take feedback from beta tests and discussion forums to make any necessary changes to the app’s language and wording.
4. Identify and Install Software: Beta testers may run across technical issues in your app that can be fixed by installing a software component. Be sure these issues are fixed and that the app is ready to go by launch time.

Mobile App Launch Time

1. Submit App: Submit your app to the app store(s) of your choice. Once approved, your app will be live for public download.
2. Notify Email List: Send out an email to all your contacts letting them know the app is available for download.
3. Notify the Press: Send emails to all reporters, influencers, bloggers, and journalists you have been in contact with about the app’s launch.
4. Utilize an Analysis Software: One of the best pieces of software you can invest in is an app monitoring and analysis system. Use this data to identify what parts of the app are drawing in users and which are not. Then make changes as needed.

Post-Launch App Marketing Strategy

1. Monitor: Check feedback and analyze user retention and interactivity with the app. Assess customer satisfaction through discussion forums, social media pages, etc.
2. Interact with First Customers: Taking the time to engage with the first customers that downloaded your app can go a long way. Ask for suggestions, find out what they like best about the app, and thank them for being among the first to give your app a try.
3. Encourage Reviews: Provide relevant review prompts to users for instant feedback. Let them feel their voices are being heard!
4. Monitor App Store Stats: Be sure to keep an eye on the download growth (or decline) in the app store(s). Also, monitor the number of users uninstalling the app.
5. Release an Update: Not every app is going to work perfectly upon its first release. Make notes of bugs that need to be fixed in the app, then release an update to fix these bugs as soon as possible.
6. Add to Your Performance Stats: Continue to add data to your performance software dashboard so the health of your app can be monitored quickly and thoroughly.

Three Months After Mobile App Launch

1. Customer Requests: Organize and prioritize customer requests about app issues or improvements that should be made.
2. Set Your 3-Month Product Road Map: You can’t please everyone and stay true to your app’s purpose. Evaluate your product and decide how to bring it more in line with your vision after customer suggestions have been considered.
3. Incentives: Break out the incentives to retain your user’s attention. The hype of the launch is over, so bring your user back to your app every day by offering an incentive or two in exchange for their interactivity.
4. Win Referrals: If you have an app that is satisfying your customers and retaining their usage, you are winning referrals! When the users are happy, they will want to share your app with all their friends!
5. Push Notifications: Review your data, specifically the average user’s habits, and decide what improvements can be made with push notifications.
6. Evaluate Performance: Continue to evaluate all data and feedback. Make improvements when needed.

Bottom line: When you launch a mobile app, the work doesn’t stop at launch day. That’s why it’s important to team up with a professional, dedicated development company. Gomeeki is one of those companies that go beyond launch day by continuing to monitor and make improvements to your app. We want to make sure your app succeeds. 

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post Best App Marketing Strategies (Works Great In 2019) appeared first on Gomeeki.

This puts publishers up for a big dilemma – is a mobile-optimized website enough to attract and keep visitors, or a news app would be a better choice? While the news app is a significant investment – it pays off ten-fold. Here are the reasons.

1. News apps are popular

News apps are among the most popular app categories. According to Statista, 41% of mobile users’ digital time is dedicated to news apps.

In Australia, almost a quarter of mobile users have a news app on their phone. This number has grown annually by a solid 7%.

Source: Statista

So, it is safe to say that your news app won’t be sitting idly in your readers’ mobile phone – people have a habit of using news apps to get their daily dose of information.

2. People prefer mobile apps to websites

Although there is some conflicting data on this one, bear with us. While approx 78% of users prefer mobile apps to mobile browsers for shopping, the reasons can easily apply to news apps and magazines. 

According to Compuware survey, users prefer mobile apps because:

• Mobile apps are more convenient
• Mobile apps are faster
• Mobile apps are easier to browse
• Mobile apps offer a better user experience

Source: EConsultancy

You can easily see how these conveniences can come into play with a news app – so let’s delve deeper into that. 

3. News app offers more personalization

There are plenty of tools that allow marketers to personalize ads for website visitors. However, on most news sites, there is no such option for curating news content. On the other hand, a news app allows you to collect data about the user’s interests and behavior and leverage it to curate content based on the individual’s needs.

Unfortunately, if you take a look at some of the major publishers, you will notice that their news apps are simply a mobile-friendly version of their website. Having an app that behaves differently is thus an amazing way to get ahead of your much larger competitors. 

The way you personalize content doesn’t only have to come from the app’s machine learning technology. Users will be more than willing to give feedback and shape their own news feed.

4. News app nurtures engagement

An engaged visitor is a visitor that is going to open your app several times a day and keep coming back. News apps offer plenty of opportunities to nurture engagement by enabling and encouraging users to:

• Rate news stories
• Pick and save their favorites
• Play various games
• Earn loyalty points and rewards
• Access exclusive stories 
• Submit their own content

The possibilities are endless. News apps also allow you to nudge users via push notifications and reminders.

5. News app offers a better user experience

News websites often blast users with information overload – stories, images, videos, ads, pop-ups. This is often a frustrating experience for website visitors. News apps, by their nature, push you to be very savvy with the little maneuvering space you have. 

This will drive you to focus on user experience by categorizing news and separating an overwhelming news feed into easily “digestible” feeds and chunks of headlines and stories. 

6. News app is easier to monetize

Online publishers often sacrifice user experience for monetization, overloading their website with intrusive banners and pop-ups. Visitors have learned how to strike back by employing ad blockers and developing banner blindness.

Surprisingly, when surveyed, users said they understood the value of content and were willing to put up with ads, but only under one condition – that they are not annoying or intrusive. How is a news app solution to this problem? By offering ample opportunities to make ads feel like a part of your news feed, instead of an interruption. 

Source: MobileAds

There are six types of mobile ads, and you can read more about the pros and cons of these mobile ad formats here. Long story short, native and expandable mobile ads are the least intrusive formats. Native ads come in different sizes and form, but their main characteristic is that they are blended with your news app’s content. On the other hand, expandable ads are displayed as a teaser that expands to full screen if the user taps on it. 

A neuroscience study conducted by True Impact and Neurons Inc confirmed that embedded, opt-in mobile ads will engage close to 90 percent of viewers who will pay attention to the brand, retain and understand the message.

And savvy marketers recognized this! In 2018, mobile ad spends worldwide amounted to 147.6 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 231.3 billion by 2021. So, it is clear – a news app is a great way to monetize your online magazine and keep both advertisers and users happy.

But news apps also offer an easier way to generate paid subscriptions. If your news app offers a truly unique and convenient user experience and loyalty rewards, you are more likely to introduce paid content. Also, a seamless app subscription process can also help you grow your readership base by minimizing shopping cart abandonment. 

Think about it – most news websites and online magazines require a manual subscription process that includes data entry, confirmation emails, and links, etc. In most cases, shopping cart abandonment happens because users feel the process is too complicated. By running app subscriptions through Google Play or App store, this becomes a process that requires 2-3 taps. 

Conclusion

Finally, creating a news app that will help you stand out among your competitors requires a top-notch development team. 

Gomeeki is a company with ample experience and knowledge in the field of mobile app development that responds to our client’s unique customer acquisition strategies, as well as retention and engagement challenges. 

Want to see it first-hand? Check out Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s news app built by Gomeeki team which features: 

• Up to the minute news
• News in 90 Seconds video bulletins
• ABC TV and Radio shows on demand
• Live audio streaming of over 25 ABC Radio stations
• Live video streaming of ABC24 television
• Location-based weather information

We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions, so give us a call so we can discuss challenges and creative solutions for your online magazine!

Brands We’ve Worked With

The post 6 Reasons Why You Need a News App for Your Online Magazine appeared first on Gomeeki.

SMS may seem like an obsolete means of communication compared to modern messengers and social media. However, its underdog status makes SMS refreshingly engaging, and yes – successful marketing channel. Find it hard to believe? Here are some surprising SMS marketing numbers:

• Text messages have a 98% open rate
• Text messages have a 209% higher response rate than email or Facebook
• 90% of text messages are read within 3 minutes
• Consumers redeem SMS-delivered coupons 10 times more than other types of coupons

So, ready to give SMS marketing a shot? Keep in mind that misusing the privilege of having access to someone’s phone inbox is a costly mistake. So let’s see which SMS marketing strategies will help you boost your sales, and which mistakes you definitely shouldn’t make.

1. Two magic words – target and segment!

Let’s start with the strategy that applies to any marketing channel, including SMS. If you want your messages to resonate with your audience and prompt them to action, you want to make sure of two things. First, know your customers. By the point when they opt-in for receiving text messages from your brand, you probably already have enough information about their interests and purchasing habits. Leverage this knowledge to write compelling offers that will tap into their needs and behavior. 

Second, know the differences between your customers. SMS marketing that comes down to random text message blasts sent to all of your subscribers is a waste of time. For example, if there is a big back-to-school seasonal sale, there isn’t much purpose in messaging 21-year-olds about it. In fact, texting your customers about discounts and sales they are not interested in is perceived as spam.

Bulk messages are a good choice for some general sales, discount, and information. For everything else, focus on targeted SMS marketing for various segments of your audience. Once you do that, customer relationship management apps or features can help you analyze responses and find patterns that will help you fine-tune your messages. 

2. Find the right time and frequency

Since SMS marketing feels a bit more personal than classical ads or emails, it is fairly easy to cross the line into the pushy and spammy zone. Nailing down the right tone, frequency and time of your messages will help you steer clear from that zone.

We mentioned in the introduction that an overwhelming majority of customers read text messages within 3 minutes of receiving them. SMS marketing relies on a quick, immediate reaction from customers, so avoid doing SMS promotions way ahead of important events. 

If you have a weekend sale, send your message on Friday evening or Saturday morning. Unless an event requires some sort of preparation, SMS promotions, in general, should be sent out on the day of the event, a few hours ahead.

It should go without saying that you should not message your customers at the dead of the night – stick to 8am-9pm time frame, and pay special attention to time zones if you operate internationally. 

Similarly, the frequency of your messages can make or break your SMS marketing efforts. Around 75% of consumers are fine with receiving SMS messages from brands – but you shouldn’t overstay your welcome. Although the right frequency depends on the nature of your business, on average, successful businesses text their customers 2-4 times a month. In general, any message that does not contain valuable information and clear call to action should not be sent.

3. Use words clearly and sparingly

Although writing a simple text message may sound like the simplest thing in the world, putting a compelling offer into 160 characters can be a significant challenge. So, unless you are a great copywriter, hire one, or learn the intricacies of SMS communication.

Think about the way text messages display on your phone. When you open the inbox, you are likely to see a part of the first sentence. Make sure these 2-3 words contain the value proposition or key information for your customers – as you can see from examples in the image below

Strong SMS marketing texts include personalization, clear information (what, when, for how long, how to get it) and a clear call to action.

4. Use a strong call to action

The importance of a clear call to action in SMS marketing cannot be overstated, so there is a special section dedicated to it. As we already said, the nature of SMS lies in the sense of urgency and immediate response. While ads or email marketing can serve different purposes such as informing or educating your customers, the sole purpose of SMS marketing is to prompt customers to do something. 

Calls to action such as – click here, text to win, text to vote, buy now, pay now – are refreshingly simple and effective. However, keep in mind that CTA’s that go beyond “text back” request should not be “empty”. 

The best solution is to display them as clickable WAP links that will take your customers where they need to be to take action. This can be a payment processor or your website, depending on your offer.

5. Final step – get personal

Sure, we talked about targeting and segmentation, but now we mean personal – for real. Little things can go a long way, and in terms of both email and SMS marketing, addressing your customer by name is a simple trick that can boost your message. 

Using SMS marketing to wish your customers a happy birthday or inform them about discounts on items they prefer is a great way to ensure actionable engagement from customers. Another trick up experienced SMS marketers’ sleeve reminding customers of their previous purchases and recommending items based on them. 

Using split testing to determine the best messaging, as well as the right timing and frequency is one way to fine-tune your SMS marketing personalization. Hers’s another blog on App Marketing Plan (Works Great In 2019)

Here’s a blog post to help you understand enterprise networks.

Looking for the SMS marketing solution? 

Now that you know just how effective SMS marketing is and what makes it effective, it’s time to look for the right partner. If you want a platform that will seamlessly guide you through these five steps, look no further than Gomeeki.

Gomeeki SMS marketing solutions encapsulate the best marketing practices. It comes with a flexible customer engagement platform that enables:

• Messaging
• Push notifications
• Digital coupons
• Payment options
• Data management 
• Segmentation 

Our SMS marketing solutions are specialized for various industries, including sports, insurance, retail, schools, NGO’s, marketing, and religious organizations. 

Brands We’ve Worked With

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