The COVID-19 pandemic has made consumers more reliant on connected devices: using a mobile phone to shop remotely is no longer merely a luxury or a convenience, but a necessity. We live in a connected world where customer decisions happen not only in store or on brand websites, but on mobile devices as well.
To stay top of mind and relevant with the changing consumer landscape, brands must direct their advertising to where their customers are: on their phones. In-app ads can help increase customer engagement and upsells, leading to increased revenue for you and a better experience for your customers.
Using In-App Ads to Offer Customers More Value
With more people shopping online and utilizing curbside pickup or delivery, customers aren’t browsing in store as often, and therefore aren’t as likely to make last-minute impulse purchases. In-app ads can act like the pack of chewing gum a customer grabs at the checkout counter—but even better, ads can be targeted specifically to what each customer might be likely to add to their order. For example, suggesting breadsticks or soda for a pizza order; salsa for tortilla chips on a grocery order; dog toys for a dog food purchase; and so on.
Customers today expect a higher level of personalization in their shopping experience.
In-app ads allow you to use real-time, personalized messages to engage, retain, and upsell customers to new products, thereby leveraging your app as a tool for timely and relevant value-add opportunities. They help ensure you are supporting customers in ways that drive long-term retention as well as taking opportunities to provide them with added value.
The key to cross-selling and upselling using in-app ads is to provide context-based information to customers (based on their past purchases, preferences, location, etc) and to make it as easy as possible for them to take advantage of these opportunities.
Glympse’s location-intelligent platform helps you understand your customers better by learning about their movements and preferences. Using this location and behavioral data, you can deliver more personalized ads, sending the right messages to the right audience in the right place.
5 Ways to Use In-App Ads for Customer Engagement and Upselling
In-app ads can be used to engage your audience in innumerable ways. Here are 5 common uses for them:
- Anticipate a need. One of the top ways to offer an upsell opportunity is to anticipate your customer’s needs based on their purchases, location, or other data point. For instance, a restaurant’s app might recommend dessert or appetizer specials to accompany a customer’s lunch order.
- Convert customers to premium features. Recommend items such as a store credit card, email list for special offers, or perks membership.
- Focus on a specific offer. This type of ad is similar to an end-cap display in a retail store: it highlights products or services that are new, are on sale, are seasonally appropriate, or are otherwise relevant to the customer, the season, or the location.
- Demonstrate how a product is used. A brief video ad showing how a product works or the various ways it can be useful to the consumer.
- Ask for feedback. Request reviews or ask for feedback on a specific product or service.
By offering the consumer a chance to engage further with the app, the product, or the company, in-app ads increase opportunities for improved customer engagement and sales.
Defining Your In-App Ad Strategy
But without a defined strategy, your in-app ads won’t be as effective as they otherwise could be. To create a targeted ad strategy, first consider your ideal customer. What stands out to you about their engagement with your company and/or your mobile platform? What information can you glean from their location data and past purchases to help you determine what types of ads will be the most successful? What are their most common needs or pain points? These things can help you determine where your marketing strategy should begin.
From there, use the following questions to help you formulate your plan:
- How often do your best customers engage with your app?
- What behaviors do you want to encourage (adding on to their purchase, applying for a store credit card, visiting a brick-and-mortar location, etc)?
- How many notifications or product suggestions are too many?
- Are there certain places in the customer journey that make the most sense to include upsells or suggestive ads?
- Are there any in-app marketing tactics you’ve overlooked?
Use the answers to these questions to determine what type of ads to use, as well as when and how often to use them. Your ad strategy should change over time as technology and consumer preferences change. It’s important to revisit your strategy on a regular basis to make sure it is relevant to your customers and your goals.
Increase Customer Engagement and Upsells with Glympse
Now more than ever, radically personal customer service gives consumers what they want most—connection, speed, and confidence in their purchase. It’s at the heart of how brands develop lifelong relationships with their customers. Gathering intelligence about what your customers care about will help you serve them better. And not only will this improve your bottom line, it will create a better customer experience.
Glympse offers you a powerful channel to engage with your customers through personalized marketing, customer service, upselling opportunities, and ecommerce options. Our location-intelligent solutions offer unique opportunities for advertising placements.
Most customers who use Glympse will spend at least 5 minutes actively engaging with the solution during each step of the customer journey. Campaign space enables brands to make the most out of the moments when their customers are already actively engaged. We help you leverage customer engagement to increase your revenue by using personalized upsells and special offers at the moment of service.
With the power of location, advertising placements can increase revenue with targeted add-ons at the exact moment of service, using exclusive offers to keep customers coming back for more.
Want to learn more about how Glympse can help you leverage in-app ads to improve customer engagement? Contact us today!
