According to a study conducted by Flurry, a mobile analytics firm, 86 percent of consumer time on a mobile device in the United States is spent on apps rather than on browsers. Of course, it is a well-known fact that mobile usage has far outpaced desktop usage, but this latest research now confirms that mobile usage is experiencing a significant shift towards apps. Consequently, marketers will find that their best opportunity for attracting attention from consumers is through the use of apps.

Apps provide marketers with a robust array of benefits, including the opportunity to drive increased value, while also providing customers with an improved experience. In order to stay ahead of the competition, however, brands must continually analyze their marketing strategies, or they run the risk of being left in the dust.

Enhanced Engagement with Mobile Apps

One of the many reasons that consumers tend to prefer apps over a mobile website versions is that they provide a far more engaging experience. With increased engagement, marketers can take advantage of the opportunity to access more consistent and accurate targeting. Additionally, the deep linking contained within the app makes it possible for ads to be served when they are at their most relevant, thus driving higher conversion rates.

Marketers are able to target app users multiple times through apps. For instance, a brand can use their app to monitor the amount of time that has passed since a specific user has interacted with their brand using their app. This can prove to be vital information because it provides the platform for brands to re-engage users who might have dropped out of sight, and is a benefit that can be much more difficult to leverage with other marketing techniques. For instance, apps make it much easier for your brands to track when users have reviewed material or even made purchases based on in-app advertisements.

Leveraging Location-Based Targeting

Mobile apps also provide the benefit of location-based targeting. According to BIA/Kelsey, locally targeted mobile ads are expected to represent 52 percent of mobile spending on advertising in the US by 2018. Geo-specific campaigns are no longer a luxury, but must now become a vital part of every campaign in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Improved Content Delivery Systems

One of the biggest challenges facing marketers in the past is trying to overcome the hurdle of convincing consumers to provide vital information necessary for successful marketing. Even obtaining an email address in the past was often a significant struggle. With apps, mobile users have greater control over the type and amount of content that is shown to them. As a result, they have increased power in terms of providing marketers with the information necessary for delivering customized content. For instance, push notifications have become an increasingly powerful tool that allows users to opt into content delivery. Once the user allows notifications to be delivered directly to their mobile device, there is no need for additional actions to be taken. By comparison, content on the web is pull-based rather than push-based. As a result, it is only possible to deliver ads when a visitor arrives on a website with an advertisement that can be displayed.

Video content is also taking an increased presence on mobile devices, including in advertisements. Now that screens are bigger in many mobile devices, including the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+, and WiFi and 4G networks have become increasingly more available; users are in a much better position to receive video content marketing through in-app experiences. Video alone can provide a tremendous amount of opportunity for savvy marketers. By tapping into this rising trend, it is possible for marketers to deliver even higher-quality video advertisements without the interruptive environment of the web. This is precisely why the ad spend for mobile video is projected to increase to approximately $2 billion by next year.

The Bottom Line

For brands that do not see the benefit of investing in an app, it should be recognized that even a mobile version of a website simply cannot offer the engagement and content delivery capability that an app can provide.