New Year, New Apps: Customers Spent Nearly $500 Million in the App Store During the First Week of January
Millions of people received a new smartphone or tablet this past holiday season, and alongside this flood of new device activations came a surge in app downloads and in-app purchases.
Last week, Apple announced that customers spent nearly $500 million in the App Store in the first week of January alone [Tweet this], and New Years Day 2015 was the single biggest day of sales in App Store history.
With this record-setting App Store activity, how can app marketers retain these new users throughout the rest of the year?
Mobile marketers should develop an “always on” retention strategy to keep users engaged. With new apps launching daily and competing for the valuable real estate on your customer’s device, it’s critical to think long-term about how you can retain your existing user base, especially those acquired during the peak holiday season.
One way to do this is through app-to-app retargeting, which enables you to segment your app users in real-time, reach them across the rest of the mobile app ecosystem, and redirect them straight back into your app. Whether your plan is to engage with new users who downloaded your app for holiday shopping deals, or bring a lapsed user back into a dating app to find the match of their dreams in 2015, mobile app retargeting is a scalable way to drive engagement.
The appetite for mobile apps has never been stronger, and isn’t about to wane anytime soon. Consider the following:
In 2014, Apple reports that App Store billings rose 50% and more than $10 billion in revenue was generated for developers. [Tweet this]
In 2015, IDC projects that 1.4 billion new smartphones will be shipped worldwide. [Tweet this]
By 2017, Gartner projects 268 billion apps will be downloaded annually, totaling $77 billion in revenue. [Tweet this]
As you look ahead to your mobile app marketing strategy for 2015 and beyond, make it your resolution to maximize the value of your existing user base to drive incremental revenue and avoid churn.
