June 20, 2017
Chart

Mobile App Chart: The effect of customer-first marketing on app deletions

SUMMARY:

Once you get customers to download your app on their phone, you want them to keep it on their phone.

So, to help you reduce app deletions, this week we look at data about why customers delete your app and how that differs between satisfied and unsatisfied customers.

(As seen in the MarketingSherpa Chart of the Week newsletter. Click to get a free subscription to the latest research and case studies from MarketingSherpa.)

by Daniel Burstein, Senior Director, Content & Marketing, MarketingSherpa and MECLABS Institute

We asked 1,200 consumers to name a company they were highly satisfied with. We also asked another group of 1,200 consumers about a company they were unsatisfied with.

We then asked these consumers a series of questions about the business and marketing practices of these companies. Below, you can see the responses to the question: Why do you delete the app of the companies with which you are [satisfied or unsatisfied]? Select all that apply.

In the chart, the higher the positive number, the more likely satisfied customers were to give the response. The more negative the number is, the more likely unsatisfied customers were to provide that response.

To see 35 charts from the study, download the free report.

Satisfied customers irritated by the app, unsatisfied customers irritated by the company behind the app

Satisfied customers are more likely to delete a brand’s mobile app for reasons that have to do with the app itself.

For example, a satisfied customer is 33% more likely to delete a company’s app because “the app doesn’t perform well or has bugs” and 32% more likely to delete branded apps because they get the same deals and promotions through another channel.

But unsatisfied customers are more likely to delete a company’s mobile app for reasons that have more to do with the intentions of the company behind the app — not the app itself.

For example, satisfied customers were 36% less likely than unsatisfied customers to remove the branded app because “I don’t trust their app to provide me the information I need to make purchase decisions.” And satisfied customers were 34% less likely than unsatisfied consumers to say “the app is too focused on the company’s needs, and not enough on my needs.”

It’s not enough to make good apps, you must also create satisfied customers

If a mobile app is central to your company’s business objectives, what can you learn from this data?

Well, first of all, make a well-performing app that has a reason to exist (i.e., a unique value proposition). If the app keeps crashing, drains a phone’s battery, slows down that smartphone, or has other functional issues, consumers will be more likely to delete it. And who can blame them, right?

Also, if they find there is no unique value in the app, they are just getting the same thing they can get elsewhere. Why bother taking up room on the smartphone’s hard drive or space for the app icon on their home screen? They are also more likely to delete it.

But, beyond that, if you work in the mobile marketing department, you must think about more than just the app’s functionality. You must think about your company’s customers holistically, and ensure your company serves them well.

Because if they don’t trust the information you’re conveying in the app, the fact that the app is functionally sound doesn’t matter that much. They’re still more likely to delete; and worse than that, be unsatisfied with your company in general.

The same holds true for your company’s intentions behind that app — and all of its interactions with its customers. If your company does not practice customer-first marketing, if it prioritizes the company’s needs over the customers, they will also likely delete your app and be unsatisfied.

At the end of the overall survey, we ask consumers to provide advice about marketing to companies. One consumer summed up the above ideas pretty nicely by stating that companies should “put their customers first; without us you would have nothing.”

Related resources

Customer-first Marketing: Do you put your customers’ interests first?

Mobile Marketing Chart: Why customers delete your app

Mobile Marketing Chart: How likely millennials, baby boomers and Gen Xers are to delete your app

Social Media Marketing: Over 120% increase in daily activity for app due to visual social media campaign

Content Marketing and SEO: The world doesn’t need another blog post


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