The health and fitness apps industry is growing exponentially with more and more people adopting healthier lifestyles. Users aren’t shying away to opt for paid subscriptions of quality apps that aid them on their individual health and fitness journeys.
Back in 2016 alone, the market size was estimated to be $83.15 billion!
If you are a marketer from this industry, you’d know how user acquisition is comparatively easier than user retention and increasing your paid subscription base.
Keeping your users engaged while consistently delivering value is crucial to cushion the blow of competition. A data-driven mobile marketing strategy can help you get noticed by and win love from your users.
In one of my previous posts, I highlighted the leading health and fitness apps that continue to flex their muscles in the Indian market.
Delving deeper in this post, I’ve outlined 4 key mobile marketing best practices that are critical to elevating user engagement and retention for apps in this category:
- Pay close attention to the frequency and timing of push notifications Excess of anything is bad. This good old saying applies to everything. Pushing too much content is intrusive and uncalled for. Along with frequency, it is important to send the content at the most appropriate times. This is why you need to have a schedule in place to keep the frequency and timing of push notifications in check. While you are best placed to understand your space and users, you can leverage both historical and real-time user behavioural data to draw insights about the time slots when your users are most receptive to your campaigns. Optimising your send-times using the power of machine learning can help you tailor and deliver campaigns to users when they are most likely to respond to or act on your messages.Here are some best practices to keep in mind in this regard:
- You may want to follow a time schedule for must-do campaigns like regular reminders about diet, sleep, workout timings, updates about progress made, etc. A renowned app I installed on trial, sent at least 10 notifications throughout the day – about meals, water, snacks, etc. I was compelled to turn off the notifications. The app lost one of the most important channels that it could use to build a strong connect with me.
- If you are a Yoga or workout app, notifications at appropriate times (morning between 7-8 AM) will serve your purpose.
- A notification in the evening (7-9 PM) to remind users to update or log their progress works well.
- Ensure that the send-time of promotional campaigns is optimised. For instance, notifications promoting new plans, goals, etc. get better response at the beginning of a new week, a new month, or a new year when users decide to change their habits or start afresh.
Points to Note
No two users are alike when it comes to their health and fitness goals. It is important to adopt an intelligent user segmentation strategy based on their preferences so that you can personalise the content and experience they receive. Behavioural segmentation is a must.
Each communication you send out must be relevant to individual users. In other words, your push notification must convey “You will benefit from reading this.” Instead of “Use my app!”
Also, craft your app marketing content (in-app messages, and push notifications) creatively with the intelligent use of elements such as images, CTAs, deep links, emojis, and other advanced features.
Related read: 4 Top Tips for Writing Push Notifications that Drive Conversions
Concluding Thoughts
The competition in the health and fitness app category will continue to grow. It is important for you as a mobile marketer to understand your users so that you can be a part of their fitness journeys in a meaningful way.
Starting from user acquisition to engagement and retention, you need have an effective mobile marketing strategy in place to stand out from the pack.
Leverage the power of advanced data analytics and customer insights to consistently deliver highly personalised and differentiated user experiences that help you positively impact your key app metrics! To know more about how can Smartech can help you achieve your app marketing goals, get in touch with us today!
