What your mobile app should do and what it should say about you

If you want somebody to use your mobile app, it had better be personal

“It would be an understatement if we said a mobile phone practically defines your identity,” says Seshadri Krishnan, co-founder, Trip38, a location aware mobile app.

While that might be a step too far for some, it’s true that customers today expect more and more features from a mobile device or app. There has also been a shift towards smarter apps which, says Krishnan, “start behaving like an extension of our personality rather than being passive and waiting for user instructions”.

When it comes to travel, there are several search keywords, behaviour patterns, transactions and even ‘likes’ that consumers leave on the Internet which can help firms like Trip38 to aggregate information and act as a travel assistant throughout the journey. But it seems that isn’t enough. Travellers still aren’t being served relevant, targeted offers that are directly related to recent or past behaviour.

For Krishnan, personalisation and contextualisation requires more than simply aggregating and collating information for a customer. It is about being being smarter and more pro-active – in other words going beyond user intent to take in a more holistic view. Of course, privacy concerns need to be taken seriously and user profiling only done with active user participation.

However, in working towards this goal Krishnan has found that:

  • Users are willing to share more about their intent and behaviour, providing it’s clear how this will improve the travel experience – from great recommendations to useful information or relevant offers and deals
  • Users see more value in a true trip assistant that provides help at each step after the booking. This is true even though they may be frequent traveller
  • Prompt and relevant notifications and alerts make life less stressful which explains why app users are demanding specific features when it comes to trip assistance
  • A lot more social and sharing happens on the mobile app, so apps that faciliate this are welcome
  • A simple, intuitive experience and customised interface based on the profile of the user will makes the app more interesting and engaging.

The simple yardstick for the success of a mobile app is user engagement. So developers should continuously be thinking about how to engage the user time and again.

As David Llewellyn, Head of Mobile Marketing at Skyscanner point 20-25% of its paid spend is on retargeting activities within the app.

And these retargeting activities should be based on past transactions and search behaviour with the aim of getting the user to enage from the time they leave their home base until they return.

For Krishnan and app has reached maturity if it delivers on three fronts:

  • Awareness: the app exists and is ready to provide information based on the user’s search intent.
  • Automation: It helps the user complete a few rudimentary tasks such as providing automated alerts and notifications.
  • Personalisation & Contextualisation: The app is one step ahead in providing and delivering contextual information to the user triggered by past behaviour, current events, the date time and location and even affinity based on similar profiles. 

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