The Asia-Pacific region leads the world in smartphone users, and mobile apps, according to Google are the driving force behind it.
In Korea, for example, the average user has 53 apps installed on their phone and uses 11 daily. App usage is so prevalent in Asia that, in most countries, people turn to apps as often as the mobile web. In Indonesia and Philippines, people actually turn to apps much more frequently than the mobile web.
A recent research conducted by Google alongside TNS, surveyed over 10,000 smartphone users in 10 countries including, India, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and China to better understand what drives their app behaviour.
Here are the three key insights from the research into what’s driving consumers to install and engage with mobile apps and how your brand can create a winning app strategy.
- App stores aren’t the only place to be found
Situation: In India, the top three places users find out about their new apps are family/ friends, search on app stores and TV ad. Search on a web browser is another major source of app discovery, with at least 20% of app users in all Asian countries discovering apps through search. In India this number much higher – 38% users in India discover apps through search.
Winning App strategy: Reach more users in the moments that matter. Marketers need to rethink where and when your users discover apps, and invest in scalable channels. Every time they search, consumers are giving out powerful signals of intent. Marketers can reach people right in the moments they’re searching by serving relevant app install ads across the Google Display Network and the Google Play Store. You can reach people as they search, watch, browse, and play with automated Universal App Campaigns (UAC), available for both Android and iOS apps. Over 3B installs have been driven by Google’s app promotion ads to date.
- Focus on “actions,” not just downloads
Situation: Acquiring new users is important, but finding the most valuable ones is vita. People who make in-app purchases are often the highest value users. In our study, 58% of app users have made an in-app payment via the app store across Asia. In gaming, for example, 51% of Asian users have made in-app purchases, but the kind of in-app purchases vary by country.1 The same holds true across entertainment and media apps.
Winning App strategy: Go beyond the install and find more of the right users. Analytics tools like Firebase Analytics can help you understand which in-app actions drive business value. Once you’ve figured out which actions to focus on, you can share this data with Google to run more efficient campaigns.
- Stay relevant to stay installed
Situation: In a market where users’ phones are bursting with apps, but also of limited phone storage, the competition to engage users and avoid being uninstalled is steep. Top Reasons Users Uninstall Apps Across Asia – Not relevant (48%), Don’t use it enough (45%), Not relevant (43%) and Takes too much of memory on my smartphone (42%). However, 61% of users in India said they would likely use apps again if given a reason to do so.
Winning App strategy: Give users reasons to keep coming back. § Mobile app engagement campaigns can help remind users how your app can help. Games are the most popular type of app to install, but they also have the highest churn rates. By engaging your audience at the right time with content that’s relevant to them, you can help your users make the most of your app—all while avoiding the ‘uninstall’ button.
You can read the full report here.
