Put your money where your mobile is – the advertising game Flipkart, Zomato and many others play

If you've reading this, my Editor says there’s a 50% chance you’re on mobile. You get your daily dose of news on your mobile, shop online on your favorite e-commerce portal, and order your food on Zomato or Swiggy.

It comes as no surprise then that India is considered as the world's second largest market in Asia Pacific for smartphone users. A research says that by 2020, the number of Indians accessing the Internet over mobile devices is expected to touch a whopping 600 million.

“Digital companies like Flipkart and Myntra are spending serious moolah (over 70%) on digital marketing. The Tatas and Birlas don’t need to come on mobile because their consumers may not be interacting on mobile. A Tata tea won’t need a mobile app” Rohan Patil, Managing Director, AppLift India says.

Business Insider sat down with Patil to get insights on efficient mobile app marketing and how app developers can connect with their audience right. He says, contrary to public perception, startups are way more judicious with ad dollars now.

“The ecosystem is evolving. Its more ROI/performance focused now. People are going beyond beyond installs and paying for action. An e-commerce/travel app wants someone with spending power. This will help them maximize lifetime value”, Patil observes.

Want more organic downloads?
App store optimization is crucial, and unfortunately neglected by a large number of advertisers.

Write a good and interesting description about the app and use the right keywords. Once that’s done correctly, it’s easier to get organic installs.

Once you have cracked the app store optimization, the virality factor kicks in. This helps reduce cost per installs. It’s no rocket science.

Biggest Startup Marketer mistakes
Everybody wants to grow very fast, and get millions of installs. Don’t rush for the sake of the next funding round.

Engage with users, read their reviews. In the Launch Phase, you have to learn about your user. In the Growth Phase, use key performance indicators to focus on a target segment. That’s important for you to back your decisions with data. Otherwise you’ll be burning investor money.

In the Retain Phase, you can introduce new features or throw in discounts to reconnect with existing users.

Running your ad engine on steroids
It is very competitive, and companies are fighting to be relevant.

The products of India’s unicorns are very similar. Given the products are similar; one way to differentiate is via marketing. Only 30-40% of India’s population has smartphones. For e-commerce companies to get to these people there’s a lot of advertising budget they have to spend.

However, this is just the beginning. The years 2020-2025 will be the next phase. There’s a long way to go.

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