Non-obvious trends in mobile marketing 2024

Recently, the media has written a lot about what trends determine the specifics of mobile marketing in 2024. Some of them are quite obvious: chatbots, clean traffic, alternative stores, etc. But there are trends that can only be noticed by studying the industry closely.

Experts are now actively discussing key trends for 2024. This includes the high need for specialists with expertise in retention, the rise in the cost of analytics due to changes in security and privacy policies, and the desire of businesses to transfer traffic from the web to mobile.

In addition, the widespread fight against fraud continues and alternative advertising channels are being developed. Chatbots remain popular as a mechanism for encouraging a user to take a targeted action. It is obvious that the global mobile application market is growing and there is a growing demand for those specialists at ASO who not only raise applications in stores at the expense of organics, but also take over all communication with app stores.

In this article, I want to talk about some more significant trends that are important to consider when planning work for 2024.

A few years ago, we talked a lot about ecosystems and combining different applications into superapps that cover many different needs at the same time.

For example, Rakuten, which allows you to deal with insurance, payment for services through banking and media.

At the time, it seemed that this trend only applies to very large players. But now it seems that it is becoming universal. And even startups entering the market with MVP are striving to expand it and offer additional options.

For example, a dietary nutrition card can now easily include both a pedometer and training schemes, and an apartment insurance application can additionally measure noise levels.

Users are spending more and more time on their mobile phone and want to feel as comfortable as possible at home there. In response to this request, metaverses appear — digital platforms for virtual communication with friends and colleagues.

For example, at the beginning of last year, the Bondee metaverse briefly became popular in Asia, which allowed digital avatars to communicate, play or work together.

We are not yet technologically or psychologically ready for the metaverses, as science fiction writers describe them. But there is a craving for opening a smartphone, not to switch between numerous separate applications with different interfaces and features, but to get into a single space.

Brand collaborations are not only a way to offer a new product together, but also a meaningful information guide. The market has been in some uncertainty lately, and any high-profile event can stir it up. Therefore, undoubtedly, bright non-standard projects of combining brands are waiting for us. If you look at the mobile, it's easy to remember Roblox, which is very popular with children. About 100 large e-comms have already created and posted their games on this platform.

In general, we can expect more high-profile projects, maybe it will be going offline with QR codes, virtual reality, some other forgotten or new formats, but there is a need for fresh impressions.

By the way, experiments as such, not only within the framework of collaborations, will also gain popularity. Last year we already saw significantly more flexible management of classrooms for running A/B tests, different approaches to users — pictures, videos, mini-games. According to statistics, each such experiment increases the conversion rate by up to 5%. It seems to be a low indicator, but in 5 or 10 attempts you can increase the influx of customers by half.

Marketers note: "Modern consumers expect an equally comfortable experience of interacting with a brand, regardless of whether they use a mobile application, visit a website or a physical store. Therefore, it is important to ensure the unity of online and offline channels, set up synchronization between the mobile application and the site, and coordinate the loyalty system in all channels."

This is what is called omnichannel — the creation of a common structure that the consumer faces. And in mobile marketing, maintaining the level of service that is stated in the brand standards is no longer even a trend, but a vital necessity.

Fraud affects both the profit and the reputation of the company, while there are more and more fraudulent schemes, and you need to learn how to cut them off.

An expert from a major international advertising agency says that the important trend of 2023, which we took away in 2024, is that the topic of fraud is gradually ceasing to be taboo.

What this means: various players in the advertising market have begun to openly acknowledge the existence of the problem and the need to combat it, and with joint efforts. Like a personal contact with the user.

Modern consumers no longer respond to mass advertising and prefer personalized offers that meet their individual needs. To do this, it is important for marketers to use data on customer preferences, their purchase history, online behavior and other analytics to better understand the audience. Content personalization includes creating push notifications tailored to the needs of the audience. This approach helps to establish a deep connection with customers, improve their brand experience and increase the likelihood of conversion."

The desire for conscious consumption, environmental friendliness, health, attention to the world and psychological comfort is very great. Therefore, brands focus on these issues.

It is noticeable that the applications are being redesigned, switches to night mode appear for the sake of eye comfort, push notifications have become less intrusive. Many services offer customers to support the rejection of plastic, save trees, choose electronic checks instead of paper ones, encouraging them with bonuses and internal rewards for an environmentally friendly approach.

There are many advertising channels, but integration with bloggers remains a very popular and convenient promotion tool. Recently, the approach to working with them has been changing. Previously, we placed ads for applications or some products through wide coverage outlets - we gave bloggers a promo code and recorded the result.

And since this year, more and more companies are choosing more efficient ways to spend their budget, and they are more attentive to CPI (cost per install, installation cost). And when signing contracts with bloggers, they focus on retention indicators — how many installations that came from the blogger will remain in the application. There are already sites that allow you to pay bloggers for installations. We will continue to monitor the channels and evaluate them for traffic purity.

They haven't said a word about neural networks yet, but only because this is probably the loudest trend of 2023 in almost all areas. Neural networks are being used more and more actively. At the same time, data collection and training are continuing, which means that the power of AI will increase. The number of neural networks and the ways of their application are also increasing.

More and more new products based on neural network technology will appear. Probably, at some point, AI-based communication systems will take the place of chatbots, we will have custom flavor selections and even more personalized recommendations.

To continue to grow dynamically, businesses need to pay even more attention to numbers and metrics than before, conduct even more experiments, and be ready for changes, trial and error.

Neural networks will provide a completely different level of customer interaction with the brand, unattainable until quite recently. In addition, due to the desire of mobile to expand, platforms will appear that solve even more user tasks. At the same time, the trend towards environmental friendliness and care in communications and products will continue.