5 Ways to Use In-App Messages to Improve the Customer Experience

5 minute read

Team Localytics

When a consumer downloads an app, they expect to receive a seamless, personalized experience every time they open it, meaning that whenever an app is opened, it’s the perfect opportunity for app marketers to shape their consumer’s experience and focus on building robust, meaningful relationships with them.

One of the most effective ways to achieve this is via In-App Messaging. In-App Messages are the messages that are delivered while the user is actively using the app and because of their nature, are extremely efficient in creating a richer and more personalized customer experience. In turn, the improved customer experience can lead to a 4x higher app retention rate and can reduce app uninstalls by approximately 25% within the first 30 days of download.

If you’re new to mobile app marketing, here are 5 ways you can use In-App messages to improve the customer experience.

  • App onboarding

An easy-to-use app is non-negotiable. If your app is difficult to use or users can’t access the function/feature they require, they are unlikely to continue using it. App onboarding is a crucial part of the customer experience as it helps your users feel confident when using your app. The most successful app onboardings use in-app messages to walk users through the important features so that they know exactly what’s available to them and where to find it.

  • First interaction

Your user’s first interaction with your app will make or break your relationship with them which is why it’s so important that you leverage in-app messages to create a great customer experience from the offset. Whether you’re offering a discount on their first purchase or encouraging them to complete their profile to gather more first-party data, your aim should be to convert a new user into a happy, loyal customer.

  • Boost opportunities

While good first impressions are important, you have to ensure you continue to deliver the experience they expect in order to build the relationship and retain their custom. Hyper-personalized in-app messages will improve the customer experience tenfold by removing the effort required by a customer to convert. They can also be used to boost revenue by introducing relevant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. For example, if you’re a clothing retailer and can see that your customer has recently purchased a new shirt, triggering an in-app message promoting a pair of pants to go with it will prove to your customers that you know and care about them. As long as your recommendations are relevant, they are likely to succeed and improve your bottom line.

  • Recover abandoned carts

According to the Baymard Institute, 69.57% of online carts are abandoned meaning that for every 100 carts, roughly 70 of them will be abandoned. To put this into context, it’s estimated that eCommerce stores lose out to $18 billion in revenue each year. As much as we’d love to say that there’s a way you can recover 100% of abandoned carts, there’s not. However, in-app messages are a powerful tool to help claw back a percentage of this revenue.

Let’s say your customer adds products to their cart online but abandons it before hitting the ‘complete purchase’ button, triggering an in-app message the next time they launch your app offering them to pick up where they left off could clinch the deal. Or, if you’re feeling generous, you could offer them a promotional code or free shipping to better the chances of conversion. For this to be effective, you need to ensure you’re delivering an omnichannel experience and that your web and mobile app are working together. There’s zero point in triggering an in-app notification for an abandoned cart if their products won’t be sat waiting for them.

  • Make recommendations

Recommending relevant products or services to a user will amplify the user experience and remove the effort required by them to find what they’re looking for. To make effective recommendations however, you need to use your app analytics to make data-driven decisions taking into account various factors such as their location, browsing history, and previous transactions.

For instance, if you’re a media company, you can leverage the insights derived from your app analytics to recommend your users shows they might like. This could mean analyzing shows they’ve previously watched or looking at shows that are popular in their geographic location and sending them an in-app message saying ‘we think you might like these’. Personalized in-app messages such as these will not only encourage your users to consume more content but will help strengthen your relationship with them.

In-app messages provide app marketers with another channel to break through the noise and provide their users with a better experience. It enables you to reach your customers at a time when they are actively engaging with your brand, and therefore, are more ready to continue that engagement along the journey.

For more information on how you can use in-app messages to improve the customer experience, speak to our in-house expert.

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