Clowder Blog

According to comScore, 50% of all digital media time in 2017 was spent on mobile apps while only 34% was spent on desktop and just 7% on mobile web. From the total time spent on mobile throughout the year, a whopping 87% was spent on apps and only 13% was spent on web. These stats alone should be enough to convince any organization to go mobile - and we don’t mean a mobile-responsive website.  

When Facebook’s 2017 usage was broken down, 70% of time spent in the platform was accessed through its mobile app. Only 22% of time was accessed through desktop and just 8% through mobile web. This reflects the major shift in how we now communicate and consume content. We want the convenience of mobile apps over lagging and disconnected website experiences.

When your organization has its own native app, it should not completely replace your social media channels. Social media should be used to enhance your mobile efforts. The goal is to take the wide audience you’re able to reach through social media and direct traffic towards your app. Posts through social media platforms bring attention to your app, its content, features and updates. These posts help to keep app retention high. The frequency in which you should be sharing posts about your app is at least once a week.

Promotion drives downloads. Content then drives retention. Continued promotion must be made a priority. Your network should not just be told to download your app, but shown why they should.

Traditional advertising through TV, desktop and print is dwindling. An ever-growing shift towards in-app advertising has officially surpassed TV spend as of last year after beating out desktop spend the year before. Native mobile ads are predicted to drive 74% of total ad revenue by 2021 (Business Insider). That’s a huge percentage for associations to ignore. Sponsors are heightening their awareness of the ROI they’re able to gain through mobile as opposed to what they’ve had access to in the past. Without a native app, associations are increasingly missing out on opportunities for major revenue generation.

A vital question for associations to ask themselves - what are you doing to attract Millennials?

When it comes to events, your organization should rely heavily on mobile for enhancing involvement and coordination. This is done by influencing users to take full advantage of mobile-exclusive content and functionalities especially as they’re on the go. Clowder™ apps accomplish what event-only apps have continually failed to do - build lasting engagement. Utilizing the features and strategies below before, during and after events are a surefire way to avoid an event-only app’s 99% delete rate.

Exclusive content builds value. When your network can only access specific content via your app, they are driven to actively stay involved with it. Exclusive content can come in different forms including:

The headache of most associations - dues collection. Despite deploying reminder email after reminder email, members aren’t in a rush to login to a website and submit payment. It’s simple - it isn’t convenient. This form of paying requires members to dedicate more interrupted time tending to the process. Even if they’re one of the few actually opening these reminders, the task doesn’t stay top-of-mind for long. So much leniency is given because of this, making the collection process span for months. But what if you could minimize a normally 90-day process into just 30, making it easier on both your association and its members? We promise, it’s possible.