Written by Talana Morris
In 2018, 52.2% of all worldwide online traffic was generated through mobile phones, up from 50.3% the previous year (Statista, 2018), and according to Campaign Monitor, about 53% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Today’s marketers must adjust to reach audiences in the ever-increasing mobile world we live in.
Recently, we helped a client launch a prescription discount card app, myRxMedSaver. As part of the project we developed a supporting website, although the intent is that most of the marketing and distribution will be through the app itself. However, we don’t want to miss out on the potential app users who may somehow land on the website from a desktop or laptop, rather than a mobile device. The ultimate objective: Get leads to download the mobile app, which can’t be done on a desktop.
Our challenge: How do we capture and convert leads interested in our app, but who accessed our website via their desktop? Will they immediately grab their mobile device, search for and download the app? Possibly, but not likely in this society of instant gratification. So, we wanted to make it easier for the interested lead to complete the app download process.
Of course, our talented developers came up with a solution. They created a script (i.e. a piece of code) that allows the desktop user to send a text message from the website to their mobile device with the direct link to download the app from their respective app store (whether it is Google Play for Android users or the App Store for iPhone users).
myRxMedSaver text-to-phone pop up screen
But that’s not all! myRxMedSaver has a network of distributors who earn income for card uses, so they are constantly sharing the free app with friends, family and colleagues. Their share links contain a unique identifier that ensures they get credit for users who download and successfully use the app to receive discounts on prescriptions.
Our second challenge: How do we ensure distributors receive credit for app leads who may click on their share link from a desktop? The solution: our developers modified the code script to carry the URL parameter that identifies the distributor through the entire process—from the initial link click (i.e. the link received from the distributor), to the website visit on a desktop, to the text-to-phone link the lead can request, through the last step in the process—the app download.
As marketers we constantly learn and adapt to changing times and technology, which includes staying on top of best practices to reach mobile audiences.
But, we must be vigilant and not forget about our target audiences who still digest content on work desktops or personal laptops. It’s hard to imagine a world where that scenario doesn’t exist, so we must remain flexible and mindful of how we can successfully serve both.
I’m constantly amazed by our team’s ability to create solutions to do just that! If you’re toying with launching an app in 2019, we’d be pleased to chat on how these solutions may work for your business. Reach out any time.
