6 Engagement Megatrends Impacting Marketing at All Levels

Humans have always wanted to peer into the future. And the more challenges we have, the stronger this desire gets. In this regard, app marketing folks are no different. After all, we need to see which way the wind blows to ensure our apps don’t sink into obscurity.

To make sure you don’t chase ghosts and are well-prepared for the time to come, we decided to remind you about some brilliant insights from our App Growth Week. The article highlights the first-ever session of the event by Peggy Anne Salz, a chief analyst and founder of MobileGroove, who shared her knowledge about six engagement megatrends — major movements that will impact marketing at all levels in 2023 and beyond.

Obtain a big-picture view by reading Peggy’s forecast for the coming years below.

About Peggy Anne Salz

Peggy Anne Salz is the person behind MobileGroove — a top 50 ranked analytics, research and content strategy destination for the world’s mobile industry. 

With an impressive career as a writer, analyst, consultant, host and speaker, Peggy is a prominent figure in mobile marketing and one of the leading minds in the industry named one of the Top 100 Influencers at Mobile World Congress. She produces educational podcasts, webinars, and video shows to help app marketers navigate the dynamic and competitive mobile landscape.

Peggy is also a nine-time author, a Forbes Senior Writer, and a guest contributor for major media outlets, where she shares her insights into CX innovation, business transformation, brand and mobile growth, and more. 

Trend#1. Mobile is the Remote Control of Our Lives

There is nothing new about this particular trend: mobile devices have been an essential part of our lifestyles for a while — and they have no intention of lessening the influence they have on our daily routine. 

This hold mobile technology has over us was first observed by a cultural anthropologist Mizuko Ito who wrote the book “Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life” to illustrate how mobile devices were turning into a pervasively personal tool. His observations about them were as follows:

• They are personal because users consider them extensions of themselves;
• They are portable because we take them everywhere we go;
• They are pedestrian because they’re now part of our lives as it happens. 

With this in mind, it’s safe to say that smartphones started to form customs. And the habit of relying on them has only increased due to the recent lockdowns.  

Peggy predicts that these behaviors aren’t going to change any time soon, meaning that mobile devices will keep enhancing our lives and being the driving force in decision-making. 

It’s necessary to understand this megatrend will keep impacting their activities and will even shape them on a whole new level. App marketers should now not only provide value at the moment of use but at the moment of inspiration for users. In a nutshell, you need to be present inside and outside the app — as well as across other channels. 

Trend#2. Consumers Crave Journeys, not Experiences

Modern consumers turn to companies not only for advice and assistance, but also for companionship. In the eyes of customers, businesses become entities people look up to. This is why it’s crucial to provide your users not with a one-time experience, but with a whole customer journey.

In terms of marketing, Peggy sees a big opportunity for businesses to build a digital path and create a personality consumers will depend on at every step of their daily lives. 

From a practical perspective, it will mean that marketers need to review, shape, and sequence their digital interactions, such as

• Emails
• Push notifications
• Other formats of messaging 

By doing so, you’ll be able to create a full-fledged customer journey and guide users to a positive outcome. 

Trend#3. Just Ask Your Users What They Want

Data can tell you so much. And what about the rest? You should go right to the source.

The oldest and the most straightforward approach of gaining data is making a comeback: start a direct conversation with your customers about what they like and dislike about your app to get a fresh outlook to your work.

Peggy says that two-way exchanges will be a huge deal in 2023 and beyond. We’ll see more marketers conducting surveys and other similar activities to get feedback about their products and passing it right to the product team.

Get on the phone with your user and ask them what they’re willing to pay for your app, what features they like, and what you can do to improve the overall user experience. Use the old approach to unlock new opportunities. 

Trend#4. Prepare for the POS 

The next megatrend by Peggy Anne Salz is vitally important for subscription app marketers. 

Since many subscription-based apps help users manage their lifestyle habits and needs (like fitness apps or even fintech apps), they’re in position to become POS — personal operating systems for individual consumers. 

Mobile marketers should personalize their offerings and create holistic value propositions based on real-life events to insert their apps into their users’ daily routine 

Trend#5. Demographics Are Dead

Sounds radical, huh? However, the statement has more connections to the real state of things than you can imagine.

To build trust, have meaningful conversations with your customers, have high LTV and understand users’ needs on a deeper level, it’s no longer enough to rely solely on demographics and psychographics. You should deploy valuegraphics to understand what users really care about. 

Valuegraphics is a new data inventory that shows exactly what your users find important, what their core values are. 

The term was coined by David Allison, the author of “The Death of Demographics” book and founder of the Valuegraphics project that collected 750,000 surveys from around the world to ask people what they value in their lives. 

Peggy suggests incorporating valuegraphics into your marketing strategy and creating a three-layer approach to buyer personas:

• Layer#1. Look at demographics to figure out who your audience is; 
• Layer#2. Analyze psychographics to understand behaviour;
• Layer#3. Consider valuegraphics to learn about your audience’s core values.

By doing so, you’ll be able to create data-driven buyer personas — and thus step up your user retention game, create value-based ad campaigns, and more.

Trend#6. Cookie-less World Brings a New Recipe for Engagement

The age of privacy reigns, and it has no mercy for marketers. 

It’s a common point of view, isn’t it? However, this perception isn’t entirely true. The cookie-less world has more opportunities in store than you may think.

Peggy points out that marketers can now engage with their customers in a more responsible and meaningful way. In practice, it means this trend is all about establishing a transparent relationship with users by explaining to them what you’re going to do with their data. 

By being honest from day one, you can significantly boost engagement and connect with customers in a new, valuable way.

The Bottom Line

These are six engagement megatrends that are going to shake things up in the coming years. There are plenty of opportunities to make your app stand out from the others in a new, meaningful way.

What to do with them? It’s up to you.

The future may not always be clear, it may be foggy from time to time — but with the right insights, mindset, and motivation you can do lots of great things in the mobile marketing world

Want to learn more?

Experience the session Peggy Anne Salz by watching the recording from App Growth Week.