Gartner Research

Expand Mobile App Features to Drive App Engagement

Published: 18 July 2023

Summary

Smartphones dominate customers’ waking hours, yet brands struggle to engage them through mobile apps. Digital marketing leaders can drive mobile app engagement by exploring how other brands use available app features and leveraging them to solve customer pain points and support marketing objectives.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Mobile apps present a powerful opportunity to reach customers, and brands with mature mobile marketing strategies take full advantage of unique mobile features like geolocation and integrations with connected devices — yet only 3% of consumers feel they need more apps.

  • Overall, brands struggle to drive mobile app engagement. Across 681 measured apps, the number of monthly active users (MAUs) was mostly flat, with only 1.5% year-over-year growth from 2021 to 2022.

  • Mainstream adoption of advanced mobile app features can be unpredictable and is variable by industry. Yet younger audiences’ higher adoption of devices like wearables and the rise of

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