What kind of apps do millennials prefer?

Ecommerce app

Lockdown has certainly changed the way we shop and communicate. Ecommerce became one of the main topics of conversation last year as shoppers were confined to their homes and increasingly used their smartphones to purchase groceries and other goods.

More than half of millennials say they shop more on their mobile devices than they did the previous year, with 80 percent saying they shop on their mobile devices regularly and 73 percent shopping on their mobile devices one to four times a week. A new Stackla report highlights that while 67 percent of consumers say their online purchases have increased since the start of the pandemic, 91 percent plan to continue shopping online.

Digital-first shopping apps are driving better engagement, with the average U.S. user spending more than $3 on online apps, 1.6 times more than physical click-through apps. Apps with more interactive tools are also being used more often alongside in-app features, such as stories and wish lists, to increase engagement.

Food delivery app

The trend toward take-out subscriptions finds a perfect match in specialty online food delivery and millennials. Roughly speaking, those born between the early 1980s and mid-2000s are the oldest demographic in the U.S., and they are driving huge changes in the food delivery industry.

Millennials are the first generation to prefer to stay out rather than go out, which often means having customized meal packages delivered to their doorstep at mealtime. According to the Food Information Council, 55 percent of millennials most prefer pre-prepared, fresh meals, menu packs containing ingredients and other home food packages that save customers time by putting convenience over taste.

Food delivery apps were among the winners during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, with a 19 percent increase in global installs. As they continue to grow by 20% in 2021, there seems to be little to stop them. The number of sessions in takeaway apps grows by 34% in 2021 compared to 71% in 2020.


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Messaging app

According to eMarketer research, the number of users of messaging apps will reach 3.09 billion by the end of 2021, an increase of 6.1 percent. When users grow by 14%, this is half the growth in Messenger users by 2020.

The rapid rise in app adoption is undoubtedly driven by the COVID-19 lockdown, which has led more people to turn to digital ways of communicating with friends and family. By the end of 2024, eMarketer expects three quarters of Internet users to use messaging apps - pushing that milestone forward by at least five years.

Meditation app

The demand for positive thinking apps has steadily increased over the past eight years. Much of last year's growth was driven by the pandemic, which led to an increase in the number of people seeking help for anxiety and depression.

Calm now ranks No. 1 among meditation apps and No. 9 among fitness and health apps. In the first half of 2021, Calm was the No.1 health and fitness app for consumer spending in the U.S., Canada and India, and the NO.1 meditation app in the U.K. Calm profits from in-app subscriptions, and it's clear that users can choose to pay monthly or annually for simple, on-the-go meditation and positive thinking services.

What's the most popular marketing campaign form do millennials engage with in mobile marketing?

Rewarded ads for better engagement

App users prefer reward apps (58%) over other ad types such as banner ads (12%) and social media ads (10%). More than half (63%) say their top reason for buying through mobile ads is to receive in-app rewards.

Millennials are just as tech-savvy and passionate about their mobile devices as Generation Z, especially when it comes to gaming and shopping. Incentive ads offer the best of both worlds - they connect Millennials with relevant offers and brands while enabling them to get more out of their apps and mobile games.

In-app purchases rather than paid apps

Right now only 6% of iOS apps on the App Store are paid. That's about 112k out of 2 million apps. The situation on Google Play isn't much different, with 4 percent of the 4 million apps being paid for. The rest of the apps are available for free on both stores.

According to data provided by AppFigures, this is the lowest ever and is expected to shrink further as more users opt for subscriptions and in-app purchases. At the same time, if the last year has shown anything, it's that users crave in-app content and are willing to pay for it.

App users buying in-app subscriptions and organizing their lives through mobile services is trending now, which are accessible, personalized and trustworthy. It is also important to note that a large number of free apps are profiting outside the app store through in-app advertising, and some even from user data.

In Q3 2021, consumers spent $34 billion on in-app subscriptions and in-game purchases, making the quarter the largest consumer spending quarter to date. Despite the easing of the embargo, gamers are still eager to play.

This is good news for developers, but means they may need to diversify their offerings if they want to attract a sustainable audience.

Brand Personalities

App users are spending 72% more time on social media. This is affecting the way they interact with brands and the types of commerce experiences they are looking for.

When interacting with brands on mobile devices, Millennials value how brands treat their employees (55%), sustainability and environmental awareness (50%), and diversity (46%). They want to find people who share their values, whether at the companies they work for or the companies they follow on social media.

72% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from brands that offer a personalized experience. Brand personality is part of the brand that your customers identify with and build relationships with. As such, it plays a huge role in driving customer acquisition, fostering brand loyalty and building brand equity.

No one has harnessed the power of personality better than Apple. The brand's advocates see themselves - if perhaps as idealized versions of themselves - as the sleek, artistic, and somewhat unconventional personalities the brand has cultivated over decades of purposeful advertising. This has led to a large number of loyal brand customers whose identities are defined, at least in part, by their ownership of Apple products.

New channels and tools to promote your brand

Google Ads, Facebook and Apple Search Ads were the main networks driving growth, while Snap and TikTok entered the top five, followed by AppLovin, Headway and Digital Turbine. Social media users are spending more time on short-form video content, with Google Ads, TikTok, Snap and Apple Search Ads dominating the rankings here.

Facebook

Since 75 percent of users want to communicate with businesses through messaging tools, Facebook added an option for businesses to choose which platform they want to use to communicate - whether it's WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.

This means customers can launch a WhatsApp chat from their Instagram branded profile page to get answers to their questions. Adding WhatsApp to an Instagram profile by clicking the chat button is simple. It can also be added to in-app ads.

Facebook also said it is testing quote requests, which allow consumers to request a quote for a product or service through Messenger.

At the same time, it is testing paid and organic tools to help small businesses find and filter leads in Instagram. Advertisers can use lead generation ads to reduce their cost per lead by up to 72 percent.

Whatsapp

Facebook-owned app, Whatsapp, is improving for businesses and customers by adding a local business directory to the app.

This means that when users click the "Nearby Businesses" button in the app, they can view and browse local business listings in the app. They will then be able to tap on a profile and click for more information.

Currently, the feature is only available in São Paulo, Brazil, where 93 percent of smartphone users use WhatsApp on a daily basis. The messaging app is popular globally and in huge markets like India and Indonesia.

With social commerce soaring in the wake of last year's pandemic, it's clear that Facebook is more closely emulating Chinese messaging apps that already incorporate a variety of shopping tools and payment features.

WhatsApp isn't quite there yet, but it's certainly getting closer.

Tiktok

Restrictions and the 'stay home' mantra of 2020 have led many to turn to the Internet and various apps to entertain and indulge in some level of human interaction. TikTok's seemingly endless library of entertainment has clearly captured the attention of millions of people, the major social media apps remain an integral part of our daily lives.

TikTok revealed that it reached 1 billion active global users in September, making it the seventh mobile app to reach that milestone. With more than 100 million average monthly users in the U.S. alone, the app offers marketers a wide scope for expansion. The partnership enables brands and agencies to plan, buy, measure and optimize their TikTok ads with other media channels.

In 2021, the number of consumers exposed to TikTok ads rises to 37%, up from 19% last year. Consumers find TikTok ads both fun and entertaining, indicating that the app has increased its overall appeal among app users over the past year. TikTok was also named the most innovative in-app advertising app by marketers.

TikTok's owner, ByteDance, plans to enhance the app's e-commerce and advertising platform. TikTok recently announced a number of exciting new features at the TikTok World event. It is expanding its capabilities with the TikTok Creator Marketplace - a self-service portal that helps brands find creators.

The Marketplace API allows marketers to access first-party marketing data that experts like Captiv8, Influential and Whalar can use to manage their creator marketing campaigns on the app.

It also adds open application campaigns that allow brands to brief creators on the creator marketplace so they can apply and participate on their own. Branded Content Toogle lets creators tag videos and expose commercial content, while custom instant pages mean they can create landing pages that load 11 times faster than standard mobile pages.

At the same time, TikTok wants to make it easier for marketers to measure their campaigns. It has increased ad visibility through DoubleVerify and MOAT, as well as brand safety and inventory filtering tools.

Shopify

TikTok has partnered with Shopify to launch a series of in-app shopping tools. Since October 2020, Shopify merchants have been able to create TikTok campaigns from within the Shopify dashboard.

This latest addition means Shopify merchants can add shopping tabs to their TikTok profiles by syncing their product catalog to their TikTok tabs. Shopify has also partnered with TikTok to launch product links that merchants can use to tag products in organic posts and send to consumers for checkout.