The Secret Power Behind Mobile Wallet Lies in Notifications

Face it. Not everyone wants your app. So what should your mobile marketing strategy look like? How are you going to reach your customers? How are you going to have that interactive engagement that all mobile marketers strive to achieve? Regarding apps, your customers probably fall into one of two categories:

1.     Not interested in downloading yet another app

2.     Brand loyalists who want your app

A recent Forrester study found that 60% of smartphone owners have two or fewer retail apps on their phone and — only 3% had more than 10. It’s clear that the fight for prime mobile real estate is ultra competitive.

And once you have that real estate, you still have to earn the right to stay there or risk being deleted. By using push notifications (requires opt-in permission in your app for iOS devices), marketers can send out relevant information at just the right time. Some businesses have seen remarkable success with push notifications, up to a 1200% increase in conversion over email. The question is how can you mimic that success if your customers don’t have your app?

This is where mobile wallet comes in.

Because mobile wallet passes can be downloaded and stored natively in Apple Wallet or Android Pay, they don’t require a branded app download. That makes mobile wallet a great solution for those customers who like your brand, but are not ready to download your app. By using mobile wallets, brands can “live” on the consumer’s beloved smartphone. While a brand’s mobile wallet footprint may seem small, when it leverages Apple Wallet and Android Pay the impact and upside can be quite large.

One of the coolest things about mobile wallet is the ability to send out notifications that can appear on the lock-screen, similar to push notifications coming from apps. Because mobile wallet does not require any opt-in, it can act as a “lightweight app,” allowing you to message your customer without them ever having to install your branded app.

With great power comes great responsibility.

By its very nature, mobile wallet gives you an advantage over apps by allowing you to communicate directly with your customers, but not requiring heavy commitment from them. However, that doesn’t mean you should go crazy and send out messages (via your pass) daily. The same rules apply: you still have to take care of your customers and the privilege you’ve been afforded to interact with them. Make sure your notifications are useful, relevant, contextual, timely and engaging.

To learn more about everything your brand could accomplish using mobile wallets, check out our wallet solution, Urban Airship Reach. Ready to try it out? Sign up for a free trial of Urban Airship Reach.