As a central, magnetic force in today's digital landscape, influencers have garnered a trusted voice in marketing strategy. There’s a growing demand for brands to interact with influencers and leverage the power of their personal brand, because they possess the ability to connect with audiences on a deeper level, and their influence extends far beyond traditional advertising channels.
While social media platforms serve as a key medium for influencers, building your own app can offer a multitude of benefits that can take a personal brand to new heights. In this article, we will explore the reasons why it's worthwhile for an influencer to consider creating their own app.
Building an app allows you to establish your own distinct brand identity. With a personalised app, influencers can curate the user experience, tailor content, and add design elements and flourishes which align perfectly with your unique style and personality. This level of customisation helps to build stronger connections with followers, fosters a sense of exclusivity, and increases brand loyalty.
Influencers often rely on social media algorithms and by default individual platform’s policies, which may limit reach to a fraction of your actual followers. By developing your own app, you can gain control over direct communication with your audience. Influencers can then share exclusive content, updates, and personalised messages to foster a deeper level of engagement. Additionally, push notifications can help ensure that messages do actually reach your followers promptly, boosting interaction and driving traffic to other platforms, bolstering engagement and call to action uptake.
An influencer's app can serve as a powerful revenue stream. By incorporating various monetisation strategies, such as in-app purchases, subscription models, or premium content, you can create additional income streams beyond partnerships and brand collaborations. Additionally, an app can provide a personalised platform to sell merchandise or offer exclusive discounts, further strengthening your brand and generating revenue.
Building an app grants influencers access to valuable user data and analytics. From tracking user behaviour to understanding engagement patterns, you can gain insights that help to refine your content, identify audience preferences, and make data-driven decisions to enhance your brand strategy. This valuable data is an asset for influencers to negotiate better partnerships and collaborations, ensuring a win-win situation for both the influencer and brands.
Unlike social media platforms that are subject to ever-changing algorithms and trends, an influencer's app allows for consistent and uninterrupted engagement with followers. The app becomes a dedicated space for fans to access content, participate in interactive features, and connect with like-minded individuals. This long-term engagement not only strengthens your relationship with your audience but also enables you to build a supportive community. Your own app allows you to grow with your online audience in an authentic, tailored way.
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The decision to make your own brand app isn’t a small one. It’s a significant step and requires a certain amount of time, resources and ongoing commitment. However, if you have engaged and receptive users (no matter how big or small the numbers are, we’ll break that down later) you potentially have a loyal fan base that is likely to support your transition. Plus, if you have clear values, a voice and have ascertained the need for exclusive content in your space with a unique value proposition, a distinct niche and a specific community; or, you want to cultivate longer term relationships with your followers and establish deeper relationships, or you want to create a new community or a space to build one…you’re ready to start considering the leap.
It’s not all about the numbers, the quality is super important too. Having an engaged follower base is important, and here are our top tips to consider wherever you sit.
Micro-Influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers): a highly engaged and niche audience where you notice a strong demand for exclusive content or personalised interactions within your community
Mid-Level Influencers (100,000 to 500,000 followers): you have an actively engaged audience who you’re looking to deepen your connection with and provide exclusive content or services for
Macro-Influencers (500,000 to 1 million followers): you have significant reach and engagement, and are looking to provide an enhanced, exclusive, personalised experience for your audience, leading to deeper engagement and monetisation opportunities
Mega-Influencers (Over 1 million followers): you’re looking to create a more exclusive and intimate space for your most dedicated fans, offering unique content, experiences, or services that aren't feasible on traditional social media platforms with premium engagement options
Firstly, ensure you define the purpose and your goals, and determine what unique value the app will offer to your audience, as well as how it will complement your existing content and brand. It can be incredibly useful at this point to conduct a thorough analysis of your audience's preferences, needs, and expectations to understand your audience and what they want so you can identify the features and content that will resonate with them and enhance their overall experience.
Whilst you’re doing this, ensure you research the existing apps in your niche or industry to understand what works well and what could be improved. This will allow you to develop a comprehensive plan that outlines your app's key features, functionalities, and user interface design, whilst keeping user experience at the forefront.
Building a personal app can be a game-changer for those who are looking to elevate their brand, engagement, and monetisation strategies. It provides an avenue for influencers to showcase their unique style, communicate directly with their audience, and to be in control of monetising their content in innovative ways. By owning their own platform, influencers can harness the power of data, engage with their followers on a deeper level, and create a lasting impact on their industry. When done right, your own brand app can propel your career to new heights and unlock the potential for increased future success.
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Working in partnership with an agency like ASquared can simplify your research process, hone your product, and enable you to design and develop the perfect fit for your app. We can also help you launch, engage, test and iterate to continue to fit your goals moving forwards. Ready to take the leap?
Let's see what we can make together.
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