Vehicle-sharing service Zipcar is seeing an uptick in downloads, engagement and conversion rates for its mobile application by targeting ads on Facebook to users who exhibit similar demographic details as current customers. 

Zipcar saw a 15 percent increase in downloads and 30 percent more engagement through its mobile app by taking a more targeted approach on Facebook. The brand is using a solution by Localytics, which generates a group of consumers who use the app more than average and then shares digital ads through Facebook, targeting those who match qualities to the original group.

?Using Localytics, Zipcar identified and created an audience of highly engaged users who had made three or more reservations in the app,? said Josh Todd, chief marketing officer at Localytics. ?They exported the audience directly to their Facebook Ads Manager and then created a lookalike audience based on these highly engaged users. 

?With the new lookalike audience, Zipcar was able to reach people on Facebook who shared the characteristics of their engaged users, but were not yet using the Zipcar app,? he said. ?Using Localytics, they could then track the success of their campaigns by using our analytics to see that users who were acquired through these campaigns logged 30 percent more app sessions than the average user.?

"When companies target their app marketing based on the behaviors of their current users, they drive more value from their users, and thus, their app. Acquisition is just the start of a targeted marketing approach, it is critical to engage users at every stage of the app lifecycle."

Marketers looking to be successful in the mobile app field need to focus on leveraging data of its current users to better serve them, and future consumers. Zipcar is able to look at its current audience and see which demographics and characteristics make a consumer more likely to use its app and products. 


Zipcar's mobile app which lets users locate nearby vehicles

The car service provides an alternative method to rental cars, a sector which can be highly influenced by demographic information. A person?s lifestyle and living location makes a significant impact on whether or not he or she is likely to use Zipcar?s services. 

Zipcar is making itself available to consumers who may not know the brand, but would be interested in its rental cars. Acquiring these users not only increased downloads of the app, but also those that were obtained through the Facebook advertisements significantly engaged with the app more. 

The brand was originally using the solution while in beta, and continues to do so following its public launch. Its ad efforts will extend to various platforms beyond Facebook to pinpoint more potential users. 

While recent mobile campaigns show a more sophisticated grasp of custom audience creation methods, marketers need to overcome challenges related to efficiently collecting, storing and accessing data at scale to gain a complete picture of a consumer and the likelihood he or she will engage with a particular ad (see more). 

Also, The stickiness of applications has reached an all-time-high due to better retention and engagement, according to a study by Localytics (see more). 

"With remarketing, companies like Zipcar can continuously target and engage their users to drive more bookings and conversions," Mr. Todd said. "For Zipcar, 50 percent of their reservations are done through their mobile app so using every avenue available to find new app users and remind current customers to use the app to reserve cars is paramount to their business. 

 

"Most people think of remarketing only as a reengagement product targeted at lost users, and that is a huge and valid use case, but remarketing can be used at all stages of an app user's lifecycle," he said. "In our beta, our customers demonstrated that for us by using lookalike audiences for acquisition and deepening engagement with users by encouraging desired behaviors."

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer