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New Era Global Sports sees 40pc app engagement

Sports management company New Era Global Sports recently saw that by using in-application videos and regularly-updated content, 40 percent of its users engage with the app regularly.

New Era Global Sports is using a mobile app to interact with British soccer star Rio Ferdinand. The company is working with mobile platform mBlox on the mobile initiative.

?What is key about this example is that Manchester United is one of top sports brands in the world and wanted to build something out for his fan base to interact with,? said David Williams, vice president of business development at mBlox, Sunnyvale, CA.

App real estate
The goal of New Era Global Sports' Rio app is to give sports fans an inside look at the sports star by aggregating social, media and other interactive pieces of content into one place for users.

The Rio app was first launched for Android devices in May 2011 as a stepping stone into mobile and was later rolled out for iPhone devices in October.

To compare to mBlox?s 40 percent engagement rate, the company says that the average consistent engagement rate is between five and ten percent for most apps, showing how interactive elements such as video and social media can play an active role in keeping users hooked.

Over the course of three days, an in-app video was watched more than 90,000 times. Users spent an average of one minute and thirty-eight seconds watching the video.

Another video of a soccer match generated 40,293 views and was watched an average of 3.2 times by consumers. Sports fans spent 58 seconds watching the video, pointing to how mobile video can be effective as long as it is short and to the point.

This engagement comes out to be five times more than print advertising, per mBlox.

?Video is a compelling form of engagement if it gives an appreciated value to the end user,? Mr. Williams said.

Loyal users
The Rio app is an example of how an app can be used multiple times by a user if engaging features entice users to come back multiple times.

Mobile video is poised to make a splash in mobile marketing as campaigns continue to become more sophisticated.

For example, according to a recent study from ABI Research, mobile video will reach 390 million consumers by 2016 (see story).

In order to create an app that uses mobile video efficiently, Mr. Williams offers three tips for brands looking to get the most out of their app strategies ? respect, refresh and refine.

?Treat the end user with information that is not available elsewhere,? Mr. Williams said.

?Content also needs to be programmed and updated on a regular basis, and use your findings to learn what is working and not working,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York