The digital revolution means that everyone is spending more and more time in mobile apps. On average people now spend over three hours per day on their smartphones. Most of this time is spent in ‘OTT’ (over-the-top) apps which let people communicate, transact and consume rich media on a small screen.
Meanwhile, mobile operators are yet to exploit the full benefits of the smartphone revolution. The main challenge for operators is that they are not 100% digital ready, operate with high CapEx/OpEx costs, and with a relatively slow time-to market for new offers. How can they take advantage of the app-based digital economy to drive revenue growth and customer loyalty?
A new tool for operators to create app-based offers and drive data revenue
Dynamic Product Platform (DPP) is a cloud-based solution from LotusFlare that allows telecom operators to create app-based offers in minutes. It is a part of DNO™ by LotusFlare, a ‘telco in an app’ solution that lets operators launch an entirely new mobile brand with minimal CapEx, no retail presence and a fast time to market.
DPP works with any Android device and with any app on the Google Play store. It is an SDK which can be embedded in an existing telco app. It is not a DPI-based solution and does not require deep integration into the operator’s IT stack.
Once installed in the operator’s app, DPP lets telecom operators create app-based offers and bundles with the most popular apps, while retaining full control for charging and provisioning. It requires minimal integration with existing systems and offers can be created in a few minutes on the LotusFlare portal. Plans are flexible and personalized based on user preferences and habits.
Subscriber acquisition and on-ramp to mobile data
Free app usage offers are an extremely powerful tool. If used correctly, they can be a effective customer acquisition lever. Here are some of the best ways to use free offers:
- Acquisition: a one-time free offer gives customers an incentive to download and activate your application.
- Engagement: a mix of free offers, when scheduled regularly, will keep users engaged.
- Smoother user onboarding: use free offers to help users become comfortable with the user journey, from activation to purchases.
Increase ARPU by selling app add-on offers
Offer subscribers add-ons to their basic plans (music plan, social bundle, gaming offer), as well as one-time offers to drive usage of specific plans.
In several of our current DPP customer deployments, we noticed that the add-on offers have significantly increased ARPU for segments of the subscriber base. In order to maximize the uptake of app-based data offers, telecom operators need to create the right offer, at the right price, for the right subscriber segments.
How does it work? As part of the process, operators pick a few applications that are currently popular. These could be YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. They then launch targeted offers and analyze how subscribers react to them. The most important metrics that need to be tracked are:
- Revenue: overall incremental revenue generated by each offer
- $ per GB: this is an indicator of the quality of the revenue, to ensure there is no abuse
Traffic shaping: time-bound offers and location-based offers to drive traffic in specific areas
A happy hour feature allows operators to create offers that are only valid during certain hours of the day, in order to shape traffic on their data network. For example, if customers had low network usage from 12 AM to 6 AM, DPP can provide offers that can only be used during this time window.
This feature can be combined with free offers to minimize the free offer load on the network, but still maximise the impact of free offers.
Similar to happy hour, the location-based offer feature allows operators to create offers that are only valid in certain locations. For example, if there are certain locations in an operators’ cell network that are not fully loaded, operators can use location-based offers to promote data usage in these areas.
Provision additional benefit
DPP allows for the fast creation of flexible data offers. For example, operators can promote their core packages by attaching extra data. The operator advertises that any customer who purchases their 3GB plan will automatically get 300MB free date or unlimited YouTube usage for the duration of the plan. The base 3GB plan is provisioned on the operator’s billing system and the additional benefit is provisioned on DPP.
Create innovative data products in seconds with our flexible operator portal
App offers such as:
- Individual app offers: YouTube 1 day / 250 MB, Clash of Clans 7 days / 200 MB…
- Bundled app offers: DPP lets operators bundle several applications into a bundled data offer. For example, operators can create a social media offer that includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Furthermore, operators can create a subscriber customizable bundle, e.g. a gaming bundle that contains the top 15 most popular game apps. Subscriber are given an opportunity to choose their 3 most favourite apps, which gives them flexibility, and makes operators’ life a bit easier.
- Combine OpCo’s generic data pack with LotusFlare’s app-based offers to drive higher revenue data packs.
Targeting capabilities available:
- MSISDN filter: individual MSISDN, MSISDN ranges, etc…
- Tenure based: how long the user has been registered on the platform.
- App Usage based: automatically created by DPP, based on app usage and extend of the usage (high, low).
- Location/Cell based: offers that are only discoverable in certain locations. Once the offer is activated, it can be used anywhere.
Reporting and dashboard reporting available for download:
- Transaction history
- Purchase history – Total number of purchases per day: total, by free and paid offers
- Total number of unique users per day who buy free and paid offers
- Daily active users & churn users – Total number of active packages are in use by free and paid per day
- Total data usage
Contact us to learn more about Dynamic Product Platform.
