With 85% of all Americans (and 95% of 18 to 49 year olds!) owning a smartphone, it is clear: This is the mobile era. (Source: the Pew Research Center)
To adapt, more labor unions are looking to a mobile app for improved communications with their membership. A critical question that rightly comes up during this exploration is “How do we get them to download our labor union app?”
Encouraging downloads and adoption is a critical piece to plan for, address, and build upon as you roll out a mobile app to your membership. Here, we’ll walk you through the steps.
Create Your Collateral
We recommend, if possible, creating a digital resource (a landing page) and an analog resource (a flyer) to effectively articulate the value of your labor union app.
A landing page, or teaser page, informs your online audience. On this page:
- Articulate the purpose of your app, and what it will do for your membership.
- Outline download Instructions for those browsing on a mobile device (“Click link to download”) and a desktop/laptop (“Scan QR code with phone”).
- Include key information like the union mobile app name, app icon, screenshots, and who to contact at your labor union if they have questions.
- Bonus: A landing page on your website will make your app discoverable by search engines.
A print flyer, the old standby, is still the best tool for in-person interactions. Your flyer should:
- Clearly articulate the purpose of your labor union app and what it will realistically do.
- Include your QR code for easy app download.
- Encourage your audience to share the QR code.
Side note about QR codes: Make sure your QR code can distinguish if the user is trying to access the union app for Android, or the union app for iOS (iPhone). If your QR codes are from Union Strong, we’ve embedded links that will do this automatically.
On to Promotion!
Now that your promotional materials are in place, here are specific examples of how and where you can promote your labor union mobile app.
Online
- Your labor union website. While your labor union mobile app landing page will live on your website, be sure to provide links throughout the site from:
- Site navigation
- Footer
- Blog posts
- Links embedded in your content
- Your labor union social media accounts. Schedule frequent social posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn with links and QR codes for your labor union mobile app. Encourage your social followers to like, comment, and share your posts so brothers and sisters in their network can learn about the labor union app as well.
Your Communications
- Your union newsletter. While newsletters are not ideal for deadlines or urgent communications, they are often read and referred to over time and can be a great way to spread the word about your union mobile app.
- Union app promotional emails. A series of union app promotion emails, delivered over a few weeks will gain attention. Include a link to your app landing page or provide a direct app download link and/or QR Code.
- Union staff signature blocks in email. You and your team communicate 1:1 with your members throughout the day. Include links to download your labor union mobile app in the signature of all your emails, including those sent from a mobile device.
- On your outgoing voicemail message. Add a line about your app on your outgoing voice message: “Thank you for calling. If you haven’t downloaded our app, you can find the link to connect on our website or Facebook page…”
Leverage Current App Users
- Send in-app reminders. Send notifications (in-app) to current app users with reminders of how to share the app with their brothers and sisters, and with instructions on how to do so.
- Host a giveaway. Services like Rafflecopter.com help you create special prizes and raffle them away to those who share your labor union app, post about you, or complete other tasks.
- High-profile members and union leaders. Ask them to post about the union mobile app to their network. Having a testimonial from them on your union mobile app landing page, or in your flyer will carry a lot of weight as well.
Physical Promotions
- Include the QR code on your swag and free merchandise.
- Onsite signage or floor graphics at physical locations. Post your QR code anywhere a member can scan!
Sign in sheets. Post your QR code right on meeting sign in sheets and ask attendees to download it upon entry.
A Few Final Thoughts
Even if you’ve not yet launched your labor union app, it’s never too early to start promoting it. Set up a page where your members can learn what’s coming. Include a form so they can sign up to be notified when the app is ready for download.
As when promoting anything, starting with a goal and knowing the key performance indicators you want to track is critical to measuring success. For example, what percentage of your membership needs to be in the app for it to become a meaningful communication tool? How does this number compare with the number of followers you have on Facebook and in your database? How long did it take you to build those audiences? These are all important considerations in gaining and measuring success.