Mobile app ‘YoYo Button’ threatens to disrupt traditional mobile advertising – app gives brands ability to target potential consumers with rewards

Technology start up YoYo Button has created a new and innovative way for brands to directly target consumers and, at the same time, reward them with customised vouchers or prize draws.

YoYo Button is a marketing platform that will empower brands to target users of any smartphone app with rewards in return for answering three short questions. Instead of a traditional banner ad, the platform sits discreetly within a third-party app and the user can choose to enter the reward wallet via a button.

Elliot Briels, director of operations, YoYo Button, said it is a powerful new tool for brands to gather information about their customers, so they can better target their advertising, generate new business leads and diversify their product offering.

Says Briels: “This has real potential to significantly disrupt more traditional means of mobile advertising.

“Pop up ads on mobiles are non-targeted and advertisers generally pay per click, a method that doesn’t necessarily result in sales generation. The difference is that YoYo Button is non-intrusive and can sit within an app the customer is already using without affecting the dynamic of it. As a result, the user is highly engaged, and brands only have to pay per level of engagement.”

Briels said YoYo Button was developed after recognising the need to use big data to make a brand more relevant in the eyes of the consumer.

Says Briels: “Everyone in marketing talks about big data, everyone talks about mobile, everyone talks about loyalty. We thought, let’s just combine the three – and that is essentially what we’ve done.”

“Businesses can reward their customers with any reward they decide. The data is there to help them decide what that reward is likely to be. We want to empower businesses to get to know their customers better, reward them, and keep them coming back.”

Customers who actively engage with the app and complete the short surveys can quickly redeem a discount, prize or giveaway on their smartphone. As a result, customers always have their vouchers on them, ready for use.

At the moment, YoYo Button can be downloaded as an independent app. However, the primary focus of the business is to have its reward wallet functionality embedded in third-party apps with a dedicated following. For example, these will be apps for national sporting clubs or major music festivals, as well as the many games and lifestyle apps.

Says Briels: “For app developers, this is a revelation because it finally offers them a non-intrusive way of engaging users and monetising their user base.”

YoYo Button officially launched this month, following beta testing, with brands such as SurfStitch, Western Bulldogs, Grays Online and goget carshare some of the first to come on board with the technology and offer rewards.