In-product communications (IPC) are

message A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

s, content, and related media delivered directly to a user's internet-connected device or

software application Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

, with the purpose of informing, gathering feedback from, engaging with, or marketing to that specific user or segment of users at often-higher engagement rates than other

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development d ...

and

online marketing Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...

channels.

Uses

Marketing

In-product marketing is an additional channel in the

toolkit, which includes

email marketing Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It involves using email to ...

search engine marketing Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. SEM may incorporate search engine op ...

(SEM),

social media marketing Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for ...

, many forms of

display advertising Digital display advertising is online graphic advertising through banners, text, images, video, and audio. The main purpose of digital display advertising is to post company ads on third-party websites. A display ad is usually interactive (i.e. ...

, and

mobile advertising Mobile advertising is a form of advertising via mobile (wireless) phones or other mobile devices. It is a subset of mobile marketing, mobile advertising can take place as text ads via SMS, or banner advertisements that appear embedded in a mo ...

Support

It can also refer to the strategy used by a company to reach specific segments of their customer base to provide in-product customer service and support, supply training materials, and initiate orders of replacement parts and consumables.

Feedback

In-product communication can also be a valuable way for businesses to gather user intelligence and feedback on their customer base, as the success of email requests for such information continues to decline.

Data Capture

Because in-product communications are delivered directly to the device of a user, many in-product communication platforms can auto-capture device information, like serial number, model number,

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

version number Software versioning is the process of assigning either unique ''version names'' or unique ''version numbers'' to unique states of computer software. Within a given version number category (e.g., major or minor), these numbers are generally assig ...

, location, and potentially any additional metadata available from, or agreed-upon by the user.

Variations

In-product communication is an umbrella term to describe several types of direct communication. It may also refer to in-device communication, in-app communication, in-device messaging, or in-app messaging.

In-Device Communication

In-device communication or in-device messaging is generally accepted as messaging communications directly to a user's device screen, without running through a software application. For example, communications directly to the screen on an internet-connected printer, the screen on the handheld controller of a

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

or drone, or the screen of an internet-connected television, would all be considered in-device. In-device communication relies on a communication platform integrated directly into the operating system of the internet-connected device, allowing the manufacturer to feed messages, gather feedback, and engage with users from directly on the device display.

In-App Communication

In-app communication or in-app messaging is the act of messaging, gathering feedback, or otherwise communicating with users through a software application, either on a mobile phone or tablet device, or through software on a PC. In this mode of communication, a communication platform is embedded as a software module in the application, generally resulting in much faster deployments of the technology, as compared to the integration timeline of in-device communication platforms.

Direct-to-Desktop Communication

Direct-to-desktop communication, or on-desktop messaging is the act of messaging, gathering feedback, or otherwise communicating with users through a software application or embedded peripheral driver on a desktop personal computer. Users interact with messages on the screen of the desktop computer, and the device manufacturer serves messaging dynamically from the back end.

Effectiveness

In-product marketing content is often very similar to that of email marketing campaigns, but the segmentation and delivery is more targeted. Because email is historically one of the most effective channels in the digital marketing toolkit, the email channel is becoming more overcrowded and overused, leading to much lower open rates, lower engagement rates, lower click-through rates (CTR), and lower conversion rates. The rise of internet-connected (IOT) devices is enabling a growing number of consumer products manufacturers to take advantage of this channel of marketing communications, to supplement other digital marketing channels. Because messages and communications are more targeted, and delivered directly to the user's device, engagement rates are often much higher than email marketing.

References

{{Reflist Promotion and marketing communications Types of marketing Marketing techniques Digital marketing