According to Statista, in 2017, an impressive eight million apps were available on Google Play and 2.2 million on Apple’s App Store, with estimated downloads in the region of 197 billion. Consequently, it is understandable why many companies are keen to launch their native app as they look to unlock the vast potential of the mobile market. If you have recently released a native app, you are part of a long list of businesses hoping to take advantage of this growing industry.
It is indeed an incredible achievement that you have been working towards for months – a mobile app to transform your business! Your customers now have the opportunity to interact with your brand in a new and exciting way, giving you an avenue to reach out and build relationships with them. Now that the launch of the app is complete, it’s time to set objectives and track the progress of this ambitious project.
Measuring the Success of Your App: Downloads can offer an overall picture of success, but they are not as important as retention and engagement when judging your app success. According to TechCrunch, people only use an average of nine apps daily and 30 apps monthly. Thus, download metrics may not be the most reliable indicator.
Why Mobile App User Retention & Engagement Rates Matter
- User acquisition costs are high. With myriad choices, the price of gaining new app user is climbing significantly.
- Average abandonment rates present a real issue, with a reported 97% of users leaving within 30 days of downloading the app.
- Lifetime value (LTV) is the ultimate measure of Return On Investment (ROI). To calculate your LTV, consider your customer acquisition costs, churn rate, and indicators of user engagement. Ensure that you connect your app with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Customer Data Platform (CDP) to capture and analyze customer data since their first download.
Strategies You Should Implement Now To Achieve Mobile App Greatness
Create an Exceptional Onboarding Experience
When customers download your app for the first time, you have a few seconds to make a good impression and entice them to stay with you. To create an exceptional onboarding experience, focus on user preferences, context-sensitive help functions, and visual simplicity.
Promote Your Personalization Capabilities
Make sure your customers know that you understand their individual needs and preferences. Offer tailored recommendations or personalized messages to increase the likelihood of engagement.
Create an Engaging Content Strategy
Content is king when it comes to driving user engagement in mobile apps. Aim for a balance between informative content and entertaining elements such as quizzes, polls, and games.
Offer Incentives & Rewards
Provide rewards and incentives tailored to your user’s preferences and interests. This will increase the chance of them returning for more.
Personalize Your Content
The key to engaging with users is personalization. Invesco says customers are willing to spend 20% more on personalized offers and experiences. Leverage customer data from the CRM or CDP platform to craft targeted messages, create automated journeys and send relevant notifications.
Gamify Your App
Gamification can be a great way to reward users for interacting with your app. Offer rewards and incentives to drive user engagement, including loyalty points, promotions, or discounts.
Improve User Onboarding
A good onboarding experience should make it easy for new users to understand your product/service’s value quickly. Remember that user onboarding should be simple, intuitive, and seamless.
Provide Engaging Support
Your customers will have questions or need help when using your app, so ensure you provide an excellent customer service experience. Respond to queries quickly, offer helpful support articles and ensure that you are available on all channels (e.g., live chat, emails, and in-app messages).
Make Regular Updates
Keep your app updated with the latest features and bug fixes. Regular updates will ensure you deliver an optimal user experience and keep users engaged.
Greatness starts with Quality Assurance
Failure to deliver an app that works properly will inevitably lead to a high abandonment rate, harm your brand reputation, and cost you potential revenue. Moreover, slow load time could negatively affect your SERP rankings in Google. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure your app’s performance meets its mission-critical requirements.
Emphasize the FTUE
Your app’s onboarding process should be clear and straightforward, sometimes referred to as the first-time user experience. This is an excellent opportunity to greet the user, gather essential data points, and emphasize the value of your app. Like making a good first impression in real life, you only get one chance at this, so make sure it counts.
Send out push notifications
Push notifications are an excellent way to interact with your users. You can keep them engaged by sending timely, targeted messages based on particular actions and preferences and help guide them toward conversions. When planning your push notification strategy, it’s essential to follow best practices by allowing users to opt-out quickly and maintain control over which notifications they receive, avoiding any possible negative user experience.
Reward good behavior
Big companies such as Starbucks and Uber have succeeded in creating a loyal user base for their apps by offering rewards for desired customer activities. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement: the more customers use your app to enjoy their product or service, the more incentives they will receive to return.
Keep your eye on the big picture
It’s important to avoid working in isolation, and the same should apply to your mobile app’s interactions. Combine your social media activities, email campaigns, transactional communication, and customers’ physical experiences with the mobile app for a more meaningful engagement.
Analyze & Optimize
To gauge the success of your app, track engagement metrics and analyze user behavior. This will enable you to identify areas for improvement so that you can optimize your strategy in order to achieve optimum results.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q1: What is the First-Time User Experience (FTUE)?
A1: The FTUE is the onboarding process of a mobile app. It is an opportunity to greet the user, gather data points, and emphasize the value of your app.
Q2: What are push notifications?
A2: Push notifications are messages sent to users’ devices that can be used to interact with them. They can provide information, updates, or reminders related to the app.
Q3: How can I create a loyal user base?
A3: Rewarding good behavior is one of the most effective ways to ensure customer loyalty. Offering rewards for desired customer activities will help to create a loyal user base for your app.
Q4: What is the best way to optimize my mobile app?
A4: Combining your social media activities, email campaigns, transactional communication, and customers’ physical experiences with the mobile app is one of the best ways to optimize your mobile app. Additionally, tracking engagement metrics and analyzing user behavior will help you identify areas for improvement to optimize your strategy to achieve optimum results.
Q5: What should I do to ensure my app stands out from the competition?
A5: To ensure your app stands out from the competition, you should focus on improving user onboarding, providing engaging support, and sending out push notifications. Additionally, regularly update your app and analyze user behavior to optimize its performance.
Q6: How can I provide engaging support for my app?
A6: Providing engaging support for your app includes offering multiple communication channels such as live chat, an FAQ page, and social media platforms so that users can contact you with their queries.
CONCLUSION
Ensuring your mobile app meets the needs of its users is essential for success. You can ensure that your app stands out from the competition by implementing some tips, such as gamifying your app, improving user onboarding, providing engaging support, and sending out push notifications. Regular updates and analytics will help you optimize your strategy, enabling you to deliver an optimal user experience and keep users engaged over time. Remember the power of rewards. Rewarding good behavior is one of the most effective ways to ensure customer loyalty and drive conversions. With Mobiroller you can create a successful mobile app that meets your customers’ needs!
