Digital Performance
When it comes to mobile apps, there’s a life cycle. A user will have a need, search for a solution, download it and engage with the app. Following this, your users will either continue to engage with your app, or they’ll delete it. Gaining users for your app is only half the battle. The true measure of success is when they are retained, returning and engaging with you.
The primary reason a user will delete an app is because they don’t use it. If your app doesn’t provide a user-friendly experience and deliver the solution they’re looking for, it’s simply taking up space on their device. This is valuable real estate, so you need to make sure your app is created to convert a first-time user from the moment they open it. Done well, you’ll foster a community of long-term users who are active and engaged. Alongside this comes increased usage, growth in brand awareness and by default an improvement in revenue.
App engagement is simply usage. If they’re opening your app and using it, you’re getting engagement. If they’re staying for longer, you’re providing them with the product they were hoping for when they downloaded your app. The app store provides a quick and easy road to your competitors if you aren’t able to do this.
In our experience as app developers and marketers, engagement is all about experience. Every demographic is different, but there are a few golden rules that will help your app get the engagement and dedicated users it deserves.
Simple Signup
Your first impressions count. If the initial action you’re asking your users to do is a long, drawn out onboarding process, they’re going to close the app and find a quicker solution. In a world of instant gratification, your user base isn’t going to wait. The fewer steps you have in your signup process, the better. Don’t ask for too much information, and if you can combine steps to keep things quick then do so. You don’t need to explain everything at the start or offer a tutorial – let the user explore or ask for help. If you do want to explain, replace text with icons and images to keep things simple, or give them an option to skip.
Personalise the experience
Use the information you gained in your onboarding to add personalisation to your app. Addressing users by name and tailoring the messaging to their needs will help deliver the experience your users were looking for. Welcome pages, in-app messages, notifications and landing pages can all be directed directly at your users, and can lead to a 27% increase in conversions according Braze.
Gamify It
Whether your app is all about fun or all about function, adding an element of reward and gamification can help improve the engagement from your user base. Ordinary tasks such as filling out a profile or changing a password can be encourages with a progress bar or badges. If there’s a way to make things competitive, incorporate a leaderboard where your users can see how their friends, or even other users across the world, are doing.
Make Use Of Push Notifications
If users aren’t opening your app, there’s not much opportunity to tempt them back. Some use emails, which can be effective, but the best way to get a user back on your app is to talk to on the same channel they associate with you. Push notifications are the perfect way to announce a tip, offer, new feature or to simply offer a gentle reminder that you’re there. For some, non-engagement isn’t a case of disliking your product but simply forgetting it’s there.
Engagement is the true measure of success for your app, but you should never leave it up to fate. Watch how your users are interacting with the app and where they start to drop off. Address the problems and make every step easy and intuitive. The most important thing is to never stop learning and improving.
For an expert app design that’s built to foster engaged users, speak to the Zinc creative team.
We’ll work with you to create something that’s tailored to your demographic and industry, delivering something that not only addresses your needs, but surpasses them.
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