Marketers see a life a bit, say tricky currently – and so much depends on mobile users. Mobile usage had already overtaken desktop usage in 2016 when Google launched its mobile-first index.
Furthermore, mobile users behave completely different from desktop users, and this has led to some communication disasters.
Today, so many businesses have started building mobile apps to get mobile user’s attention, but the hard reality is that less than 1 out of 4 users who download an app keep using it. In other words, mobile app engagement and retention throughout the user’s journey is a key area for big and small advertisers.
In this article, we will guide you on what you need to be aiming for related to engagement and retention rates before jumping on how to increase both.
Retention and Engagement Rates: Where Does Your Company Stand?
What is a decent standard for the retention rate?
According to research, across all business industries, the average mobile app retention rate is nearly 20% after the first 90 days of download.
Obviously, retention and engagement rates vary from industries to industries; however, the sector which enjoys the most is media and entertainment with almost 24% retention rate after the first 90 days of download.
This can be,
- If your level of retention rate is below industry standard, you have to improve
- If your level of retention rate is as per industry standard, you have to improve
Let’s find out what you have to do to increase your mobile app user engagement and retention rate:
Make the App Onboarding Process Simple
Make sure to give fun and easy user onboarding experience when your mobile app needs an account. Else, they may be discouraged and do not provide their personal information. This will bring lower engagement, conversion and retention rates.
Luckily, there are a couple of ways in which you can streamline user onboarding:
- Skip long forms with many data fields. Avoid asking for users’ surname as it is not necessary. Ask for the basic info like a password, email address and username
- Make the Registration Process Clutter-free
- Consider social registrations. Allow users to sign up through their social media accounts like Facebook, Gmail or phone numbers.
- Keep showing apps’ only core and important features during the onboarding process as onboarding process should not be too long and time-consuming.
- Generally, 3-5 screens are sufficient to explain what you need to say. Focus only on the most deliberately significant features during onboarding.
- Ensure your message is clear, concise and fun. Use destructive content instead of too much technical information.
Send Push Notifications to Keep App Users Interested
Push notifications are one of the best ways to draw users’ attention and bring them back to the application. You can remind them to push messages and encourage the users to perform specific actions. Through different notification messages and information, you can encourage users to increase app usage.
For instance, online stores and brick mortar stores can utilize push notification for announcing new products and include visuals to excite users’ interest and engage them for all years.
Banks and many financial institutions can craft interesting communication messages such as service messages to inform the user about their withdrawals and deposits, payment reminders, branch office hours or any other announcement of system maintenance and get customers’ attention.
Gamification and Rewards
Rewards, prizes, and gamification are, without a doubt, incredible factors that directly affect user behavior, including such features in the application is truly an effective way to boost retention and engagement rates. Use game mechanics as well as rewards on the non-gaming apps to increase user engagement.
This can surely increase social sharing on various social media platforms and increase app visibility. Particular mobile-specific rewards, special promotional discounts and coupons, and many other exclusive rewards would affect drawing conversions and engagement rates of users.
Take Feedback and Add New Features
Personalized content and adding new innovative features can surely increase users interested and encourage app engagement rates. As per many user’s feedback, giving new features can work as a key component for increasing app engagement. Boost your user engagement by fixing the bugs, improving user experience and updating an application and convert them into long-term customers.
Test, Track, and Improve
Finally, you should always track the user’s behavior to improve overall mobile app engagement. Utilize A/B testing to check what works best for your app and what doesn’t work. Certain patterns, texts, and colors may engage the more significant part of your users, while others can ignore it.
So, you should adopt those components that work for you and urge your app users. There are many tools like Optimizely which can help you in performing A/B testing.
Putting it all together
These are ways to increase app user retention and engagement rates for your business. In this digital world, it’s quite challenging to keep someone’s attention. However, as long as you do the right things, holding someone’s attention is doable.
Furthermore, a successful and well-experienced mobile app development company is many people’s first choice as they see good value in it and can completely maximize their investment with regularly provided latest tech information which can ultimately help them to increase mobile app engagement rates.
Do you think we’ve missed out on some other best methods? Feel free to reach out and share your thoughts with us. We’d love to know.