5 Ways to Increase Mobile App Engagement
Recent studies show that roughly 25% of users abandon an app after the first use, so for business owners looking to incorporate an app into there marketing tools, the acquisition should just be a priority but also ongoing user engagement.
A high download rate is great, but in the long term that isn’t the key aspect that will yield true business value. Your mobile app development engagement and retention will be the core metrics that can provide you with genuine insight into your app’s success.
Below we walk you through 5 ways you can improve the engagement you have with your app’s users.
Make the registration process a breeze
This is something we have talked about more than once and for good reason, if your app requires a signup process, in the beginning, it is one of the first impressions you will make.
You want to avoid any long forms that require numerous data fields, keep it short and sweet, name and phone, email usually suffices, and allow you a sufficient data collection for any other follow up marketing you may do.
Another popular option now is allowing users social registration through Facebook accounts and allows you to shorten the registration for your users down to a single click. And allow the first name, last name, and email to be imported to your system.
Gauge Interest with Push Notifications
Maybe your mightiest app retention feature, push notifications can either make or break your engagement rates, and I say that as many business owners tend to overuse and abuse them, with can frustrate users to the point of turning them off, or removing the app completely.
Consider your timing firstly, you wouldn’t want to send out your notifications when people are sleeping, even with the smallest chance of waking your users up. Your users are also unlikely to engage with your message late at night.
The frequency you send your notifications can also have an impact, its safer to minimize the number of them you send out, and more so focus on the value each on provides. What solutions are you offering? What needs can you meet? For example, you may use them to alert the user of a sale or special offer targeted to them.
Offer loyalty and incentivisation programs
If you operate a business model that allows you the potential of running a loyalty or incentives program, you would be crazy not to capitalise on it. Not only do rewards motivate customers to use your service or products on a regular basis, but loyalty programs make users feel connected to your brand and will increase engagement from them.
Any apps that utilise in-app purchasing as a monetization model, particularly QSR style apps, will highly benefit from time-sensitive discounts, whereas free apps can incentivize users with usage-based rewards instead of cash style discounts.
For a more detailed look at what makes great loyalty programs see this post: How to run great mobile app development loyalty programs.
Provide a good communication channel
A key indication of good service for any business is communication. Your customers want, when they need, to be able to contact and communicate with you and your business with ease. This is particularly important to a customer when they need additional support, there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to get in contact or have to go through a lengthy process to get in touch with you.
Some great ways to offer great communication through your app are:
- 1 touch call button straight from your app
- Live chat
- Quick fill email forms
Consumers want to build relationships with brands, this is why opening two-way communication is crucial, how can you know what your users want if you cannot receive their feedback.
Displaying responsiveness and addressing concerns will boost your engagement and retention rates, not to mention encourage positive reviews, and build long-term relationships.
App testing, performance, and upgrades
Besides implementing the above strategies, the first and arguably most important factor when it comes to your engagement and retention is to ensure you have a well performing and fully functioning app.
A brand-new app will rarely be without any bugs, but none the less it is essential to thoroughly test your app before launch. This is why when your building your app it is essential you work with a professional app developer, and have a development team that can be available on an ongoing basis to help you make changes and improve your app over time.
Conclusion
Hopefully, some of the above steps will help you better improve your retention and engagement with your customers, as they are both equally if not more important than the acquisition. Converting your users to loyal and long-term customers will without a doubt generate more avenue from your app.
There will be no quicker road to having users abandon your app than one that isn’t functioning well, here at calibre digital we have build 100’s of apps for businesses and are happy to answer any questions you may have, or offer an obligation free quote on your very own business app, feel free to contact us today.
