Downloading a cell app is like including a device to your device belt. Once apps are downloaded, they are often simply accessed everytime you want them. However, simply because the app is out there, doesn’t imply the app shall be used.
“Getting a new user to download the app isn’t the finish line—it’s the starting line.” While downloading the app is clearly a required preliminary step, app engagement is what determines your app’s success with customers.
With ever-increasing app decisions, (184 billion by 2024, to be precise) it’s very important to perceive methods to enhance app engagement and stickiness to keep away from getting your app changed on dwelling screens.
Here are 5 of the perfect methods to preserve customers constantly engaged along with your app.
The Steps for Better App Engagement
1. Reduce Friction in App Onboarding
Let’s begin from the start. When creating your app, contemplate the consumer’s complete expertise. What’s the very first thing they’ll want to do once they open the app? Most doubtless, create an account. If there’s a sophisticated onboarding course of for customers, there’s the next probability they’ll abandon your app and not using a single use, diminishing app engagement.
Smashing Magazine makes use of OKCupid for example. When making an attempt to login to their app, the writer, Suzanne Scacca, was unable to use the “log in with Facebook” function after a number of makes an attempt (14 clicks).
OKCupid onboarding created friction for the consumer when Facebook login performance didn’t work. Source: Smashing Magazine.
Retention is the trail to elevated app engagement. Getting customers to obtain the app with out optimizing the account creation expertise cuts that retention brief virtually instantly. Brands ought to attempt to retain customers versus aiming to continually get new ones. Simplifying onboarding is step one in buyer retention, however guaranteeing your app is helpful to the consumer will enhance retention as effectively.
2. Increase App Utility
Once the friction has been faraway from the onboarding course of, one other ingredient for bettering app engagement is simplifying the consumer’s life. Going again to the device belt analogy, if there’s a device that’s not serving to to resolve an issue or present the consumer worth, they’re going to take away it from their device belt so it doesn’t weigh them down.
In an interview with Forbes regarding app use during the pandemic, AJ Wang, Head of Acquisitions and Performance Marketing for GCash, a fintech app, mentioned entrepreneurs want to turn into “lifestyle enablers.”
An app ought to enhance the shopper’s life ultimately. Whether it’s a stress-relieving sport or making depositing checks a breeze, for constant app engagement there wants to be a utility side to the app.
3. Optimize Push Notifications
Now that the consumer was in a position to simply enroll and your app helps simplify their life, how do you proceed to interact with the consumer to remind them of your app’s advantages? Enter: push notifications. Personalized push notifications with the appropriate messaging on the proper time can enhance app engagement. In truth, push notifications have a click-through price 7x that of email.
If your app is a device for the consumer, push notifications ought to remind the consumer that they’ve that device once they want it. One means to do that is by sending push notifications primarily based on a consumer’s location.
Foursquare sends push notifications with native suggestions primarily based on the consumer’s location. Source: Taplytics.
With geo-targeting, the consumer will get a personalised expertise and is extra doubtless to interact with the app if the message is useful to them at that second.
As useful because the notifications could also be, the consumer expertise, as soon as prospects are taken to your app, wants to be constant to retain and have interaction customers.
4. Create a Consistent In-App Experience
The consumer is logged in, finds your app helpful and will get customized push notifications. As the consumer navigates your app, nevertheless, it’s essential to create a constant expertise throughout the app itself.
A constant in-app expertise implies that as a buyer makes use of your app, they shouldn’t be confused by the consumer interface and app performance. In truth, as a part of the onboarding expertise, many apps embrace a fast coaching on how to use the app, to enhance the shopper’s expertise and enhance app engagement.
UsabilityGeek highlights the importance of mental models when thinking about an app’s user interface. They famous, “Developing an understanding of a user’s mental model, that is, what a user will need to use during certain situations, be it mobile or desktop, will ensure a positive user experience through consistency.”
In-app consistency is an integral a part of the shopper expertise. But, when a buyer leaves your app, how do you information them again? Consistency ought to be utilized to all the buyer journey, for a seamless expertise.
5. Develop a Seamless Cross-Channel Experience
Once the in-app expertise is constant, manufacturers want to take a look at their buyer expertise as a complete, together with their app. In Liftoff’s 2020 Mobile Report, Skye Featherstone, Product Marketing Manager at Snapchat, mentioned, “Apps are the connective fiber of your business, providing seamless, personalized experiences across both physical and digital contexts.”
Because apps have the flexibility to bridge the bodily and the digital, like in our geo-targeting instance, the expertise for customers wants to be seamless and undoubtedly on-brand.
Let’s say your buyer is in your cell app however later clicks a hyperlink to your cell website. If the cell website and cell app look completely different, simply from a fundamental branding perspective, it might create confusion for the consumer. You need the consumer to develop a familiarity along with your model and, by doing that, you’ll doubtless enhance app engagement as well as to engagement on different channels.
Target demonstrates constant branding and data throughout cell app (1), cell website (2) and desktop (3). Source: Target.
Another instance of a seamless expertise could possibly be if a consumer is purchasing in your desktop website and abandons their cart. You may ship the shopper a push notification with messaging concerning the merchandise of their cart or merchandise associated to what’s of their cart. Then, when clicked, the notification may take them to their cart in your cell app, which has the objects they added through the desktop.
Building a seamless expertise for the shopper will finally enhance app engagement as a result of the app is a bit of the puzzle. The consumer can bounce back-and-forth between the bodily areas, desktop and your app and really feel as if it’s one singular, customized expertise.
Improve Engagement by Improving the Customer Experience
The key to bettering app engagement is knowing the shopper expertise, each inside your app and as a complete. From first obtain to turning into usually used, the main target to your app wants to be on what the shopper is experiencing and what worth they’ll get out of your app at every second within the buyer journey.
At the top of the day, we’ve all used an app. Even although we’re entrepreneurs, we’re individuals too, so take into consideration your expertise along with your favourite apps and put your self within the prospects’ footwear. What makes you return again and again to your favourite apps?
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