7 of the best tactics for retaining your app users

Besttechie · June 15, 2017

The role of apps in our life intensifies with every passing day. Searching for apps became a daily habit for many people, and it’s more than just a casual search. During our spare time we surf through the app store and install everything we find interesting and relevant. After a few days, the majority of apps that you’ve previously installed will be gone or forgotten.

People in general are loyal to only a few apps which they tend to use the most. Surprisingly, the majority of installed apps are hardly “staying” for more than a day.

An article from eMarketer tells us that 49% of US smartphone app users use between six and ten apps per week. Another research made by Google in 2015 shows that 25% of the installed apps are never used, while 26 % of them are discarded after their first use.

The Reasons Your App Fails at Retention

Now let’s have a look at some of the reasons that make people uninstall or forget about their new apps:

If the app crashes, you will lose all of its users. You must first check it for bugs and perfect it before the launch.
No user will enjoy spending time on a slow app.
People always look for better and cheaper apps, so make sure you offer more features than your competition.
If there are too many advertisements, there is a big chance people will be annoyed and delete the app.
We all hate signing up to a website just because we wanted to read an article or spend a few minutes lurking.

The question arises. Is there a way in which app developers could retain more of their users?

Strategies to Keep Your App Users Active

Your main goal shouldn’t be just getting your clients download your app. In order to turn your customers into loyal users, hard work will be required.

Luke Hall, web developer at AU Essaysontime, tells us what should be the most important point to keep in mind when designing a successful app: ”A great app should focus on a precise audience and on granting day-to-day solutions. Obviously, the unique value proposition should be higher than the competitors’. If you manage to do that, success will be just a few feet away.”

Now let’s take a look at the steps for accomplishing that strategy.

Improve the Performance

All errors that trigger crashing should be fixed immediately. Checking the loading time, it’s another thing you should keep track of. Testing and monitoring your app performance it’s an important factor if you want your users stay. Improvements should be made whenever needed.

Just the Right Amount of Notifications

Integrating push notifications into your plan is a confirmed retention tactic, boosting the rates of retention by 20%. This was shown by a study made by Leanplum. Moreover, personalized push notifications can even make the retention rates 7 times higher.

Nevertheless, bothering people with too many notifications will only lower your app loyalty rates. People should be able to choose which notifications they want to receive.

Pricey App? Explain Why

People always look for cheaper replacements. In order to continue to sell your app, you should emphasize all the reasons why your app is worth the money. People should feel like they are gaining a unique value from your app. Researching competition apps could help you see what new features you could add to your app to make it relevant and valuable.

Your App Must Become a Habit for Its Users

There are a few apps that have become part of our daily lives. I’m talking about apps like Pinterest, Tumblr and Tagged. John Cape, the author of the book “Habit-Forming Apps” explains why this method is so efficient:

”Expensive marketing won’t be needed if you connect your habit-forming app with the users’ regular routines. When a user is feeling bored, he instinctively opens Tumblr –as an example. This is called a habit. If you want to make your app absolutely addictive, accessing the unconscious mind of the user should be your number one priority.”

Todoist, for example, is an app that classifies your tasks and allows you to establish dates and make notes. Using this app can very easily become a daily habit.

How to Manage Your Ads

In case your app is free and features ads, you could at least grant an ad-free first experience. If the first experience is a pleasant one, the ads won’t bother the user so much. However, if he just installed the app and a screen full of ads appears in front of his eyes, he will not feel so welcomed. If you still choose to feature ads, make sure they are relevant to your app’s topic.

Avoid the Sign-up Request or at Least Make It Easy for the User

Asking users to sign up will only seem like a waste of their time in your user’s perception. If, for example, your app demands it, make this process be as quick as possible. There are two options: email or social login.

Both of these options should be provided. Security questions won’t be necessary in case your app doesn’t contain data that might be considered sensitive. Apps that are designed to help you deal only with causal activities won’t need a sign-up.

Offer Special Discounts & Offers

In case you own an e-commerce website it would be wise to extent your business through an app. In case you didn’t notice, shopping is slowly going mobile, making your app the perfect platform for your frequent shoppers.

However, in order to improve your app’s popularity, you need to offer some discounts and maybe some special offers. You should offer the discounts to both your app users and your potential users. Still, make certain that the ads are well targeted for each category of people.

Conclusion

As you may see, the process of turning your app into a comfortable place for your prospects is not that simple. Just to make sure that your app’s success comes sooner than expected, ensure that you’ll consistently test, tweak, and optimize. If you are consistent with your upgrades and keep up with the marketplace, your app should sit at the top of the ladder in no time!

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