Mobile app growth rates are still rising but app developers are finding greater growth from current users rather than from newcomers. There are a number of reasons for this: increased competition across categories, less available real estate on cluttered smart device screens, and quickly converting those curious downloads into users who realize the app’s value proposition and quickly return.
Most app makers are finding it increasingly important to not only lure users to their apps, but to find ways to get them to spend even more time (and money!) while there. Even more importantly, the apps must strike the right tone and balance in communicating with users to re-engage them if visits and/or spending begin to slip.
If there are any questions why an app is indispensable from the initial use, the slippage begins quickly after an app is downloaded and data show there’s quickly a precipitous drop off. How can consumer-facing apps, new and established alike, forge stronger bonds with users?
In a preview of the upcoming Open Mobile Summit in Europe this June, executives from a number of the top mobile firms across the industry shared some secrets for turning early engagement with users into a long and happy marriage.
We gleaned insights from: Shiva Rajaraman, VP product, for Spotify, Clement Haider, senior product manager at Shazam, Daniel Richardson, director of engineering, JUST EAT, plus Alice Newton, head of product, WorldRemit, Davide Scalzo, director of product management for YPlan, and David Giusti, senior product manager, Mobile, at Lyst.
“Re-engagement is an important area for us,” asserts Spotify’s Rajaraman. She says the streaming music service’s strategy includes creating a “ritual with listeners.” Plus the Spotify executive says the company is adding new options even as it modifies current offerings to further personalize the service for users.
Even one of the most downloaded apps of all-time never stops trying to keep existing users entertained and engaged. Haider the Shazam senior product manager, says, “Our emphasis on improving the retention of the current user base has become more and more important, especially in key markets.”
These companies range in size and scope but they all have one thing in common: targeting its audience and seeking to convert them into so-called “super users”—who are supplying greater growth than new users– from the first experience.
“Once {users} have had that great experience, then they’ll engage with other aspects of JUST EAT that we can follow up with,” explains Richardson, director of technology, product research for JUST EAT.
As Super Users account for the lion’s share of app sessions as growth slows, it’s key to expand and cultivate these relationships beyond the honeymoon phase.
Using notifications can be a direct and successful way to reach customers once a level of intimacy with consumers has been achieved, but it can also be fraught with risk if not deployed strategically.
Companies using notifications generally acknowledge this risk and try to mitigate it in several ways. To read the rest of this article, click here…
