Smartphones have become indispensable in today’s world. In fact, the penetration of mobile devices is growing so rapidly that nearly everyone has come to expect to be connected at all times.
As a result, mobile app usage has skyrocketed in recent years. More than 1.1 billion people use apps on their smartphones every day, and this number continues to grow.
Why User Retention is so Important
The goal of any business is to acquire and retain customers, and nothing has a greater impact on these efforts than user retention. Businesses spend a lot of time and money acquiring new customers, and it only makes sense to put as much effort into ensuring that these customers stay with your brand. User retention is a key metric to track in your app marketing campaigns.
Studies show that retaining existing customers has six times more impact on revenue than acquiring new customers, and it costs about 16% less to retain customers than it does to acquire new ones. Plus, it’s easier to retain customers than to find new ones, so it’s important to keep your current customers happy and engaged.
What is User Retention?
User retention is the percentage of users who continue to engage with your app after a specified time period. For example, if 100 people install your app and begin using it, but then only 25% continue to use it after a week, your app has a 25% user retention rate. Once you know your user retention rate, you can use this information to determine how you can improve your app to keep your current users happy.
For example, if you discover that your retention rate is low, you might conclude that your app needs a design update, or that your onboarding process is too complicated.
On the other hand, if your retention rate is high, you probably don’t need to make any changes. User engagement and retention are important to track throughout the lifetime of your app.
How to Achieve User Retention
The best way to boost user retention is to create a great onboarding experience. A good onboarding experience will help new users become productive as quickly as possible, which in turn makes them happy and encourages them to continue using your app.
You can also boost user retention by creating engaging in-app content and experiences. You can also emphasize the social features of your app, as this will encourage your users to engage with others and hang around in your app.
2016 Mobile App Marketing Campaigns that Impacted User Retention
Pokemon Go
This app first hit the market in 2016, and it made a lasting impact on both the mobile app industry and user retention. The app went viral almost immediately and quickly became one of the most popular mobile apps in history. The game is played in the real world and encourages social interaction among players. The app also has a variety of in-app features like mini-games, which keep players engaged for hours at a time.
Instagram Stories
This app, which is owned by Facebook, is one of the newest and most popular social media apps. This app enables users to create short videos that disappear after 24 hours. These videos are then published in a user’s “story” so other followers can see them and engage with them for 24 hours before they disappear. The ephemeral nature of these videos encourages user engagement and boosts user retention.
Snapchat
This social media app is designed to encourage user engagement by making messages self-destruct after a certain amount of time. This app also allows users to create content, like images and videos, and share it with their followers. Snapchat also has its own unique terminology for certain in-app features, which helps users feel more engaged with one another.
2016 Successful Strategies for User Retention
User-Generated Content
Users appreciate content that other people create, so sharing user-generated content will help you retain your users. You can also use this content to boost your brand’s reach and improve your search engine optimization.
User-Friendly Interface
The user interfaces of mobile apps are what allow people to access your app, and they may be the only thing that you control. You can boost user retention by designing an interface that is easy to use, that people enjoy using, and that provides enough information to keep users engaged and happy.
Offer Quality Support
The best way to make your users happy is by offering great support. You can boost user retention by making sure that your support team answers questions quickly and thoroughly.
Incorporate Social Features
Social media apps are some of the most popular apps on the market, so you can retain your users by incorporating social features into your app.
Offer Rewards for Regular Use
One of the best ways to retain your users is to reward them for using your app regularly. You can boost user retention by offering rewards for things like sign-ups, referrals, or other interactions.
2018 Mobile App Marketing Campaigns that Impact User Retention
Tik Tok
This app became very popular in 2018 and is known for its viral lip-sync and dance challenges. This app enables users to create and share user-generated content that has a high potential for retention.
Tinder
This popular dating app saw a significant boost in popularity in 2018 and is designed to encourage user retention by facilitating dating among users.
TikTok and Tinder are both examples of social apps that are designed to encourage user retention by facilitating social engagement among users.
This popular social media app saw a surge in popularity in 2018, and it is designed to encourage user retention by facilitating social engagement among users.
Snapchat
This popular social media app saw a boost in popularity in 2018 and is designed to encourage user retention by facilitating social engagement among users.
2022 Mobile App Marketing Campaigns that Will Boost User Retention
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is expected to become a bigger part of the mobile app industry in 2022, as this technology continues to improve. AR apps are designed to engage users by combining virtual elements with the real world.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality is expected to become a bigger part of the mobile app industry in 2022. VR apps are designed to engage users by providing a fully immersive, virtual environment that users can explore.
5G
5G technology is expected to be more widely available in 2022, and it will provide faster mobile internet connections. This will lead to new mobile apps being developed and existing apps being updated.
Chatbots
Chatbots are expected to become a bigger part of the mobile app industry in 2022. Chatbots are designed to engage users by autonomously assisting with simple tasks and providing useful information.
Conclusion
Ultimately, user retention is the key to success in the app marketing industry, so it is important to put time and effort into boosting user retention.
You can do this by creating engaging user-generated content, designing an engaging user interface, offering quality support, incorporating social features, offering rewards for regular use, and more. By doing this, you can grow your app organically and sustain user engagement over the long run.
