How to improve app user engagement using proven techniques?
The digital landscape has seen a lot of transformation in the past two decades. With the growth in the number of internet users, there has been an increase in consumption of digital content through various mediums. According to an estimate, the growth in number of smart phone users has led to an increase in number of mobile apps across platforms such as Android & iOS.
While Apple App Store has an app base of about 2 million, Google Play Store boasts of having the largest base with 2.2. Million mobile apps. In the large pool of mobile apps, it is really hard for a business to be discovered and get required momentum through app user engagement. Though it is estimated that about 52% individuals spend their digital time while browsing mobile apps, still engaging users to continue using mobile apps remains a challenge for app developers.
In order to improve app user engagement, an app developer/business must keep in mind that humans are dynamic in nature. So, ‘one size fits all’ formula can never work to increase app engagements. Still, there are some golden rules to improve app user engagements, some of which are being discussed underneath:
Delighting users with enlightening on-boarding experience
User on-boarding is an essential element of improving app user engagement. As first impression is considered as the last impression, same applies with a mobile app too. Making him aware about the benefits of using a particular mobile app during on boarding, just as he has installed the app makes him/her feel enlightened and special. This can cause significant improvement in app engagement score in the long run. Some promising startups & tech based businesses take on-boarding as an opportunity to create a long-lasting bond with a user. As on-boarding is the time when a user is keen on using the product, it has a significant impact on user journey.
Ptengine — a web analytics tool make use of a modal series during on-boarding to let users complete a mission and set the goal early.
Similarly, Quora too, offers an enlightening experience during on-boarding and much after that through a to-do list for users that help them in improving their feed and help the company in driving continuous app user engagement.
Know more about App Onboarding in detail here in the article: App Onboarding: Don’t Just Inform Users, Engage Them Too
Offer contextual help to introduce advanced features
Informing users about the app features is a good thing, but bombarding him/her with all the info at once has the potential to make users avoid an app. It is always better to introduce users to relevant features contextually, as and when they need them. As users explore a mobile app, they come in touch with various functional aspects and that is the best time to introduce them to features that can improve their experience of using the app. Using tool tips, pop ups and help bots, an app can ensure delivering a better experience for users, making them use features as and when they need and become habitual to the app, over time.
Many tech-based organizations such as Google and Canva are effectively using these techniques to increase user delight that in turn improve app engagement over time. While Canva uses a tool tip to project how to create a new folder while enlightening user about the advantages of doing so, Google Drive uses a subtle icon to remind users about the explore feature.
The Explore Feature in Google Drive is persistently present in the form of an icon that helps a user in accessing research-related resources. But not at any stage forces the user to use it, making them accustomed and comfortable with interface, throughout.
Keep users engaged & informed through frequent but relevant app updates & push notifications
Updates and push notifications are an important aspect of keeping the ball moving in mobile app landscape. While mobile app updates help businesses in rolling out essential features to improve user experience, push notifications help them in reaching out to the potential buyers through mobile apps. There are multiple examples of mobile app updates and push notifications improving the user engagement, most relevant being the cases of social media websites.
· Local notification
The purpose of local notification lies in giving an alert to the user when your app is not working. You can schedule the notifications when your app is running or in the background. The system will alert the user using the alert panel or banner or with any sound or even by badging the icon of your app.
· Rich notifications
Rich notification is a type of push notification in which rich media is attached. Rich push notification includes images, videos, audio, and interactive elements.
Take help of cross-platform integration
Having an app available across platforms increases the chances of improved user engagement over a long time. Modern users nowadays look forward to access features without being bound to a particular platform or media. So, by making an app available across platforms and mediums, and streamlining the user experience through required integration, app user engagements can be significantly improved.
Google has pioneered the concept of improving user engagement and making users habitual through cross-platform integration. Using complementary products available across web and mobile devices, Google makes user habitual of its services. The Google Calendar’s Gmail-Calendar integration tool motivates web users to download the mobile calendar app and engage through it to access all important information while on-the-go.
Build in-app communities to promote social interaction
An app can be a great tool, but if a user does not find the reason to come back to it, it becomes hard to drive user engagement. In order to improve in-app time, apps can be inbuilt with features that promote social interaction through in-app communities.
Glow- a period tracker app built an in-app feature that provided health and lifestyle advice while encouraging users to build a community through discussion forums and polls. This made users come back again and again to the app, significantly improving app user engagement.
App user engagement is a burning topic that has worried tech ventures, startups and growing businesses, alike. Intuz, an established app development company, has an experienced and expert team of app developers and analytics technicians who are well-versed with proven techniques to improve app user engagements in short period of time. The company has delivered more than 1000 custom mobile apps over a period of time across Android & iOS platform. Also, the company has helped a number of apps in improving app engagement rates through insightful analytical assessment and suggesting remedial measures.
To get more idea about Intuz’s expertise and experience, log on to www.intuz.com and get hold of best minds in the industry for your app development and app engagement improvement goals.
Simplify the account creation and sign-in process
Easy user names
Ask users to enter username after they have signed up and try avoiding forcing users to enter unique usernames so that they will not frustrate with the whole sign up process.
Allow only one-time password entry
Don’t force users to type their password in two different fields. Provide them a hassle-free sign-up process in which they will enter their password just for one time.
Auto-filling state and city name on the basis of the user’s entered code
If you want the user to add their home address then you must provide them auto-filling of city and state based on their ZIP code. It will make the whole form-filling process faster and users will not waste their precious time choosing their state and city.
Auto-Complete the country field
The best way for users to select their country is from a drop-down list. It is always more preferable to provide them the easy way to choose their country by typing the alphabet and choosing it from the relevant dropdown list.
Allow users to sign in using their email ids
Providing the option to sign-in users using their email address is an easy task as it is always simple to remember email address rather than a username.
Make the first text field auto-focus
After seeing the log-in form, users will be ready to log in. So make the process efficient by automatically focusing the first field. This will save time and effort of clicking. This way the user can keep their hands on the keyboard and can start typing.
Permit users to unmask their password
This is the easiest option for logging in which is the same as signing up. If users will not see the characters in the field, there are full chances to mistype the password. In the case of mistyping, their input will get rejected and they will again have to re-enter the password unless they make it right.
Make the submit button as big as text fields
A big login button can provide more confidence to users who are logging in to your account. So opt for keeping a big and clear login button.
Allow users the option of Facebook, Twitter, Gmail for log in
Allowing users the option of Facebook, Twitter, Gmail will make users happy as not everyone wants to get involved in signing up and log in process. So providing thee options can save their time and they can log in in easily.
Use in-app messaging to improve customer engagement
Usually, in-app messages are sent to all such users who are directly active in your mobile app. In-app messages pop-up inside the app which are instantly noticeable. It has been observed that, for starters, ip-app can grant he app 27% more launches and 3.5 times higher retention.
Make the best use of Deep Linking
With the proper use of deep linking, you can push a link to the specific page in the app by just opening it. By landing customers directly to the main page in the app, you are making the whole customer journey easier by getting them closer to the end goal.
It is imperative to pay attention to the top techniques that are involved in enhancing the app user engagement. As the popularity and scope of mobile app development is booming across the globe and here comes the need to stay updated and competitive in the market. You must adopt the above-mentioned techniques if you are facing some problem in-app user engagement. All these techniques will definitely help you to boost user engagement across your mobile applications.
Found this post useful? Kindly tap the ❤ button below! :)
