User acquisition has traditionally been the cornerstone of most mobile marketer’s overall strategy, however, there has been a shift in priorities towards generating higher ROI from existing users. This change could be due to the prevalence of install fraud in the industry, algorithm changes in the app stores that prioritizes user engagement, and the fact that companies are wanting more from their user acquisition efforts.

The need for accurate and strategic segmentation for re-engaging existing users dominates marketer’s priorities now, according to eMarketer, segmentation is the highest priority for marketers in the United States in 2018. Marketers spend a lot of time and money driving users to install the app, and now it is realized there needs to be continual efforts around engaging segments of users to drive further conversions, increase average order value, or retaining your high-value users.

Why Re-engagement is Critical:

First, it is important to understand why there is such a major focus on mobile re-engagement in 2019. The industry average for user retention varies between 2% to 8% in the first 30 days after install. This translates to only a handful of users out of 100 are retained in the app. User acquisition can become expensive and channels can saturate, which is why you should drive higher ROI from users who already have your app.  

Second, the first seven days are extremely crucial because if the user does not open the app within the short time frame, then there is a 60% chance they will never come back. New users install your app with intent to use it, so you need to leverage that intent while you can.

A large percentage of users opt out of notifications, which eliminates the ability to engage users through push notification discounts, or special offers. The opting out of notifications drive the need to run re-engagement through paid channels and advertisements.

The Three Phases of the Customer Journey:

Acquiring users is the crucial first step in the process, but engaging those users throughout their customer journey is just as important. There are three major phases of the mobile customer journey, and each phase requires a different sub-strategy for segmentation.

Phase One: Engage

Engage the new and existing users with the right message at the right time. This phase is very familiar to all of us, but it’s true in that it is really important when focusing on a good segmentation strategy.

Phase Two: Retain

An active user doesn’t necessarily mean a retained user. You need to continually engage these specific segments throughout their lifecycle or they’ll drop off fairly easily.  

Phase Three: Grow

Drive an increased LTV by engaging high-value users even after they have made a purchase.   

Segmentation Strategy:

It is important to mention that the correct technical setup is needed for a successful re-engagement campaign. Once you have the correct setup and see events firing from your mobile measurement partner, you can then start creating segments to re-engage.  

We have found that the best overall strategy is to start by re-engaging the lowest hanging fruit first. Let’s take a shopping app for example: In this case, you would start with the segment of users who have already made a purchase. From there, you can work your way out of the funnel the next segment of users to re-engage would-be users who have added at least a single product to their cart, but have not purchased. Following that, the next segment would-be users who have viewed a product, but not added it to their cart, users who have registered but not viewed a product, and so on. This strategy will give you the best opportunity to see immediate ROI from your existing users.

The time frame of the segment, recency, is also critical; you will want to start with a time frame of about 24 hours and increase the time frame from there. Typical segment time frames can be 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, out to 28 or 30 days after the event timestamp.

YouAppi Continuous Engagement Cycle:

At YouAppi, our strategy is to continually engage your users throughout their customer lifecycle so that there is a greater chance the individual users will stay engaged and spend money. Think of this as a hand holding process with your users after install. In the first part of the cycle, you will want to activate new installs and users that have not registered or made purchases yet.  

The second portion of the continuous engagement cycle is the convert phase, which converts non-paying users who may have abandoned their shopping carts or users who have already made a purchase, but you want to increase their average order value. Lastly, the retain phase involves engaging high-value users by offering discounts or special deals to keep them spending.

The YouAppi Continuous Engagement Cycle can run in tandem with user acquisition efforts for the best results possible. Event data from your MMP will continually update the segments in real time, so they are dynamic and as accurate as possible. 

Re-engagement with YouAppi

Many clients have seen great results while running re-engagement with YouAppi by maximizing touch points, using dynamic ads/creatives, plus a great segmentation strategy combines to create the formula needed to drive higher ROI from your existing users. Sign up here to have our re-engagement experts strategize with you on how to effectively re-engage your users.