While 2023 isn’t over yet, we’re already looking forward to ways to jump start our partners’ performance in the new year. Q4 might be the busiest time of the year — when brands have the greatest opportunity to meet and convert new customers — but long-term growth after the holiday season is not a guarantee. Along with implementing strategies that help retain the customers you activated in Q5, it’s important to find small improvements that can unlock incremental revenue and enhance app retention. This is vital for sustainable, long-term performance, especially in today’s mobile economy, which has faced challenges because of economic shifts, shorter attention spans, and privacy regulations.

Here are some ways your app can unlock and sustain new pockets of growth by making small, but mighty enhancements to your app funnel in the new year.

1. Optimize Your User Experience 

New year, new app. While we don’t recommend getting rid of every feature and functionality of your app for the sake of newness, it’s worth using the ‘fresh start’ energy of the new year to freshen up your user experience. First step: review your app user experience and use data to identify points of user churn, key purchase points, etc. Next, focus on making incremental improvements that enhance the user's overall experience and app retention. This might involve simplifying the onboarding process, refining your navigation, or enhancing design elements. Continuously fine-tune controls, and interactions; or if you’re a mobile game — character movements and difficulty levels. Even the smallest adjustments in responsiveness or game balance can significantly elevate your app’s user experience.

2. Fix Glitches and Make Updates

It may seem small, but glitches and bugs can really affect your performance. What’s more, one glitchy experience can turn a user off to your app completely and prompt them to uninstall your app. The reality is an average 78% of users uninstall an app within 90 days. That means that can help lower this rate — even incremental improvements to your app’s performance — is a good idea.

Focus on small enhancements that can have a positive impact on user satisfaction like improving loading times, responsiveness, and making bug fixes. Regularly test and update your app to fine-tune these elements. Implement frequent updates that introduce minor enhancements, new levels, characters, or features. Keeping your app fresh will encourage users to remain engaged and also attract new leads.

3. Use Data to Make Strategic Improvements

As mentioned above, leveraging data to identify areas for improvement in your app funnel can be a great way to make small but mighty improvements in your app retention. Analyze user data meticulously to pinpoint drop-off points in user journeys or low engagement with specific features. These insights will guide you in making small but impactful changes that enhance user satisfaction and drive growth.

4. Get Feedback (and act on it)

Encourage your users — especially your most loyal users — to give feedback and act on it. How can you inspire users to take the time to give feedback via a survey or suggestion box? Your app can incentivize users to make suggestions by offering a giveaway. You could also market use cases of past instances when your development team acted on user feedback.

A robust feedback loop between your development team and users not only builds community around your app, but enables an ongoing understanding of what your users like and dislike about your app and how to make it better. Small adjustments based on user suggestions can lead to significantly improved user satisfaction and retention. In fact, 81% of the business executives have said user research helps make their company more efficient. A further 86% said that user research improves the condition of their products and services. Engaging with your users not only builds loyalty but also helps you make informed decisions about app improvements.

5. Tweak your Monetization Strategy

Try out different methods of ramping up your monetization. If your app uses in-app purchases to monetize, for example, test small changes in your pricing or rewards system to see if they drive scale. If your app monetizes with in-app ads, consider increasing your ad placements or refreshing formats. These elements should be continuously refined to maximize revenue.

6. Retarget your Customers Across Owned and Paid Channels

Looking for small enhancements that can increase your app retention for less? Then, look no further than retargeting and re-engagement campaigns across both your owned and paid channels. With retargeting, you can drive 3.5x more revenue by reactivating users that have already installed your app. This is highly more efficient than marketing to new users, who can be anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive to convert than existing users.

The first step to re-engaging your users is identifying the segments of your audience that have the highest potential to make a repeat purchase. This might include:

  • Customers or players who have made a purchase recently or in the past.
  • Customers or players who have downloaded your app but have not made a purchase yet.
  • Customers or players who spend long session times in your app.

Next, identify the channels in your marketing mix where you can engage your users.

Retargeting on owned channels

Re-engage users while they are active in your app or browsing your brand on social media. Here are some ideas:

  • Serve push notifications that remind users to revisit their abandoned shopping cart, finish a game level or reopen your app.
  • Offer rewards via push notifications or social media campaigns to users for re-engaging your app. This might be free power-ups, discounts or special offers.

Retargeting on paid channels: 

Re-engage users with in-app ads that engage them across the mobile ecosystem. Here are some ideas.

  • Personalize your mobile ads to show users products that they might have left behind in their shopping cart or are similar to items they’ve recently searched or purchased.
  • Serve your ads at key moments when users are near an in-store location with geo-targeting.
  • Offer rewards in your mobile ads to drive repeat purchases or reopens.

TL;DR

In the quest for sustained growth in the mobile app space, embracing the philosophy of small improvements, big gains is key. As we prepare for the new year, understanding that long-term growth post-holiday season is not guaranteed, these strategies can unlock incremental revenue and enhance app retention:

  • Optimize Your User Experience: Review and refine your app's user experience, making incremental improvements to enhance satisfaction.
  • Fix Glitches and Make Updates: Address glitches and bugs to improve performance and reduce uninstalls.
  • Use Data to Make Strategic Improvements: Analyze user data to identify areas for enhancement in your app's performance.
  • Get Feedback (and act on it): Encourage user feedback and act on suggestions to build loyalty and improve your app.
  • Tweak your Monetization Strategy: Experiment with pricing and rewards to optimize monetization.
  • Retarget your Customers Across Owned and Paid Channels: Utilize retargeting and re-engagement campaigns to efficiently reactivate users and drive revenue.

 

Kickstart your Q1 2024 by tapping into the high quality performance of mobile app retargeting. Schedule a meeting with YouAppi’s re-engagement experts to get started.