3 Tips for Keeping Your Mobile Audience Engaged
Once you’ve created a mobile app, you may think that the hard work is complete. Unfortunately, it’s only just begun. Getting users to continue using your app is the real challenge. It’s a common issue for app developers, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
Over the last few years, mobile app usage rates have increased slightly. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. According to a study by Localytics, 20 percent of apps are used only once. Also, seventy percent of total app usage comes from the top 200 apps.
For a business that has spent time and money creating and promoting a mobile app, these numbers can be disheartening. Still, we can all agree that mobile apps have significant purpose.
If you’ve created a mobile application and are looking to keep users engaged, here are three tips to keep in mind.
1. Prepare for optimal app experiences.
It’s helpful to plan for optimal app experiences prior to building your app. However, it won’t be until people actually start using your app that you will get a better feel for the things you need to work on. In the end, your app needs to be valuable to users and offer relevant experiences that will keep them coming back for more.
As more people download your app, discover how they’re using the app. Which features do they enjoy most? Which types of aspects are most valuable to them? You can then use this information to determine which activities you want to grow, such as time spent in the app or number of transactions.
2. Display value in your messaging.
Another way to keep your mobile audience engaged is by providing value in your messaging, In other words, tell your users why they should open your app and what they have to gain from it. Maybe you have new content to share or a special offer to save money.
Sometimes, people need a little incentive to get them to return to an app, and that’s OK. (On a personal note, I have apps reminding me to check back and visit them for rewards, exciting news, etc. all the time. Sometimes, the reminder really does pay off!)
In order to provide your users with an incentive that works, you’ll need to communicate in their language. The more you learn about your audience and their behavior on your app, the better you can hit their sweet spot. Otherwise, they may just get annoyed and end up deleting your app.
3. Leverage media to your advantage.
A final way to engage your mobile audience is to utilize other forms of digital media such as push messaging, emails, texts and social media.
For example, use push notifications to communicate with people who have shown interest in receiving updates from your company. You may use text and email to inform users of updates and other important news. You can even create custom audiences on social networks to separate people based on app usage frequency.
Your app is a powerful tool, and an excellent extension of your other digital media strategies. But it does not have to be a separate entity. Use other forms of media to enhance app usage and encourage interaction from your audience.
Like websites, mobile applications require regular maintenance. While it would be nice to create an app and watch the users roll in, this usually is not the case. It takes careful monitoring of the app and an understanding of how people are using it to fully recognize its greatness. If you need an objective opinion on the quality of your app and how to increase engagement, call WSI Star Web Solutions at 888.853.4449.