mobile app optimization for user acquisition, activation, and retention
TRANSCRIPT
Sean Oliver, Mobile Product Marketing, Optimizely
Mobile App Optimization for Acquisition, Activation and Retention March 12, 2015
@ThueLMadsen #KISSwebinar
Sean Oliver - Optimizely - @SeanOliver
Sean leads Mobile Product Marketing at Optimizely. Prior to Optimizely, Sean worked on Consumer Product Marketing at LinkedIn and Microso!. When he’s not optimizing all things mobile, he can be found hiking and traveling the world.
Thue Madsen - KISSmetrics - @ThueLMadsen
Thue is the KISSmetrics Webinar Wizard and Marketing Ops Specialist. Before joining forces with KISSmetrics, he was a Ly! driver in SF, which is also how he ended up as a KISSmetrics marketer. Whenever Thue is not trying to automate everything around him, you can find him fishing and hiking in the Sierras.
@SeanOliver #KISSwebinar
Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics (AARRR)
Startup Metrics for Pirates
Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics (AARRR)
Startup Metrics for Pirates
Push Notifications
Remarketing
App Store Listing
In-App Advertising
Social Advertising
ASO
New User Onboarding
Waitlist
In-App Purchases
Ads
Desktop Purchases
My App
Why Optimize?
“Your assumptions are o!en wrong and how you expect people to use your app is actually not how they use it at all. When you’re optimizing your app you can see that, iterate on it, and make a more usable product.”
— Ben Cole, Conversion Coordinator, MEC
WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING NOW
1
Ge"ing Started What you need to know
To successfully start a process of optimization, you’ll need:
• Business case - what’s the goal and potential impact?
• Buy-in from the team and key stakeholders
• Developer know-how or support to install an SDK
• Bandwidth allocated in sprints for testing, or dedicated point person
• Bo!lenecks - what is the #1 metric you need to improve right now?
• Customer insights - analytics, qualitative feedback, etc.
What You Need to Get Started
Customer Acquisition Costs
Quantifying LTV:CAC
Monetization
Retention
Virality
Acquisition Costs
Lifetime Value
:
2
Acquisition Activation Retention
Defining Acquisition
Acquisition: The process of driving users to install an application and/or use the app through either paid or organic marketing.
App Store Ads Referrals
Icon Design Ad Copy
App Title
Screenshots App Store Listing
Promotions
Referral Copy
Incentive
First-Time User Experience
Optimization for Acquisition
How Users Discover Apps
First Impressions Ma!er
App Store Optimization
Opportunities to influence a download decision
InstaSize Photo & Video
App Store Optimization
Icon
Title
Screenshots
• User testing
• Use as an ad
• Keyword in title
• Be aware of character count
• Keep consistent
• Treat as banner ads
• Add context & value prop
InstaSize Photo & Video
App Store Optimization
Test your value prop with assets you have
LOG IN WITH GOOGLE
Start Your Free KISSmetrics Trial
App Store Optimization
Use a landing page to test elements of ASO.
Low-cost traffic: - Social ads - AdWords - Retargeting from
Website
App Store Optimization
Or create a landing page that looks just like your app store listing.
Bring moments to Life with Flipagram #1 Free App in over 80 countries with almost 100 million users!
DOWNLOAD
2
Acquisition Activation Retention
3
Acquisition Activation Retention
Defining Activation
Activation: Converting someone who has downloaded an app into an active user. This metric also indicates the quality of your First Time User Experience (FTUE).
Activation Hurdles
81% of users say an app needs to make a good first impression for them to continue using it
81%
19%
56%44%
56% of users haven’t signed up for an app because the registration process was too long or confusing
Source
First Impressions Ma"er; Clarity + Speed
Keys to a Great User Onboarding Experience
Optimizing User Onboarding
Stay Focused
Show, Don’t Tell
Remove Friction
Indicate Advancement
Be Human
Keep Educating
More detail in this blog post
Increased activation from 25% to 66.5%
French Girls Optimizes Activation
• Optimizing quality of the first-time user
experience (FTUE)
• Create understanding of how the app works
• Activation = the difference between 1-2 days of use
and 7+ days of use
Activation—Retention
“For us, activation is directly correlated to retention. Without activation, retention is poor.”
— Jeff Farkas, Developer & Backend Architect, French Girls
Baseline Activation Rate: 25%
French Girls Optimizes Activation
French Girls Optimizes Activation
Baseline Activation Rate: 25%
Winning Variation
French Girls Optimizes Activation
Activation50%
When optimizing for activation, consider:
• Does your app require registration?
• What is the order of operations for first time users?
• Does your app help users complete actions on first-time use?
• Does your app live up to its value prop during onboarding?
Optimizing for Activation
3
Acquisition Activation Retention
4
Acquisition Activation Retention
Defining Retention
Retention: A measure of how many of your customers/users come back over time, o!en measured at specific intervals like “7-day retention”.
Mobile app retention varies widely by app category
Optimizing User Retention
Source
Optimizing for Retention
Install First-Time Use Repeated Use
Registration
Customization
Instant Gratification
Push Notifications
App Flow & Dynamics
Notification Permissions
Retention Hurdles
iOS notifications are opt-in. Generally, less than 50% of users will receive push notifications.
50% 50%
95%
5%
Android notifications are opt-out, meaning nearly all users (95%) receive push notifications.
Source
Push Notification Differences: iOS and Android
Optimizing for Retention
Optimize when and how you ask for push notification permissions:
Opt-in prompts help to add context before making “the ask”
Customize future calls to action during onboarding:
Optimizing for Retention
User-specific information to personalize future messagingSource
Optimizing for Retention
Onboarding
Push Notifications
Direct users to actions that will make them valuable long-term users:
Ideas for Tests
• Think about push notification permissions in the context of your
FTUE
• Create a plan for enabling notifications beyond the first session
• Obsess over the quality of each email or push notification you send
• Encourage linking mobile and web accounts to bring customer data
together and personalize the experience
Optimizing for Retention
When optimizing for retention, consider:
• Are there network effects in my app that can pull my users back in?
• Is there a pa!ern or schedule of how users start their sessions?
How can it be encouraged?
• What information about my users do I have that can personalize
their future experiences?
• Can you apply any gamification techniques to your app?
Optimizing for Retention
4
Acquisition Activation Retention
5
Acquisition Activation Retention
BONUS: Reviews!
Reviews are important because they affect ASO
• Quality of reviews is important, but so is quantity
• Be thoughtful about how you ask for feedback
• Don’t interrupt your user’s experience
• Optimize when, where, and with what tone you ask
Optimizing for App Store Reviews
Best-in-Class: Circa
Optimize for App Store Reviews
Highly Recommend their Blog Post
3 Things They Optimized:
Optimize for App Store Reviews
Threshold (Timing) of Request
Location of Request
Flow of Request
10 Sessions 3x in 1 Week
Learn More in their Blog Post
The Result:
Optimize for App Store Reviews
More, High-Quality Reviews = Higher App Store Ranking = More Efficient Acquisition
Learn More in their Blog Post
5
Acquisition Activation Retention Reviews
2015 KISSmetrics Guide KISSmetrics Demo
h"p://kiss.ly/growth h"p://kiss.ly/demo
Optimizely Mobile Guide Optimizely for Mobile
optimize.ly/appoptimization optimizely.com/mobile
Questions?
Sean Oliver Mobile Product Marketing
Optimizely @SeanOliver
Thue Madsen Marketing Operations
KISSmetrics @ThueLMadsen
THANK YOU
Sean Oliver @SeanOliver