Using Back-End SDKs to Drive Sessions, Revenue and Retention

Jay Hinman - Neumob VP of Marketing

What We Talk About When We Talk Retention

● App owners and developers rightly place retention focus on the app’s visible front-end, which can be endlessly tweaked and optimized

● Product managers, designers, marketers: How do I make my app more exciting, sticky, personal and relevant enough to earn a place on millions of smartphones?

● Push notifications, A/B testing, UI personalization, in-app communication - all essential retention tools

Yet What About Your App’s “Plumbing”?

● That traditional focus on an app’s front end (look and feel) has been rightly placed - but at a performance cost

● Results of all this “fashion”? Slow speeds, plus app errors and timeouts

● Retention also calls for a deeper look at function - i.e. your app’s back end

● 3rd-party calls from ad networks, content feeds & SDKs cause retention-killing performance problems

Errors, Timeouts & Crashes = #1 App Store Complaint

Mobile App Errors and TimeoutsErrors● Images ● Ads● Content feeds● Purchases

Timeouts● An app that just

freezes or “hangs”, and won’t proceed to the next interaction

Typical Mobile Network Error Rates

● Anywhere between 3-12% - highly variable and dependent on network conditions

● United States: average of 3% network errors

● India, China, and slower networks in Europe & Latin America: up to 12% in-app errors

Source: Dimension Research

Not Just Errors: The Perils of Slow App Performance

Apteligent and Neumob 2016 studies also found strong correlations between app performance and app retention.

Faster, Error-Free App = Increased Sessions● Localytics research: 22% of users only use apps once,

but 39% of users return to an app for 11 or more sessions○ Direct connection to retention:○ User who uses an app just 5 times during their

first month is 50% more likely to stick around than someone who uses the app only twice

● Neumob: Worked with leading, household-name real time news app

● Error rate dropped from 5% to 1%● App load time boosted by 80% - even faster in some

markets ● Led to instant 9% increase in app sessions

Faster, Error-Free App = Reduced App Churn

Data for Tier 1 travel app, with and without Neumob SDK, January 2017

Faster, Error-Free App = Reduced App Churn

● Faster time to checkout means less time to be distracted and abandon the shopping cart

● Faster app speeds mean stronger app brand loyalty, and an increased desire to use the app to book travel next time

● Easier and faster path to checkout means more windows for increased page views, and potentially added transactions

● Better app store reviews, which leads to more app downloads and higher revenues

Checklist: Using Your App’s Back End to Boost Retention

1. Integrate a first-rate analytics SDK to measure app performance

2. If you’re not measuring app speed + load times, it’s time to start

3. Don’t just focus on Crashes; also look at Network Errors and Timeouts

4. Look at multiple countries (wherever your users happen to be)

5. Look closely at the speeds of third-party URLs, Ads, SDKs

6. Measure & Fix!