Most apps fail in their first year, and many lose users after the initial app download spike. But a solid user engagement strategy is what separates successful apps from the irrelevant ones.
With millions of apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, app usage is all about delivering real value. On average, a person uses 9 apps a day, many of which are social media-based, so there’s little room for mediocre apps.
To create loyal app users, focus on creating smooth app onboarding and engagement strategies. Success isn’t just about user acquisition, it’s about building long-term relationships through app usage and engagement. These efforts set the foundation for high user retention rates, measurable app engagement and ultimately app growth.
Mobile App Engagement
What is mobile app engagement?
App engagement is how users interact with the app’s core features. Each app has its own app engagement metrics based on its purpose. For example, social apps track likes, comments and time spent on the feed, gaming apps track session length and level completions, banking apps track transaction frequency or mobile deposits.
You can use these data points to measure app engagement and spot trends. This gives you the opportunity to improve the app’s user experience and fix gaps in the customer support process. For example, analytics can show you where users drop off during the onboarding process and give you actionable insights to adjust the app’s UI or refine the onboarding flow. When you know app engagement well enough to really leverage it, you can turn passive users into loyal advocates and get more users through organic growth.
Why mobile app engagement
Engagement strategies drive customer engagement and keep apps relevant. Research shows how important usage patterns are to success. AppsFlyer found that users who are actively engaging with an app spend 4.5 times more on in-app purchases than less engaged users.
On average, an app loses 77% of its daily active users within the first 3 days of installation and 95% within 30 days. A sticky user experience, with personalized messages or relevant notifications keeps users engaged. This doesn’t happen by accident, it’s driven by a deliberate focus on features that connect with users and a clear strategy to increase user engagement.
Mobile app engagement metrics
You’ll need to measure user engagement using specific metrics to know what’s working and what’s not. A mobile app development company uses these metrics to refine app features, improve user experience and increase long-term engagement.
Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users (MAU)
These metrics measure the number of unique users engaging with your app daily (DAU) and in a month (MAU). Together, they give you a clear picture of how often users are coming back. Facebook sets the bar high, with 50% of its monthly users returning daily. While you may not be able to match that, aiming for a DAU/MAU ratio of 20% is a good benchmark. If you hit this number, users find value in your app and are building it into their habits.
Session Length and Frequency
The time users spend in your app (session length) and how often they come back (frequency) will show you how well your app is designed and functioning. Gaming apps typically hold users attention for around 4-5 minutes per session so you need to entice them to come back for more. Quick access apps like weather or calculators have shorter sessions of 2-3 minutes but high frequency of use.
Retention
Retention measures the percentage of users who use your app over time. The first three days are critical – if users don’t find value quickly they’re gone. By the end of the first month strong apps should retain around 35% of their users, most apps hover at 15% retention. Developers need to analyze what drives early engagement and refine onboarding flows or feature accessibility to increase retention.
Churn
On the other side of retention is churn, a measure of how many users abandon the app over a set period. But churn isn’t just a number, it’s an opportunity. By knowing where and why users are dropping off, you can take proactive action – redesign confusing interfaces or bolster customer support at key exit points.
In-App Purchase Metrics
If your app is freemium or monetizes through in-app purchases, understanding user spending habits is crucial. Research shows that the global in-app spend per user per app is around $0.50 a month. While that may seem small, scale that across a large user base and you have a significant revenue stream. The goal is to convert 2-5 out of every 100 active users into paying customers, a achievable yet impactful target that drives long term growth.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
CLV measures the total revenue an average user will generate over their lifetime with your app. For gaming apps, these values can be all over the place – some earn $1 per user while others earn over $100. Knowing your app’s CLV will help you prioritize features that increase a user’s value over time.
Use these metrics to guide your mobile development. Tracking DAU, session length, retention and CLV will help you direct and inform your overall business strategy while improving your product, reducing churn and increasing monetization.
Ways to increase mobile app engagement
Personalization and user segmentation
Personalization is one of the most powerful ways to increase user engagement by creating experiences that feel customised and unique. By analyzing app engagement metrics developers can deliver content that resonates with users and gets them to deeper connections.
Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist keeps users coming back week after week for their own customised music experience, that’s the power of personalization for app engagement.
Personalized strategies go beyond surface level interactions. For example, Amazon sends in-app notifications for deals based on purchase history, Uber suggests destinations nearby based on user journeys. Showcasing these new features in the app store description will attract more users and show off the app’s ability to deliver customised experiences.
Onboarding
The onboarding process is a critical part of the user journey and sets the tone for app usage. A smooth and intuitive onboarding process will retain inactive users and turn first time users into active ones. Clear instructions, minimal upfront data collection and visual aids like progress bars will increase app engagement and user satisfaction during this critical phase.
LinkedIn cracked the onboarding code in the early steps of mobile app development and found that users who see their progress are four times more likely to complete the setup. Apps that focus on the first few interactions have higher user retention and are better placed to increase mobile app engagement over time.
Push notifications and in-app messaging
Push notifications and in-app messaging are key tools for re-engaging inactive users and keeping existing users interested. When personalized and timed right, these messages can guide users through the app’s features and increase app engagement over time. Through in-app notifications, remind them of unfinished actions or inform them of updates they care about.
Meanwhile in-app notifications provide real-time engagement opportunities, to help users discover new features or reward them for reaching milestones. This two-way communication increases user satisfaction and app engagement. But most importantly it builds an in-app community by creating a more interactive and engaging user experience.
Gamification
Gamification turns mundane interactions into rewarding experiences, it’s a proven way to increase app engagement. Reward systems, leaderboards and achievement badges get users to interact with the app more. Features like Nike Run Club’s challenges keep users active and users long term app retention through friendly competition. You need to find ways to gamify an app’s features to deepen user engagement and increase in-app purchases.
Regular updates and feature enhancements
Continuous updates are key to keeping users interested and satisfied. Refining existing features, fixing bugs or introducing new content shows you’re meeting user needs and expectations. Regular updates will support user retention and re-engage inactive users.
User feedback is a way to prioritize updates and increase app engagement. Instagram’s Stories feature was built based on user demand and now accounts for a big chunk of app activity. WhatsApp’s frequent updates improve stability and satisfaction so high app engagement.
Social features and community building
Building an in-app community is key to user loyalty. Social features like sharing, commenting, group chats and live interactions connect users and give them reasons to come back. These connections increase app engagement by turning the app into more than just a tool; it becomes a space for shared experiences.
Peloton’s live classes are a great example of this, they created an interactive community that has a 87% year one retention. Strava’s activity sharing features get users to join challenges and connect with others and increase engagement within the app.
Incentives and rewards
Creating a reward system is a powerful way to motivate and retain users. Incentives like loyalty points, referral bonuses or exclusive content make users feel valued and encourage recurring app usage.
Dropbox’s referral program which rewarded users with extra storage space is a great example of how incentives can drive growth and 35% of the company’s early user base was acquired through this. Apps like Starbucks with their tiered reward system also show how well-designed programs keep users engaged and loyal.
By combining these strategies you can increase user engagement and have a loyal base of app users. A multi-faceted mobile app engagement strategy will give you short term retention and app engagement and long term growth and positive app experience.
Measuring and improving engagement strategies
To build a successful app, you’ll need to continually measure and refine the engagement strategies you use to increase app engagement. This means understanding user behavior, testing new approaches and applying data driven insights to increase retention and satisfaction. Below we’ll explore the techniques – A/B testing, feedback collection and data analytics – and how they can help your mobile app.
A/B testing for optimization
A/B testing is the foundation for optimization. By presenting two versions of a feature (e.g. button placement or notification text) you can see which one delivers a better app experience. This minimizes development risk and gives you concrete proof of what works.
Testing notification wording and timing can show if users prefer friendly prompts or direct updates and if morning or evening messages get higher open rates. Adjusting elements of the user interface (UI) – like button colours or menu layouts – can improve usability and get users to interact. A/B testing lets you tweak these details and make sure they align with user preferences.
As you can see, A/B testing is a strategic way to uncover user behavior trends and preferences. Apps that use this approach report higher engagement and positive app experience.
Small changes based on user behavior can lead to big wins. Whether it’s tweaking reward systems or how users give feedback, testing lets developers implement features that resonate with their audience and drive long-term retention. The data from these experiments will fuel the optimization cycle.
Feedback loops
User feedback is another way to improve. Engaged users have insights into what they love and what they hate about an app. By listening to this feedback, developers get valuable direction on how to improve their product in ways that matter to their audience.
Good ways to collect feedback include in-app surveys, which give quick snapshots of user opinions or preferences. App store reviews provide ongoing documentation of common pain points or praises and usability testing lets developers sit in the user’s seat and see how they experience the app. Together, these feedback loops will show what needs to be fixed, what deserves to be enhanced and what new features will excite users.
Data analytics and insights
Data analytics is the way to understand how users interact with apps. By looking at behaviors such as session duration, feature usage and drop-off points, developers can see patterns that drive engagement or issues to fix. This turns data into action so app experiences meet user expectations and drive retention. From spotting opportunities to improve features to better targeting through personalization, analytics lets developers make decisions based on facts, not assumptions.
Let’s dive into how these analytics heroes do it:
- Google Analytics: This popular platform tracks user demographics, behavior flows and conversion rates. Its funnel analysis shows user journeys so you can see where engagement drops off. For example you can see where users drop off during a sign-up process and make targeted fixes.
- Firebase: Famous for its real-time insights Firebase goes beyond basic metrics to include crash reporting and machine learning predictions. These features will show you trends like likely churners so you can intervene proactively. For example, Firebase Predictions will flag users who are about to abandon the app and targeted notifications can re-engage them.
- Mixpanel: Designed for deep engagement analysis Mixpanel focuses on specific user interactions like button clicks or purchases. Its cohort analysis groups users by behavior like users who interacted with a specific feature. This lets developers refine features that encourage repeat usage and phase out underperforming ones.
Summary
A mobile app engagement strategy is key to standing out in today’s app crowded market. Mobile app engagement is more than app downloads. It’s about building ongoing relationships with users that lead to retention, user satisfaction and monetisation. Engaging apps that put user engagement first will keep the active and loyal users over time and rise above the competition.
Providing personalized push notifications, simplifying onboarding and introducing features like gamification can increase mobile app engagement big time. Regular updates keep app engagement fresh and social features and community building will deepen user connections. To do this, you may need to hire mobile app developers who can design and build features that resonate with your users. This will not only improve the user experience but also drive real improvements across key metrics like retention rates, session length and customer lifetime value.
Be proactive and adaptable so the mobile apps evolve with user needs and expectations. Ultimately a mobile app engagement strategy that creates value and connection will drive growth.
FAQs
What is the most important metric for mobile app engagement?
Retention rate is one of the most important metrics for mobile app engagement. It measures how well users stay engaged with your app over time. High retention rates mean users are finding value in your mobile app and will continue to use it which is key for long term growth and profitability.
How do I not annoy users with push notifications?
Using personalized push notifications is a key part of increasing app engagement without pissing off users. A well thought out mobile app engagement strategy should include crafting messages that match user behavior, preferences and milestones so each notification feels intentional and relevant. For example, sending recommendations based on in app actions or timely reminders for incomplete tasks will engage users without overwhelming them.
What are some examples of gamification in apps?
Popular apps use gamification to increase user engagement. For example Duolingo uses badges and streaks to motivate language learners and fitness apps like Strava use challenges and leaderboards to encourage exercise. This creates a sense of achievement and competition and gets users to interact with the app more.
How do I measure my app engagement strategy?
Measuring your app engagement strategy involves using analytics tools and tracking key engagement KPIs. Tools like Google Analytics, Firebase and Mixpanel will give you insights into user behavior and engagement trends. Regular A/B testing and feedback loops will help you refine your strategy based on user feedback and data-driven insights.
How does UI and UX design impact user engagement metrics?
UI and UX design are how users engage with apps. UI design changes will change the look and feel. UX design improvements, like simplifying user flows or improving feedback mechanisms, will improve the user experience. The data shows it matters.
Can small developers do this?
Small developers can do this with scalable solutions. Budget-friendly tools and frameworks like Firebase for analytics and push notifications or Unity for gamification are available and can help you build features to increase engagement. Even with limited resources, if you focus on the key strategies and iterate on them, you will see results.
How does in-app onboarding impact user engagement?
In-app onboarding is a key part of the app user engagement process, especially for new users. A well-designed onboarding experience introduces users to the app’s main features, helps them understand the value immediately and makes the app easy to use. By creating a smooth onboarding flow, app developers can reduce early churn and increase user retention.
Make sure the app is intuitive and use personalized in-app messages during onboarding and you’ll have a sticky user experience that will bring users back.
