When it comes to applications, it is undeniable that there are many scattered around. The relevance of apps is proven by the fact that there were 29.6 downloads of apps in the third quarter of 2019, according to a report by Sensor Tower. However, some stand out more than others, leaving us with the question: How to stand out and increase engagement in your app?
Just like anything, we only become loyal to a brand or product when we identify with them and see the usefulness. Therefore, these are some points that every application must obey to increase engagement in the app. I already say that design is a fundamental factor for this to become effective. Want to understand how? Read on and see 7 valuable tips!
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Tips to increase engagement in your app!
Many applications request a registration to access the various functionalities available, which is valid and fair. However, having to fill out a long-form can be exhausting for the user. That’s where the authentication API comes into play.
Logging in from a Facebook or Google account is only possible thanks to it, making registration much easier and faster. This is justified by the premise that users make decisions in a few seconds. In this logic, they can give up on your application when they encounter a barrier that will take a long time. So use authentication APIs and optimise your user’s time!
1. Implement authentication API
Many applications request a registration to access the various functionalities available, which is valid and fair. However, having to fill out a long-form can be exhausting for the user. That’s where the authentication API comes into play.
Logging in from a Facebook or Google account is only possible thanks to it, making registration much easier and faster. This is justified by the premise that users make decisions in a few seconds. In this logic, they can give up on your application when they encounter a barrier that will take a long time.
So use authentication APIs and optimize your user’s time!
2. Have a digital presence
The fact is: applications are only accessed by the device with an internet connection. Therefore, whoever has a smartphone also has a digital presence, so your application must have it too!
However, this presence deserves attention, avoiding creating accounts that exist for existing. Social networks offer many opportunities, ranging from understanding the public’s behavior to direct contact. These two benefits are directly linked to increased engagement in your app.
See, if you know exactly how your users communicate, their tastes and what type of content they prefer, you should use this as a strategy to increase engagement by adapting to this demand! Peer-to-peer communication helps a lot in identifying. After all, we like to relate to our peers and businesses depend on positive relationships to support themselves. That is, people only buy and interact with those they like.
So, make your app’s digital presence personalized for your users! Create reasons for them to stay active in your app! Netflix and Instagram is a great example to take as a base! To maintain the nutrition of your users, bet on automation tools. Thus, all content will be up to date and your users well entertained and engaged with your brand and your app!
3. Communicate through push notifications
Some of the content described above can come through push notifications. They are excellent strategies for getting users back to your app, greatly increasing your app engagement.
After all, they function as small calls that will appear in front of your user’s eyes – there is almost no escape. And to be effective, messages must bring mental triggers to generate the desire to click and open your app, just like iFood does to send discount coupons!
4- Optimise your app Store Presence
The cliché phrase “the first impression is what remains” is true. Within the optimization techniques for app stores (as we will see at the end of the article), the appearance and presentation of the app is a decisive factor for a user to install or not in your app. This decision is usually made within seconds. If people are attracted to the icon, the likelihood of increasing engagement in your app is significant.
Therefore, your app must be presentable in the app stores. To do this, make sure your app’s icon is really attractive to your user. So ask: does the icon have any value? Does it convey security and credibility? If the answer is yes, perfect. If not, it is worth rethinking the visual identity.
So count on color psychology as a strong ally. Have you ever wondered why Uber wears black? This color is used to convey luxury, something that we can feel when browsing the app and making use of the private chauffeur service. Meanwhile, red is a color that refers to urgency and hunger, as these values make a lot of sense for iFood’s proposal.
This should also appear on your app’s screenshots and presentation videos in the app store. And since it is about the visual identity of your brand, there is nothing fairer than applying this identity on social networks too! Never forget your digital presence!
5- Think about the user experience
It is also worth talking about the experience when referring to first impressions. If a user found it easy to use the application, such as making a registration from social networks- as we saw above, the chances of him returning or becoming loyal to your application are much greater.
For this, the design of the application must be thought of as users and the way they interact with the app. For this, it is also important to take into account the cell phone models used by them, as the experience is different between larger and smaller displays.
In cases of cell phones with large screens, one-handed handling is compromised, making access to the upper icons difficult. So, always keep in mind the heat map of using smartphones, making it easier to see how difficult it is to access the information on the screen, allowing you to organize the hierarchy of the app’s information. The absence of this hierarchy can leave the user confused, which is not the goal.
Also, the user interface must be personalized. That is, the information is in accordance with tastes and preferences. The algorithms are responsible for doing this, as they will learn about each user to offer personalized content. In addition to increasing the conversion rate, personalization brings benefits to engagement in the application, as it improves the experience by offering relevant content to the user. That is, making the application useful!
6- Be attentive to what your application says
Also aiming at the user experience, monitoring the evaluations of your application is essential to ensure its continuous improvement. If people are speaking well it is because it is working properly and vice versa.
And since the customer is right most of the time, serving them means increasing engagement with your app. Just browse through the list of app reviews and ratings to see that users are generally willing to talk about their experience, even bringing suggestions for improvements!
As it is not possible to predict everything during the test periods, these evaluations will be the allies to improve the performance of the application and make the feedbacks more and more positive.
Important to note that good reviews are also criteria to stand out in the app stores!
7- Make your app a game
This strategy has everything to do with the functioning of the human brain. We like to play because the feeling of pleasure and reward is rewarding for us. This is because our brain releases dopamine (the hormone responsible for these sensations) during these situations, as it is a mental trigger type.
And since we like a good reward, gamification comes as an excellent strategy to increase engagement in your app. The fintech Neon app makes use of gamification by offering benefits when a task is completed, encouraging continued use of the app.
However, before applying gamification to your app, make sure the idea is executable. There will be no point in establishing activities that are impossible to perform, making the experience negative and reducing engagement. So keep gamification simple and appropriate for your audience.
That way, understand the age group of your audience, what they like to do in their free time (this can include your app), the region where they are and so on. This information will also serve to establish the rewards to be offered. As mentioned earlier here, customization is also a factor that contributes to increased engagement in apps!
Metrics to keep an eye on
It is useless to apply all these tips without even having a parameter to evaluate their performance. So, you need to set a goal for this increased engagement make more profit? Increase in-app usage? Decrease the volume of uninstalls?
Each of these questions can be analyzed using different metrics: ROI (Return on Investment), rate of return and rejection rate, respectively. However, it is not possible to analyze everything separately, as one influences the other.
Therefore, I recommend that you pay attention to optimisation techniques for app stores, also known as ASO. Through them, you will know how to highlight your app in stores and the metrics you need to keep an eye on!
Conclusion
Increasing engagement on the app is a task that requires daily attention. Analyzing and listening to what they say about your app and how the audience interacts with it is one of the fundamental fundamentals for achieving success. Thus, the online presence on social networks will be the right arm when it comes to establishing deep and true connections with its users, allowing them to know what.
