There is more to creating an app than just installing the complicated coding and software. When looking into the purpose for your app, the intent of your users should be your first priority. If building the app is like making a cake, then the user experience is the flour. Without thought-out user experience goals, the app creation won’t be as successful. App developers’ sole purpose is to build an app where users feel compelled to engage with the application’s features.
The first step is for users to download the app. What then? What measures can be taken to increase activity in the app and make sure users are loving their experience?
We’ve come up with 5 ways that will help boost engagement and overall activity on mobile apps.
1. Smooth Onboarding
When the user downloads the app, what page are they immediately brought to? The onboarding process is important because it serves as the introduction to the app. Some things that are helpful to remember when app developers build the app’s landing page is to be simple with the wording and design. It’s a good idea to replace lots of text with helpful visualizations to help progress the user along the registration process.
When directing a user to log in or create an account, provide them with the option to sign in using a social media account, email, or phone number. This is typically followed up with a code delivery to the user’s account to confirm their identification. Lastly, go through the onboarding funnel yourself (as a pretend user) to make sure the process is smooth according to your personal standards.
2. Push Notifications & Direct Messaging
By delivering push notifications, the app can deliver insightful messaging tactics to the user even when they aren’t currently in the app. This can be a tricky thing to navigate, because it’s important not to annoy users but to provide them with relevant push notifications that will lead them back to the app. Push notifications are customizable meaning target audiences can be created based on age, gender, and other demographics. Ask your app developer team how to get a hold of these metrics and start launching your own automated messages.
3. In-App Communities
Having an in-app community is something else to consider when creating an engaging app experience because the communities encourage users to post. These communities can look like forums or image posts, but they are all led by the users of the app. In-app communities bring a social light to any product or service app and are proven to be one of the most successful tools to increase engagement. Because users can build relationships and connect with other humans on the app, it creates a greater incentive for them to come back to the app again and again.
4. App Gamification
Gamification of an app is a great way to build on the social and fun aspects of a mobile app. Users can compete against each other or themselves in a personalized gamified experience. Setting gamification up allows users to set goals and want to come back to reach those goals. This can be represented with something as simple as creating to-do tasks or rewards for posting certain content.
5. Two-Way Communication
Lastly, the most engaged users rely on steady support on the other side of the screen. Creating a chat system where users can reach out if they need help or have questions will increase trust and overall interaction. Additionally, this is a great way to collect feedback data on customer satisfaction and how to improve the mobile app experience. Reputation is everything, and it’s nice to have front row seats to what people have to say about your app.
Implementing these strategies will help increase your engagement to your mobile apps, but remember to be open to other recommendations that may be best for your services. It’s important to experiment in order to reach the results that work best for you. If you’re looking for more on how we prioritize user engagement into our mobile apps, please reach out to us here.