Finding and winning over customers is fundamental to the success of any product. Often, new businesses get caught up on the customer acquisition part, trying to find as many people as possible and bring them in the door, but they forget to focus on winning them over. When it comes to apps, that means making sure users’ initial interactions with your product —after 30 seconds and after 3 minutes—are as positive as possible, and also considering ways to keep them engaged 3 days and 30 days after download. It’s not enough for users to download your app—you want users who stay and come back for more.
Read on to learn more about the customer's journey, and how you can make sure you're engaging and enticing them every step of the way.
Customer Journey Funnel
App revenue is not as simple as the number of purchases multiplied by the cost of the app—there's a journey involved for a user, and the way you interact with them along the way will make a difference on your bottom line. A better way to think about your user engagement is through an equation like this:
In other words, the more customers you attract, the longer they stay engaged, and the more opportunities for monetization you offer, the more revenue you’ll generate. This is the real key to successfully monetizing your app—it’s not JUST about the dollar amount.
When you think about revenue in these terms, it becomes clear that you need to focus on more than just the acquisition stage of the customer journey. In fact, it can be helpful to think of this customer journey as a funnel:
At each step there's an opportunity for customers to make a choice—will they engage further? Or will they go somewhere else? It's natural that you'll lose some people along the way—not everyone is your ideal target audience, after all— is an important way to understand what's working with your app, and what isn’t.
30–3–3–30
Another way to think about this user journey is to focus on four key touch points.
30: The first 30 seconds
You need to hook them right away, so make sure your app icon and first screen are working for you. How easy it is to proceed to the next step? Be strategic about any barriers you place at this point.
3: The first 3 minutes
If you win in the first 30 seconds, you have about 3 minutes to get them more engaged. This will include their first real interaction with the experience, beyond downloading and logging in. Will they get a satisfying experience in that time frame, and be left wanting to come back?
3: Will they come back in 3 days?
Most apps have a precipitous decline after 3 days. The ones who come back in three days are the users most likely to keep using it.
30: Will they come back in 30 days?
These are your hardcore, fully dedicated users. They're totally hooked and are willing to commit time and potentially funds.
Which conversion points aren't converting?
Each time users make a decision to stay or go—that's a conversion point. Will they be converted into a paying customer? No app can claim 100% conversion, that's not the way it works, so don't beat yourself up for every person who doesn’t come back. However, there's often room for improvement—by taking a closer look at what's happening at each point, you can help reduce friction and encourage more people to go through the entire journey. Once you know where people are disengaging, you can turn your attention to potential growth drivers.
Here are some things to consider at each stage of the customer journey:
Awareness. The first step is to cast a wide net, and you may find that you just aren't starting with enough eyeballs. There are a lot of options for increasing awareness, depending on your particular app; consider paid advertising, viral campaigns, and one-click sharing. Do everything you can to increase awareness so that the top of your funnel is as wide as possible, allowing for the greatest possible return.
Discovery. The second stage focuses on discovery of your app or product. Once people take a closer look, are they bailing? If so, revisit your app store description—is it accurate and compelling? Can you make it more exciting for users to read, based on keywords or listing strategy? Is the app icon professionally designed and intriguing? Ratings and reviews are also a critical factor at this point, so consider encouraging your active users to rate the app and write a review. You can set up a trigger to prompt ratings after a user has logged in a certain number of times. Check out this article on making the most of your Google Play store to see other ways to maximize discovery.
Consideration. This is where things move fast—the first 30 seconds a user engages with your app or service go by quickly, so it's good to think visually and deliver a strong first impression. What does the intro screen look like? What kind of impression does it make? Can a user understand everything they need to quickly? Use the first 30 seconds to spark their interest. Anything you can do to get them past the first few screens will help.
Conversion. This first-time user experience is the real hook—when they’ll decide if your app is worth keeping and using regularly. In the first three minutes, make sure you provide a compelling experience that leaves them wanting to play more. If it's too easy, they'll be done and have no reason to come back. If it's too complicated, they won't bother. If there will be a login or registration process, think of ways to make it as easy as possible, such as one-step registration or a free trial. This is where you want to focus on how quickly you can demonstrate value and delight your end user, How deep into the gameplay can they get?
Retention. To encourage long-term retention, 30 days and beyond, think about how you can reward their loyalty and entice them further into the gameplay or engagement. Send out push notifications, implement a loyalty campaign, or even consider doing re-engagement advertising. You might be able to offer bonus content after they've played a certain number of games, or when they've reached a certain score. Consider marketing to them via a different channel so you can engage with the user over multiple streams (think email or Facebook). Make sure they know you value them.
Don't forget to look at the numbers!
Ultimately, you want to be open-minded about the results. Your intuition is an important guide, but it's also important to make sure that user behavior matches your assumptions, and adjust as necessary. The numbers can give you a great idea of how users are traveling through the funnel, and what effect changes have on their journey.
Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what people mean when they talk about the funnel, and how you might be able to use it to your advantage. Stay tuned for our upcoming article on Google Play Store optimization for a more in-depth look at how to get noticed in the crowded marketplace, and even how to handle bad reviews.
What's a good example of an app that really kills it in the first 30 seconds? Tell us in the comments!