The accelerated evolution of mobile industry has begun to have some slips in communicating with its users. Achieving adequate mobile app engagement and user retention rates is a challenging task. In fact, user abandonment that is apps used only once and then abandoned accounts for 23 percent of users.
There has been ups as well as downs in user abandonment rates in recent years, but nearly a quarter of users still leave applications almost instantly. Moreover, if an app is opened only once in 7 days, there is a 60 percent chance it will never be opened over. The truth is, mobile app developers are up against a competitor market in which users have a lot of alternatives.
Increasing engagement and retention will commence to more effective and dependable app users. The following user retention method described will help you produce results that many brands are failing to accomplish.
“What’s a good retention rate?”. At the commencement of 2018, the average mobile app retention rate was 29% after 90 days. Overall industries, 71% of all app users get churned within 90 days. If we take a deeper look at retention averages, it doesn’t get any better. This year (2019) also it just got worse.
What is Mobile App Onboarding?
Onboarding is one of the most crucial phases in an app user’s journey. App onboarding is essentially the first point of contact and therefore is required for creating a great impact. Consequently, it is necessary to make this method as easy and seamless as feasible.
A large number of people now favor native mobile apps to mobile websites. Still, it is hard for new users to know how to operate and get the most from a native app. This is where user onboarding comes into action. Onboarding is an outstanding feature that helps lead your users through and make them familiarize with the app. This process allows businesses to strategically interact with their users, representing the app’s value and promoting positive user experience.
Having an efficient mobile app onboarding experience is considered great by users. Excellent user onboarding not only lowers abandonment rates but can also help boost long-term achievement metrics like user retention and user lifetime value.
This blog explains the best practices for formulating an adequate user onboarding experience that will transform original downloads into highly involved leads.
Picture Credit: blog.ladder.io
Steps to Increase User Retention With Mobile App Onboarding
1. Develop The Path Of Least Resistance
User onboarding is meant to make things as easy for the user to start using the app. The more complicated it is for users to log in or sign-up, identify features, or operate the app, the higher the rate of user abandonment. Hence, you want to continue with the path of least resistance.
Sometimes, this indicates a single sign-up screen. This is common with social media and fun apps. But this isn’t always the most reliable plan. There are many methods of user onboarding which depend on both the use of the app, and whether the purpose of the app is new.
For example, Benefits-Oriented user onboarding communicates the value of the app, Function-Oriented user onboarding demonstrates the key functionalities, Progressive onboarding educates through guided interactions and Hybrid oriented combines the two or all of the above. Despite the most suitable user onboarding method, the aim is to make it as easy as feasible for users to start using the app.
2. Decrease Sign-up/Log In Fields
Long forms to fill up are a bad idea, particularly on mobile devices where screen sizes are smaller. The ideal thing to do is enabling users to sign-up or log in through a single field, using their social media accounts.
Still, some apps will need more data, for instance, a service-based app that has user support of the current customers. In case you want to gather only essential information, and that is huge, you can consider splitting the process into more than one screen.
3. Make it simple within one screen
Users are capable to digest data more easily if that information is accurate and directed. This practice is especially important for function-oriented and benefits-oriented onboarding, where the goal is to prove key app functionalities or demonstrate value.
4. Give Feedback As Fast As Possible
Feedback helps multiple goals in onboarding, most regularly to show mistakes or progress in the validation manner. It can also be used through animations that act as positive support for achieving interactions.
5. Apply Guided Interaction To Drive Progress
Many apps that are a tad more complicated use a progressive onboarding strategy; basically, a tutorial on how to use the app. The apps with the most prosperous progressive onboarding grant the user the fun of learning without hindering the action by using guided cooperation.
Guided interaction is about engaging users in research, rather than telling them what to do. This idea is very prevalent in video games; instead of long tutorials, users play through the procedures in order to become accustomed to the controls and background.
Guided interaction is also great for apps with empty states when users need to take effect in order for content to supply.
6. Use Animation intentionally
There are 3 logics to use animations in the onboarding means, i.e. bring attention to details to help the user progress, feedback, and concept of the whole place. The animation should always be handled with one of these goals in mind and should be used sparingly. They should attract attention, but not hurt the user.
7. And Finally, Test!
User onboarding is first and principal about the users themselves. Listening to and playing upon user reviews and feedback can help you recognize points of conflict in your onboarding process and fix them. Once you have sufficient data to observe patterns, try new things and test to see if users love or loathe them.
Mobile app onboarding is important for activating users, promoting engagement, and defeating abandonment rates. Understanding these best practices will encourage you to create a highly efficient onboarding process that will not only drive user engagement but improve user involvement as well.
Mobile Apps are everything now. From small daily chores to bigger organizational tasks, people do depend on Apps. And that is exactly the right time to make use of it. The mobile application team of NdimensionZ consists of passionate developers and creative curators! Do you have a unique idea to make an App? Get in touch with us!