If you are running a business, you’re more than likely going to need an app. Apps are created to make things a lot easier for the user, and by extension, your customers. Everything within it is designed to make things simpler for your potential customers so that they turn into sales and engagement more easily. But you may be wondering whether or not it is successful. It might be hard to determine on first glance. People could be coming in an using the app, but it might not be clear why some aren’t buying from the app or using it more than once. Luckily, there are a few tell-tale signs that can help you determine whether or not your app is a success. Read on to find out what the most glaring signs are of a successful app and how you can aim for them.
Retention rate
How many customers have installed your app? You should monitor the number of installs regularly to ensure that it has sustained momentum and to see if you need to make any changes in order to improve it.
Your retention rate refers to the active users who have stuck to using your app. If your app has a high retention rate, it means that you have retained your customers. This is a good sign because it means that your customers are happy with your app. Your installation rate is another indicator of how successful your app is, but while your installation rate tells you how many people downloaded your app and set it up, the retention rate tells you how many people actually keep using it.
Number of active users
But, just as important, is how many people are actually using your app. We all have installed an app, taken a quick glance at it, and decided that we’ll look at it “properly” later, or worse, it’s not for us and uninstalled again instantly. If you’re seeing a lot of users uninstalling your app, there will be a reason. The easier of these two scenarios is if people are uninstalling right away. That means there is a glaring flaw with the app that you can hopefully fix. The best way to determine this is to ask. Take a look at reviews of your app, where people will gladly tell you what put them off.
If users are looking around and coming up against bugs and problems, you might want to run a few more tests to find these problems. You can tell if it’s glitching problems by how long users spend on the app, so monitor activity.
The best sign of a successful app is not only a lot of users, but a lot of users that are sticking around. If you find you have a high number of installs but a low number of daily active users, you might have a problem that needs fixing.
It’s users’ first stop
Any mobile app is designed to make using other methods of contact irrelevant. That could be the website, the phone, the store or HQ, or any other means of contacting them. Take a restaurant app for example, it should have a booking forum so that customers don’t need to call the restaurant to book a table. An app should eliminate the need for contacting customer service by answering as many questions as possible, and should eliminate the need to access the website by being right there in your phone with more convenient features. If more people are accessing the app than your website, or you see numbers go down elsewhere, you’ve got a successful app that runs the customer service for you.
Reviews
If the reviews of your app are good, this is a good indication that people like it and are satisfied with your product. To encourage customers to leave more reviews, you can use a variety of tactics. A popular tactic is to use push notifications. These alerts remind customers to review your app.
There is also the possibility of buying app reviews – however, realise that not all countries have the same laws surrounding this. The United States only permits paid reviews if you and the reviewer disclose the review has been paid for, while some other countries completely outlaw paid reviews. Not complying with the laws can lead to serious consequences such as fines and penalties, so ensure that you are familiar with your local laws and comply.
To increase your app’s reach and reliability, you can also partner with influencers who can use the app and review it for you. Once again, it must be disclosed that this is a paid partnership.
Churn Rate
The churn rate refers to the number of people who stop using your app after a certain period of time. As mentioned above, your mobile app will be best described as successful if you can keep your users from leaving the app for too long or deleting it. If your churn rate is high, you should look for ways to improve customer retention. Some ways to do this are by improving the user interface of your app or adding more features to it. It may also be worthwhile to offer rewards for customers who continue to use your app for a long time. You can offer exclusive content and rewards that they won’t get on the website or in person to give users a reason to download and perhaps switch up these offers every month or so to ensure that they keep coming back.
Conclusion
There are many ways to see whether or not your app is successful. By monitoring the most important metrics and keeping track of your reviews, you should have a good idea of whether or not your app is on the right track. Remember to be flexible and keep changing things up so that you can adapt to the ever-changing mobile landscape. That way, you can keep up with your competition and offer your customers the mobile app experience that they are looking for.
