Did you know that almost a quarter of users abandon an app after their very first use? and that 58% of users abandon an app within the first 30 days?
Getting new users is critical for the growth and success of your app, but that won’t amount to much if your new users forget about your app as soon as it’s off of their screens. People have limited attention and time, not to mention limited space on their mobile device. The key to user retention is actively providing them with targeted and valuable content, which is where tools like push notifications and in-app messages come into play.
Push notifications may have once been considered a nuisance, or even spam, but those days are over. According to Localytics, users who have not enabled push notifications will launch a given app 5.4 times per month, while users with push notifications enabled will launch that same app 14.7 times over the same period. That’s an engagement increase of 171%!
The same study found that push notifications help drive long-term engagement as well. Localytics found that push-less apps were retaining a mere 13% of their users three months after their initial download, while apps with push notifications enabled found almost four times more success with 50% retained by the end of the quarter.
The message behind these numbers is clear: a ‘one-and-done’ strategy simply won’t suffice to keep users interested in your app over any length of time. Push notification and other direct messaging strategies are essential for communicating with your users, enabling you to direct them to relevant information or to useful features or to new offers that they may be interested in. Tailoring your messages to particular user stories can be of great help in keeping users on track to keep coming back.
While churn is a more or less permanent part of the mobile app landscape, personalized messages can be a big help in keeping your churn rates low and in making your users feel a little more at home.
