Not too long ago, a huge focus of digital marketing was on user acquisition. For example, if you demonstrate traction in user acquisition for your newest app, the common perception used to be that your app “has made it”. Nowadays investors and founders have since grown smarter and started to pay attention to the user retention rate, which is dependent on how loyal your users are to your products.
User retention here is defined as the activity that a business embarks on to increase customer loyalty. This process starts with the first contact between the user and the product and continues throughout the lifetime of the user. If you are aiming to make the Next Big App, user retention is key to your company’s valuation.
Today, we will talk about 5 strategies to increase your user retention.
Definition of User Experience Design (UX Design)
“User Experience Design is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.”
Strategy #5: Simplicity Is Key; Less is More
Contrary to the typical Singaporean “kiasu” mentality, remember that less is always more in design. A more minimalistic design will result in a more elegant UX and reduces the need for your user to think too much. Having too many choices available for the user will only confuse them and lead to a less pleasant app or website experience.
Remember, your goal is to increase user satisfaction and ensure a seamless and effortless onboarding process. Remember to have big buttons for mobile usage since some users might have fat fingers. Users also tend to remember information in clusters, so have short and crisp instructions in simple language.
Strategy #4: Inform Your Users When There Are New Features To Your Website/ App
Whenever there are new features to your website or app that are desirable to your users, remember to inform them so that they stay up to date! You can do so by alerting your users through notifications that they can sign up for when they first use your app. This is so that users actually know about the various new functions that your app or website offers, and can feel more engaged in your product.
Better yet, ask your users to suggest periodically what sort of features they want on your app or website. And be sure to listen and take their feedback into consideration!
Strategy #3: Encourage Your Users To Form Habits: Have One Or Many Hooks!
The goal of reducing the churn rate to your website or app is to encourage your users to use your website often. One effective way of doing this is to encourage users to form habits in relation to your product.
There are four elements in the Hook Model:
- Trigger. A trigger can be either internal or external. What does the user really want, and what are the external stimulus that makes the user want to use your website or app? For example, a wedding planning app would involve the trigger of the bride wanting a perfect wedding and an external trigger of the bride fearing that she will be judged if some parts of the wedding go wrong.
- Action. What is a simple action the user can take that will lead to an anticipation of a reward?
- Variable Reward. Can you make the user feel happy with the reward, but not too happy such that he/she is motivated to attain more of it?
- Investment. Can you design the user experience such that the user sees it as beneficial for him to spend time on the app every day so that he/she can receive incremental amounts of rewards?
If you follow the Hook Model and design elements that will leave your users “hooked”, it is likely that your churn rate will be lower.
Strategy #2: Use Splash Screens For A Pleasant Onboarding Process
Splash screens are utilized when there is waiting involved.
In this era when the attention spans of users are getting shorter and shorter, splash screens are essential for user engagement. While your user is waiting for the app or website to load, use this waiting time to engage them further, by giving them a tip or two in how they can use the app or website better for their purposes.
Strategy #1: Minimise Your Loading Time!
That being said, always ensure that your loading time doesn’t take too long!
Every second count when it comes to loading time. According to Kissmetrics:
- 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
- 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Therefore, always make it a goal to make sure that your user can access your website or app in as short a timeframe as possible. Remember, you only have one chance to impress, and after that one chance, you have to continue living up to the expectation.
We hope this article helps you understand the importance of user retention in digital marketing and that you benefit from the five strategies. Have a great week ahead!