Let's face it, a downloaded app doesn't guarantee success. In today's crowded mobile landscape, keeping users engaged is the ultimate battle. You need them to open your app regularly, spend time, and get engaged. But how do you ensure there is engagement in your app?
In this blog, we'll explore various strategies to boost user engagement in your mobile app. We'll break down each strategy, providing a clear roadmap to get you started.
To illustrate how these strategies work in practice, we'll use Duolingo, the language learning app, as an example. We'll see how Duolingo implements these strategies to keep users engaged and coming back for more.
10 Different ways to increase user engagement for your mobile app
1. Push notifications
Push notifications serve as persistent reminders, nudging users to open and use the app. Personalized notifications, tailored based on a user's behavior, preferences, or location, can deliver relevant information or appealing offers, boosting user interaction. Users can be kept in the loop about new features, updates, or fresh content through push notifications, motivating them to explore the app more.
Language learning app Duolingo exemplifies the power of personalized notifications. Their well-known notification system acts as a gentle nudge, reminding users to complete their daily language lessons. This simple tactic helps users stay on track with their learning goals and prevents them from abandoning their progress.
Notifications play a key role in user retention as well; inactive users can be re-engaged by notifying them about intriguing activities, rewards, or crucial updates they might have missed. In case of real-time apps like messaging or gaming, push notifications about new messages or live events encourage immediate engagement.
However, it's crucial to use push notifications sparingly and judiciously to avoid annoying users, which could lead to them uninstalling the app.
2. Well designed onboarding
Users form an opinion about your app within seconds of opening it for the first time. A well-designed user onboarding process can be the difference between a captivated user and a quick uninstall.
Imagine this: a new user downloads your app, excited to explore its potential. But within minutes, they're overwhelmed by confusing interfaces and unclear instructions. Frustration sets in, and before you know it, they've deleted the app.
This scenario highlights the crucial role of user onboarding in fostering long-term engagement. Here's how a well-designed user onboarding process can significantly increase mobile app engagement:
Setting expectations: Use onboarding to set clear expectations about what users can achieve with your app. Highlight key features and benefits, and demonstrate how the app solves their problems or fulfills their needs.
Reducing Friction: A smooth and intuitive onboarding process reduces friction and frustration. Helps users to navigate the app easily and complete essential tasks without getting lost.
User onboarding best practices:
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A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work. Consider tailoring the onboarding experience based on user demographics, preferences, or initial actions within the app. This will ensure the onboarding process is relevant to their specific needs.
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Avoid overwhelming users with too much information at once. Instead, adopt a progressive disclosure approach, gradually revealing functionalities as users become more familiar with the app. This keeps them engaged and focused on learning new features step-by-step.
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Infuse the onboarding process with elements of gamification, such as progress bars, badges, or welcome rewards. This injects a sense of fun and achievement, keeping users motivated as they explore the app's features.
Example of Effective Onboarding:
Duolingo's user onboarding process is a masterclass in simplicity and effectiveness, and it plays a significant role in their high user engagement. Let's see how they do it:
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Immediate action: Upon opening the app, you're presented with the core function, choosing a language you want to learn. This is a clear call to action that gets you started right away.
02.
Personalized learning path: Next, Duolingo caters to your existing knowledge. You can opt for a placement test or jump straight into lessons. This personalization shows the app understands your needs.
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Setting expectations: Duolingo sets a daily learning goal based on your preference. This transparency helps users manage expectations and creates a sense of achievable progress.
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Seamless transition: Finally, you're smoothly transitioned into your first lesson, ready to put your chosen language to the test.
3. Gamification
Gamification involves incorporating game-like elements into non-game contexts. By tapping into users' natural desire for competition, achievement, and progress, you can significantly boost engagement with your mobile app.
Several popular apps excel at gamification. Duolingo uses points and badges to motivate users in their language learning journey, while Nike Run Club uses challenges and leaderboards to inspire users to compete with friends and reach fitness goals.
After each lesson, Duolingo provides a summary of your performance. This includes the total experience points (XP) earned, the time spent on the lesson, and your answer accuracy. This summary helps users to gauge their progress and identify areas for improvement.
Here's how you can leverage gamification to keep your users coming back for more:
Points, badges, and leaderboards:
These classic game mechanics provide a sense of accomplishment and motivate users to strive for progress. Award points for completing tasks, unlock badges for milestones achieved, and introduce leaderboards to foster friendly competition among users.
In Duolingo, users earn experience points (XP) and gems for completing daily lessons. These rewards can then be used to purchase in-app items like streak freeze and duolingo hearts.
Rewards and habit forming systems:
Incentivize desired user behavior with a well-designed reward system. This could include virtual rewards like badges or exclusive content, or even real-world benefits like discounts or early access to new features.
For Duolingo, the goal is to encourage users to log in daily and complete their lessons. This consistent practice helps users progress towards their ultimate goal: mastering a new language. Engaged users who achieve their language learning goals are more likely to:
Enroll in another course
Subscribe to the premium plan
Spend more on in-app items
To promote daily practice, Duolingo uses two key strategies:
Streaks: Maintaining a daily login streak motivates users with a sense of accomplishment and encourages them to avoid breaking the chain.
Streak challenges: Completing specific streak milestones unlocks additional points, further incentivizing consistent learning.
Progress bars:
Visually represent user progress with progress bars or level systems. As users climb the ladder, they unlock new features or rewards, keeping them motivated to keep using the app.
Duolings uses progress bars to show how much progress they have made for each course, this acts as a nudge to come back and complete the course.
Tips for Effective Gamification:
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Ensure your gamification elements align with your app's core value proposition and benefit users, not just create a game within the app.
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Begin with basic gamification elements and gradually introduce more complex features as users become comfortable. Continuously monitor user behavior and adapt your strategy for optimal results.
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The key is to strike a balance between keeping users engaged and challenged without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.
4. Modern user interface
If your app isn't immediately clear and intuitive, chances are users will swipe left and never look back. That's where a modern and intuitive User Interface (UI) comes in – it's the cornerstone of a highly engaging mobile app.
A well-designed UI minimizes the time and effort it takes for users to understand how to use your app. Clear visuals, intuitive navigation patterns, and consistent design elements create a smooth learning experience, keeping users engaged from the get-go.
Modern UI design principles for high engagement:
Minimalism: Focus on the essential elements and prioritize clean layouts to avoid overwhelming users.
Intuitive navigation: Make navigation patterns familiar and predictable. Users should instinctively understand how to find what they need.
Visual hierarchy: Use visual cues like size, color, and spacing to guide users' attention towards the most important elements.
Beautiful typography: Choose a font that is easy to read, visually appealing, and complements your overall design aesthetic.
Seamless animations and micro interaction: Subtle animations can enhance user experience by providing visual feedback and adding a touch of polish.
Responsive design: Ensure your UI adapts flawlessly across different screen sizes and devices for a consistent and engaging experience.
5. In-app chat
In-app chat can be a versatile tool for enhancing the user experience and fostering engagement. Let's explore some of the most common use cases:
Reactive Customer Support
This is the most common scenario. Users can easily reach out to customer support representatives for help with troubleshooting, addressing concerns, or resolving issues.
The convenience and immediacy of in-app support compared to traditional channels like email or phone calls significantly reduces user frustration and keeps them engaged with the app.
How does this improve engagement?
Prompt resolution of issues prevents user frustration and encourages them to stay engaged with the app.
Efficient customer support through chat demonstrates that you value their experience, leading to higher user satisfaction and continued engagement.
User-to-User Communication:
For certain app categories like healthcare, marketplaces, or social networking, in-app chat facilitates communication directly between users. In a healthcare app, a patient can connect with a doctor or nurse via chat for medication inquiries or appointment scheduling. Similarly, in a marketplace app, buyers can chat with sellers for product details or order tracking.
A gaming app might offer in-app chat functionalities for players to connect, strategize, or simply chat about the game. This fosters a sense of community and belonging, increasing engagement and overall app retention.
How does this improve engagement?
Streamlines communication between users and app providers, fostering a sense of accessibility and building trust. This convenience keeps users coming back for a more integrated and efficient experience.
In-app chat creates a vibrant community around your app. Users feel a sense of connection and are more likely to stay engaged to be part of the ecosystem.
Analyze user interactions through in-app chat data to identify common issues, track user sentiment, and refine your strategy for optimal engagement.
Seamless In-app chat integration with Chat Infrastructure Providers
Adding in-app chat to your mobile app doesn't have to be a complex undertaking. Several chat infrastructure providers, like CometChat, offer tools to seamlessly integrate chat functionalities. These providers equip you with in-app chat SDKs and APIs that streamline the integration process, allowing you to build chat features much faster than from scratch.
They also offer UI kits, which come with pre-built and customizable chat components. This allows you to tailor the chat interface to perfectly match your app's design aesthetic, ensuring a cohesive user experience.
By leveraging the expertise of chat infrastructure providers, you can reap the benefits of in-app chat without getting bogged down in the technical complexities. Focus on creating a great app experience, and let the providers handle the chat functionality behind the scenes.
6. Reduce friction and provide a delightful user experience across the lifecycle
Respect your users' time. Get them to the core value proposition of your app as early as possible with minimal frictions. Let them experience the "aha!" moment that demonstrates why your app exists and how it benefits them.
Removing friction from onboarding
The onboarding phase is often the first hurdle users encounter. Avoid this friction like the plague! Focus solely on the absolute essentials users need to start using the app effectively.
Skip lengthy tutorials or demos unless absolutely crucial. Trust users to explore and learn organically. This caters to users who prefer a self-discovery approach.
Focus on getting users to experience a small win early on. This reinforces the app's value and motivates them to continue using it.
Knowing when to ask for registration is crucial. While it's a necessary step for many apps in onboarding, timing is key. Hold off on registration until users have had a chance to explore the app and see its value firsthand. This reduces the perceived commitment and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Beyond onboarding, frictionless interactions
The onboarding process is just the beginning. Friction can lurk anywhere within your app. You primary objective is to make it easy for users to accomplish the tasks they installed the app for.
Every interaction, from intuitive menus and clear calls to action to responsive design, should feel effortless. This creates a sense of flow and keeps users focused on getting things done. Remember, satisfied users are engaged users.
When users can find what they need quickly and complete tasks effortlessly, they're more likely to be happy with your app, leading to higher engagement and retention.
Examples of apps with delightful User experiences and speedy value delivery:
Dropbox: Dropbox allows users to upload a file right after launch, showcasing its core functionality within seconds and demonstrating its value proposition instantly.
Buffer: Buffer's onboarding process is quick and to the point, guiding users through the core features but giving them the option to skip the details and start scheduling social media posts right away.
Mint: Mint lets users explore their financial dashboard and budgeting tools before requiring registration. This allows users to see the app's benefits firsthand before committing.
7. Create a social community around your app
While social apps naturally have high engagement, many non-social apps can significantly boost user engagement by adding these social features. Adding social features like forums, chat rooms, or feeds brings a human element to your app. Users feel connected and return for the value of the community itself, not just the app's core function.
For example, a mental health app could offer a forum where users discuss their struggles, share coping mechanisms, and offer peer support. Learning apps like Duolingo can leverage a learning community. Users studying the same language can share tips, discuss learning hacks, and even swap funny anecdotes about using their new skills in real-life situations.
Some additional points to consider,
Tailor the social features to your app's purpose. A fitness app might benefit from group challenges, while a meditation app could offer guided group sessions.
Ensure a safe and supportive environment. Implement clear guidelines and moderation to maintain a positive community atmosphere.
8. Personalized and contextual in-app messages
In-app messages are notifications that appear to users within your mobile app, unlike push notifications that show up on the user's phone screen even when the app is closed.
The key to effective in-app messages lies in personalization and context. They should be seamlessly integrated into the user flow, appearing at the most relevant points in the user's journey. For example, a message prompting a review might appear after a user successfully completes a task.
Infuse your in-app messages with your brand voice and personality. This creates a more cohesive experience and builds a stronger connection with your users
Here's how strategically crafted in-app messages can make all the difference:
For first time users:
Greet first-time users with a warm welcome message and offer a helping hand during onboarding. Highlight key features, provide step-by-step guidance, and showcase the value proposition of your app.
For active users:
For active users, the goal is to keep them discovering new value and solidify their loyalty. Use in-app messages to showcase lesser-known features that align with the user's behavior. This encourages them to explore the app's full potential and become power users.
For lapsed users:
For users who haven't interacted with your app in a while, use in-app messages to gently nudge them back. Remind them of incomplete tasks, offer incentives to re-engage, or highlight new features that might pique their interest.
Examples of Effective In-App Messaging:
Duolingo: Duolingo uses in-app messages to congratulate users on completing lessons and encourage them to continue their language learning journey.
Spotify: Spotify personalizes its in-app messages by recommending playlists and podcasts based on a user's listening habits.
Airbnb: Airbnb sends personalized messages to hosts and guests with timely reminders and helpful tips throughout their experience.
9. Rewards
One effective strategy is a points system, where users earn points for performing certain actions within the app, like daily logins, sharing content, or making a purchase. These points can then be redeemed for rewards such as premium content, discounts, or tangible items.
Another approach is a tiered rewards system, which encourages more consistent engagement. Users ascend through different levels or "tiers" by regularly using the app or performing certain actions. The higher the tier, the better the rewards.
Referral bonuses are another effective strategy, rewarding both the referee and the referrer, and incentivizing users to share your app.
For users who purchase frequently or engage heavily with your app, a VIP or loyalty program could be beneficial. They might receive special discounts, early access to new features or content, or other exclusive rewards. Time-based rewards can also be offered, encouraging users to use your app at specific times.
10. Social sharing
By integrating social media platforms, users can easily share content, achievements, referrals and more directly from your app to their social networks. This not only helps to boost engagement within your app, but also increases your app’s visibility and reach on social platforms.
For instance, users can share their achievements or scores on their social media platforms in gaming apps, fostering a sense of competitiveness and community. In e-commerce apps, users can share their favorite products or personal wishlists, acting as personal endorsements that can influence their friends and followers to check out your app.
In news or content-based apps, social sharing allows users to share interesting articles or videos, which can significantly increase your content's reach. Social sharing can also be used to encourage referrals by enabling users to send app invitations to their network.
Aarathy Sundaresan
Content Marketer , CometChat