Proven Strategies to Enhance User Retention

Working at AppsForBharat on 'Sri Mandir App', one of the key metrics for us to track was retention. Data collection and analytics was very crucial for us since the very beginning.

Retention is one of the most important metrics for us along with growth & monetization, here are a few learnings I would love to share wrt to retention,

1. On-boarding or Activation

This is the most important phase. Activate users ASAP to prevent any churn. We did this by having no login walls or extensive tutorial steps for the user to start using the App.

2. Engagement

Also very important. Let users perform certain actions as soon as they onboard. We did this by letting users ignite the Diya (light) to the deity.

3. Address the drop-off

Address the drop-off before it happens. Check out the patterns from the data and funnels, where users mostly get dropped. Helping users engage better with the product prevents these drop-offs.

4. Reactivate the dormant user

From time to time we need to remind inactive users that we are there. If once they felt the need for the product, they downloaded the app, there is a possibility that they still need it. We need to reactivate them. 

Is it costly? Yes, most of the time. But works IMO. If they still have your app installed, BINGO. Push notifications are easy. If you have an email id or phone number for the registered user,  things like Birthday Wishes, Festive Greetings etc. could work.

Create hooks and ask for the data from the user in their journey to later reactivate the user if needed.

Finally, closing remarks.

If you are wondering what is the right time to start engaging the user. It is right now. The best time to work on retention is D0. As soon as the user lands on your website or downloads the app.