Efficient strategy to recall lost APP users!

Before starting today's topic, let's talk about the composition of the user pool. The user pool consists of three parts: new users + old users + lost users. To put it bluntly, lost users no longer belong to your user pool, but if you do this step well today, they may come back.

What we usually understand as recall is often to bring lost users back to our platform, but in fact, recall does more than that. What recall does is to bring lost users back to our app, so that old users will not become lost users so quickly, and let new users use core functions as soon as possible and truly become our users.

The role of recall in the entire product cycle is to connect the previous and the next, serve the previous user behavior, and initiate the next user behavior. That is, let the user form a closed loop in your product, and cycle back and forth in it, referring to the path after being "triggered" countless times in the addiction model.

Timing of recall

So when is the best time for us to do this?

Just like we generally don’t suddenly call out someone’s name when they are communicating with us, nor do we do it when they are five kilometers away, scale and timing are also very important for recall.

Let's first look at a picture. This picture shows the touchpoints of the entire online behavior. It was from a NetEase lady's PPT when I attended an offline meeting one day. I'll draw it for you to see:

Why draw this picture?

What I mean is that I think the best time to recall is after the service or in parallel with the service, that is, start recalling the user after they place an order or perform important actions.

Why?

Because all our actions before the user takes any action are actually called awakening. He hasn't left yet so there is no talk of recall. In fact, this is not entirely rigorous. If the user composition of your platform is mainly new users, then what you need to do is to wake up your users.

As mentioned above, the calling behavior can occur after the service. In fact, the recall behavior can be subdivided according to three dimensions and then actions can be taken, namely: time, space, and subject behavior.

The following will introduce the details of these three recall times and their applications in products;

1. After the user takes action

The user's operation behavior can be divided into two parts: active and passive.

He may have taken some initiative to perform some operations on the platform, triggering a certain mechanism, and the platform can recall him; or his associated users may have taken some actions, or other platform users may have taken some actions on him, and then the platform can recall him.

A: Active user behavior

Active user behaviors such as placing orders on the platform, adding to shopping carts, listening to songs, posting content, and following others are all active user behaviors. Recalling users after active behaviors will have weaker resistance, shorter intervals, and higher success rates.

The first picture shows that when users sign up for an event and give feedback, they will be allowed to add manual customer service to help increase the relationship between users and the platform.

The second picture shows that the e-commerce website will push the product delivery progress to the user after the user makes a purchase. If the user wants to know the details, he needs to open the software to view it.

B: Passive user behavior

Passive user behaviors include: friends sending messages, platform users following, inviting users to review orders, etc.

Passive user behavior often has the nature of invitation, guidance, and motivation, and often emphasizes the role of users to guide users back to the application.

The first picture shows the most common message reminder on social networks. When your friend sends you a message, it is equivalent to an invitation, which calls us back to the app to generate secondary behavior.

The second picture shows a push message from a certain platform, which emphasizes that the user’s role on the platform and the relationship with other users can help recall current users.

2. After a certain time

Time is divided into time points and time periods. Time periods are periodic, such as a week or a month; time points are guided by special dates, such as activity dates, membership days, holidays, etc. defined by the platform.

A: Time period

For example, if a user has not taken any action on the platform for a week, he can be awakened, or it has been a certain time since he last bought daily necessities, which means recalling him at a certain time point and then pushing it for a certain period of time.

The above picture shows an application recalling me by sending text messages when I have not operated for a long time.

B: Time point

There are many time points, such as: holidays (Labor Day/Dragon Boat Festival/New Year/Mid-Autumn Festival)/special dates designated by the platform (Double Eleven/Goddess Day/517 Foodie Festival)/membership day, user birthday (the 18th of every month for Dicos/every Wednesday for Credit Card)/regular update day of the content platform (hot drama follow-up at 8:00 every night).

Recalling at a certain point in time usually has certain operating and marketing costs, because users need to accept this message and be told that Double Eleven is the time to buy things. I recall you not because I want to make money from you but because you should reward yourself.

The picture above is a text message sent by an e-commerce platform on June 18.

3. Recall after a certain scene is triggered

Products that recall users through scenarios often have certain attributes based on location. For example, group buying apps will ask when they recognize a location switch, travel apps will immediately push nearby tours, and even 10010 will ask you if you want to go to the online business hall to apply for a one-day data package when you switch cities.

The above picture shows that 10010 detects a change in geographic location and sends a text message reminder to the user.

The above three points can basically cover the trigger logic of most recalls on the market. You can choose which of the above indicators to set according to the characteristics of your product and when to initiate user recalls to achieve the best effect.

Now that we know from the above content when a recall can be made, what channels should we use to convey this information to users? We still do the same as above, to understand: what are the channels, what are the characteristics, and what dimensions will overlap with our products, we choose the most suitable one for reuse/

Recall Methods

First of all, we reaffirm the purpose of recall. The purpose of recalling users and stimulating them to return to our app is to enable them to generate secondary behavior. In order to allow him to generate data in our application, we can better understand the user, record user data, adjust the steps to find a more suitable way for him to interact and establish a longer life cycle for him with our product.

Therefore, the following recall methods are ways and channels, and the purpose is to find the best way for you to communicate with your users. Let’s get started.

1. Information push

Information push is the most commonly used recall method, which is mainly divided into two types: in-site message and text message.

A: Internal message

In-site messages are often related to the user behavior we just mentioned because they have high frequency, low cost and the user has just taken action. It's just like your friend is not far away. You don't have to yell at him. Just call him and he will come back.

For applications where users operate frequently, in-site messages will be their main method of recall (just look at WeChat, where a new message reminder can send you home).

B: SMS

Text messages are highly correlated with the time we talk about. They have the advantages of not being restricted by scenarios, being applicable to a wide range of people, and having strong reminder capabilities. However, its cost is much higher than that of in-site messages, so you will not be reminded of everything by text message.

Because the reminder intensity to users is too high and companies cannot afford it, we will send a text message when we think the user has not taken any action for a while and may have churned, and he can no longer receive our in-site messages, or when an action requires user confirmation or interaction.

2. Offline trigger

Offline user recall is often carried out through activities, discounts, rewards, and membership experiences. This is more common in traditional offline sales because it is usually related to marketing methods. If online platforms use this method, the average order value is often higher or the frequency is higher.

Let me give you two examples: Hema Fresh's offline stores only support payment via the Hema app or cash, and Ctrip has set up member security check windows and member waiting halls at airports (PS: The picture comes from the Internet)

Offline triggering helps to imprint the brand mark on the user's mind, which is equivalent to materializing the brand culture. However, offline triggering is costly and has distinct characteristics. It depends on whether the current product has offline business and whether it is worth doing.

3. Service/Feedback

Service and feedback are actually difficult to categorize. It is correct to classify it as the time point of recall, because it is definitely right to recall at the time when the user needs service.

However, after thinking about it, I still classify it as a method, a recall channel. Because there are various forms of providing services or feedback, some are manual and some are non-manual, but they all interact with users and present product features, and finally give you a closing statement like "Call me if you need anything~".

This is of course a way. No matter how the content changes, it serves the product and its purpose is to make you take action.

The product diversity of this approach can cover almost all products, and the variability can evolve into many ways.

Let me give you two examples: customer service, whether it is the logistics provided by the e-commerce platform or the logistics directed to a certain store; logistics, visual logistics can really allow users to constantly return to the platform to check progress.

in conclusion

This article can basically introduce most of the recall behaviors on the market. Recall behavior is actually an extension of platform services and also a trigger for the next behavior. Doing it well can extend the user life cycle to a certain extent.

Related reading:

1. User operation practice: How to build a user recall system in 3 steps?

2. User operation: How to build a system to recall lost users?

3. From 1 to 10, how to establish a product user system!

4. Product operation: How to build a user recall system from 0 to 1?

5. How should product operations build a user recall system?

Author: Impermanence

Source: Impermanence