3 ways to improve user retention through APP operation!

With the disappearance of the Internet's demographic dividend, user operations have entered the stock era from the previous incremental era. Major Internet companies are working hard on stock user operations, such as the old-to-new user management and membership system mentioned in previous articles. In the stock era, we must also think about a problem, which is how to improve the retention of existing users.

This article will share with you three common ways to improve user retention from the perspective of user retention , compare the advantages and disadvantages of the three methods and the issues that should be paid attention to in practice.

one. Build a pool of retained users

User retention is a long-term continuous behavior, which means that users use your product frequently over a period of time. We can use the following indicators to build a retained user pool. It takes a certain period of time (one day, one week, 15 days, etc.) for a user to perform a certain action (repeat purchase, click, browse, payment, etc.) in your product. Users who meet this indicator condition will enter the retained user pool.

Let’s take a simple example: an e-commerce APP wants to build a retained user pool among existing users and establish four selection indicators: payment within one day, payment within one week, payment within 15 days, and payment within 30 days. Based on these four indicators, 100,000 users who meet the requirements are selected and enter the retained user pool for key operations.

two. Increase the scale of retained user pool

As mentioned above, we establish a retained user pool through screening based on certain indicators. Then, after establishing the retained user pool, we need to increase the size of this pool. In general, we need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, guide more users to this pool through operational means, and establish an early warning mechanism to prevent user loss.

How to increase the scale of retained user pool is the focus of this sharing. Through practice and observation in daily work, I will share with you 3 common methods to improve user retention: SMS push, APP push, and new media operation.

1. SMS push

Presumably, everyone often receives some SMS push notifications from major companies. The user opening rate is still very high in the SMS contact method. However, now major mobile phone manufacturers have their own spam SMS identification mechanisms. It takes some effort and more thinking to edit and send SMS. There are several things to pay attention to when pushing SMS:

(1) The content of the text message is concise and clear

The content of the text message should be concise and clear, and tell users the purpose of the text message. Because users have a short time to read text messages, if your copy does not make users want to click within a few seconds, then basically users will not read it again. Take the Meituan SMS push below as an example. When I received this SMS, I knew what it was telling me in an instant, and then I thought about whether I should do it. It was concise and clear.

(2) The benefits of SMS need to be attractive enough

When sending SMS push notifications, you should also pay attention to whether the content of your event is attractive enough to make users willing to take the time to click on it. Take the following text message from MissFresh as an example. From this text message, I can feel that I can spend very little money and get the products I want, so I will click on it. At the same time, this text message lists three products, and I can still choose. Of course, if there are too many products, the experience will not be very good, so we must grasp the degree of display.

2. APP push

After users download the APP, a series of push notifications are also a better way to improve user retention. The push method allows users to click directly, with a fast response time and a high reach rate. When implementing push notifications, consider the following points:

(1) Don’t push too often

Unless it is some high-frequency APP such as news or community, the push frequency of other APPs should not be too high. This is especially true for Apple users. Once users unsubscribe, it will become very difficult to get them to accept notifications again. The degree of this needs to be reasonably adjusted based on the results of push data analysis.

(2) The purpose of push is concise, clear and attractive

This is the same as SMS messaging. It requires a clear purpose and is expressed clearly in concise language, while also making users want to click and proceed within the APP. Take the example below. From the red line in the picture we can see that WeChat Reading focuses on free novels, MOOC notifies test and assessment reminders, and Youdao Cloud Notes focuses on limited-time T-shirt redemption. Each has its own characteristics, and in terms of copywriting, they are all excellent. I believe that everyone will write more copy than these at work.

3. New media operations

The third commonly used way to improve user retention is the operation of new media, including operating communities, WeChat public accounts, Toutiao accounts, Weibo, Douyin, etc. Through the operation of new media, we can keep in touch and communicate with users.

Nowadays, everyone spends a lot of time on their mobile phones, on the way to and from get off work, in their spare time, when reading articles, and browsing Weibo. Through your new media operations, they can see your products again, understand your products, and then use your products. This logic is now being valued by many companies. Some have established a new media matrix and carry out systematic operations. For example, Fandeng Reading Club operates very well within the WeChat ecosystem.

3. Comparison of 3 methods

SMS push, APP push, and new media operations are all ways to improve user retention. So, what are their advantages and disadvantages? For this purpose, Zhuge Jun compiled the following table:

From this we can see that the three methods have their own advantages. In our operations, we must focus on certain aspects and make adjustments based on push data analysis. We should combine the activities, content and contact methods within the product to develop a complete retention operation strategy. I believe that the scale of the retained user pool will definitely reach a new level.

Related reading:

1. User operation: how to retain users after fission?

2. How to improve user retention/repurchase rate?

3. How to effectively improve product user retention rate?

4. How to activate existing users and improve user retention?

5. The core methodology of user retention under refined operations!

6. How to improve user retention rate? 6 strategies used by the entire Internet finance industry

Author: Zhuge iO

Source: Zhuge iO Data Coach