How to make sign-in a powerful tool to increase user activity!

This article will explain which apps are suitable for the sign-in function and which apps are not, as well as how to fully tap the potential of the sign-in function so that both users and apps can benefit from it.

1. Why design a sign-in?

Signing in in the traditional sense is definitely not a happy thing, because missing the sign-in often means punishment, such as being late for work or class. The main purpose of traditional sign-in is to understand the situation of employees or students. Various apps, like companies, also pursue user participation rates, and the sign-in function is widely used in various apps. However, it is worth mentioning that there are two significant differences between app sign-in and traditional sign-in - only rewards but no penalties and independent sign-in time.

The check-in frequency is generally once a day, but there are applications that allow you to check in twice on weekends.

When talking about check-in, we have to mention another important concept - the number of daily active users.

The so-called daily active users are the number of people who actually used the product on that day; the so-called use can be in various situations, the most common of which is opening the app.

It is not difficult to see from the above situation that if all users of an application can sign in every day, then the number of daily active users of the application will be equal to the number of registered users of the application. This is a scary situation because for most apps, the number of daily active users is an extremely small number compared to the number of registered users.

Therefore, the purpose of the sign-in function is very clear, that is, to prevent registered users from becoming zombie accounts, but to make them really pay attention to this application. Because only truly active users are valuable to an application, registered users are not very meaningful to some extent.

Imagine if an app has 1.4 billion registered users and only 14 daily active users, then the actual value of this app should be closer to the level of 14 people. 1.4 billion registrations only mean that it once had a lot of users, or it is even possible that these users were generated by certain technical means and were not real users at all.

Signing in with the help of small rewards has a strong appeal to users, and for users with obsessive-compulsive disorder, they feel uncomfortable if they don’t sign in for a day. Therefore, such a function that is beneficial to both users and applications was born as a matter of course.

2. Which applications are best suited for the sign-in feature?

Although the sign-in function can effectively increase the number of times users use the application, not all applications are suitable for this function. Furthermore, for some applications, the number of daily active users itself is not very important, so we should first analyze which applications sign-in is suitable for.

1. Novels and comics applications

Sign-in page for NetEase Comics, Kuaikan Comics, Tencent Comics, QQ Reading, and Qidian Reading

The daily active number of novel and comic apps is very important. Whether such apps can develop well depends entirely on the daily active number of users. Because there are no technical barriers, the author who has more visits will earn better income. Then excellent authors will be willing to come to this platform, and a virtuous circle will be formed in the long run.

The author once planned to write a novel and had some exchanges with some new writers on this issue. The general consensus is that if you are not famous, you should serialize your work on a small website first, because at least there won’t be too many big names there and there is still hope that your work will be seen by others.

But if your work is good enough, or you have a certain degree of fame, it is better to serialize it on a large website. Because the user traffic there can be several orders of magnitude higher than that of small websites, it is beneficial for long-term development and revenue.

The sign-in function has become a standard feature in mainstream novel and comic applications, and the rewards after signing in are relatively uniform, basically reading coupons that can be used to unlock paid content.

2. Financial applications

The sign-in pages of two financial investment apps

Take P2P as an example: because the projects therein change every day, occasionally there will be projects with very high returns. If users keep an eye on the app, they are likely to be attracted by a project on a certain day and make an investment. A high percentage of financial applications have added a check-in function.

3. Community applications

Check-in page of Tianya Community and Baidu Tieba

The community also has high requirements for user activity. Once the users of a community gradually become zombie accounts, the community will soon die out. A community needs a large number of users to maintain a community feel. If no one participates in posting and other activities in a community, it is easy for the posters to lose interest and leave. Community applications can easily form a virtuous or vicious cycle - that is, the more lively the atmosphere of the entire community is, the easier it is to attract more people to participate in the discussion, and vice versa.

4. Information and news applications

Sign-in pages for Toutiao , Sohu News , and Tencent News

For most users, information and news software is also an application used to kill time, and users do not have a strong purpose when using it. Moreover, the revenue of these software mostly comes from page advertisements. The increase in views can also directly increase the company's revenue, so this type of software generally also designs a sign-in function. For these apps, the check-in function can cultivate their users' habits and increase their browsing volume.

3. What types of applications are the sign-in function more suitable for?

In addition to the above-mentioned applications that are perfect with sign-in, there are also some applications that can be designed with a sign-in function or not. The sign-in function is generally useful for these applications and can be used or not.

1. Video and music applications

Pages of NetEase Cloud Music , QQ Music, Kugou Music, Tencent Video , and Sohu Video

Among them, NetEase Cloud Music and Tencent Video have the sign-in function. QQ Music, Kugou Music and Sohu Video do not have the sign-in function.

Compared to comic novel apps, which are also entertainment apps, the sign-in function is not as important for video apps. Because now users choose to use a video application, it is largely because the video application has the film sources that the users like, and the licensing price of the film is very high. Therefore, many videos are exclusively broadcast by a certain company. If users are interested in this video, they can only choose the copyrighted application.

In addition, due to differences in copyright and platform positioning, the differentiation of video websites is still very large compared to novel and comic software. For example: users who like the Bilibili barrage website are basically unlikely to be attracted by Tencent Video, and vice versa. Because the content focus and the atmosphere of the entire website are very different between the two websites.

The situation of music apps is similar to that of video apps. For a long time, they mainly relied on exclusive resources to acquire users. Therefore, the role of sign-in in attracting new users is very limited, and adding an extra function will increase operating costs, so most apps do not have this function.

2. Newly launched applications

Depending on the stage that a newly launched application is in, some applications may choose to use the sign-in feature to increase the number of daily active users in the initial stage of the product; some new applications do not have this feature because their profit model has not yet been clearly explored and they are not sure what rewards should be given to users who sign in.

It is worth mentioning that new applications can sometimes spend some money to increase the attractiveness of the sign-in function. In essence, this kind of sign-in is a means of attraction, similar to the model of giving red envelopes to new users when they register.

When the number of users of a new application reaches a certain level, it is generally decided whether to design a sign-in function based on the type of application.

4. Which applications are not suitable for the sign-in function?

The sign-in feature does not only have advantages but no disadvantages.

First of all, applications that set up a sign-in function must spend a certain amount of money to maintain the function, such as: giving away reading coupons, discounts on goods, etc. Although it seems that there is not much economic benefit for each user, the economic cost paid for this every year is extremely huge for the application.

Secondly, some applications are only used by users in specific scenarios, and there is no point in users opening the application in other situations. Even if this kind of application uses the sign-in function to encourage users to sign in every day, it will not bring any practical benefits to the application.

For example: For the ofo yellow bike , even if every user clicks in every day, it actually does not have a big impact on the application, because the application needs users who ride the bikes. In comparison, comic applications are different because comics are a type of entertainment application. Users can click in and find content they like, and thus use the application.

Therefore, in terms of economic cost and actual needs, the following types of applications are not very suitable for using the sign-in function.

1. Tool applications

Taxi-hailing apps Didi Chuxing, ticket-buying apps Ctrip , and food delivery apps Ele.me

The characteristics of tool applications are that they are used with a strong purpose and generally do not have the attributes of recreation and entertainment. They exist purely to achieve a certain purpose, so they are not very suitable for designing a check-in function. Because the user clicks attracted by the sign-in function are of little significance to these applications. For example: When a user opens Ctrip to sign in, it is unlikely that he will suddenly have the idea of ​​traveling during this process.

There is no need for this type of application to spend money and manpower to maintain a meaningless sign-in function just for the sake of invalid user activity.

2. Better apps with less presence

Antivirus, file manager, and weather apps

Signing in can increase the number of times users use an app to some extent, but users do not want some apps to stand out so much and would rather have them exist quietly. For example: antivirus software applications, file manager applications, battery management applications, and weather applications, etc. If these apps are pushed frequently or appear in front of users, they may cause users to delete them directly.

The characteristic of these applications is that users prefer them to work silently in the background and try not to have too strong a presence. For example: Battery Manager, users hope that it can reasonably save the power consumption of the mobile phone, and hope that all this will be executed silently by the software in the background. Antivirus software is similar.

5. Briefly summarize what kind of applications are suitable for the sign-in function

From the above analysis, we can see that if an app is suitable for sign-in, it should have the following features:

1. User browsing or activity is meaningful to the application. For example, forum applications need a more lively discussion atmosphere.
2. Browsing apps is meaningful to users. For example, tool apps are not useful to users. If such apps have a sign-in function, it is just for the sake of sign-in.
3. Applications that should run silently in the background should not be designed with a sign-in function, such as antivirus software and battery management applications. Too many cumbersome operations may cause users to be bored, not only failing to retain users, but also losing users;
4. The benefits of sign-in must be greater than the cost. For example, some applications benefit little from each user. If the cost of sign-in is higher than the benefit from the user. Therefore, the more users you gain after using the sign-in function, the greater the loss may result.

6. How to design an effective check-in function?

An effective sign-in function must be able to bring benefits to both users and applications. After all, a sign-in function that cannot bring benefits to users is difficult to gain user support, and a sign-in function that cannot bring benefits to applications cannot exist from the root.

1. Create a sign-in function that is beneficial to users

It is best if the sign-in function can be combined with the product features. If this cannot be combined, it should ensure that users feel the benefits. Avoid formalism and adding a function just for the sake of adding it.

Here are some suitable sign-in function designs:

The first picture above is the sign-in page of Qidian Reading. It can be seen that the sign-in reward model of Qidian Reading is simple and effective, and it directly gives reading points to users. Reading points can be used to directly unlock paid chapters of books, so most users are willing to use the sign-in function.

Figure 2 is the sign-in interface of Tencent Comics. In addition to giving out reading points directly like Qidian Reading, Tencent Comics also gives out a virtual currency called Doubi, which can be used to exchange for items in the mall.

The picture above is the sign-in page of NetEase Cloud Music. Almost all the songs of NetEase Cloud Music are free, so the sign-in reward cannot be rewarded with reading points like Qidian Reading and Tencent Comics. Its rewards are points, and the function of points is similar to Tencent Comics’ Doubi, both of which can be exchanged for goods.

The above-mentioned sign-in function not only increases user activity for the application but also brings benefits to users. It is beneficial to both parties and is a relatively successful sign-in design. However, the cost issue must also be considered when designing this function in the application, and a balance should be found between user activity and the cost of maintaining the sign-in function.

2. Create a sign-in function that is beneficial to the application itself

On the surface, the sign-in function seems to be a certain amount of resources spent by the application to bring benefits to users, but if the sign-in function is fully utilized, it can also bring profits to the application itself.

The following applications are examples of proper use of sign-in:

The exchange page of Tencent Anime Doubi Mall, the exchange page of NetEase Cloud Music Mall, and the exchange page of the check-in point of a certain investment platform

• Tencent Comics: Doubi can only discount part of the price, so users still have to pay to purchase. In addition, most of the things in the mall are peripheral products of its own comics, so giving Doubi to users can increase the sales of its own peripheral products. At the same time, peripheral products are also advertisements for your own website.
• NetEase Cloud Music: Similar to the situation with Tencent Animation, users still have to spend money to buy things, which can increase the sales of related products. In addition, some products can advertise the application themselves.
• A financial management platform : Item exchange is free, and the value of the items is indeed very high, but there are other ways to obtain the check-in point, which is to invest huge amounts of money. The check-in points obtained by signing in alone are very few, so it is more like inducing users to invest more rather than giving them check-in points.

The above sign-in function is beneficial to both users and applications and is a relatively successful sign-in design.

VII. Conclusion

This article analyzes the sign-in functions of existing applications and explains which types of applications are suitable for designing sign-in functions and how to design effective sign-in functions.

The author believes that an excellent sign-in function is beneficial to both users and applications. It should be able to increase the number of active users while also achieving the goal of promoting application content or increasing sales of peripheral products.

Source: pmmalu