The most powerful growth method for user retention

What is a behavioral model? In fact, it is a habit formed after repeating a behavior many times, or it can be said to be the user's usage habit for the product. Behavioral models can effectively help retain users and are an operational tool that operators must know.

1. User habits

What are usage habits? When we open our phones, the first thing we do is check WeChat to see if there are any new messages; when we eat, we pick up our chopsticks first. These are actions we do subconsciously, without having to think about them at all. Before we cultivate user usage habits, we first need to talk about why we should cultivate user usage habits?

1.1 Why should we cultivate users’ usage habits?

During the user retention stage of the entire product, we need to continuously improve user retention and ensure user activity through various means and strategies. Then cultivating user usage habits is the most important and powerful retention mechanism. Its purpose is to allow users to repeatedly use the core functions of the product at a reasonable frequency and gradually make it a part of the user's lifestyle habits .

If a product allows new users to complete only one key behavior experience, it will not form user habits and will not be enough to bring about long-term user retention. Therefore, the product needs to use reasonable means to continuously trigger users to repeatedly complete multiple key behaviors and develop habits, which is more likely to lead to long-term retention.

1.2 Why should we seize the new user retention period and cultivate user habits?

Although cultivating user usage habits runs through the entire retention stage (retention of new and old users), the timing of entry should start from the new user retention period. Because in the new user retention stage:

• The retention curve is in an oscillating period, that is, the slope is large and has not reached a stable state. The fast user churn rate between two adjacent time periods indicates that the possibility of user churn in this stage is the highest.
• Users have been exposed to the product for a short time, are still in the excitement stage of trying the product, are more interested in exploring the product, and log in frequently. Therefore, we must make good use of this time to cultivate user habits.

1.3 How to develop user habits?

Research has found that the time it takes to develop a habit is related to the complexity of the behavior and its importance to the user. The more frequently a behavior is used, the greater the possibility that it will become a habit.

Therefore, the editor will talk about how to develop user habits through growth means through the addiction model and the methodology of building a closed loop of user behavior.

2. User Habit Formation Methodology: Hooked Model

In "Hooked", Nir Eyal proposed a novel and practical "Hook Model", which is to cultivate users' usage habits through four aspects. Below, the editor will analyze four aspects and use cases to illustrate how to use this model in actual work.

2.1 Trigger: Induce users to take action

When will we remember to check WeChat Moments? Most of the time it's probably when you're bored. Boredom, then, is an internal emotional trigger. Then the trigger is to induce users to take action on the product. Triggers are divided into external triggers and internal triggers.

External trigger :

• Feedback trigger: By analyzing the needs of target users, beneficial, perceptible and substantial stimuli are set to satisfy the user's trigger mode. For example, you can get coupons and red envelopes by sharing on Ele.me.
• Paid triggers: Increase the number of touchpoints that can reach users through payment, thereby increasing the probability of attracting users and prompting users to take the expected actions of the product. Such as through advertising, paid promotion through search engines, and soft article promotion.
• Social triggers: They mainly occur in social scenarios among acquaintances, and may also be hot spots and internet celebrity effects formed in online environments. Social triggers are the viral growth model that every product desires. Such as word of mouth.
• Autonomous triggering: generally through user authorization push, notification, reminder, etc.

Internal trigger : The user’s deep inner needs are met.

• Negative emotions: such as pleasure and happiness. For example, gaming products bring happiness to users.
• Positive emotions: such as boredom and sadness. For example, Tik Tok can help users kill their boring time.

The ultimate goal of triggering is to guide users through several cycles through external triggers, and then allow internal triggers to be directly associated with the product. Once users have certain emotions and needs, they will directly think of and use the product.

2.2 Action: The minimum behavior you want users to complete

After the user is triggered, an action will be taken in the product, so the next step is to increase the probability of the user completing the preset action of the product. The lower the cost of the behavior required of the user and the simpler the decomposition of the behavior, the higher the probability will be. Here we can use the Fogg behavior model to analyze how to reduce behavioral costs.

Fogg behavioral model : (B=MAT), B stands for behavior, M stands for motivation, A stands for ability, and T stands for trigger.

Therefore, there are three key factors to promote user behavior, namely:

(1) Motivation M: In the behavioral model established by Fogg, the core motivations of users are classified into three categories:

1. Pursue pleasure and avoid pain: Pleasure and pain are very powerful motivators;
2. Pursue hope, avoid fear: This classification is based on the expectation of the outcome. Hope refers to the anticipation of good things, fear is the estimation of bad things;
3. Seeking recognition and avoiding rejection: This category refers to the purpose of most users' social behavior.

(2) Capability A: The lower the complexity of completing an action, the lower the user’s decision-making cost, and the easier it is to convert it into action. As for how to reduce the difficulty of user operation, we analyze the six factors that affect task difficulty:

1. Time: the time required to complete the current action;
2. Money: The economic cost of the input required to complete the current action;
3. Physical strength: the physical strength required to complete the current action;
4. Brainpower: The amount of brainpower required to complete the current action;
5. Social deviance: others’ acceptance of current actions;
6. Unconventionality: The degree to which the current action matches or conflicts with people’s normal actions.

(3) Trigger: When the user has both motivation and ability, the trigger is the incentive that prompts the user to take immediate action.

The key to reducing the user's action cost:

• Simplification: Perform subtraction operations on the user path, remove all links that are not related to the user's goals, and simplify the path to the simplest level. The simpler the product is for users, the less consumption it will incur for users, and the higher the chance that users will complete the entire user behavior path.
• Clarity: Remove the obstacles and cognitive burden for users to complete the entire user behavior path through clear copywriting and design.

2.3 Rewards: Feedback on User Actions

Source of reward: In the 1940s, James Olds and Peter Milner accidentally discovered during their research that there is a special area in the animal brain that is related to desire. Based on the results of animal experiments, they believe that they have discovered the pleasure point in the brain. Sex, delicious food, inexpensive and high-quality goods, etc. will stimulate this area of ​​the brain, thereby driving us to take the next step.

Research in recent years has shown that it was not the pleasure itself that caused the brain fluctuations in Olds and Milner's experiments. Brian Knudson, a professor at Stanford University, discovered through research that what drives us to take action is not the reward itself , but the urgent need that arises when we desire the reward .

There are three main types of rewards:

1. Social rewards: derived from the interactive relationships between our users. Interpersonal rewards gained from interacting with others through the product.
2. Prey Reward: It comes from the user’s desire for prey and motivates them to move forward. Specific resources or information obtained from the product.
3. Self-reward: It comes from the fact that users are driven by their goals to complete the process and enjoy it. The sense of control and accomplishment experienced from the product.

Why variable rewards instead of fixed rewards?

Psychological research shows that if users can predict what will happen next, they will not feel overjoyed. When the causal relationship that users are accustomed to is broken, users' consciousness will be revived again. New and special things stimulate users' interest and attract their attention, making users continue to use the product.

2.4 Investment: Increase the cost of users leaving the product

Most users are often not rational when making decisions. The reason why users change or abandon products is often not because of how much vested interests the product subsidies have given to users, but how much cost the users have already invested in the product. The more the user invests in a product, the more dependent he or she becomes on the product, and the more likely he or she is to leave the product.

This phenomenon can be explained by a psychological theory, namely: prospect theory.

Three basic conclusions derived from the Prospect Theory: 1. Most people are risk-averse when faced with profits ; 2. Most people are risk-seeking when faced with losses ; 3. Most people's judgment of gains and losses is often determined by a reference point .

By conclusion, when facing losses, users are more likely to take risks and set the cost of their previous investment as a new reference point. Based on this, the product needs to continuously increase the cost of user investment so that users cannot leave the product. The four most common types of investment are:

• Content output: For example, in content products, users’ posts, comments, likes, and other behaviors.
• Social relationships: For example, in social products, users’ various social friends, fans, and influencers they follow.
• Personal reputation: such as the user’s achievements, medals, levels, etc. in community products.
• Behavioral habits: For example, in various products, users develop behaviors such as taxi-hailing (Didi) and video viewing (Tik Tok).

2.5 Case Analysis

Below, the editor will briefly share the practice of the hooked model through several product cases.

3. Methods for developing user habits: User behavior closed loop (LOOP)

The user behavior closed loop is based on the hooked model, which simplifies the four elements of hooked and applies them to the production design. The premise of building a closed loop of user behavior is to complete internal triggering through user behavioral motivations.

For example, TikTok. The motivation for users to use it is that they want to kill time in their spare time. Close the loop based on user behavior.

• Trigger users: Use algorithms to find short videos that users may be interested in.
• Channel reach: sent to users via push.
• Completed behavior: Clicked on the push, opened the App, watched the video, and browsed through several other videos.
• User reward: If you find the video interesting, you are more likely to open it and watch it next time you see a push notification from TikTok.

Cultivating user habits through a closed loop of user behavior is mainly divided into the following four steps:

3.1 Determine the ideal frequency

The ideal frequency is the frequency of product usage that you hope habitual users can achieve. That is, assuming that users have developed a habit of using the product, what is the ideal frequency? Is it once a day, once a week, twice a week or three times a week. The ideal frequency of a product can be estimated using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Qualitative : Estimate the ideal frequency by qualitatively analyzing what kind of problems the product solves.

• What problems do users need to solve when using this product?
• How often do users need to resolve this issue?

For example, Ele.me solves the users’ need to order food outside, so the ideal frequency of ordering takeout may be at least three times a week.

Quantitative : Estimate the ideal frequency by quantitatively analyzing the frequency of long-term retained users.

• Find the long-term retained users of the product through data analysis.
• Analyze the usage frequency of long-term retained users and estimate the ideal frequency of the product.

Here, the editor’s previous article mentioned the natural usage frequency of the product. Generally speaking, the ideal usage frequency is higher than the natural usage frequency of most users. For example, most users of Ele.me use it three times a week, while the ideal frequency is six times a week.

3.2 Finding habitual users

After determining the ideal frequency of the product, the next step is to find a user group among the product's users who have already developed good habits and work hard to increase the size of this user group.

The two core conditions for determining whether a user is a habitual user are:

• This user is an old user who has been using the product for at least a period of time;
• The user usage frequency has reached the ideal value.

Why must you be an old user? Because in most cases, the usage frequency of users in the new user stage is often higher than the average usage frequency of users in all stages. And the behavioral data in the new user stage is not stable. Unable to provide strong data reference. Therefore, users whose usage frequency remains at an ideal level after at least the new user retention period should be selected as habitual users.

3.3 Analysis of Habitual User Behavior

After finding habitual users, you need to analyze the similar behaviors of these users and identify the behaviors and paths that are most likely to develop habits. How do you find out the common “behaviors” and “paths” of habitual users? You can think about it from the following perspectives:

• Who is the user? Are there differences in user characteristics?
• What similar behaviors do users have? Is there high frequency or periodic behavior?
• What path is required to complete these actions? What are the nodes of the path? How difficult are the nodes to complete?
• What are the usage scenarios for completing these behaviors? What is the difference?

3.4 Design Behavior Closed Loop

Based on the common behaviors of habitual users, we can sort out the paths that users take to complete these actions and find all the key nodes on the paths. Check whether the corresponding behavior loop needs to be optimized or a new behavior loop needs to be designed. Through the behavioral closed loop, users are repeatedly stimulated, allowing them to continue to experience the path and eventually form habits.

That’s all for this week’s sharing. I wish you all a happy holiday.

Related reading:

1. The universal formula for product user retention!

2. 5 ways to improve user retention

3. 4-step method to improve user retention!

4. Strategies to improve user retention

5. Discussing activity operations from the perspective of user retention and activity

Author: Yang Sanji

Source: Yang Sanji