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提高手机应用用户留存率3大要点

发布时间:2011-07-05 12:24:20 Tags:,,,

手机应用通常采用两种商业模式。第一种模式依靠用户对应用的理解,实际用户留存率并非关注焦点,而且通常只给那些能够带来额外下载量的用户留存率些许关注。第二种模式取决于用户粘性,应用通常采用免费形式,应用依靠用户留存率获得广告或者交易营收。

iPhone apps from mobilemarketingwatch.com

iPhone apps from mobilemarketingwatch.com

据Flurry Analytics在2010年数据显示,所有应用的用户留存率头个月都会下降85%。也就是说,有85%的用户会在头30天内将应用从其手机中删除。5个月后,留存率只剩5%。

对那些依靠用户粘性和留存率的应用来说,这些数据堪称一大噩耗。但开发者其实是能够采取系列措施提高用户留存率,让应用保持成功的。

我们就Amadeus Consulting软件开发和营销团队进行研究调查,总结如下5大影响手机应用用户留存率的因素:可用性;内容更新;营销和用户获取;应用设计;内容植入。

可用性

你有好点子,并最终制作成应用,但其留存率却不尽如人意。是什么地方出问题?最可能的问题就是可用性。若用户不知如何使用应用,无法在10秒钟内完成操作,他们多半会删除此应用,选择其他同类便于使用的应用,即便后者深度不及前者。

影响可用性的因素包括强制或繁琐注册流程,难懂或罕见控制装置,糟糕的应用界面,或者缓慢的用户&服务器协调速度。想要提高应用价值,你就需要优化用户体验。

例如,假设你经营一家当地披萨店,且拥有一款旨在提高营收的应用,让顾客通过此应用进行订购。若你想要获得成功,应用就必须使订购流程尽量简化。我们很难用语言阐述好的UI设计,但从更本上说,用户应无需就如何操作进行思考,应该能够凭直觉进行简单操作。

此举的目的是创造积极用户体验。有些应用强调功能性,但需进行繁琐设置,且应用界面还不尽理想,无法凭直觉进行操作,或存在某些可用性问题。优秀开发方案需要的不仅是高质量编码,还需考虑用户操作方式,其开发过程需瞄准终端用户。

优秀界面设计是项宝贵技能,它能够促使应用掳获用户的芳心。即便你有出色内部编程技术支持UI设计,应用界面还是颇值得花费功夫。

内容更新

软件存在的一大问题是其更新速度极快。应用今日运作良好,但苹果或许明日就更新其iPhone操作系统,而你的应用就会忽然间变得漏洞百出。开发者是否能够预期未来变化,及时更新应用,以避免出现故障停工期?

开发者推出应用后需提供故障修理和IT服务。若你是聘请第三方开发应用,那么至少要确保能够为用户提供操作疑难解答,同时考虑提供扩充服务和内容更新(游戏邦注:这通常需要耗费额外成本)。多数情况下,你或者你的开发者若是能够预测变化或即将出现问题,即时更新应用,就会避免呈现停工期。

有些操作系统是交叉应用至多个手机设备。若苹果推出新版iPhone,或Android OS出现不同模式,你的应用未来几个月会发生什么变化?你需要持续跟进应用兼容性,否则应用就会流失大量用户。

iPhone from chinamobile.com

iPhone from chinamobile.com

此外,持续更新内容是保持用户粘性的良策。若用户知道应用不久会有更新内容,或你会不断在付费应用中添加内容,他们下载应用的可能性会更大,粘性会更高。更新内容也是提醒用户应用存在的妙招,能够促使用户使用应用。

以上建议都是我们开发应用考虑的方面。这是保持用户粘性的理想之策,能够让你在开发过程中受益匪浅。

营销策略

留存率有两大要点:可用性和用户获取(游戏邦注:即指在最初阶段推动用户下载应用)。

用户获取不只包括下载量,还包括用户对应用的辨识度和下载意愿。苹果App Store已有数十万款应用。你的应用要能够在其中脱颖而出。

你要如何实现这个目标?首先,确保应用满足SEO(搜索引擎优化)要求,其中包括提交适当标签和进行合理归类,以供搜索引擎检索。你不会希望看到自己的金融应用出现在游戏类别当中,这样目标用户就无法发现该应用。描述内容和信息需合理定位,准确使用关键字以及邀请功能。照片通常能够提供帮助,特别是当你有合理UI,你还需确保其他内容的准确性。

其次,你需要对应用进行合理营销。我们需要告知用户应用相关内容,提供某些下载奖励。若你针对当前业务是制作应用,那么采取相应营销策略,应用会从中收益。此外,还有些网站是专门进行应用评价和评级,你可以选择同这些网站合作,增加应用曝光度。

再来就是有关排名方面。虽然我们难挡填充排名诱惑,但其中蕴藏危险性,很多应用因此被商店移除,用户也能轻易判断真伪。相比填充排名,开发者最好还是通过透明方式创建规范用户评价,持续向用户提供更新内容和质量反馈。如今应用初创公司成千上万,若你希望投身应用领域,就要树立自身信誉。

我认识很多第三方开发商,其中包括Amadeus Consulting(游戏邦注:主要致力应用SEO和营销,这是颇值得挖掘的领域)。不论你是自己开发还是聘人制作,营销都能够给应用增添魅力,这能够促使你成功发行作品,确保未来持续发展。

总结

开发应用不是个合格/不合格过程。和其他项目一样,质量都是重中之重。举个例子,就好比你制作Facebook个性化页面,但从未登陆,也没有邀请好友,或回应好友请求。你是否算参与至Facebook当中?技术角度看你确有参与其中。但这个页面并没有给你带来任何益处,甚至还会产生消极影响,因为你忽视那些置身其中的好友。应用开发也是同样道理:开发劣质应用比不开发应用糟糕得多。

你要明白应用开发是项投资,是种投入。若你想要投身该领域,最好选择同经验丰富的第三方开发商合作,他们将给予全程指导,替你管理项目直至你能够接手。

游戏邦注:原文发布于2010年9月13日,文章涉及数据以当时为准。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

5 Things That Can Increase Retention In Mobile Apps

Mobile Applications come in two business models. The first depends on the understanding of applications, and actual retention is only a minor concern so far as it can drive additional downloads. The second model depends on individual engagement, and the application is generally free, and it relies on individual retention to drive ad or income revenue.

According to Flurry Analytics, which monitors data for over 20,000 Android and iPhone applications and over 2 billion individual sessions apiece month, individual retention crossways all apps drops an average of 85 percent by the first month. This means that 85 out of each 100 people who download an app will have deleted it from their phone within the first 30 days. After six months, retention is only 5 percent.

For apps that depend on individual engagement and constant use over time, these numbers are troubling. However, there are many solutions that can increase retention and make applications successful over time.

We’ve taken a swift survey of the software development and marketing teams here at Amadeus Consulting, and come up with the top 5 things that affect mobile app retention: Usability; Updates; Marketing & Acquisition; Design; Integration.

Usability

So you have a great idea, and you’ve created an app, but it has a really low retention rate. What’s wrong? Well, the most likely problem is its usability. If users can’t figure out how to use it and get it running in 10 seconds or less, they will delete you and potentially find a competitor’s app that is easier to use, even if it does not wage the same depth of services.

Some things that affect usability include a mandatory or lengthy registration, difficult or uncommon controls, a very clunky interface, or slow sync time between the app and your servers. In order to increase the value of your app, you need to optimize the individual experience.

For example, let’s state that you are a local pizza restaurant and you have an application that is designed to increase income of pizzas by letting users place orders through the application. For you to be successful, your application needs make ordering pizzas as simple of a process as possible. Evaluating good UI design is difficult to describe in words, but basically the individual should not have to think about how to use the app, and it should be intuitive with as few steps as possible.

An extension of this intent is creating a positive individual experience. Some apps claim to wage certain functionalities, but they require a lengthy setup process, or have a clunky interface, or are not intuitive, or have any number of other usability problems. Good development requires more than just great coding. It requires an understanding of how people will use the application, and a development process focused on the end user.

Great interface design is a very valuable skill and it can make-or-break an application in the eyes of your users. Even if you have excellent in-house programming to back up the UI design, it might be worth your time to look at getting help with the interface.

Updates

The problem with software is that it changes so often. Your app might work perfectly today, but tomorrow Apple might wage an update to the iPhone operating system and your app suddenly develops bugs. Can your developer expect the changes and wage an update to your application to prevent downtimes?

Developers need to offer troubleshooting and “IT” service to the application once it is developed. If you are hiring a third celebration to develop your app, you should at the very least expect a warranty period, but also carefully think about the option for extended service and upgrades, which usually cost extra. In most cases, you or your developer will be healthy to expect changes or upcoming issues and wage an update to your app that will limit downtimes.

Also, some operating systems are used crossways different phones. What will happen to your app over the next few months if Apple releases a new version of the iPhone, or if Android OS comes out on a different model?  You need to consistently wage compatibility updates; otherwise people will drop your application in droves.

Additionally, frequent content updates are an excellent way to keep people engaged. If people know that there is an update coming soon, or that you wage frequent content additions to a paid app, then they are more likely to download it and hang onto it. Updates are also a great way to remind users that your app is still there, and remind them to use it.

These suggestions are all things we take into consideration when we develop mobile applications for our customers. They are the ideal way to keep users engaged with your app; let us help you in the process.

Marketing

There are two sides to retention: The usability side, which encompasses most of what we’re talked about so far, and the acquisition side, which means getting people to download the app initially.

Acquisition includes more than just a measure of the number of downloads; it also describes how well people are healthy to find the app, and how likely they are to download it. Just remember, on the Apple App store, there are over 180,000 applications. You need to make yours stand out.

How do you do that?  First, you need to make sure that it meets basic search engine optimization (SEO) requirements, which includes making sure that it is appropriately tagged and categorized during that submission process. You wouldn’t want your new banking app to end up in the games section, because people that wanted a banking app would never find it. The description and information needs to be targeted and exact using appropriate keywords, but also inviting. Photos nearly always help, especially if you have a great UI, but you also need to make sure that everything else is correct.

Second, you need market your application. You need to tell people about it, and wage some incentive to download it. If you are building an application for a current business, then you can piggy back on a few of your other marketing efforts so that you include your app as well. Additionally, there are also many websites that specialize in app reviewing and rating and you can work with these sites to wage a bit more visibility to your application.

Also, a word about rankings: while it might be tempting to pad your own rankings, doing so is extremely hazardous and has gotten more than a few apps illegal from the store, and is evenhandedly simple for users to spot. Instead of padding your own rankings, use your time to build legitimate individual reviews by being very transparent and providing frequent updates and calibre feedback to users. There are thousands of new app startups, and if you are planning on being in the app business (or offering apps) for a while then you definitely want to brand yourself as reputable.

I know many third-party developers, including Amadeus Consulting, wage specialized SEO and marketing for apps, which are definitely worth looking into. Whether you do it, or if you hire someone else to help you do it, marketing will give your app an extra ‘oomph’ that it needs for a successful launch, and give you the momentum to succeed down the road.

In Conclusion

Creating an application is not a pass/fail process. Like nearly everything else, calibre matters. To make a comparison, it is like creating a individualized Facebook statement but never logging in, accepting friends, or responding to friendly inquiries. Are you on Facebook?  Yes, technically. But it is not doing anything for you, and might even be hurting since you seem to ignore everyone who would be interested. App development works the same way:  having a bad app is much worse than having no app at all.

What this means is that you need to comprehend that creating an app is an investment and a commitment. It also means that if you are looking to get into the app business, you might be much superior off investing in an experienced third celebration developer that can guide you through the process and manage it with you until you are ready to take over.

Stay tuned for our second part of this post, where we will discuss Design and Integration ideal practices for mobile application development and retention.(Source:androidap


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