Contextual

Category: activation

  • Pirate Metrics, PLG, user journey

    Pirate Metrics, PLG, user journey

    By David Jones Founder and CEO Contextual

    The wave of Product Led Growth has revolutionized the industry in recent years. When discussing Product Led Growth (PLG), it is often compared to “sales-led” approaches, the dirty little secret is that many SaaS companies presenting as PLG are in reality Sales-Led.

    In addition to Product-Led and “sales-led” approach, other prevalent strategies include marketing led, customer led, engineering led, and service led. However, in this presentation, I dare to suggest that most PLG software products rely on the tried-and-true “Pirate Metrics” (AARRR) framework. By examining key elements of PLG, we can always reframe them in terms of AARRR and their correlation to the user journey.

    To summarize, Pirate Metrics represent a funnel for fostering deeper engagement. Typically, ownership of these metrics lies with Product Management, Customer Success, and Growth teams, encompassing interconnected phases such as:

    • Acquisition: Typically owned by marketing is the user journey up to registering with your product and logging in Attracting users through various channels and acquiring them as customers.
    • Activation:. Is discussed extensively in this video. Activation is the moment where the user extracts value in the product. This can also be the first moment the user completes an action such as filling out their profile, inviting their co-workers to sign-up for the app or completing a transaction. Activation is guiding users to experience the core value of the product and ensuring a successful onboarding process.
    • Retention: Encouraging users to continue using the product and cultivating long-term engagement. This can be measured in revisits to the application, typically measured in Daily Active Uses, average session length and custom (per application) engagement metrics. Of course an important metric might be (one or recurring) monetary transactions.
    • Referral: Harnessing the power of satisfied users to advocate for the product and refer others. This includes activities where your user is inviting and engaging other users in a virtuous circle that grows Activation and Retention. This is a key part of Product Led growth where marketing and acquisition costs are significantly subsidised (or eliminated entirely by harnessing network effects of the users in the App). Whilst B2C apps like social networks are poster-children for network effects, B2B apps like Atlassian have been well documented as having a growth flywheel based on this strategy.
    • Revenue: There is no growth without revenue!  As can be seen, this can happen at one or more points elsewhere in AARRR and single or multiple times. Optimizing monetization strategies to drive revenue growth and maximize customer value is the ultimate measure of success

    So we can see that PLG is very much supported by a product design that rolls up these key User Journey components. This talk tracks the journey on a timeline.  By leveraging the power of contextual walkthroughs, contextual user onboarding, contextual mobile tooltips, and a comprehensive digital adoption platform, businesses can enhance their product adoption and effectively implement PLG strategies.

    Webinar: How to Automate Product-Led Growth in APAC

    With MeshAI

    Tue 29th September 2022, 12:00 pm SGT (2:00pm AEST)

    • How Product Led Growth is transforming in 2022
    • Evolving your software  product’s PLG model
    • Automating PLG the who and how
    • Product-Led Go-To Market strategy
    • The PLG Automation analytics, onboarding and communications


    ux anti-pattern

  • For mobile user onboarding. Does the world really love Android more than Apple?

    For mobile user onboarding. Does the world really love Android more than Apple?

    Smartphone manufacturers are clearly the earliest proponents of sophisticated digital product adoption techniques like mobile user onboarding flows and product walkthroughs but how are they faring in their global battle for hearts and minds? 

    A report by Electronics Hub in 2021 showed that out of 142 countries, 74 prefer Android over Apple 65 with Belarus, Fiji and Peru showing a draw.  The survey methodology described in the report was based on sentiment analysis of over 347,000 tweets.

     

    What was remarkable about the survey is that North America overwhelmingly prefers Android (yep you read that right) over Apple with Android averaging 32, over Apple 19 in terms of positive sentiment.  Curiously Poland emerged as the world’s number 1 Android hater with 34% of tweets averaging negative.  Latvia ranked as the world’s number one Apple hater with 35% tweets about Apple averaging negative.

     

    Whatever religious standing consumers hold over either platform the sentiment doesn’t stack up when it comes to B2B and B2B2C mobile apps.  A tally of Apple and Android SDKs for three of the most popular analytics firms Segment, Amplitude and Mixpanel tell a very different story. A sample of Business and Finance apps using SDKs for the aforementioned analytics firms reveal Apple as the clear front runner with almost double the number of SDKs over Android.

     

    Love or hate when it comes to the question of how users feel the apps they use, analytics will provide some insight however they don’t provide any tools enabling quick response to change or influence user behaviour.   App developers are largely limited to hard coding which extends to any user engagement strategies like mobile app user onboarding tours, product walkthroughs, contextual mobile tooltips, in-app FAQ’s and user surveys.  Darryl Goede, CEO and founder of Sparkbox knows first hand how long and painful software development can be, however being able to use a low-code user engagement platform like Contextual allows his team to quickly respond to changes in user behaviour and maintain the love of Spark Pico users

     

    React Native shares the love!. At Contextual we are noticing emerging B2B apps are trending towards Android particularly in Asia and South America however what we are also seeing is a preference for React Native for the development of both Android and IOS business apps.  This is great news for Product Teams looking to accelerate their apps across both iOS and Android platforms.  The good news is Contextual provides a simple easy to implement solution for creating and targeting mobile and web application user onboarding guides and walkthroughs and in-app contextual tooltips, FAQs and user surveys across each operating system.

  • Mobile app user onboarding walkthrough guides ever more critical as spending on non-gaming apps overtakes games for the first time ever

    Mobile app user onboarding walkthrough guides ever more critical as spending on non-gaming apps overtakes games for the first time ever

    Spending on Apps Overtakes Games on Apple’s Platform for the First Time Ever

    A strong lead indicator that consumers are depending ever more on mobile phones to conduct their day to day lives is borne out by the latest Sensor Tower Q2 2022 Data Digest: U.S. which reports that spending on Apps Overtakes Games on Apple’s Platform for the First Time Ever.

     U.S. consumer spending in non-game mobile apps “pipped” spending in mobile games for the first time ever in the second quarter of the year to $3.4 billion.

    Both traditional bricks and mortar businesses and technology led firms are increasingly realizing the potential for greater customer engagement by achieving tenancy on their customers handheld devices.

     However despite the massive amount of investment pouring into the development of apps achieving success it’s not as easy as just launching an app! Over 70% of new app installs are used just once and then abandoned and studies have shown that the drop off rate after a free trial period can be as high as 60%. [5 Tips on how to reduce Mobile user churn]

     The apps that have survived that initial install and free trial period Gauntlet of Death and become part of the latest success numbers have achieved this by helping their users achieve Activation by shortening the time to “Initial Value” via effective mobile user onboarding strategies and maintained a path of “Realised Value” through effective in-app user engagement via ToolTips, new feature announcements, in-app FAQs and User Surveys.

     Sensor Tower also reported that the preferred revenue strategy adopted by B2B and B2B2C mobile apps have also proven to have had a significant impact on these numbers.

     The comparative difference between the two sectors (with $3.3 billion spent on mobile games) puts the delta in spending between the two at a mere $100M. However, the difference in comparative growth rates with gaming apps on 20% v non-game mobile apps at 40% compound annual growth rate has non-gaming apps on a trajectory to grow to almost $15B and increase the delta in spending between the two by almost $1B in 2023.

    These numbers will place product teams and software developers of B2B and B2B2C mobile apps under even greater pressure as they seek to take advantage of this phenomenal growth.  Apps that do not have an effective contextual mobile user onboarding walkthrough strategy will struggle to claim their share.  Established mobile and web apps that do not have in-app messaging and tooltips to help guide users find new features and nudge users towards deeper engagement with existing features will lose ground to competitors.

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  • Forget Content Marketing. Context Marketing Has Arrived!

    Forget Content Marketing. Context Marketing Has Arrived!

    By now you are overwhelmed by the daily volume of blog post notifications, newsletters, and relentless social posts on LinkedIn and Twitter. 

     

    A daily tsunami of content marketing fills our inboxes powered by platforms automating: cold-email, drip email and newsletters. Product-led companies use email as low-hanging fruit. The problem is as McLuhan said: “the medium is the message“*.

     

    Your Content Marketing  competes for your user’s inbox attention along with: other SaaS/App/PLG products, marketing companies, e-commerce platforms and plain-old-spammers.  I’ve even noticed one smart startup only emails on Saturday (no weekend rest for you dear reader!)

     

    Your Content Marketing might be well-targeted, but McLuhan tells us the user will just see it as more junk mail. Add to that floods of App push notifications, social media posts, PR strategies, inbound marketing etc. 

     

    The user is fatigued.

     

    Content marketing** in an internet (SaaS/Mobile App) product was popularised by one of the most successful SaaS companies, HubSpot.

    A Brief Description of HubSpot

    HubSpot’s slogan reads: Helping millions grow better. 
    When the company started out in 2004, they were considered trendsetters from the get-go. HubSpot was the first one to recognize that the disruptive marketing strategies of those days were outdated and didn’t seem to work anymore. 
    Hubspot created inbound marketing  – this focuses on offering help to users and clients instead of interrupting and harassing them with advertisements and solely sale-oriented strategies. 
    HubSpot’s strategies attempt effective content marketing, to help the user solve their problem they indicated they had.

    The only problem is:

    1. a) not all leads are qualified
    2. b) the granularity of audience segmentation is rarely nuanced.
    3. c) it often has no way to update based on a user’s journey. (similar to when you still see ads after you bought a product!)

    If Content (inbound) Marketing is perceived by the recipient (not you as the sender) as spam, then we should all stop spamming right? ????
    Well, no….Content/Inbound is a valuable component of bringing the user back into the app – so lets just get better at segmentation.

    From Content to Context

    Product Led Growth is about making your software at the center of the users happiness (and buying) journey.

    Context marketing is the conscious recognition of the 80:20 rule:

    1. a) new user acquisition is costly – 80%
    2. b) existing user retention (if you have a product that solves the user’s JTBD) costs 20%.  Retention is the most effective spend you can make.
    3. c) your App is a Context marketing platform.

    Like Content Marketing, we aim to help and educate the user – but with Context:

    1. a) Your UX and the customers data 
    2. b) the timing of the user journey is available to you. 

    Being contextual is critical when it comes to user journey and experience. The key point here is to be there for the right person, at the right time, in order to deliver the right content. 

    Product-led companies should deliver (or allow self-service) targeted helpful InApp content to their users; then user engagement deepens and user happiness increases.

    Tools, such as Contextual, can simplify parts of the user journey: such as onboarding or feedback. User journey data also helps with identify the best time to trigger availability of specific and unique content based on the user experience.

    Credit: thewayofdamasio.com

    The Importance of Context Marketing

    Context matters. But why? 

     

    Because of the 80:20 rule discussed earlier, we argue that Product Managers and inApp Growth teams are significantly better contributors to company revenue than acquisition personnel!

     

    As mentioned earlier, timing is one of the defining elements of context marketing. With proper timing, product-led companies can easily deliver useful, helpful content that adds to the user experience and boosts user engagement.

     

    But there are other reasons why context is important. 

     

    Let’s consider Dave McClure’s AARRR! Pirate Metrics through the lens of content and context marketing. McClure’s Pirate Metric is a simple tool created to help with product and business growth by analyzing five concepts, as follows:

    • Acquisition
    • Activation
    • Retention
    • Referral
    • Revenue

     

    The five parts of this model each represent a tactic that, once focused on, can help with product adoption and user retention.

    Does Context Matter?

    Based on this model, content marketing responds to Acquisition. Content (or inbound) represents the channel through which potential users get to know your product and your company. They might hear about you through SEO, social media, content creators, and so on. However, this step alone might not be enough to get to Activation, no matter how diversified your content marketing is.

     

    To get to the next step, you need context. Activation is about a potential user familiarizing themselves with your app or product. For this, you need to be more specific with your marketing by finding a niche that resonates with the potential client. Optimization leads to product adoption and to Retention. 

     

    Just like Activation, according to the Pirate Metrics, Retention is also context-dependent. Through context marketing, customers can better understand the benefits your app brings to their workflow and their life. At this stage, the key focus for product-led companies should be reducing user churn by optimizing the content each user sees, be that through email or in-app notifications. Style the content to the user’s needs to make them feel heard and validate their needs.

     

    Referral represents the likelihood of your users sharing their thoughts about your product with their friends. Think of it as the equivalent of the NPS survey’s question: “How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?” Happy users lead to more referrals. How to make your users happy? Pay attention to context.

     

    Revenue is the sum of the success of the previous four concepts. It grows exponentially with each happy user. 

    We can see that the majority of these concepts are greatly influenced by context marketing vs. content marketing. Optimizing your marketing strategy to be useful and helpful for your users results in happier people who are more likely to go through with product adoption and spread the word about your app. 

    It’s Time to Focus on Context Marketing

    But how do you do that, you might wonder. That’s simple. Use Contextu.al!

    An easy-to-use and helpful platform such as ours can simplify your life when it comes to context marketing. As our name suggests, we are all about context. 

    Contextu.al knows your users and helps them in their user journey to product adoption and retention by putting the most contextual content in front of them. With us, you can also measure the uplift or increased engagement by the user, to know if we helped them! 

    To get the best tips, notifications, and guides for your users, book a demo with us today at contextu.al!


    * The irony is not lost on us that some readers will have seen this from an email newsletter.

    ** Benjamin Franklin is apparently the first content marketer when he published “Poor Richard’s Almanack”

    *** Banner image credit: freepik.com

  • Reducing Trialler Abandonment: 5 Tips for Product-Led Companies

    Reducing Trialler Abandonment: 5 Tips for Product-Led Companies

    How many apps do you keep on using after the trial period?

    Worry not, you are not the only one who does so. Trialler abandonment is an unfortunate event. Yet it is a natural phenomenon that today’s app-driven world brings with itself. 

    While product-led companies are trying their best with social media campaigns, ads, and other marketing tools, statistics show that between 2010 and 2019, the average app abandonment rate after just one use (session) was 23%. 

    This might sound alarming for companies who rely on their user’s onboarding experience and product adoption. However, despite the statistics, not all is lost.

    If you are a product manager or part of a product-led company and your goal is to reduce the trialler abandonment your app WILL face, keep on reading. We put together a list of tips and tricks just for you!

    1. Invest in Your UX 

    It goes without saying that the interaction a potential user has with your product should be your biggest focus. Look at it as the channel of communication between your company and your future clients. 

    Whether you like math or not, we have a formula for you:

    Positive UX processes = increased loyalty on the customer’s end. 

    Simple, isn’t it? Well, for this to happen,  design of the user’s journey combined with visual economy and appeal are top priorities for product-led teams. By focussing on JTBD and paying attention to details such as functionality, personalized, contextual tips, announcements and notifications you ensure your product stays with a user beyond the initial onboarding. 

    App abandonment often happens because the company fails to invest in their clients first and the product after. Your product’s usability will greatly impact the client’s decision on whether it’s worth going through with the adoption.

    So, improving the app’s interface might help you not just with the initial trials, but will also help your company with a long-term retention rate. What marvelous results! o

    2. Learn How To Balance on The Fine Line of Notifications

    Mobile apps are an important part of the modern person’s life, whether we take its personal or professional aspects. Notifications are a vital tool of these products, as they help the user journey and also with the product adoption. 

    As such, notifications should take an indispensable place in your list of priorities when it comes to product development. So, next time your team discusses user journey mapping and optimization, take time to look at the impact of your app’s notifications throughout the user journey. 

    While notifications have a significant place in every app, there is a fine line between helping with user engagement and frustrating the client with too many push notifications. 

    Trialler abandonment is often caused by notifications that are either too obnoxious or even unnecessary. Making sure that you take time to create meaningful, personalized notifications can increase the chances of product adoption. 

    Connect with the user from the onboarding process. Something as simple as inserting their name in your welcome message can guarantee you a positive first impression.

    Yet, consider the timing of your notifications. Try not to interrupt your user in their workflow, as bad timing can lead to product abandonment. Especially with new clients.  

    You do not want to annoy people, but you don’t want them to forget about you. So, find the balance!

    3. Make Your Ads/Popups Less Intrusive

    How to do that, you might wonder?

    Similar to balancing notifications, pay attention to interuppting the user flow with the ads or other pop-over content (announcements, nudges, prompts) in the app during its usage. Read our posts about JTBD – so many Apps make the mistake of popping up something selflish (like a request for Appstore rating or SaaS NPS question) when the user is trying to get a “job done”.

    Most users are aware that ads are important in a B2C Apps, however, if they appear to be too frequent, occupying a large part of the screen or even interrupting the work of your user, it can easily be a source of frustration, which can lead to an increased app abandonment rate. 

    Users have low patience with new apps: the fewer distractions they have, the better. Especially in the first few uses of a new software product, clients can be more picky than usual, so it is crucial to be mindful of details such as positioning of the ads and their frequency, in order to ensure an increased app retention rate. 

    4. Security Should Be A Priority 

    Cybersecurity and digital attacks are topics that seem to be on the table constantly, especially with the rapid rate at which technology advances today. 

    If you’re part of a SaaS product development company, security should be prioritized within your product. Digital attacks can and should be avoided in order to increase client trust and your app’s retention rate. 

    The product should not only be secure, but product-led companies should especially focus on how this feature is perceived by clients who want to protect their personal data from getting hacked. 

    To ensure that your clients trust your product, you can create a sense of security by making sure your app runs well and doesn’t have many bugs, or that it’s user-friendly and easy to follow for your target audience.  

    5. Take Advantage of User Feedback 

    Accepting that not everyone will find your product useful is crucial in order to make sure you and your team can focus on narrowing down your clientele. 

    When you find your niche of customers, it becomes easier to listen to their feedback in order to improve your app for new and potential customers. 

    Take advantage of the onboarding feedback given by users who already completed this process and see what you can optimize for future clients in order to reduce app abandonment in the early stages of user onboarding.  

    Try to measure the effectiveness of different features your product has, pay attention to possible threats, and fix bugs as soon as they appear. 

    You not only ensure that your new clients perceive your product as a serious one (and thus are more likely to go through with the product adoption process), but you also build credibility within your existing clients. 

    If people feel heard, they are more likely to stick around for a longer time. After all, customer service is one of the strongest bridges between a product-led company and its users. 

    Overcoming Trialler Abandonment

    App abandonment in the trialler phases is a common occurrence during user onboarding and in the product adoption process. 

    However, you should not be disheartened, as there are some tricks to reduce these numbers and promote higher retention rates for mobile apps. 

    Some of them, such as investing in the UX, or ensuring product security, are foolproof methods of encouraging product adoption among new clients. 

    Others, such as managing ads and notifications, should also be considered as they help in facilitating the workflow of your users and providing a more pleasant experience when the product is being used. 

    Lastly, by listening to the already existing customers’ opinions, both your product and your company will be seen as reliable. 

    So, what is the next step?

    You are an expert in the theoretical part, congratulations!

    But you know what they say: practice makes it perfect. Would you like to implement these tips smoothly and swiftly into your app development workflow? If you want to learn more about obtaining better retention rates and how to grow your product, get started with Contextual today!