Contextual

Category: B2B & B2B2C Mobile apps

  • Half of your Mobile App user acquisition costs are wasted,  the problem is knowing which half.

    Half of your Mobile App user acquisition costs are wasted,  the problem is knowing which half.

    We recently looked at a report by Appsflyer that showed the average uninstall rate for Android Apps was 49% in the first month with half of those uninstalled on the first day. The report stated that iOS uninstall tracking is limited after iOS 15 caused background pushes to only be delivered if the app has been used in the foreground in the past few weeks. However it’s probably safe to say that iOS Apps are not immune to similar rates of user churn.

     

    The report made a reference to user onboarding “Clearly, creating a superior onboarding experience through deep linking and well-crafted tutorials is essential”  but somehow didn’t include Onboarding in the 9 key takeaways in their report.

     

    When you think about the huge volume of App installs that fall foul to user churn it raises the question, how much development and marketing costs are wasted?.  Well almost 50% is the obvious answer but what if you had to put an actual dollar figure on it?

     

    The Business of Apps has very helpfully published a report with exactly that information called App Marketing Costs (2023) and some of the underlying data is supplemented by the same firm as the previous report (Appsflyer).

     

    The report split the App Marketing Costs into three stages Pre-Launch, Launch, and Post-Launch which we will summarise for you here:

    Mobile App Pre Launch / Launch Costs

    mobile app pre-launch costs
    mobile app pre launch / launch costs

    Post Launch costs /  cost per App.

    When an app is readied for release, the primary marketing costs are: CPI, (Cost-Per-Install), and CPA, (Cost-Per-Action).  Both the big app developers and independents set aside a  significant portion of their app marketing budget towards acquiring users for their app, and even more towards incentivizing those users to perform specific actions such as registering an account, making an in-app purchase, subscribing to a service, or making a reservation.

    Post Launch Costs

    post launch costs
    mobile app post launch costs / cost per app

    Similar to how the earlier reports reference Mobile user Onboarding there is an equally oblique reference to Push Notifications.  

     

    When you take these costs into account it’s surprising that Product Teams and Marketers fail to prioritise No Code solutions like Contextual that directly help product growth teams and app developers increase activation and reduce user churn.

     

    For example let’s take a Mobile App that has a growth target of 100,000 monthly active users in one year.  Based on industry churn rates the product growth and marketing team need to achieve at least 195,000 installs to hit their MAU target.  However, doing it in 12 months is a tough ask! For example from a standing start of 1000 installs per month plateauing at 10,000 per month by month 10 it would take 24 months to reach 100,000 MAU’s provided of course there were no other impediments to growth and retention.

     

    Based on the aforementioned “user Action Costs” of “Advertising cost per install” of $4 and “Install cost” $2 per install the App developer will have spent $1.17m over 24 months not including Pre-launch costs or any other User Action costs to reach the 100,00 MAU target by month 24.  However if the Product Team could improve Activation by 19% to 70% of App installs the team would not only hit their MAU target 6 months earlier but will have saved almost $165K in User Action costs being wasted due to User Churn. 

     

    The cost of a No Code mobile app onboarding tool like Contextual is a small fraction compared with the software development and customer acquisition costs CPI, (Cost-Per-Install), and CPA, (Cost-Per-Action) hemorrhaging at a rate of 49%.  In fact Contextual customers commonly experience greater than 20%  improvement in activation and Contextual pays for itself in month 1 and returns between $2.2 to $9.50 for every dollar spent, gradually improving ROI as our customers achieve scale.

     

    ROI aside, the lifetime value gained from the users Contextual helped retain via Mobile app onboarding and In-app Tooltips is an order of magnitude best left to the App Developer to determine.

     

    As for the rest, with Contextual tools and analytics you will at least have a better understanding about why the remaining users are not converting.

    Don’t let all your hard work acquiring users go to waste!  Click on the buttons below to get your 14 day free trial or contact us for a demo! 


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  • Reducing User Churn and Optimizing Mobile User Onboarding: Leveraging Contextual Strategies

    Reducing User Churn and Optimizing Mobile User Onboarding: Leveraging Contextual Strategies

    Introduction:

    Just a few months ago, we reported on a study implying the world’s preference for Android over Apple. However, a new report by Appsflyer suggests that when it comes to application user churn, the results may not be as favorable for Android.

    In this article you learn how contextual walkthroughs, user onboarding, and mobile tooltips can help app developers and product managers reduce user churn and improve app retention. Discover the key insights from Appsflyer’s App Uninstall Report, highlighting the uninstall rates for Android apps and the importance of effective onboarding experiences. Explore the benefits of using a digital adoption platform like Contextual to design and launch custom onboarding experiences, tooltips, and feature announcements in real-time, without relying on developer resources.

    Understanding User Churn: Insights from the App Uninstall Report:

    Appsflyer’s App Uninstall Report reveals that almost half of Android apps (49%) are uninstalled within a month, with 49% of those uninstalls occurring within just one day. Higher uninstall rates are observed in developing markets and the finance app category. To address this challenge, it is crucial to track uninstall rates, understand user behavior, and optimize the app experience.

    Leveraging Contextual Strategies for Effective Onboarding:

    An effective onboarding experience is crucial to reducing user churn. However, developing such an experience can be resource-intensive. Contextual provides a solution by enabling product managers and marketers to design and launch custom onboarding experiences, tooltips, and feature announcements in real-time, without relying on developers. This empowers app teams to create engaging onboarding journeys and ensure a seamless user experience.

    Key Takeaways for App Success:

    To drive app success and reduce user churn, it is essential to measure and understand uninstall rates. By utilizing tools like Contextual, product managers and marketers can create targeted onboarding experiences and track feature engagement to gauge effectiveness. A seamless onboarding process is critical, as the highest uninstall rate occurs on the first day. Guiding users towards their “Aha!” moment and personalizing the app experience through contextual tooltips, FAQs, and in-app announcements can enhance user satisfaction and prevent churn. Additionally, tracking user interactions and identifying drop-off points allows for targeted in-app messaging and improvements to the app itself.

    Optimizing the User Experience with Contextual:

    Contextual’s Automatic Feature Tracking and Custom Tags enable product teams to track user interactions, identify funnel drop-off points, and personalize the app experience. By guiding users towards their desired outcomes and providing targeted tips, tours, in-app videos, and walkthroughs, product teams can improve activation and retention goals, leading to an overall better user experience. Contextual also respects user privacy by not requiring traditional identification methods like email addresses, ensuring user anonymity in the Web3 era.

    Make Your App even more awesome with Contextual:

    In a highly competitive app landscape, there is no room for mediocrity. Mobile apps must deliver value within minutes or seconds to retain users. Yet, many apps fail to prioritize user engagement features like mobile user onboarding and walkthroughs. With Contextual, you can prioritize these features and enhance your app’s value proposition. Contact us now to discover how Contextual can help you optimize your app and reduce user churn.

    Conclusion:

    By leveraging contextual walkthroughs, user onboarding, and mobile tooltips, app developers and product managers can reduce user churn and improve app retention. Analyzing the insights from Appsflyer’s App Uninstall Report, it is evident that optimizing the onboarding experience and understanding user behavior are essential for app success. Contextual offers a comprehensive digital adoption platform that empowers app teams to design and launch engaging onboarding experiences without relying on developers. By implementing these strategies and leveraging the power of Contextual, you can create exceptional apps that drive user satisfaction and success.

  • New Report Reveals: Aussies are Among the Most Dedicated Mobile Users in the World – Mobile User Onboarding key

    New Report Reveals: Aussies are Among the Most Dedicated Mobile Users in the World – Mobile User Onboarding key

    Aussies love their mobiles! That’s the conclusion of the latest report from Data.ai, which has just released its STATE OF MOBILE 2023 report. The report is packed with an exciting array of geographic and app subgenre insights, and it’s clear that Australians are among the most dedicated mobile users in the world.

    According to the report, there were 255 billion new app downloads in 2022, representing a YoY growth of 11%. That’s more than 485,000 apps downloaded per minute. Consumers also spent big on apps, with a total of $167 billion spent on the Appstore, representing a YoY growth of 2%. That’s more than $318,000 spent per minute in 2022.

    But it’s not just the number of downloads and amount of money spent that’s impressive; it’s also the amount of time that Australians spend on their mobile devices. The report found that the average user spends 5 hours per day on their mobile, representing a YoY growth of 3%. That’s around one-third of their daily waking hours.

    Interestingly Australia did not make the top 20 in terms of number of Apps downloads or hours spent online but ranked #9 for Consumer Spending clocking up almost US$2.4 Billion in 2022. In terms of app subgenres, the report found that business apps made up 50% of the top 20 subgenres downloaded by Australians. Utility and productivity apps, as well as finance apps, were also popular. In Australia specifically, travel apps were particularly popular, with three of the top five growth apps being travel apps. Video and social media apps were also popular, but Australians spent a surprising amount of time on utility and productivity apps, clocking up more than 180 million hours on these types of apps.

    The results suggest that mobile user onboarding is crucial for the success of mobile apps. The amount of time that Aussies spent on productivity apps indicates that they value in-app mobile tooltips and a smooth and efficient mobile user onboarding process. This is evident in the popularity of business apps, which often require a thorough onboarding process to ensure that users can make the most of the app’s features.

    The report also looked at the $1 Billion Club, which includes the apps and games that generated over $10 million dollars annually in 2022. A total of 1419 apps and games made it into this club, with 224 surpassing $100 million and 10 surpassing $1 billion annually.

    Finally, the report found that Aussies love to bank on mobile, with mobile app adoption across top subgenres like Mobile Banking, Digital Wallets & Payment, and Personal Loans seeing rapid growth in 2022. The fintech space has remained highly localized, especially in APAC, with the majority of country’s downloads coming from publishers based in that market.

    Overall, the STATE OF MOBILE 2023 report highlights the significant impact that mobile devices and apps have on the lives of Australians. From the amount of time spent on mobile devices to the amount of money spent on apps and mobile ads, it’s clear that Australians are among the most dedicated mobile users in the world. The report also emphasizes the importance of mobile user onboarding, mobile tool tips and contextual onboarding in achieving mobile app success in Australia.

    Here are some specific examples of how Digital Product Adopton can be used to improve the user experience of mobile apps in Australia:

    • Use tooltips to provide contextual help. Tooltips are a great way to provide users with quick and easy access to help information. When a user hovers over a button or icon, a tooltip can appear to provide more information about what the button or icon does. This can be especially helpful for new users who are still learning how to use the app.
    • Use walkthroughs to guide users through the app. Walkthroughs are a great way to introduce new users to the features of an app. A walkthrough can walk users through the app step-by-step, showing them how to use each feature. This can help users get up and running quickly and easily.
    • Use surveys to collect feedback. Surveys are a great way to collect feedback from users about their experience with an app. This feedback can be used to improve the app’s user experience and make it more user-friendly.

    By using a Digital Adoption Platform like Contextual, app developers can improve the user experience of their apps and make them even more successful in Australia.

  • 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.