Up to 90 percent of those installing apps may drift away after three months unless those developing them have an engagement marketing strategy such as push notifications, according to Kakuna. The company aggregated and analyzed data from hundreds of clients across 16 industry verticals for its recently published report, which included interactions of more than 39 million customers collected between January and May of this year.
- The average opt-in rate for push notifications is 62 percent.
- Android outperforms iOS with an average opt-in rate of 78 percent, whereas iOS only sees about a 46 percent opt-in rate.
- Opt-in rates vary drastically by vertical, with the highest being Travel & Transportation (78 percent) and the lowest being Medical, Health, & Fitness (35 percent).
- For opted-in users, the average 30-day audience retention rate is increased by 125 percent, the average 60-day retention rate is increased by 150 percent, and the average 90-day retention rate is increased by 180 percent.
"Securing a spot for your company's app on a consumer's device is a pristine badge of honor. Smart companies treat it as such and make sure each interaction enhances the individual customer's experience," the report says. "Self-serving, misdirected and spam-like messages delivered by companies have no place on such a personal device. Because of this, mobile marketing has evolved from simply tallying installs to a complex measure of each individual's engagement and lifetime value--only the most relevant, contextual and timely marketing communications will drive positive financial results."
Although this report is probably aimed at larger brands and publishers, indie developers should take note of how long app users tend to stick around, and maybe even take heart in the fact that engagement is just as big a challenge for big companies as it might be for them. And while Kuhana is obviously focusing on push notifications because its technology helps power them, it's not necessarily the only mechanisms for developers to generate engagement. Some might suggest starting first with mobile app analytics to help better understand its first users, its best users and how they behave after an install in order to create the most compelling reasons for them to stay.
For more:
- see the full report here (reg. req.)
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