Before you launch into the app store, check if you’ve thought about these ways to help ensure your success:
1. Conversion Funnel
A conversion funnel is used to track how customers move through any series of events. These events are the set of actions you want app users to complete in order to fulfill a desired goal.
The 4 main metrics to track in your conversion funnel are downloads, usage, retention, and monetization.
Here’s a simple monetization example–the goal could be a user completing “In-App Purchase” for a mobile game:
- Launch App
- Reach Level 2 of Game
- Offer Displayed
- Clicks on Purchase Offer
- In-App Purchase Complete
The purpose of your funnel is to identify which events are causing users to drop-off and optimize for a frictionless user experience. Remember to constantly monitor and test your key metrics for optimal impact!
2. An Analytics Tool
There’s no way you’ll succeed in the app store without actionable, data-driven strategies. To understand your conversion funnels, you need an analytics solution that tracks exactly what people are doing in your app and compare that to the actions you hypothesized (these are the steps in your funnel).
A robust analytics solution provides detailed information on each step’s conversion percentage allowing you to gain valuable insights on how users are converting. Armed with a deep understanding of your users, you can segment behaviors based on specific actions. You may want to analyze crashes, app store reviews, or how quickly you help customers. Spend real time determining what to measure and how you’ll measure it.
3. Your Feedback Loop
No one launches a perfect product. The only way to succeed in your market is to build an excellent experience over time with feedback and iteration. Unfortunately, the app store feedback loop is broken. Receiving critical feedback about your app also means getting a bad review that affects your overall sales. The customer does not speak directly to you, and you can’t speak to them before it’s already too late.
When inevitable problems happen, make sure that you have a direct channel for customers to provide feedback and complain. Email may be fine while you have 50 users, but does not scale for mobile. Make sure you have an in-app messaging tool and knowledge base before you end up having to answer 200 unhelpful emails a day.
Still got conversion on the brain? See the Helpshift webcast: A Social Community That Converts. Esteban Kolsky, a Gartner veteran, explains how to get your users talking & buying.