12 Strategies To Increase App Engagement

It's simple and beneficial to put these 12 app engagement strategies into practice with a little work. And don't worry, I've included a ton of real-world examples below to make sure you understand!

Personalize user experience

Developing a customized user experience is essential to raising engagement levels. Apps are able to personalize features, recommendations, and content by utilizing user data.

For instance, Duolingo adapts language lessons to each user's preferences, learning style, and level of proficiency. This customized approach increases user satisfaction and encourages longer user engagement.

Recall that users are more likely to remain engaged and dedicated to their language-learning journeys when the learning experience is more tailored to their needs.

Improve app onboarding

User acquisition and engagement are significantly impacted by the initial onboarding process. A user-friendly onboarding process makes it easier for users to comprehend the essential functions of the app and less likely that they will become confused and eventually stop using it.

A well-thought-out onboarding procedure also highlights the app's benefits and informs users of its main features. This is particularly crucial if your app is comprehensive and can provide more value than meets the eye!

MyFitnessPal, a fitness app, uses onboarding well by helping users set fitness objectives and giving them a brief lesson on meal tracking. Moreover, a smooth onboarding process raises user satisfaction and creates the conditions for sustained engagement.

Implement push notifications wisely

Push notifications are your app's way of saying, "Hey, look, I'm still installed on your phone and I have something you might be interested in!" Push notifications are therefore among the greatest ways to boost app engagement.

These notifications have the ability to remind inactive users of the value of your app without becoming intrusive. For example, personalized notifications are sent by a news app like Flipboard according to the user's reading preferences and areas of interest.

The implementation of push notifications that are timely, personalized, and non-intrusive guarantees user engagement and fosters a positive experience. Push notifications can be an effective tool for keeping users informed and involved by providing pertinent information at the appropriate moment!

Offer incentives and rewards

Have you ever been duped by Candy Crush? The one where they grant you two hours of endless life? Or the one where, for a short while, you get special candies? That's how app developers use incentives and rewards to increase user engagement.

User engagement can be increased by offering incentives such as rewards for reaching certain levels. This tactic increases user loyalty in addition to increasing user satisfaction!

By creating incentives specifically for the app's user base, rewards are more likely to be redeemed by users and to spark ongoing usage. Users are encouraged to return frequently in order to accomplish goals and gather rewards because incentives provide them a feeling of advancement and success.

Optimize app performance

User satisfaction and engagement are largely dependent on an app's speed, smoothness, and dependability. Providing updates, quickly resolving bugs, and optimizing load times all help to enhance the user experience.

Optimized app performance guarantees retention of current users as well as draws in new ones. Additionally, you're more likely to use an app that provides a flawless, error-free experience.

Leverage in-app messaging

Within the app, in-app messaging is a useful tool for interacting, educating, and guiding users. For example, WhatsApp announces new features through in-app messaging so users are aware of them. It's simple, instructive, and efficient.

In-app messages can serve as a direct line of communication, giving users tailored advice, pointers, or significant updates.

Utilize gamification techniques

Duolingo is arguably the best example of gamification available today, and that's precisely who we'll be studying under. The main factor contributing to Duolingo's success was the way it used gamification techniques to approach language learning.

Duolingo included every gamification feature that makes an app entertaining and engaging, from daily tasks to gem rewards and a leadership scoreboard to monitor your performance against other users worldwide. It became the greatest language app available by turning something as difficult as learning a language into a competitive, enjoyable, and rewarding game.

Gamification encourages user communication, rivalry, and a sense of accomplishment, all of which contribute to long-term sustained engagement.

Regularly update content

Maintaining user interest in an app requires regular updates and new content. Users have an incentive to return to and interact with your app when you release regular updates that include new features, filters, or interactive components.

Increased customer loyalty and satisfaction are correlated with fresh content. When users anticipate engaging content, such as new challenges, features, or photo filters, they are more likely to stay involved.

Encourage social sharing

Nearly all of the popular apps on your phone have integrated social sharing features. Social media sharing is a trick that can increase app engagement for your app as well, from Candy Crush and Instagram to Google Maps and Canva! Users can tell their network about their app experiences.

Encouraging users to share their accomplishments, content, or outcomes also makes the app more visible! Users can share their accomplishments, experiences, or favorite content with friends and followers through social sharing, which increases overall engagement and transforms using apps into a social activity.

In this way, you enable your users to participate in a portion of your marketing strategy for free!

Focus on customer support and feedback

Who would have guessed that the key to maintaining user satisfaction and loyalty is to actively listen to users and offer timely, helpful customer support? All of them, that is!

You can make changes to your app that will benefit users the most when you pay attention to what they have to say. They observe that the developers are paying attention and making improvements to their experiences.

Good customer service encounters can raise user satisfaction levels, and responsive responses to comments and issues can result in app updates that live up to user expectations. A winner in every book!

Create a community around the app

Although it can be disregarded, community building is an extremely effective way to increase user engagement with apps. To give you an example, there are 95 million active users of the fitness app Strava. How did they manage to pull that off?

By enabling users to connect with other fitness enthusiasts and share their workout accomplishments, Strava fostered a sense of community among its users. Fitness enthusiasts used it as a specialized type of social media to talk about, share, and encourage one another's experiences.

As a result, they drew and kept novices who wished to communicate small victories and solicit assistance whenever necessary. Experts and intermediate users assisted in community discussions and shared their own experiences with others in the meantime. As a result of everything, every user found the app to be extremely engaging.

Integrate analytics to understand users

A strategy isn't really a strategy unless it includes analytics. Putting analytics tools into practice is crucial to comprehending user behavior and engagement trends. Ultimately, they result in data-driven choices regarding engagement tactics and app updates.

Let's talk about analytics for a moment.