1.
Sean Oliver, Mobile Product Marketing, Optimizely
Mobile App Optimization for
Acquisition, Activation and
Retention
March 12, 2015

2.
@ThueLMadsen #KISSwebinar

3.
Sean Oliver - Optimizely - @SeanOliver
Sean leads Mobile Product Marketing at Optimizely. Prior to
Optimizely, Sean worked on Consumer Product Marketing at
LinkedIn and Microso . When he’s not optimizing all things
mobile, he can be found hiking and traveling the world.
Thue Madsen - KISSmetrics - @ThueLMadsen
Thue is the KISSmetrics Webinar Wizard and Marketing Ops
Specialist. Before joining forces with KISSmetrics, he was a
Ly driver in SF, which is also how he ended up as a
KISSmetrics marketer. Whenever Thue is not trying to
automate everything around him, you can find him fishing
and hiking in the Sierras.

4.
@SeanOliver #KISSwebinar

5.
Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics (AARRR)
Startup Metrics for Pirates

6.
Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics (AARRR)
Startup Metrics for Pirates
Push Notifications
Remarketing
App Store Listing
In-App Advertising
Social
Advertising
ASO
New User
Onboarding
Waitlist
In-App
Purchases
Ads
Desktop
Purchases
My App

7.
Why Optimize?
“Your assumptions are o en wrong and how you
expect people to use your app is actually not how
they use it at all. When you’re optimizing your app
you can see that, iterate on it, and make a more
usable product.”
— Ben Cole, Conversion Coordinator, MEC

8.
WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING NOW

9.
1
Ge ing Started
What you need to know

10.
To successfully start a process of optimization, you’ll
need:
• Business case - what’s the goal and potential impact?
• Buy-in from the team and key stakeholders
• Developer know-how or support to install an SDK
• Bandwidth allocated in sprints for testing, or dedicated point person
• Bo lenecks - what is the #1 metric you need to improve right now?
• Customer insights - analytics, qualitative feedback, etc.
What You Need to Get Started

11.
Customer
Acquisition Costs
Quantifying LTV:CAC
Monetization
Retention
Virality
Acquisition
Costs
Lifetime Value
:

12.
2
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

13.
Defining Acquisition
Acquisition: The process of driving users
to install an application and/or use the
app through either paid or organic
marketing.

14.
App Store Ads Referrals
Icon Design Ad Copy
App Title
Screenshots App Store Listing
Promotions
Referral Copy
Incentive
First-Time User Experience
Optimization for Acquisition

15.
How Users Discover Apps

16.
First Impressions Ma er

17.
App Store Optimization
Opportunities to influence a download decision
InstaSize
Photo & Video

18.
App Store Optimization
Icon
Title
Screenshots
• User testing
• Use as an ad
• Keyword in title
• Be aware of character count
• Keep consistent
• Treat as banner ads
• Add context & value prop
InstaSize
Photo & Video

19.
App Store Optimization
Test your value prop with assets you have

20.
LOG IN WITH GOOGLE
Start Your Free KISSmetrics Trial

21.
App Store Optimization
Use a landing page to
test elements of ASO.
Low-cost traffic:
- Social ads
- AdWords
- Retargeting from
Website

22.
App Store Optimization
Or create a landing page
that looks just like your
app store listing.
Bring moments to Life with Flipagram
#1 Free App in over 80 countries with almost
100 million users!
DOWNLOAD

23.
2
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

24.
3
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

25.
Defining Activation
Activation: Converting someone who has
downloaded an app into an active user.
This metric also indicates the quality of
your First Time User Experience (FTUE).

26.
Activation Hurdles
81% of users say an
app needs to make a
good first impression
for them to continue
using it
81%
19%
56%
44%
56% of users haven’t
signed up for an app
because the
registration process
was too long or
confusing
Source
First Impressions Ma er; Clarity + Speed

27.
Keys to a Great User Onboarding Experience
Optimizing User Onboarding
Stay Focused
Show, Don’t Tell
Remove Friction
Indicate Advancement
Be Human
Keep Educating
More detail in this blog post

28.
Increased activation from 25% to 66.5%
French Girls Optimizes Activation
• Optimizing quality of the first-time user
experience (FTUE)
• Create understanding of how the app works
• Activation = the difference between 1-2 days of use
and 7+ days of use

29.
Activation—Retention
“For us, activation is directly correlated to
retention. Without activation, retention is poor.”
— Jeff Farkas, Developer & Backend Architect, French Girls

30.
Baseline Activation Rate: 25%
French Girls Optimizes Activation

31.
French Girls Optimizes Activation
Baseline Activation Rate: 25%

32.
Winning Variation
French Girls Optimizes Activation
Activation
50%

33.
When optimizing for activation, consider:
• Does your app require registration?
• What is the order of operations for first time users?
• Does your app help users complete actions on first-time use?
• Does your app live up to its value prop during onboarding?
Optimizing for Activation

34.
3
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

35.
4
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

36.
Defining Retention
Retention: A measure of how many of
your customers/users come back over
time, o en measured at specific intervals
like “7-day retention”.

37.
Mobile app retention varies widely by app category
Optimizing User Retention
Source

38.
Optimizing for Retention
Install First-Time Use Repeated Use
Registration
Customization
Instant Gratification
Push Notifications
Email
App Flow & Dynamics
Notification Permissions

39.
Retention Hurdles
iOS notifications are
opt-in. Generally, less
than 50% of users
will receive push
notifications.
50% 50%
95%
5%
Android notifications
are opt-out, meaning
nearly all users (95%)
receive push
notifications.
Source
Push Notification Differences: iOS and Android

40.
Optimizing for Retention
Optimize when and how you ask for push notification permissions:
Opt-in prompts help to add context before making “the ask”

41.
Customize future calls to action during onboarding:
Optimizing for Retention
User-specific information to personalize future messaging
Source

42.
Optimizing for Retention
Onboarding
Push Notifications
Direct users to actions that will make them valuable
long-term users:

43.
Ideas for Tests
• Think about push notification permissions in the context of your
FTUE
• Create a plan for enabling notifications beyond the first session
• Obsess over the quality of each email or push notification you send
• Encourage linking mobile and web accounts to bring customer data
together and personalize the experience
Optimizing for Retention

44.
When optimizing for retention, consider:
• Are there network effects in my app that can pull my users back in?
• Is there a pa ern or schedule of how users start their sessions?
How can it be encouraged?
• What information about my users do I have that can personalize
their future experiences?
• Can you apply any gamification techniques to your app?
Optimizing for Retention

45.
4
Acquisition
Activation
Retention

46.
5
Acquisition
Activation
Retention
BONUS: Reviews!

47.
Reviews are important because they affect ASO
• Quality of reviews is important, but so is quantity
• Be thoughtful about how you ask for feedback
• Don’t interrupt your user’s experience
• Optimize when, where, and with what tone you ask
Optimizing for App Store Reviews

48.
Best-in-Class: Circa
Optimize for App Store Reviews
Highly Recommend their Blog Post

49.
3 Things They Optimized:
Optimize for App Store Reviews
Threshold (Timing)
of Request
Location
of Request
Flow
of Request
10 Sessions
3x in 1
Week
Learn More in their Blog Post

50.
The Result:
Optimize for App Store Reviews
More, High-Quality Reviews = Higher App Store Ranking =
More Efficient Acquisition
Learn More in their Blog Post

51.
5
Acquisition
Activation
Retention
Reviews

52.
2015 KISSmetrics Guide KISSmetrics Demo
h p://kiss.ly/growth h p://kiss.ly/demo

53.
Optimizely Mobile Guide Optimizely for Mobile
optimize.ly/appoptimization optimizely.com/mobile

54.
Questions?
Sean Oliver
Mobile Product Marketing
Optimizely
@SeanOliver
Thue Madsen
Marketing Operations
KISSmetrics
@ThueLMadsen

55.
THANK YOU
Sean Oliver
@SeanOliver