This is an Iterable User Engagement Teardown comparing Uber and Lyft's user engagement strategies in the first 2 weeks post-signup. After evaluating all emails and texts received, we identify what these companies do well and where there is room for improvement. Everything shown in the slides (and any recommendations) can be implemented with Iterable's Growth Marketing Platform. To view more User Engagement Teardowns, visit http://iterable.com/teardown

1. User Engagement Teardown
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2. User Engagement Teardown
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3. A Quick Word on Iterable
Iterable is a growth marketing and user
engagement platform.
• Segment users, build workflows, automate
touchpoints and test strategies at scale
without engineering support.
• Everything you see here (and more) can be
done with Iterable. You can see other
teardowns at: iterable.com/teardown
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4. What is a “User Engagement Teardown?”
We analyze a user engagement over a defined time period post-signup.
• We offer constructive evaluation and feedback.
• We cover all types of B2C businesses: e-commerce, marketplaces,
media, politics, etc.
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5. Background on Uber and Lyft
Uber and Lyft are two leading ride-sharing services
headquartered in San Francisco.
• Uber, founded in 2009, operates in 560 cities
worldwide. Raised $15B, with a valuation of $69B.
• Lyft, founded in 2012, operates in 300 cities in the
U.S. Raised $2B, with a valuation of $5.5B.
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6. What We Did
Signed up and received messages over 2 weeks between Feb. — Mar. 2017
We escalated activity over time:
• Completed user profiles
• Downloaded mobile apps
• Booked rides with each service
• Referred services to friends
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7. On to the User Engagement Timeline…

8. User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS

9. User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
…and the messages we received here.

10. User Engagement Timeline
Iterable, Inc. All Rights Reserved 10
MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
…and the messages we received here.
Activities and message types are
color coded as shown in this key.

11. Now let’s look at Uber and Lyft’s user
engagement.
First, Uber…

12. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride

13. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
After creating a new account on desktop, Uber sent two welcome
messages via email and SMS within ten minutes of each other.
These messages encouraged the user to download the app.

14. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
Over the next three days, Uber sent two triggered reminders to
verify the user’s phone number.
This security measure must be completed before taking a ride.

15. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
As we went through the process of booking a
ride, Uber sent a verification code via SMS to
confirm the mobile number.

16. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
Each time we booked a ride,
Uber sent transactional receipts.
These emails included a map
and the user’s referral code.

17. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
We also received a blast email about
a specific product feature.
This message informed us how to
share our trip status with friends.

18. The Uber User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
Lastly, we sent our referral code
from the mobile app to some friends
via SMS. This action didn’t trigger
any communications.

19. Now let’s look at Lyft’s user engagement…

20. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride

21. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
Iterable, Inc. All Rights Reserved 21
MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
Lyft did not welcome us as a new user until three days
after we created an account.
Although the email was designated as part of a
“Welcome Series,” a timing error sent the series out of
order. The first touch was email #2 out of 4.

22. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
We then received welcome emails #1
(“Welcome to Lyft”) and #3 (“Explore the
Latest Lyft Features”) on the same day.

23. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
The final email in Lyft’s Welcome Series
was titled, “Meet the Lyft driver
community.” Its call-to-action was to
take a ride with a 5-star driver.

24. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
While booking each ride, we received an SMS to
inform us that our driver was here. Each
message included the specific color and model
of the driver’s car.

25. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
After we booked each ride, we received
transactional email receipts with the subject
line, “Your ride with [DRIVER] on [DATE]”

26. The Lyft User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
10 11 12 13 14 151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Days from
start:
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS
Created new account
Completed profile info
Downloaded app
Booked a ride
Referred to friends
Booked a ride
Much like Uber, Lyft also did not
respond to our referral to friends,
either through email or mobile.

27. Frequency Takeaways
During the two weeks, Uber and Lyft sent the exact number of messages
per channel:
• Uber: 6 emails, 2 texts
• Lyft: 6 emails, 2 texts
Note: neither service sent push notifications so this channel was not
included in our analysis.
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28. Differing Priorities
One would expect the two market leaders to be similar in how they start
messaging users.
However, it was clear that each service had different priorities:
• Uber sent a single welcome email and then focused on ID verification
• Lyft sent out a more comprehensive 4-email welcome series
• Neither company emphasized promotional “blast” emails
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29. Now let’s look at the message content…

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These are three standard Uber messages.
You’ll notice….

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Consistent branding with
vector graphics

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Clear calls to action

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An emphasis on the transaction,
not the driver.

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These are four standard Lyft messages.
You’ll notice….

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Visually appealing with
photography

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Clear calls to action

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Prioritizing the driver in the
messaging

38. Content Takeaways
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Each company’s content reflects their business/branding strategy:
Uber:
• Focus on the service and the company behind it
• Transactional emails emphasize the amount and route
Lyft:
• Focus on the community and the drivers
• Transactional emails emphasize the driver

39. Recommendations
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Both companies could improve their:
Onboarding: By sending a well-timed, multi-channel welcome series
Frequency: By sending regular promotional messages
Multi-channel engagement: By coordinating messaging across email,
push and SMS to increase overall engagement with the service

40. Join us for our webinar:
Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. PST
“Best Practices for Mobile-First Marketing”
• Quick teardown review
• Mobile marketing best practices
• How Uber, Lyft and other mobile-first companies
can improve their user engagement!
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Join the discussion on Twitter @Iterable, using #UEteardown
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