The days when people acted solely on a gut feeling are over. In the 21st century we rely on data. I personally don't like this word, but it becomes increasingly important in order to do business, especially if you want to do it right. We live in a captivating age, where technologies have the fastest adoption rates ever. Yes, I am talking about mobile. I'll try to explain some of the latest trends and findings from the most recent Flurry research .
Engagement
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The war between app developers does not end when they acquire a user (those days are over too). Now, we fight for for retention and engagement. Simply put, every developer wants his app to be used even 90 days after the initial purchase. Why? There are plenty of reasons for that: more time spent in the app is likely to generate more revenues for advertisers, more app-purchases for developers and more word of mouth.
Flurry has made a great research based on apps used more than 1.7 billion times each week.
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Find the perfect fit for your app[/caption]
The graph shows the very important patterns how various apps from different categories are being used and how often. This might be very helpful for those who are not sure which business model to adopt: paid, freemium, subscription, advertising, etc. I will try to simplify.
Let's dive into a small analysis .
Quadrant 1.
Everyone wants their app to be here. But if you are not a developer of Whatsapp or BBC News it'll be very hard to achieve. Users perceive these apps as ones with great value to them. Therefore, revenue streams from subscriptions and advertising make perfect sense.
Quadrant 2.
Applications from this quadrant are frequently used by customers during the short period of time. This is why it is important to get the most from this short-term exposure. Ads, in-app purchases and even simple paid models will work. However, it is vital to continually acquire new users by adding virality, content and updates.
Quadrant 3.
Do you think your app does one great thing which don't have to be repeated in the future? Go for premium pricing and hit the 3rd quadrant. I am talking about apps like "buy-do your thing-forget".
Quadrant 4.
Productivity and business applications won't be used by majority of your users on a daily basis, but it is always nice to have that productivity at hand. Apps like that will have pretty high retention rates, but will be run less often. Think of Scanner Pro, which has 53% retention rate, — you don't scan every day, but when you need to — it does the job.. I would suggest choosing the very simple business model — paid. People pay for what they need.
Trends.
The analysis showed that the average retention rate grew 10% (compared to 2009 data) and now is around 35%. At the some time, the frequency of use fell sharp to an average 3.7 time for week (6.7 in 2009). It's getting harder for every developer to engage with their users due to many reasons. But our experience at Readdle proves that if you make something solid, something worthy and useful — you are more likely to survive the long run.
Do you have an app? Which Quadrant it belongs? What is your favorite business model?
I'll be happy to discuss.
Denys Zhadanov
@denzhadanov
