Turning a mobile app into a phenomenal success requires several vital considerations and measuring a whole array of metrics. There are metrics for every piece of user data and many of these metrics or KPIs can give you a quick idea of where you need to improve.
When building the product app developers cannot stay alert on some measurements and metrics. Let us explain some of these critical metrics here below:
Retention and Churn Rate
Do you want to have a clear idea about whether the app users are finding your app enjoyable? Well, can you figure out how many users are sticking to your app and how many of them are leaving? This can be best measured by two closely related metrics such as Retention Rate and the Churn Rate. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as ride requests, driver engagement, and customer satisfaction is essential for the success of an Uber clone taxi app.
The app users who still use the app are the retained users and the users who stop using the app are churned. Successful app development is driven by a deep understanding of mobile KPIs and a commitment to continuous improvement. This can be simply measured by the ratio of monthly retained users against new downloads. When the retention rate is low compared to the churn rate, you should be alarmed and find out the glitches in user experience, performance or other reasons behind it and address them.
Number of Active Users
Another crucial and very useful KPI is the number of total active users. Though this is a very simple metric requiring no great measurement efforts, it is tremendously important to figure out how your app is really doing.
The number of active users can be measured by different time periods and accordingly, there can be sub metrics such as daily active users (DAU), monthly active users (MAU), quarterly active users (QAU), and annual active users (AAU). From these active user metrics, you can easily figure out whether your app is growing or slowing down in terms of popularity.
App Performance Metrics
Most of the successful apps become popular primarily for their smooth performance. No app can afford to lack this basic aspect if it really wants to get popular and earn revenue. App performance can be measured through a range of small metrics that we briefly mention below.
- Network errors: Find out whether the app is having issues connecting to the webserver.
- App crashes: Find out whether the app crashes or stops working at certain conditions when a load of tasks becomes heavier.
- App load for each session: Find out the maximum number of user sessions and feature uses supported by the app at a given time. Find out the user load that causes performance issues for the app.
- API latency: Find out whether some features depending on third-party APIs cause loading and performance issues.
Average Session Duration
This metric refers to the average amount of time users spend with your app after opening the app till the time they exit. This metric clearly gives you an idea of user engagement with the app. It also shows how entertaining and attention-grabbing your app is.
Great user experience, unique app features, addictive user experience attributes, and effortless usability are some of the key aspects that make a positive impact on this metric.
Visibility in App Search
These days even Google and all other leading web search engines showcase relevant apps against the related keywords or search terms. Custom AI development can be used to optimize mobile KPIs by providing personalized experiences, improving engagement, and driving conversions. The regular App Store or Google Play Store search results also help apps to gain visibility. How your app gains visibility in all these search results is a crucial metric.
Visibility in search results mostly depends upon your app’s popularity in that particular niche. So, by gradually improving the performance across other metrics your app can garner increased visibility in search results.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
An app is run like a business and hence measuring the cost for every new user acquisition is important. If you have spent too much on getting onboard new users, your app may not turn out to be profitable at all. That’s why measuring this metric is important.
Measuring CPA is very simple and it requires dividing the cost of marketing campaigns by the number of new downloads or conversions. This metric is important to take into account all the cost components for user acquisition campaigns and turn the app into a profitable business.
Lifetime value (LTV)
Lifetime Value is another business-focused metric related to CPA. But apart from the cost per acquisition, LTV also takes into account several other factors. It is more focused on the growth prospect and profitability of the app in the long run than on particular user acquisition campaigns.
There are Many different methods to measure the Lifetime Value (LTV) of an app. First of all, you need to have a detailed understanding of the app’s revenue models and the user habits of the users. The most common method to calculate Lifetime Value or LTV is to multiply the average revenue generated from conversion by the average annual conversion number multiplied by the customer’s average lifetime.
Let’s explain this calculation with exact figures. Suppose each app conversion costs you $50, the average conversion for each user in a year is 10 and the app is kept for 2 years by users on an average. So the lifetime value (LTV) of the app will be $50 x 10 x 2 = $1,000.
Apart from Lifetime Value, you can also choose the common Average Revenue Per User metric to have a comprehensive idea about the profitability of the app in the long run. These metrics also give you a clear idea of the success of your user acquisition and business conversion campaigns.
Concluding Remark
You can still cite a few more KPIs or metrics that can measure the app’s overall success attributes. But the real problem is about using these time-tested metrics in a systematic way. For this, it is always advisable to use robust app analytics and reporting tool.
Author’s Bio:
Vincent Martinot is a Managing Director of Eureka Apps, a Mobile App Development Company in Belgium providing quality app developers service in the mobile app development domain.
