Mobile app analytics best practices
Analytics is one of the main marketing strategies when it comes to mobile apps. Keeping track of how your mobile app is doing is crucial for your app to succeed and for you to make informed decisions about any changes that may be necessary. This is why, in this article, we are focusing on mobile app analytics best practices. But first, let’s take a look at the general concept.
What is mobile app analytics?
Mobile app analytics is the accumulation and analysis of data you obtain from the activity on your mobile app. The idea is to turn this data into insights that help you understand your users’ behavior when using your app, any problems that may arise, and how your app is performing. This information can then be used to make informed decisions about how to improve your app’s popularity and your revenue (for instance, by increasing engagement, conversions and downloads).
Why is mobile app analytics important?
As we’ve mentioned, being aware of how your mobile app is performing is directly linked to your app’s success. Mobile app analytics gives you the tools you need to make relevant decisions and optimize your application, improve performance, ensure growth and increase user satisfaction. With millions of mobile apps in the market, you need to find ways to stay ahead of the competition and that means investing in continuous improvement. The data you gather will help you figure out where to invest your money and efforts to not only keep your mobile app alive, but help it grow.
What mobile app analytics best practices should you follow?
Here are seven tips that will help you make the best of your mobile app analytics.
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Define your user journey
Throughout your app’s lifespan, it is very important to always keep the user in mind. This is why defining your user journey (or user funnel) is very important. The user journey is the path a prototypical user would take on a website or app to complete a task. Properly defining your user journey will help you pinpoint those places where users churn or stop using your app. This will then help you find ways to improve your conversion rates.
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Consider mobile app analytics from the very beginning
A big mistake a lot of developers make is to start gathering data when they see things have started going south. You should make sure to include analytics from the get-go (even during the early testing stages) so you get reliable and useful data that will really help you know where things go wrong or what areas actually need improvement.
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Measure what matters
Whatever your strategy, some of the KPIs (key performance indicators) and metrics you should be looking at are downloads or installs, engagement and retention rates, churn rate, daily and monthly active users, cost per acquisition, and average revenue per user. However, the importance you put on each one and whether you decide to add other metrics will highly depend on your goals. For this reason, it’s important for you to define which mobile app analytics best fits these objectives. This will save you time and money in the long term.
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Take advantage of mobile app analytics tools
There are plenty of mobile app analytics tools available to help you easily gather the data you need, both free and at a cost. You may use the tools offered by the app stores or invest in analytics platforms such as App Annie or Localytics, but you should make sure you find the right fit and make the best of the available tools. Even if it means a monetary investment, these tools will probably save you both time and money in the long term and help you ensure your app’s success more easily. If you’re curious about more potential mobile app analytics tools, you can read our article comparing Mobile Action and Sensor Tower.
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Take advantage of industry benchmarks
Industry benchmarks will help you figure out how your app is doing relative to similar apps in the market. There are countless reports available on different metrics that you can use according to your priorities. These will prove useful to figure out which aspect of your app you should focus on or improve to stay ahead of your competition. For example, you can take a look at Apptentive’s 2021 Mobile App Engagement Benchmark Report or this article on 2021 App Retention Benchmarks.
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Test your app
As you already know, testing is an essential component of mobile app development and it doesn’t stop once the app has been launched. When it comes to mobile app analytics, it is important to test your app for every kind of user, which means taking into consideration the different devices they will use. This will give you information on user satisfaction and app performance. Moreover, analytics come especially handy when it comes to A/B testing as they’re fundamental to let you know which option is better received by users.
If you’re interested in the different types of mobile app testing, you can take a look at our article on this topic.
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Invest in qualitative data
A great way to find out how your users are feeling about your app is to actually ask them. This is where qualitative data comes in. While quantitative data is definitely essential, looking at both will provide you with the full picture. You can talk to users by sending them in-app messages asking them for feedback, running focus groups or even sending out questionnaires. Direct or in-app messages are the best way to get a feel of users’ opinions before having them post their feedback in the app stores. It gives you a chance to improve your app or connect with them to make sure you app store reviews stay positive.
Final thoughts
Mobile app analytics is definitely a key part of your mobile app’s marketing strategy. Moreover, following mobile app analytics best practices will ensure you make the most of the data you get. However, you should keep in mind that this strategy takes time and patience so you should not expect to see results overnight.
We hope this article has helped you take a step in the right direction when it comes to analytics and, if you want to know more about mobile app marketing strategies, you can check out our article on the topic.
