Why you should always have analytics in your mobile app

You can’t develop an app marketing strategy until you have a clear picture of who is downloading your app and how, when and where they are using it. Without hard data, you’re forced to simply make guesses about each of these points, and that’s never a cost-effective way to market any product. As a matter of fact, app marketing experts recommend collecting metrics on your beta testing group, even if that group is very small. These people typically only provide qualitative feedback, but with in-app analytics, they can also provide you with some quantitative feedback. The beta period also gives you an opportunity to try different analytic tools and see which one is most appropriate for your particular app.

Here are some of the most versatile and popular app analytics tools on the market: Flurry Analytics, Universal Analytics (Google), Mixpanel, Localytics, Answers.

As an experienced mobile app development company in Toronto and Montreal, we know that, regardless of which tool you choose, you will need to track the following five key metrics:

Acquisition

Where do users come from, and which channels do they take to arrive at your app? This information lets you decide the relative importance of your blog, SEO strategy, newsletter or other form of advertising.

Activation

What percent of your users have a “happy” initial experience and go on to download your app? Learning which demographic segments are the likeliest to actually convert allows you to customize (or broaden) your marketing message.

Retention

Do users come back and revisit the app over time? If you aren’t reaching your goal retention rate, you can design an email or web content campaign to capture those wandering customers. You can also turn them into sources of information by sending them a survey to see what features would get them regularly using your app.

Referral

Do people like your app enough to tell their friends about it? You know your marketing approach is hot when you have brand enthusiasts out there doing independent social media marketing on your behalf. Funny or useful online content outside your app will encourage loyal users to talk about your app.

Revenue

Can you monetize any user behavior? Each time you make an upstream change in your marketing campaign, you’ll be able to measure its eventual effect on revenue. Track only what makes sense for your app and for your audience; not every app has the same objectives. Depending on which stage of development you’re at, the appropriate KPIs may change.

By using analytics, you’ll know if your app has an ROI that’s healthy enough to justify your current marketing campaign. The ongoing feedback will shape your tactics so that your strategy will continuously increase in effectiveness.