Keeping the users you paid for
An app that loses most of its users in week one cannot be saved by more marketing.
Read it by cohort
Group users by the day they installed and track how many come back on day 1, day 7 and day 30. One average for all users hides everything.
Find the activation moment
Look for the action that the users who stay have in common, like a first list created or a first workout finished. Then shorten the path to it.
Bring people back
Use push, email and in-app reminders tied to something the user cares about, not to your marketing calendar.
- Checklist
- Day 1, 7 and 30 retention tracked per cohort
- Activation event defined
- Onboarding reaches it in under a minute
- Win-back message for lapsed users