Starting a business is a great way to make money. For startups, making profits can be a challenge, especially in the first few years. One of the most common challenges that many new businesses face is the stiff competition. Nearly 50% of startups fail within the first year of launching. According to Perpetio, a great way to measure success is through tracking metrics.
Without proper metrics, many apps fail to succeed. Checking performance by using metrics allows developers to make appropriate changes. The goal is to use several metrics to monitor the performance of an app. While there are several metrics out there, not all are useful.
So let’s see the difference between launch, growth and scale stages as well focus on specific app metrics that matter for users.
Tracking metrics and their difference
The metrics you use at each stage vary. Using the same ones during the launch and growth of an app will not provide good results. Tracking metrics is important. But the question is when should you do this? The right time and metrics lead to better results. Some work best depending on the development stage.
1. Launch
When you first introduce an app to a market, it is the launch phase. By tracking progress at this stage, you can determine what people think about the app and find new marketing opportunities. Also, it is a chance to review if there are any flaws in an app.
This helps you make the necessary changes. There are 3 main metrics to track at this stage. These include:
Downloads
If you want to know how an app is performing just after launch check the number of downloads. This is mostly from your marketing efforts. If an app has a poor number of downloads, then you have to work on your marketing efforts.
Poor marketing can hurt the download rate for even great apps. Work on your advertising before launching the app. This helps you create a buzz and could translate to more downloads.
Retention rate
The user retention rate shows the number of people who stay on your app after using it once. This is calculated over 30 days. Low user retention rates could mean that users are not attracted to an app after using it once. This could be due to bad navigation or an app that is not relevant.
Acquisition
This is the amount you have to spend to get a customer. While creating a marketing strategy for an app, remember that paid advertising may be necessary. Comparing the cost per Acquisition (CPA) helps you understand which marketing efforts are paying off. If the CPA is higher than the value of a customer then you need to revisit your strategy. While paid advertising is important, it shouldn’t be too costly to the point of affecting your profits.
2. Growth
When you have established your app on the market, it is important to understand how it is performing. This is usually after several months of having a consistent rate of customers. As an app grows, there are certain metrics you need to track.
Daily users
This is the number of users per day as compared to those visiting your site each month. This ratio allows you to understand if you are getting more users over time. It means that some of those that would only use your app once are now becoming frequent customers. Ways to increase the stickiness ratio include:
- improving customer experience
- creating a smooth user interface
- providing a secure app
- adding new features
- offering discounts
Session time
While you want regular visitors, getting people to use an app for longer is even better. This allows you to test the engagement rate. The better the engagement the longer people stay on an app. The only way to do this is by improving the user experience. You can do this by:
- gamifying an app
- regular updates
- fresh content
Doing this will help you grab the attention of users and keep them on an app for longer. Always have the user in mind as you try to offer the appropriate solutions through your app.
Screen views
Whenever people log into an app, they may view one or several pages. With this metric, you will know how many screens each user interacts with. The engagement rate is higher for users that view more screens.
To improve this metric, you have to provide the solutions that customers need. Once users understand that you have the solution to their problem, they will stay longer and visit more screens on your application.
3. Scale
If you want to scale an app, getting accurate feedback is paramount. This helps you know which direction to take when scaling an app. At this stage, you should choose app metrics that matter.
App reviews
The reviews from customers are valuable. They help you understand which parts of an app to improve. Most people will check the reviews of an app before downloading it. So having positive reviews is likely to translate into more downloads.
Negative reviews are going to make people avoid an app completely. Your job is to listen to both negative and positive reviews. This helps you understand some areas of weakness that need improvement.
Net promoter score
This metric helps you measure the customer experience. It will also help you get a rough idea of the expected growth. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) compares two types of users, promoters, and detractors. Promoters will encourage others to use an app while detractors do the opposite.
It is scored between -100 to +100 with anything above 0 considered to be good. This means more people are happy with your app.
Final thoughts
Knowing how an app is performing is important as well as understanding the difference between launch, growth and scale stages when tracking the app metrics. It helps you know what issues customers could be facing and how to improve the app. Each metric is important. But the most important thing is understanding which metric to use at the right time.
The main goal is also to check app metrics that matter at each stage. This allows you to gather the right data and create a better app. You can add new features to improve the overall user experience.
