UPDATED 14:57 EDT / MARCH 06 2013

NEWS

User Relationship Tips for Developers from Scott Weller, CTO SessionM

When app developers talk about success, they often reference the number of downloads. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The reality is that the average mobile user will only use 40 percent of the apps they’ve downloaded in a given month. So how can you guarantee your app will not fall prey to the 69 percent of users who install an app and never open it again?

Scott Weller, co-founder and CTO of SessionM, created a list of three tips for developers to effectively turn their average users into Power Users.

1) Welcome them

After months of hard work creating an app, developers sometimes forget that casual first-time users don’t know anything about the app and its various features. It can be hard for those users to just “figure out” everything they need to know. Welcome them to your app by guiding them through some of the key attributes of the app on their first visit, showing them how and why they should be using this app on a regular basis. This significantly reduces the frustrations some users may feel, thereby increasing the chance that they’ll not only come back, but they’ll take full advantage of everything the app has to offer.

2) Encourage social sharing

Most people are inherently social creatures. They love having the opportunity to talk about their experiences with friends and family members. So why not make it easy for them to talk about their in-app experience with others, too? By building social features into your app, you encourage your users to engage with others directly from your app. Of course, social features can help drive users’ friends into the app, too.

3) Provide more value to keep them coming back

Users don’t care about why millions of people should download an app – they care about why they should, and how it can benefit them. One of the best ways to provide a valuable experience is by letting users personalize the app, like offering them the option to customize features and content. Additionally, by providing something of value to a user–like virtual currency or exclusive content–when they complete an in-app activity or achieve a specific milestone is a great way to encourage them to come back. And offering daily rewards is another way to ensure your users don’t forget about you; these daily rewards can actually lead some users to make your app part of their daily routine. Rewards are also a way to remind users of all the features your app can offer, too.

Scott Weller, co-founder and CTO, SessionM

An entrepreneur at heart, Scott Weller has more 15 years experience building platforms for online gaming, loyalty, digital advertising and communications. Prior to SessionM, Weller served as Vice President of Product & Technology for MDI, a division of Scientific Games (SGMS). Weller also served as the head of product and technology at GameLogic, acquired by Scientific Games in 2010. Earlier in his career, Weller served as a senior software engineer at Gamesville.com, acquired by Lycos for $207M. At Lycos, Weller spent several years innovating game and advertising platform technologies.


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