Be engaging! This is often the stated criteria for apps. Easier
said than done. Actually, if you are looking to build or grow a business, the
bar is even higher. A few weeks ago, in my Twitter feed, I saw a reference to
a Fast Company article that
described John Lilly's "first
filter" investment criteria. John Lilly is the former Mozilla CEO who
joined the prominent VC firm Greylock in 2010. The article described his
guiding principle as "Lately I obsess about whether a product can be one
of the 20 icons on my iPhone homescreen," he says. "That's my
essential question right now."
Utility and relevance are the table stakes
component of an app-based business model. If I look at the current list of Top
25 apps in my smartphone app store, beyond the game apps, SMS-alternative apps,
organizer apps, flashlight app etc. are some of the top apps. Clearly, utility
and relevance play a big role. But beyond the app providing utility to us, what
drives us to return to our apps? Think about it. You are standing in the line
at an amusement park ride, at the DMV etc., you are bored or even panicky about
unexpected 'empty' downtime, so you pull out your mobile device... What top 2-3
apps do you visit? In this scenario, utility is not the factor in your choice.
Stickiness is. Successful apps are sticky, they engage users and this
engagement is deeply rooted in our traits. And by appealing to our inherent
traits, apps can compel us to keep us coming back. Let's take a look at nine
traits that drive app engagement.
Serendipity - We love desirable discoveries by
accident. My personal examples are discovering long lost high school classmates
through Facebook's " People You May Know" feature or getting back in
touch with former colleagues through LinkedIn's "People You May Know'
feature. Or the more exciting nature of discovery through Twitter's public conversations
and hashtags. In reality, serendipity in apps is not really an accident. By
sharing our address books, educational and employment information and in
general declaring our interests, this sort of discovery is expected and only a
matter of time. In this Tech Crunch article, Henry Nothhaft, Jr. provides a discussion of the
dimensions of serendipity and argues that serendipity is not really accidental.
But, again, even if anticipated, these desirable discoveries are fun and keep
bringing us back.
Personalization - Me, me and more me. Whether the Pandora model of
providing the name of an artist, genre or song and enjoying the personalized
radio station or actually the ability to set up multiple personalized stations.
Or the recommendation engines that Amazon and Netflix offer such as It's
"Your-Name-Here's Amazon". Or personalized news/content apps or
declared preference-based news discovery apps. There is a reason why people
love to hear the sound of their own name. Apps that target this gratification
are sticky.
The effect of Social
Proof. The obvious phenomenon of the social network and the outstanding
success of engagement of social media apps is well understood. Instead, I will
attempt to offer how an app can tap into emerging themes or consumer
preferences derived from social influence. For example, there is increasing
comfort with location services such as social check-in found in social media
products like Foursquare, Facebook etc. As individuals, we are nervous about
declaring our location because privacy and security considerations are in the
back of our minds. However, since there is a trend in increasing user comfort
around declaring location, I believe we are relying on social proof and are
influenced by those we consider similar to ourselves. Tap into the trait of
social influence to determine influence trends and drive app engagement.
Reputation Scores and Gamification. Gamification here
does not refer to apps of the enraged feathered animals variety. Rather it
refers to the application of game design techniques and game mechanics to a
non-game context such as in this case, business. If winning doesn't matter, why do they
keep score? This quote is attributed to the football coaching legend, Vince
Lombardi. We are inherently competitive in nature and the social effect
draws out this trait even more. For example, apps like Klout generate
engagement by providing changing social media impact scores, the encouragement
to share these scores and a view into the scoreboard that includes people in
our network. Like us on Facebook. Really? Engage users by having them
participate, leverage their expertise, provide them reputation platforms for
their achievements and make them the hero.
Aesthetics - Looks Matter. Apps that are visually
appealing and a delight to use are sticky. Since beauty lies in the eye of
the beholder, I won't cite a specific example. However, I will suggest that the
evolution and competitive dynamics of map apps are a good example of how visual
dimensions of realism, the excitement of viewing places/roads less traveled,
delightful performance etc. can make the difference between active engagement
and simple utility. Mapping apps are thus increasing engagement on top of the
utility they already provide.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Push notifications, intriguing updates, well timed
digests bring users back. Even inactive users (termed lurkers) on Facebook will
act on a birthday notification. If you learn through a LinkedIn digest that a
colleague changed a job, you are tempted to go back to the product to learn
more about her new company. Breaking News on Twitter is another example. The
2012 Olympics will be underway soon and real-time updates are what we will
consume versus the primetime television based consumption patterns of the past.
Give your users the opportunity to set preferences and you have an endorsed
mechanism to engage with your users!
Our Stuff i.e. Data. Apps that provide utility by
storing our data such as cloud apps are also naturally sticky. At one
level, social media apps are a rolodex and address books in the cloud. When we
need to reach someone in our network, we are drawn to engage with our social
media app. File sharing apps like Dropbox is another example of utility apps
that drive engagement through providing a home for one of our key possessions
i.e. our data. Provide your users with a 'locker' and they will come back to
check in on their 'stuff'.
Scarcity - There is a human desirability associated
with scarcity. As Groucho Marx said, "I don't care to belong to any club
that will have me as a member". Whether is an invitation only
membership mechanism of Pinterest or a LinkedIn group that will have a maximum
capacity/membership limit or providing early access to new releases for a
sub-set of users. If it is scarce, we want it! By promoting the relative
scarcity of elements of your app and business offering, you can enhance its
desirability.
Sense of Community which often translates into the business
model of crowdsourcing. Beyond the social connections of our private social
circles of friends and colleagues, a bond that unites us is a sense of
community based on shared interests and emotions. Find the community's common
denominator. Build your business around concepts that people already care about
emotionally. An app like Waze draws upon
this sense of community to unite strangers with common interests. I also
believe there is an undercurrent of anti-establishment/rebellious trait that
drives people to contribute information on speed-traps to the community.
There you have it. The
above is not intended to be a top ten list. Nor is it intended to be a
comprehensive list of all traits that drive app engagement. Rather, the traits I
described above are influences that I am intrigued by and believe can be
leveraged as marketing practices to drive higher app engagement.
