Mobile KPIs – It’s Not Only About Installs

The world of mobile is constantly evolving. Take KPIs (key performance indicators), for example. As the number of app downloads grows and market penetration levels increase, tracking methods become easier and increasingly accurate. But a vast majority of these methods are blindly duplicated from the online domain and don’t necessarily apply to its mobile cousin— meaning advertisers potentially focus on the wrong parameters as they gear up to boost their business in the mobile realm.

What exactly are these “wrong” parameters? The chief issue that most advertisers and brands contend with these days is the number of app installs. Naturally, maximizing app installs is important, but without tracking additional parameters, this factor in itself can be completely useless, and may even work against a mobile business. In today’s post, we’ll examine a handful of additional super-important “right” parameters every business would do best to track when going mobile.

1. Usage – This one is the mother of all KPIs. In other words, it’s imperative to track and analyze your mobile app in terms of what precisely your users are doing when they’re using the app. What’s the session length? Is the app being used for customer service? Purchase? Support? Is the usage what you intended it to be? Are you reaching your target audience? Nailing down the answers to these key questions can provide invaluable insights into your business. Having said that, as important as it is to keep track of every user’s usage, active users are the ones you really need to keep your eye on. Track DAUs (Daily Active Users) and MAUs (Monthly Active Users) closely and learn as much as you can about them, as they are the most likely contributors to the value of your business.


2. Retention – With a generation of app users constantly on the lookout for bigger and better, customer retention can present a formidable challenge. You can dole out a serious chunk of cash for user acquisition, but it will have been entirely in vain if your users remove your app after a week. And that’s not the end of it — users who get rid of your app so quickly will most likely walk away with a less-than-optimal impression of your business. The bottom line? Track your users by duration — that is, the amount of time they keep your app around. Tracking 1-day, 7-day, 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month retention stats is a good place to start.


3. ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) & LTV (Lifetime Value) – These are actual numbers, not estimates. As a business, you need to have the lowdown on just how much value an average mobile user is generating for you each month and during their complete lifetime cycle. It’s also important to know what tool is being used to create the revenue (in-app purchase, advertising, etc.). Bear in mind that some users prefer to use mobile as a tool but generate value via other platforms (online, offline, etc.), so be sure to track performance spikes on all relevant media channels.


4. Traffic Sources – Another useful KPI that gets you better acquainted with your audience. By identifying where your users are coming from (social media, organic promotion, advertising, etc.), you gain a much more comprehensive understanding of their needs. As this KPI has been around since the birth of the Internet, most businesses have been using it as a matter of course.


5. Satisfaction – Surprisingly enough, this KPI remains commonly ignored, to the potential detriment of many a business out there. After all, understanding how much a user is enjoying your app and accepting feedback as to how you can improve it can ultimately make the difference between a random user and a paying client. Heeding your users’ voices (jarring as they may be at times…) can do wonders for customer satisfaction and makes for the best breed of customer a business can have. So no, this KPI doesn’t just mean maintaining acceptably high user rankings at the app stores. It means fixing bugs and crashes promptly, giving your users a channel by which they can report troublesome issues, and finally, addressing those issues effectively and without delay.

It goes without saying that there is a host of additional KPIs available to any business that has taken the plunge into the roaring world of mobile. That being said, the basic KPIs we’ve explored today encompass (almost) everything you need to know to generate real value from your app users. And in keeping with the explosive growth of today’s mobile climate, there is no shortage of handy tools (Flurry and Apsalar, to name a few) available to help you access all the information you need to nurture your business and mobile app.

Good luck and happy tracking!

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/mobile-kpis-installs-0668673?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mobile-kpis-installs