8 Ways to Personalize Your App (in Under 30 Minutes)

The app world has become
highly saturated...
1.5B i l l i o n
(# of apps currently in the App Store)
Source: MacWorld

…Not to mention, pretty ﬁckle.
75%
of app users churn
within 90 days
Source: Localytics

So how do you get users to love you…
And keep them coming back?

Offer a highly personalized
app experience to keep
users active and engaged.
PERSONALIZATION.

HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO
ACCOMPLISH PERSONALIZATION
(That don’t take a lot of time)

1. SEND A PUSH MESSAGE TO USERS
BASED ON THEIR LOCATION
Geotargeted push messages are a
nice way to tell users, “Hey, I know
you. Here’s something really relevant
for you based on your location.”
REAL-LIFE APP DOING IT RIGHT:
ProximiT, a Boston MBTA tracking app,
sends me push messages whenever I’m
near my favorite T stops so I never have
to worry about missing my train.

2. TRACK USERS’ RECENT ACTIONS
INSIDE YOUR APP
Spotify always remembers the last
action taken within the app, right down
to the playlist or song selected so I can
just pick right back up where I left off.
If your app remembers the last action
someone took while using it, it creates a
better user experience. Why? People get
distracted and it’s nice to seamlessly pick
back up where you left off, especially if
you were interacting with something
within the app.

3. USE A PERSON’S NAME WHEN YOU
COMMUNICATE WITH THEM
Bank of America does a great job of
personalizing my app experience,
populating my name every time I
interact with them.
Everyone likes to feel special,
especially if they engage with a brand
on a regular basis. Addressing a user
by name in your app is a quick
win in personalization.

4. POPULATE PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED
ITEMS
Amazon always has my previous order history,
recently viewed items, and recommendations
handy upon opening their app. They make it
easy to repurchase, which is why they have all
my money.
eCommerce apps take note: Saving relevant
user history, including preferences and past
purchases, will make users more inclined to
continually convert. Apps are meant to be task-
oriented, and the simpler and more intuitive
you can make the task, the more likely users
will complete it again.

5. SEND EMAILS WITH RECENTLY
VIEWED ITEMS
Create a cross-channel experience by
tapping into email. This will allow you
to reengage with users beyond your
app, and boost retention through
personalization.
Glassdoor populates highly relevant
emails for job seekers based on
previously searched for jobs; keeping
them up-to-date with new career
opportunities in their area.

6. POPULATE CONTENT AND SEND
MESSAGES RELATIVE TO TIME OF
DAY
Keep app users up to speed on
relevant happenings based on their
time zone. It’s great way to build trust
and encourage reengagement.
The New York Times does a great job at
sending push messages right before
significant events, from presidential
debates to the Grammys. This timely
notification not only gives me a
reminder of the event, but of The New
York Times, too.

7. SUGGEST RECOMMENDED CONTENT
BASED OFF OF PAST USER DATA
What is a main goal of every app
marketer? Boosting engagement. And
the more tailored your app can be to
serve needs of the user, the more
engaged they’ll ultimately become.
Use previous behavior to generate
highly relevant content that will boost
engagement and session time.
Flipboard does a fantastic job of
populating content based on my named
preferences or past ‘liked’ articles. After
reading an entrepreneurial story, I was
immediately brought to this screen, with
more highly relevant content based on
my interests.

8. ADD THE FACEBOOK SDK TO ALLOW
USER LOGIN VIA THE SOCIAL CHANNEL
A barrier every app faces to accomplish
personalization is getting users to
sign-up. Why not make it easy for them
by allowing them to sign-up through
Facebook by downloading their SDK
and adding it to your mobile app?
Drync let’s you sign-up via your Facebook
account so that you’re up and running in
seconds, ready to buy all the wine.

There you have it.
8 easy ways to improve personalization.

But wait. How do we know
these tips work?

BECAUSE WE’VE DONE OUR RESEARCH:
AND FOUND THAT PERSONALIZTION IS THE FUTURE.

What are some other tactics
you’re using to connect with
your app users?
THE APP WORLD MOVES FAST.

LOCALYTICS.COM
LEARN MORE ABOUT MAKING KILLER APPS:

8 Ways to Personalize Your App (in Under 30 Minutes)

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