How to Reactivate Inactive App Users Without Increasing Your Acquisition Budget

Why Do Users Become Inactive?

The most important thing with app re-engagement is knowing why your users are becoming inactive. Without knowing why they are becoming inactive, regular push notifications will not help in the long run.

Some common reasons users become inactive are:

• Onboarding – Users are unsure how to use the app or what benefits it can bring.
• Irrelevant Content – The app no longer fits their interests/needs.
• Technical – The app is slow, crashing & hard to navigate. They may also be having issues with payments.
• Too Many Notifications – Too many irrelevant notifications can cause users to turn off their notifications.
• Competitive App – There is a better/easier app.

Knowing why they have become inactive can help you create a useful campaign to get them back.

7 App Reactivation Strategies to Win Back Inactive Users

  1. Understand Who Is Becoming Inactive Using App Analytics

As a starting point, you will need to know who is becoming inactive & when. There are many reasons users may become inactive so it’s best to look at their behaviour to understand how to get them back.

• Look at metrics including:
  • Daily/Monthly Active Users
  • Last Session & Frequency
  • Feature Usage & Actions Completed
  • Renewals & Purchases
  • Uninstalls, Crashing & Drop Off.

  Segregate your users into groups. If your users have not opened your app in the last 7 days you may wish to give them a gentle nudge to get them back. If they haven’t opened your app in the last 60 days you need to give them a strong reason to come back.

  Using analytics & mobile app attribution tools can help your team by identifying trends & understanding how your campaigns are performing. Apple also provide App Store Connect analytics so you can look at your retention & how users are interacting with supported apps.

  2. Targeted Push Notifications

Don’t give your users a generic message like “We miss you”. By giving them targeted notifications based on their interests, previous actions & relevant updates you can help.

For example:

• Highlight saved items/product categories they have viewed on your shopping app.
• Remind them of their incomplete workout on your fitness app.
• Suggest they continue their lesson on your education app.
• Give them updates based on their destinations & saved items on your travel app.

Ensure your app reengagement is focused on one benefit & has a clear call to action. Be mindful of how they are receiving notifications.

  3. Give Them A Reason

If you give them a real reason to come back they are more likely to consider your app. Don’t offer them discounts but tell them what has improved.

Tell them you can show them:

• New features to make using your app easier.
• A faster checkout & easy navigation.
• New content, products & activities.
• New relevant loyalty rewards & time sensitive rewards.
• Improvements based on their feedback.

Depending on your business model you may have a good reason to offer discounts (E-commerce) or new lessons/recommendations (Education).

The idea is to give them a reason to continue using your product.

  4. Improve Their Experience

Sometimes it may not be possible to improve user retention with marketing. If your app is crashing, slow or difficult to complete key actions they may come back but then leave.

Look at customer feedback, app store reviews, support queries & product analytics. Focus on areas where you can improve to prevent users from completing key actions.

Some useful improvements to make are:

• Remove any unnecessary onboarding.
• Improve the speed & performance of your app.
• Make sign up & log in easier.
• Highlight key features.
• Fix payments/subscriptions.

This will help with your Mobile App Retention Strategies.

  5. Use Email & Relevant Channels

You don’t just have to use push notifications to reach your dormant users. Email can be very useful to let them know of new updates, improvements & reasons to come back.

Depending on their permission, data & campaign goals you can use email, opt-in SMS & relevant social & advertising channels.

To get the best results:

• Be targeted with your message based on their previous actions.
• Keep the subject line & message simple.
• Have a clear call to action.
• If possible link to the right screen.
• Don’t spam them on multiple channels.

Having a consistent approach can help increase your App User Re-engagement without needing to run any new acquisition campaigns.

  6. Use Deep Links

When reaching out to your users to get them to come back it should be easy for them to complete an action. If they open your notification & are taken to your homepage they may have to search & leave.

Using Deep Links can take them to a certain point within your app. This can be a saved item, incomplete action, new feature or relevant content.

For example; If you have an online learning app you can remind them they have an incomplete course & take them straight to the lesson.

Test your deep links on any supported devices & app versions. If the app isn’t installed or the destination isn’t available ensure they have a helpful experience.

7. Test & Track

A successful App Reactivation campaign uses performance data to identify which messages, offers, and user segments generate the best results.

Look at:

• Reactivation Rate – What percentage of your target dormant users have come back to complete an action.
• Repeat Engagement – Are they engaging with your app?
• Conversion Rate – What percentage of users have completed an action you would like them to.
• Uninstall – Are they uninstalling?
• Cost – How much did it cost you?

Try to track within a certain timeframe. If possible compare your results to a suitable benchmark or control group.

How Can I Reactivate Users Without Increasing My Budget?

To get the best out of your re-engagement strategy start with what you have. Use analytics, customer segments, owned channels & improvements. Don’t add any extra paid advertising.

Start by:

• Identifying which user segments are becoming less active.
• Understanding why they are likely to become inactive.
• Creating one relevant message for each segment.
• Directing them to the most helpful area of your app.
• Tracking how many are coming back, completing actions & engaging with your app.
• Improving your campaigns based on the results.

This can help improve your mobile app retention. Whilst it may cost some money to track, message, reward & deliver your campaigns.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is App Reactivation?

App Reactivation is getting your dormant users to come back to your app. This can be done using targeted messages, product improvements, offers & personalisation.

How Can I Get My Inactive Users To Come Back Without Paid Advertising?

Use opt-in push notifications, email, product improvements, loyalty rewards & personalisation. Which method will work best will depend on why they became inactive & what value you can offer.

How Long Should I Wait To Reactivate Inactive Users?

This will depend on how regularly your users use your app. If they are using your app daily you may identify dormant users within a few days. If your app is travel/tax related they may naturally have longer periods between using.

Final Thoughts

To get your inactive users to come back you need to understand their behaviour, reduce friction, offer relevant benefits & track what is happening. This can help keep your App Engagement consistent & sustainable. Focusing on your current users.

Dot Com Infoway can help improve your digital growth strategies using our technological & marketing knowledge. By using data driven insights, relevant messaging & constant improvements to the app experience you can help improve relationships with your current users & create more opportunities for long-term growth.