Mobile applications: performance indicators and analytics services

After successfully launching a service on iOS and Android, any company needs to understand how to assess a mobile application's effectiveness for further promotion. There is no universal formula for accomplishing this complex task, but in this article, we will guide you on which metrics and features to focus on primarily.

Key Metrics to Focus on When Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Mobile Application

1. Number of Downloads and Registrations: Depending on how often users download a mobile application, its ranking in the search engines of the App Store and Play Store changes. The more downloads an app has, the higher it appears in search results and the larger audience it reaches. On the other hand, the number of registrations indicates how well the service engages people with its core features.

2. App Activity: To assess this aspect, it's essential to track how many unique users open the app daily (DAU), weekly (WAU), and monthly (MAU). Pay attention to the number of sessions in the app over a specific period, the average session duration, and the user engagement coefficient (when DAU is divided by WAU or MAU). User engagement depends on how actively they interact with the app's key functions. To initially engage the audience, a well-configured onboarding process is crucial. After the first session, customer engagement can be increased through notifications, gamified app tours, emails, and more.

3. Average Session Duration: This metric is calculated by dividing the total duration of all app sessions over a specific time frame by the number of sessions. It plays a significant role in terms of ad placement within the service.

4. User Retention Rate: This parameter characterizes the total number of users who regularly open the application. On average, only 20% of users return to a mobile app after their initial launch. By increasing this metric by just 2-3%, a company can achieve significant revenue growth.

5. Virality: If an app has high virality, people are more likely to tell their friends and family about it during personal meetings or through various communication channels, such as messengers, social networks, or forums.

6. Churn Rate: Tracking this metric reveals how many users have uninstalled or stopped interacting with the app. It is crucial for the long-term success of the service, as even a slight increase in churn can lead to the company's downfall.

7. Monetization Metrics: To evaluate monetization effectiveness, consider metrics such as the number of paying users, transactions over a specific period, customer lifetime value, transaction count, average revenue per user, and other relevant metrics.

8. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): CLTV shows the average profit obtained from one customer throughout their usage of the app.

9. Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS): To assess the app in this context, focus on metrics like cost per install (CPI), virality index (the number of users interested in the app due to recommendations), and customer acquisition cost (CAC).

Useful Mobile Analytics Services

• AppMetrica: This free tool from Yandex allows you to track data on key service metrics, traffic sources, and error statistics and also run, analyze, and optimize ad campaigns within the app.

• Firebase Analytics: A Google platform that combines app development and analytics tools. It is based on Google Analytics reports, supports push notification technology, and offers functionality for conducting A/B tests in Android apps.

• Flurry Analytics: One of the popular free analytical platforms that collect data on users, events, and actions initiated by them. Flurry Analytics also provides analytics on geolocation, device types, and audience interests.

• AppAnnie: An analytical service useful for gathering data on the app at all stages of its development. It helps research competing services, assess the market situation, monitor downloads, advertising campaigns, customer engagement, and more.

Conclusion

Evaluating app effectiveness should be based on multiple factors to make the most optimal business decisions. The mentioned metrics are key in this evaluation, and by combining them into a comprehensive picture, you will find it much easier to identify the aspects of the app that require your attention the most.