Today more people favor accessing the web through their mobile devices instead of their desktop and laptop computers. Mobile Analytics are vital for this market since they help businesses understand netizens’ behavior through data analysis. This is crucial for marketing efforts, sales, and product management.
Mobile Analytics measure and analyze data based on platforms and mobile features, such as websites and applications. There are two main types of Mobile Analytics: Mobile Web Analytics and Mobile App Analytics; both provide essential business information.
What are Mobile Web Analytics?
Mobile Web Analytics are similar to the process used to recognize what clients do when on a desktop computer and viewing a website. The difference lies in that this type of analysis focuses on mobile device users. Therefore, mobile web analytics covers visitors using a mobile device and those who visit the website’s mobile version. Reports provide general information about the mobile devices people use: laptop computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.
What are Mobile App Analytics?
Mobile App Analytics were designed to track what happens at a mobile application level. This analysis can help discover how people use an application and if a particular experience made them uninstall the app. In addition, tracking conversion funnels, engagement, technical information, and more can help understand if an app makes sense (for the audience as well as for business) and guide its future development.
Why Should Businesses Use Mobile Analytics?
Using this type of analysis brings the following benefits:
Creating Effective Marketing Strategies
Without analysis that verifies what content or features clients are responding to, marketing specialists won’t have a basis to create a sound strategy. In addition, mobile analytics can help define measurable objectives.
Identify What Parts of the Application People Are Using
Analytical monitoring can help identify what screens and routes users use when navigating the application. Discovering which screens users spend more time on and which screens they keep returning to will provide a clearer understanding of the content users are looking for. Businesses can use this information to create more content or develop a specific feature, increasing mobile app engagement.
Identify Which Parts of the App Generate Valuable Conversions
Mobile analytics allows marketing specialists to determine what parts of the app generate conversions and how frequently. For example, on an application for a non-profit organization that accepts donations, it would be possible to know how many people make donations through the mobile app.
Determine If People Are Really Using the Application
People use only 25% of their apps regularly. Since constant use is vital to establishing a relationship with users, tracking users to determine if they spend time on the app can provide valuable information. This way, the business can know if the app provides users a reason to keep coming back.
Mobile Device Detection
What mobile devices are downloading the application? Knowing the answer to this question is crucial for creating efficient mobile marketing strategies. Companies need to understand what mobile devices they should prioritize for testing and future development. For example, if more Android users download the app, businesses can investigate why this is the case and better understand their target audience.
What Are the Most Important Indicators in Mobile Analytics?
As part of mobile analytics, organizations need to know what to measure. With the help of the following ten metrics, a business can better comprehend how an app works and how users interact with it. This knowledge is a requirement for understanding mobile app performance and how to improve its user experience.
- Number of downloads/installations: This is possibly the oldest indicator of a mobile application’s success. The number of downloads/installations is a good gauge of an app’s popularity, but it does not necessarily measure its financial success.
- Number of users: The number of people who use the app can differ significantly from the number of installations. For example, the same user can download Skype on their mobile phone and tablet. Furthermore, measuring the number of users through time can help calculate the application’s retention rate.
- User lifetime value: The amount of revenue a company expects to receive from a user throughout their use of the app.
- Client retention rate: The number of users an app can obtain does not matter if these users do not stay. Retaining a client on mobile apps is much more difficult than acquiring a new one, which in and of itself is not an easy feat. According to Localytics, 23% of users abandon an app after using it once.
- Active users: Regular users generate value. So, it’s less likely for those who interact with the app regularly to stop using it.
- Session duration: Session duration or interval measures the time each user spends on the application.
- Average app launches per user: This indicates the total number of times an app is launched throughout a set period, divided by the total number of active users during that time.
- Cohort analysis: Dividing mobile app users into cohorts based on different factors can help to better assess the effects of an application’s changes, optimizations, and monetization.
- Daily or weekly use: It’s helpful to track the number of times a user opens a mobile app during the first 24 hours or the first week after installation.
- App permissions: Knowing the level of permissions users grant an app can be an indicator of their opinion on how trustworthy the app is. One of the most important permissions users allow are push notifications. Most apps use these notifications as their main means to address client retention and engagement.
Final Considerations
Mobile analytics can help to create a comprehensive user experience for mobile apps; from detection to downloading to engagement. By making decisions based on data throughout all phases of an application's life cycle, marketing specialists, developers, and testers can provide an improved app experience that users find helpful and attractive, and create better marketing strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Mobile analytics measure and analyze data based on platforms and mobile features, such as websites and applications.
- There are two main types of mobile analytics: mobile web analytics and mobile app analytics; both provide essential business information.
- Mobile analytics help to create more efficient marketing strategies, identify what parts of an application people are using (and which parts they are not), identify if people are really using the app, and discover which parts of the application generate conversions.
- Some of the most important mobile analytics indicators include client retention rate, the number of active users, session duration, the number of downloads/installations, and permissions.
- Mobile analytics can help provide a comprehensive user experience and allow marketers to come up with effective marketing strategies based on data.
About Encora
Fast-growing tech companies partner with Encora to outsource product development and drive growth. Contact us to learn more about our software engineering capabilities.
