With millions of apps on the market, getting customer engagement for your app takes a huge amount of time and effort.  

In 2022 alone, the global tally of mobile app downloads surpassed a staggering 255 billion, marking an 80% increase from 2016. 

Image Source- Statista 

The Google Play Store alone boasts over 2.6 million apps, leaving many wondering how to make their mobile apps stand out. It is precisely where the concept of app personalization enters the picture. 

App personalization holds the key to elevating user engagement and crafting immersive experiences. A recent McKinsey survey underscores this importance, revealing that 71% of consumers now anticipate personalized interactions, with 76% expressing frustration when this expectation isn’t met. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into mobile app personalization, explore its benefits, and provide actionable insights on how to implement it effectively. 

What is App Personalization? 

Every customer is unique. Customers vary significantly based on demographics, geography, income, and behavioural preferences. For marketers striving to enhance customer engagement effectively, recognizing and understanding these diverse segments is crucial for boosting conversion rates. 

The solution lies in in-app personalization. It tailors an app’s content and notifications to cater to the specific needs of each user.  

It delivers personalized recommendations, precision-targeted messages, and customized interfaces, all meticulously aligned with the customer’s profile, behaviour, and past interactions. 

In-app personalization analyses customer data, including variables such as browsing history, previous purchases, and search queries, enabling precise contextual targeting. 

App personalization significantly enhances the customer experience by providing relevant content and timely push notifications. This strategic approach has the potential to bolster both customer retention and revenue. 

Why is delivering a personalized app experience important? 

The mobile app landscape is incredibly crowded, with over 3.5 million apps on the Google Play Store and 1.6 million on the Apple App Store alone. When you add other app marketplaces, the total surges to nearly 9 million apps. 

In such a fiercely competitive environment, the challenge lies in not only attracting users to click that ‘Install’ button but also retaining their engagement. On average, a smartphone user interacts with nine to ten apps daily and approximately 30 apps within a month. It’s precisely this intense competition that aggravates the importance of app personalization. 

By tailoring user experiences to align closely with individual preferences, you can elevate your app’s user experience (UX) to a level that surpasses user expectations.  

This differentiation sets your app apart from the multitude, encouraging users to invest more time in its usage. 

As a result, this increased engagement enhances the likelihood of users revisiting your app, forging a path towards establishing loyal and dedicated customers. 

Top Benefits of App Personalization 

The main reason for adopting app personalization lies in its capacity to enhance app performance and bolster revenue generation. It serves as a speedy route to achieve your objectives by fostering heightened customer awareness, improved retention rates, and elevated user engagement, among other advantages. 

Now, let’s delve deeper into the pivotal advantages of app personalization: 

• Enhanced Engagement 

The practice of customizing apps leads to a heightened level of engagement among users. You can achieve it with content and functionalities finely tuned to user-specific interests and requirements. 

The result is increased interaction, extended time spent within your app, and a bolstered sense of loyalty. 

To illustrate, consider the example of recruitment apps that can offer personalized job suggestions based on an individual’s skill set and work history. They make tailored resumes, offer location-based recommendations, and suggest job categories that align with an applicant’s background. 

• Enhanced User Loyalty 

Mobile app personalization can decrease the churn rate and improve user retention. Deliver an experience that is not only more pertinent but also more pleasurable. 

When users consistently access content that caters to their distinct requirements, their inclination to sustain their app usage without uninstalling or neglecting it tends to increase. 

For example, if a financial app aims to boost customer loyalty, it can offer tailored investment recommendations and portfolio management services that align with the user’s risk tolerance and investment preferences. 

• Increase Conversion 

Boost conversion rates by deploying precisely targeted messages and offers via push notifications and in-app messages.  

With this approach, customers will likely purchase something in your app. Effective personalization strategies also pave the path for recurrent purchases and upselling opportunities. 

Leverage data analysis of user browsing and purchase history to suggest products and services that are highly relevant to your users, as well as employ in-app alerts for abandoned carts. 

• Competitive Advantage 

As demonstrated, consumers not only anticipate but also appreciate tailored content. Apps that provide personalized encounters tend to garner more user than their non-personalized counterparts. 

Starbucks’ in-app personalization helps customers to monitor their loyalty points and attain rewards. 

Users are more inclined to repeatedly engage with an app that comprehends and mirrors their interests. 

Which Apps Can Benefit from Personalization? 

• E-commerce Apps 

E-commerce applications greatly benefit from mobile app personalization by enhancing customer loyalty through tailored experiences. 

For example, Amazon offers product recommendations based on browsing and purchase history, exemplified by their “Recommended for you” feature. 

• Music and Video Apps 

Music and video streaming apps excel at delivering relevant content to users. 

Music apps curate playlists and radio stations, while video platforms suggest content based on viewing history. 

Spotify’s ‘Spotify Wrapped’ feature utilizes customer data to create personalized screens displaying their top songs and favourite artists, fostering engagement.

Image Source- Techcrunch 

• Fitness and Health Apps 

Fitness and health apps can provide tailored nutrition and workout plans for each user.

Nike Run Club, for instance, adapts workout plans based on user progress, offers routines, and targets specific fitness goals.

Source- Nike 

• Travel Apps 

Airbnb leverages customer travel history and preferences to highlight tailored vacation accommodations.

Source-Leanplum 

• Education and Learning Apps 

Mobile learning apps are transforming education with on-the-go learning experiences. 

Duolingo, a language learning app, detects user challenges and prompts them to practice specific words or phrases based on past usage, errors, and mistranslations.” 

Best Practices to Personalize Your App. 

Maintain the utmost respect for your users’ privacy. 

Successful app personalization requires a nuanced approach that provides distinctive app experiences without crossing the line into unsettling territory.

Prioritize transparency regarding the data you gather and the reasons behind it while seeking user consent. Furthermore, ensure your app adheres to relevant privacy regulations such as CCPA and GDPR to prevent potential legal complications. 

• Understand the data you need. 

The initial phase of app personalization entails the acquisition of data essential for making informed decisions regarding user experiences. 

Aim to grasp the intricate details of your users, including their identities, desires, preferences, and aversions. It entails the collection of the following data points: 

• Age 
• Gender 
• Location 
• Occupation 
• Interests 
• App usage patterns 
• Device preferences 
• User-specific preferences 
• Likes and dislikes. 
• In-app activity 
• Purchase history 

Once you have collected this critical dataset, conduct a meticulous analysis to identify patterns. Additionally, you can consider categorizing users into similar groups to streamline the personalization endeavor.

Identify the data elements that will serve as the foundation for personalizing the customer experience. For example, if your objective is to deliver exclusive offers to shoppers, focus on gathering more comprehensive information concerning users’ purchase history. 

• Personalize push app notifications: 

Push notifications can be a powerful tool for re-engaging users, but they can also be the leading cause of app abandonment when they become overly frequent or intrusive. 

Personalization presents a straightforward solution that can transform push notifications from an annoyance into a delightful experience. 

Consider the example of Spotify, which notifies users when their favourite artist releases new music or schedules a nearby concert. These notifications are relevant, intriguing, and timely, making them highly appealing to users. 

• Leverage audience segmentation:

Audience segmentation is a strategy that involves categorizing your app’s users based on specific criteria, such as their device type, geographic location, in-app activity duration, and the number of transactions they have made. This approach empowers you to tailor customized marketing campaigns to distinct user groups. 

Instagram leverages location-based segmentation; it presents users with content pertinent to their geographical location. It means that users in Los Angeles city see different content than users in Tokyo city. It creates familiarity on the user’s part, leading to increased engagement. 

• Tailor Your Suggestions:

One of the reasons tailored recommendations work is that they show you understand your customers, making them feel valued.

One effective technique for providing intelligent recommendations is through collaborative filtering, which involves leveraging user data to anticipate the preferences of similar individuals. A prime example of this approach is exemplified by Netflix’s “Because you watched…” feature: 

Netflix employs a collaborative filtering algorithm that discerns patterns and resemblances among users and their viewing choices. For instance, if a substantial number of users who watched “Black Mirror” also enjoyed “Stranger Things,” the algorithm will propose “Stranger Things” to viewers who have previously watched “Black Mirror,” and vice versa. 

Another method you can explore is content-based filtering, which generates recommendations tailored to a user’s past behaviour and viewing history. 

Both collaborative and content-based filtering represent straightforward means to furnish users with precise and pertinent recommendations that align with their preferences. 

• Deliver Personalized Discounts and Exclusive Offers:

Receiving exclusive offers and discounts acts as a powerful motivator for users, keeping them engaged and eager for more. However, the question remains: how can you make these promotions more personal? 

The key lies in tailoring the offer to each user. Take one example, Starbucks’ app, which leverages the data it already possesses about its customers to curate special offers, coupons, and discounts. If a user consistently selects caramel-infused items, the app responds by sending them enticing deals on beverages and desserts featuring caramel Flavors. 

Another highly effective strategy is to align your special offers directly with the user’s specific interests. Imagine sending notifications such as, “Hello, (Username)! Use promo code XXXX to relish a 15% discount at your favourite restaurant.” 

• Conduct A/B Testing and Optimize Your Approach: 

Achieving a seamless level of app personalization demands a significant investment of time and entails a substantial amount of fine-tuning and experimentation. 

Leverage mobile A/B testing to your advantage by experimenting with various messages and content variations to identify the ones that most effectively resonate with your user base. For example, you can assess different push notifications to determine which ones yield a higher click-through rate or enhanced engagement. Furthermore, you can analyse when your users are most responsive. 

In addition to the trial-and-error approach, consider engaging directly with your most valuable resource: your users. By actively seeking and listening to their feedback, you can acquire invaluable insights into their preferences and dislikes. These insights, in turn, can guide your personalization strategy, enabling you to refine your app to better meet their expectations. 

Conclusion 

App customization is no longer sufficient. Today’s users seek personalized content that resonates with them, creating a sense of being heard and well-cared for. Therefore, the App’s primary objective should revolve around delivering a tailored user experience. 

This focus on personalization not only enhances the convenience and utility of the app but also drives increased engagement, improved user retention rates, and heightened brand loyalty.