Ekaterina Gamsriegler

Look at your product usage and metrics to understand the typical usage patterns and average usage frequency. Understand usage dips and spikes to know when to double down on external triggers_ (e.g., email, push notifications, retargeting ads, etc.)._ Example: at Mimo, there are spikes during the weekdays and a slight drop over the weekend vs. a closet organizer app where product usage increases on the weekend.

Different traffic sources result in varying retention rates. Since exact numbers are impossible to get, rely on trends and changes over time: what happens to retention when you scale up/down some channels, get a featuring, etc. Look at D1/3/7 retention and the percentage of activated users with this lens to gather channel-specific insights.

Ideally, allow users to choose their preferred notification reminder time. If user customization is not feasible, send reminders 24 hours after the user's last engagement. Personalize and keep messages short, with a clear call to action for optimal effectiveness.

Create different retargeting campaigns for different segments (no trial started, no trial to paid conversion, etc.) with separate sets of creatives and discounts (tailored to the user journey stage). To avoid cannibalization, find the natural drop-off “times” in conversion events so you can first try engaging each segment via CRM and only launch retargeting campaigns after that period (retargeting this way can only work for ATT opt-ins).

Combat churn by doing “value nurturing”: constantly remind users of the content you keep adding to the app. You can communicate this via in-app messages, push notifications, in-app events, etc.

Use a cancellation survey to uncover the main reasons people cancel. Example of cancellation reasons for Mimo: price and not finding the pro features valuable enough (there is a lot of free content available for free).

Sometimes, if you have the resources and curiosity, it makes sense to iterate on a losing variant rather than abandoning it altogether. It allows you to uncover unexpected variables that may have caused the failure and get a deeper understanding.

Differentiate the price based on the user segment to monetize a segment with a low conversion rate or a high trial cancellation rate. Example: Mimo offers a 50% discount to some user segments that cancel their trial.

For personal development apps, user motivation is the highest at the beginning of the journey and gradually decreases. So a big lever to improve LTV is to increase the trial opt-in rate to help users commit early on and at full price rather than rely too much on post-paywall discounts.

Build a spreadsheet with your revenue-related metrics: top-of-funnel metrics, trial opt-in rates, average revenue per subscription, LTV, and payback periods of different subscription durations. Have these metrics as variables and linked to each other. Try changing values to understand where you should focus and the kind of impact you can make.

There are multiple things you should display during the paywall experience: a list of features, an explanation of how the free trial works, social proof, a comparison of basic vs. pro plan, etc. This can be done through a long scrollable screen or a multi-screen paywall. At Mimo, the multi-screen option led to a 60% increase in the trial opt-in rate.

For education/learning apps, help users share their progress and success. Monitor your brand searches after implementation to try and assess the impact. Example: Mimo uses many gamification techniques so learners build a habit, and also lets them share their progress and success on social media (buttons on important learning moments).

To choose which language to start localizing in, look at quantitative and qualitative data because localization's benefits are not necessarily obvious, like better app ratings and feature opportunities. Example: French and German users were very vocal about getting the app in their language and were giving low app ratings, yet their app engagement and conversion were in line with the English-speaking users.

Localizing your app for a highly-requested language can lead to better engagement and retention, which leads to higher retention and, therefore, better virality and monetization. At Mimo, this localization drove retention improvements from 25% to 100%, which helped with their referral loop and led to a +30-50% increase in trial opt-in and purchase rates.