While some apps struggle to retain their users, others have excelled— among them are social media applications. Let's look at what makes social apps so powerful and how can you integrate them into your app.
When we think about customer engagement, we often look at how brands can deepen their connections with their users beyond their relationship’s transactional aspect. It encompasses all activities that contribute to creating trust and building loyalty. And loyalty brings growth, as this study shows a 5% increase in user retention results in a minimum 25% increase in profit.
Engagement can fuel app retention — which in return drives profits and growth. According to a survey, 80% of customers say the experiences provided by a company are as important to them as its products and services. In other words, the quality of your customer experience directly impacts their satisfaction and loyalty.
So how can you engage and retain your users in the long haul? By using plug-and-play social features SDKs.
In this piece, we will talk about how integrating these three social features SDKs and their specific functionalities can boost in-app user engagement and retention by delivering a positive and familiar experience to your users.
Creating in-app engagement with a chat SDK
- 1-on-1 chats: Private chats are the ideal channel to enable in-app communication and add value to your app’s current features. In-app 1-on-1 chats can serve various purposes as they can allow personal interaction, and at the same time, make your customer support more efficient through live support chats. On top of that, in-app chat can improve your app stickiness, as it prevents users from switching to other chat applications as they can already talk inside your app.
- Group chats: Group chats are essential if you want to integrate and create vibrant in-app communities. As opposed to 1-1 chat, group chats are open and allow any user to meet like-minded peers. It fosters a sense of community where exciting conversations can take place. Users looking for a piece of particular information can simply jump in a group chat to search within discussions or ask fellow members to share their ideas with the rest of the community.
- Live chat: Engaging users comes with creating positive, unique experiences. Integrate live chat to bring physical interactions online through your app. Whether it is integrated into a gaming app to make gaming more social or a sports app where your users can share their reactions in real-time, or even a media app, where people can talk about the latest news, instant communication gives an extra touch of realness that today’s users are craving for.
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Improving retention with a social SDK
- Preference-based algorithm feed: The age of mass content display is over; personalization is the new normal. A feed is a feature that fuels creativity and curiosity. It is one of the most powerful social media features, and this is probably where your users spend most of their time, scrolling endlessly for more exciting content to enjoy. With a preference-based algorithm, you ensure you aggregate all relevant and tailored content to captivate and engage your users and make sure they’re always updated with the current happenings among their peers, their communities, and your brand.
- Groups: Private and public groups are the core of community building. They provide safe space for your users if they need to find and explore the content that interests them. Think about Reddit or any forum-based platform, and this feature empowers individuals through the value of collectivity and collaboration. Similar to group chats, users can meet their peers and share tips, advice, and debate on specific topics they care about. Brands can also jump in and share their latest product updates to their users instantly.
- Profiles: This feature encourages self-expression, enabling users to display information about themselves, their preferences, snippets from their lives, and showcase their creativity. Profiles allow users to give a bit of their personal touch and meet fellow users.
- Likes, comments: All these functionalities are a whole part of gamifying your app, making your platform more fun, interactive, and engaging. It allows users to easily react to a piece of content, show support, share feedback, or give their opinion on a particular topic. Comments are a great way to spark a conversation, too.
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Elevating in-app experience with a video SDK
- Short-form video: Short-form video, or “stories,” is a feature that users love, as evident in its rising popularity. Launched by Snapchat in 2013, followed by Instagram in 2016, its use has increased by 842% and has been adopted by today’s top social apps (Whatsapp, Facebook, Messenger, LinkedIn). Its ephemeral nature drives curiosity (or should we say FOMO?) and encourages people to generate spontaneous content. For brands, it’s a great tool for storytelling and promotion.
- Live streaming: Live streaming enables users to be part of a collective experience, just like they would in real life. By hosting immersive in-app live events, millions of people from all over the world can connect and watch together in a more vibrant online environment. Live streaming is ideal for community-based events such as sports matches and concerts and also a great way for brands to demonstrate their products while connecting with their customers in a more interactive and fun way.
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Because they are familiar and intuitive, adding social features can be an easy yet effective way to create user engagement. It adds a new dimension to your app and transforms your app into a safe, collaborative space for users to accomplish more than what they came for.
The better you engage your users, the more chances you have of increasing retention rates. Utilizing social features SDKs can provide new opportunities for your app. They can make your platform stand out from your competitors, attract users, and keep them using your app. With these features in place, those users who initially come to use your app will surely stay for the unique customer experience and community.