What KPIs do Mobile App Developers Use to Evaluate App Performance?

Nowadays, mobile apps are excellent business tools that can prove to be a game-changer for your business. However, it needs regular monitoring to learn about different insights and feedback.

When you measure an app’s marketing and technical performance using different KPIs, you can know about the success and growth of the app in the best way after deployment. In this guide, we shall discuss the different KPIs that mobile app developers use to understand the app performance in a stipulated time frame. So, let’s get started!

General KPIs

These KPIs can be analyzed by everyone as there is no need to have any technical knowledge or understanding of any special parameter. Let us have a look at these parameters

1. User growth rate

Besides keeping a track of the number of people who are becoming users of the app, you should also monitor the growth of the users to analyze the performance of the app. You should know the reason for any sudden rise in the users of the app.

Why this is important? Here is an example. The sudden rise in the user base of your app can be due to various reasons like a smart marketing strategy or a shoutout of a major influencer in your niche. Knowing the reason will help you funnel down the best course of action to elevate the growth rate.

To monitor the growth rate, work with the average number. The average number you can easily judge the growth of your app and act accordingly.

2. Mobile downloads of the app

In some cases, the number of downloads of the app is the prime metric in determining success. It is directly proportional to success, which means that the higher the number of downloads, the more successful is the app.

However, with increasing downloads, you have to tackle several challenges and keep your app up to the mark with the increased traffic. You have to make sure that you have an interactive UI that offers better UX, every person is able to access the app smoothly with optimized interaction, there is no lag with increased traffic, etc. These things will help you reign over the top places and charts.

3. Conversion rate (organic)

Whenever you push your app through the non-paid channels, it comes under the category of organic campaigns. Monitoring and analyzing the results of the organic campaigns is vital as the metric will allow you to take a decision on the amount you have to spend in promoting your app through paid channels. In organic campaigns, people become users through the use of organic search, word-of-mouth strategy, Influencer marketing, social media interaction, and some other strategies.

Having a better understanding of the non-paid channel conversion rate, you can deploy smart strategies with paid channels and take your app to the next level.

4. Uninstalls

Uninstalls are inevitable. People will uninstall your app after a certain period of time. However, this metric is important to measure when there is a sudden rise in the uninstall rate or the uninstall rate is higher than the download rate.

Here is an example for better understanding. Suppose, you have added any new feature in your app and it is not liked by the users of your app. You see that the uninstall rate is rising so you can either remove the feature or adjust it so that people are happy with your app.

Engagement KPIs

These KPIs will allow you to analyze why users are using your app, how they are using it, and what strategies you can place to pave the way to success. Here are some of the engagement KPIs to deem about.

1. Retention rate

It is important to retain the users with your app to enjoy success in the long run. Having a solid retention strategy is necessary today so that users don’t leave using your app after using it for a certain period of time. The rate is dependent on several factors like user base, niche, business model, etc. Analyzing this metric will help you adjust your strategy to maintain a balanced rate.

2. Churn rate

The churn rate is the percentage of users who stop using the app after some period of time. Remember, the number of users leaving the app should always be less than the number of new users who are joining your app. The churn rate varies with different things like lack of features, bad UX, poor market fit, etc. So, deploy strategies to lower the churn rate of the app and move towards a better growth rate.

3. Active users

Active users are users who launch your app daily and perform some actions. It is an important metric to analyze as with the decline of daily or monthly users, you will know that your user base is losing interest in your app. So, you can deploy countermeasures to target it at the right time.

Performance KPIs

By analyzing these metrics, you can monitor the performance of the app in technical terms and improve it with appropriate strategies. Let us have a look at them.

1. Screen resolution

Always know about the screen resolution of the device that is in trend and make sure that your work smoothly with these resolutions to enjoy a solid growth rate.

2. Load speed

Today, no one likes an unnecessary delay in the loading of the app. So, make sure that your app matches the standard or the users will stop using the app and look for alternatives.

3. Crash reports

Crash reports are important to analyze as they tell you the point of issue that caused it and you can deploy appropriate countermeasure to solve it or avoid it. This way you can test your application in a rigorous and effective way.

4. Devices

Having an idea about the type of device that is prevalent in your app’s user base will help you optimize it in a better way. Here are some questions whose answers will help you in better optimization.

• Does your app is more prevalent in Android or iPhone users?
• What type of device do users prefer, smartphone or tablet?
• Is there any specific device that is preferred by the users of the app?

Revenue KPIs

All the metrics that define the revenue generation aspect are covered under this. Some of them are given below!

1.      ROI or Return on Investment

Once you make an investment in paid ads, you would need to know its returns. It can be easily calculated by simply dividing the amount earned over a period of time by the money invested on tools, marketing, etc. Whenever the ROI increases, it displays that your strategies are working. 

ROI= (Net ROI/ Cost of investment)*100

2.      ARPU or Average Revenue Per User 

When you calculate the amount spent by users on the app, you can easily know the ways you are able to make good revenue. 

ARPU= (Total revenue generated in a particular time period/ Total no. of active users during that time period)

3.      CLV or Customer Lifetime Value 

It involves the money spent by a customer from the day of using the app. This is essential to know how much amount is required for customer acquisition. Remember: CLV should always be more than the acquisition cost to remain in profit for a long time. If not, always look for new strategies for customer retention and adjust the marketing funds to know the investment for new customers’ acquisition.

CLV= (Annual revenue per customer* No. of years of the relationship) - Customer acquisition cost

Mobile App Marketing KPIs

There is a myriad of marketing KPIs that play a vital role in the growth of your app and acquiring new customers. Some of them include:

• Cohort analysis - classifying the user base in different categories such as in-app behavior, location etc.
• Virality and K factor - the spread of word-of-mouth popularity in the best way
• Channel breakdown - different channels through which users reach your app
• Installation source - the sites used to install your app like Play store, App store etc.
• Geometrics - used to know the popular areas based on the revenues collected from different sources

The Bottom Line

Now that you are well aware of all the crucial KPIs, it is time to start the actual evaluation. Go through each pointer and understand which KPIs will serve your needs well. It will be best if you start by covering all general KPIs and then focus on other KPIs as your business grows further.