Re-engagement

What is re-engagement?

In mobile marketing, re-engagement refers to an advertisement targeting a user that has been using an advertiser's app or playing their game, but becomes inactive or dormant. The main idea of such an ad is to motivate this user to become active again.

To re-engage users, marketing managers run special re-engagement mobile campaigns, usually on a Cost Per Re-engagement (CPE) basis.

What is the purpose of re-engagement ads?

Re-engagement advertisements are shown to “dormant users” to engage them in the app again before they uninstall it and become “lapsed users.”

Why is re-engagement important?

It is important to “wake up” dormant users before they uninstall an app. Keeping the audience engaged helps to increase conversion rates and get a higher ROI. As such, users are more likely to take action inside an app. It’s usually cheaper to engage an existing user than to attract a new one.

How do you re-engage dormant users?

First of all, it is important to understand why, and at what stage, users might become inactive. This usually happens due to a host of different reasons: a user could be stuck in a game and not know what to do next, their app could be crashing, they could find a certain level in the app is too complicated, they could have had a bad customer experience, or they might have started to use (or play) another app, and so on. Remember: smart and user-friendly onboarding is crucial.

The most common way to re-engage inactive users is to send a push notification informing them that a problem has been solved, offering them an extra life or bonus, or updating them that new content has been uploaded, etc. Other ideas for push notifications might be to offer a discount, to remind them that a step has been missed, or to highlight a special feature.

Re-engagement vs retargeting in mobile marketing: what’s the difference?

The difference between re-engagement and retargeting in mobile marketing is that re-engagement is used to activate dormant users, whereas retargeting is used to attract users that have previously shown interest in an app or became lapsed users.