Every day we get emails that mention “what we’ve learned during COVID-19…” as it relates to small business owners navigating this crisis. Everyone’s thinking more critically how to keep employees while balancing client expectations.

For mobile app owners, you’ve probably spent more time reviewing the metrics of your app whether it’s downloads, user activity, or similar analytics. It makes sense, the data in your app is the best way to measure its performance and helps you make decisions on how to move forward.

It’s important to have a plan on how to act on that data, but before you get there, you need to figure out what your data is actually telling you.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Assess what data you have about how your business functions

Does the information you have allow you to understand the status of your company? Is it clear how your company is performing? Which information is critical to your business functioning?

To answer these questions, you’ll want to gather as much data from your app as possible. It should allow you to understand what’s been going on. If you haven’t implemented analytics on your app, it’s time to do so, in which case you’ll need to give them time to run before you can start drawing conclusions. 

2. Define which of your app’s features affect your business the most.

Not all of the information you collect is going to be helpful for you to act on. What problem is your business solving? Does the data you have address the problem your company supposedly solves? If not, what’s missing?

It’s your job to determine what metrics quantitatively show if your product or service does what it should, and for each business those metrics are probably different because their goals aren’t the same. For example, an app for an art museum is likely to spend more time tracking unique downloads and find where users spend most of their time so they understand what’s engaging and where users drop off.

Meanwhile, a company selling products through an app may find download numbers compelling, but more significant to their business is the percentage of conversions. How much time are people spending looking at an item before buying? Which items are the most likely to spur a conversion to a sale? Which related products do customers buy at the same time?

Overall, you’re deciding which data point or behavior is most indicative of your business achieving its goals, which, in effect, is choosing your key performance indicators (KPIs).

3. What other metrics matter for your business?

If you could ask your app questions every day that would help you better understand your business, what would those be? That’s how analytics should work, but it is a living process and always changing. You have to adjust how and what you’re tracking to meet the needs of your business as those grow and change. What this involves is getting more granular with your analytics. It involves looking at metrics like peak times of use or considering how location might change what you sell.

Which push notifications are you sending out? Are they reflective of a user’s unique app behavior? As you get more specific with your metrics, sending out notifications to remind people to complete an action becomes essential to increase engagement.  

4. Work with a tech professional to ensure your analytics strategy matches your business goal. 

You’ve collected data on your app, you’ve defined what you think is most important and even determined areas where you can be more targeted, but there’s still work to be done. It’s time to consult with a professional to implement an analytics strategy that tracks metrics aligned with your business goals. By doing so, you can create a business plan that builds on what you already do well and find opportunities for new growth.

MotionMobs is uniquely positioned to be a key analytics partner with your company. Our team of strategists and developers work collaboratively to extract app traffic and event data to produce actionable insights. If you don’t understand what your app analytics mean for your EBITDA, we can help. Request a consultation with our strategy team.