You have a great mobile app in place. You have already done your share of work by converting usability needs into an appealing user-friendly design. Getting core customers on board is not a smooth sail. Do not expect people jumping on to your app right away. In fact, most of them will simply abandon your app without checking out what is in store.
You can compare a persuasive user experience similar to a relationship, which requires efforts from both ends, starting with you. The preliminary challenges you might face here:
Having a seductive app sign-up / login form in place
Users are watching your app. However, just give yourself a second to think. What will motivate them when they first see your app? Probably, social proof, plead for donation, scarcity for the product by presenting discounts or offers, quick completion of form and tunneling the relevant users from the crowd.
App onboarding surely entice users to fall in love
Users are now opening your app, after an install or download. However, are they motivated to proceed further? It all depends on the type of onboarding they have to go through. Providing them with a glimpse of what to expect, in an interactively cute way, will have them get in love with the product.
Users love your app through ongoing engagement
No matter, you have tackled the first two hurdles nicely. Ultimately, it is all about how powerful your app is in holding onto your users. There are certain characteristics acting as true sources of ongoing user engagement, and inspiring people to come back for using your app repeatedly. These are app flow, sandboxes, communities, habits, and UI/UX design.
This is where our main discussion arrives. With certain persuasive principles followed, you are on your way to close the deal with the app. It does require some work; however, rewards are high in terms of lifetime user loyalty. First, let us look at three psychological triggers, actually responsible for the whole persuasion theory.
- Appeal to the user logic instead of self-proclaiming – Provide as many social proofs you can, comprising of both positive and negative points, so that you place the ball in users hands, and give them complete authority to be a judge by themselves.
- Establish an emotional connect winning user empathy – No matter how practical your users appear, but the fact of the matter is they are emotional than you can ever expect. Once you have built a trust in their minds, you can use their emotions to cut down on negative impact, and have a positive impact roam around their minds for a long time. Do it using a connotative language, figurative language, emotional narratives, and overstatements. Pathos generates from categories like hopes, imaginations, unjust causes, fears, and humor.
- A feeling of ethos will keep hold of app ethics together – Presenting your credibility helps users to judge your propositions, as being ethical or not. Present your users with testimonials of satisfied customers, industry related badges, awards and recognitions, and more, strengthening the blind trust, users can have on you.
The above mental triggers exploit a range of human behavioral characteristics; you need to take total control. One thing commonly seen in these triggers is you have to be honest to your product, and to the users using it. Not remaining honest will backfire someday, once they start using it. Now, let us come to the persuasive principles actually responsible for framing your app.
Be committed by remaining consistent to users
People have this set mentality of reacting in a certain way when they come across an app feature of functionality. Help them in their actions, by integrating small valuable things within the app. You can achieve this by telling them their current position within the app, showing gesture and support whenever needed, constantly asking them for issues and problems, sending them newsletters regularly, and more.
Creating urgency or scarcity speeds up things
Something promoted as scarce and not available in ample amounts is bound to receive more attention as well as value. The scarcity principle works that if you have a good discount or offer for limited users, or limited time, users are bound to rush to grab their shot, among those selected few. Not implementing the scarcity principle, means you are allowing users to take their own time, and never arrive at a decision at the end of the day.
Removing all the unnecessary functionality allows breathing space
There is no need whatsoever to have all features incorporated within the app. Many features are just useless, and they serve no purpose. Removing those features will make the decision process of users smoother, and avoid the unnecessary distraction of users. This also enables the sales funnel, or tunnel, to be relevant and to the point. In addition, such a tunnel helps users with a feeling of self-determination, while experiencing unexpected turns and twists on the way. In addition, a meaningfully simple tunnel helps users to pass through an experience or a process, giving out many opportunities in the way. Henceforth, users are exposed to firsthand information, followed by activities, ultimately leading to persuasion.
Let users jump on to the action part upfront
Allowing users with a limited set of functionalities helps them to use the actual app with a restrictive set of features. Therefore, the users get to interact with the product, and actually know the worth in their own usable context. Herein, users are not only able to have firsthand experience with the actual product, but also the process of creating an account gets shorter, saving on time.
It is not that difficult to allow users access value without actually signing up. Options include guest checkouts, drafts, scarcity, call to actions, and more.
Some final words to conclude
It is important to deliver both goals and value, at any given stage, within the app. Conveying these things to the users will have users convinced what your app is about and why it is existing in the first place. Converting them should not be harder, especially if you are planning to implement the above triggers and principles. Ensure that the conversion process starts only after the conveying process. Do not let someone peek inside your product unless you have him or her in the right spot, fully convinced about your app.
