KEY TAKEAWAYS:
--Mobile teams asking for in-app feedback and acting on it are better able to keep customers active and engaged in their mobile channels. Closing the loop with dissatisfied customers is crucial.
--The success rate of selling new services to a customer you already have is 60% to 70% versus 5% to 20% for new customers.
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In Alchemer's 2023 Mobile Customer Engagement Benchmark Report, insurance (auto, home, life, renters and pet) apps were much more popular than other finance apps (fintech and banking). At the same time, our data showed that consumers were happier with their fintech and banking apps than their insurance apps.
The report compiles data from more than 1.2 billion app installs from Alchemer Mobile customers and the consumers who use their apps. As it does every year, the report provides insights into mobile customer behavior and what gets people to act.
Ratings, Reviews and the Differences Between iOS and Android
Across all industries, iOS users were generally happier with apps than Android users. According to Statista, as of March 2023, 83% of apps had a rating of less than three stars out of five. Research also shows that apps with four or more stars are 89% more likely to be downloaded.
Retention
Insurance apps had lower-than-average retention rates in 2022. The category had 30-day retention of 51% (compared with 67% across all categories), 90-day retention of 41% (58% overall) and one-year retention of 24% (42% overall). However, when brands invested in asking consumers for reviews (such as with a Love Dialog – the “Do you love our app?” feature within Alchemer Mobile), 30-day retention grew to 75%.
See also: 3 Great Apps for Insurance Agents
Customer Sentiment
Positive customer sentiment for insurance was 73%, above the overall benchmark of 64%. While the high cost of switching contributes to customer retention, it doesn’t keep sentiment high. Mobile teams asking for in-app feedback and acting on it are better able to keep customers active and engaged in their mobile channels, extending the brand’s reach and deepening each customer’s brand relationships.
In-app Surveys
Insurance brands have room for improvement when conducting in-app surveys. Insurance apps’ average survey response rate was only 12% (the overall benchmark was 13%). When mobile teams used surveys presented with a Note – a message or invitation from the brand – to ensure customers were bought into the survey before presenting it, the results were impressive: The average response rate to Note-linked surveys was 56%. Insurance brands should experiment with various engagement strategies across target segments this year. Additionally, these brands will want to close the loop with people so customers know their feedback has been heard and changes to the app are being made as a result of their feedback.
Engaging customers appears to be the key to success in 2023 and beyond. Engaging customers through surveys is one of the easiest ways to improve ratings and reviews. Insurance brands prompted 35% of customers for surveys and received an average interaction rate of 37%. When Notes were used to invite consumers to participate in a survey, the response rate jumped to 56%.
The Value of Risks
Even though Risks (those consumers who answered “No” to the question, “Do you love our app?”) may be unhappy with an app, retention in the insurance category is just a few percentage points better for Fans (those consumers who answer “Yes” to the question “Do you love our app?”). Retention was 77% for Fans versus 73% for Risks after 30 days. This means that even though people at risk are unhappy with the app, they’re invested in making the app work better for them or it’s too hard to switch insurance companies, so they continue to do business with the insurance company, even when they're not satisfied with the app. Consequently, closing the loop with these patrons not only lets them know you heard them, but when you make changes based on their feedback, they are much more likely to convert from Risks to Fans.
Keep What You Have
Mobile app retention will remain a vital metric for mobile product owners and managers across the insurance industry. Because acquiring new customers can cost five times more than retaining existing ones, many mobile product owners are shifting their focus to keeping the customers they have. Additionally, the success rate of selling new services to a customer you already have is 60% to 70% versus 5% to 20% for new customers.
Better understanding of customer churn will drive product owners and managers to use tools in 2023 to improve app retention. Features like Alchemer Mobile's Love Dialog and Fan Signals can help. Carefully monitoring customer emotion shifts will enable smart communicators to respond with messages, promotions and surveys to better seize the opportunity.
