The Reality of Consumer Product Engagement

This article delves into the often disheartening reality of low engagement metrics in consumer products. It addresses the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in achieving significant user engagement and retention, even with well-crafted products.

Low Signup Rates

The article highlights the surprisingly low signup rates often encountered, particularly for content-driven landing pages. It explains that users arriving on these pages are primarily interested in the content, not the product itself, making conversions to signed-up users extremely low, sometimes less than 1%.

• For example, a user searching for information on a specific health concern might not be motivated to sign up for a product even if it's relevant to their query.
• The pressure from search engine optimization (SEO) to present as much content as possible can also hinder signup rates.

User Retention and Frequency

Retention, another key metric, presents similar challenges. The article discusses the common phenomenon of users churning or becoming inactive after an initial period of engagement, often resulting in a vast majority (over 90%) being inactive on any given day. This drop-off in activity can be attributed to a combination of factors.

• The initial onboarding process, which might not effectively engage new users.
• The product's usefulness over time, where users may lose interest or find it no longer meets their needs.
• User frequency, which can be low, with users only actively using the product a few days a month.

The article stresses that achieving even a 10% daily active user rate (DAU/MAU) is a significant accomplishment, with most products seeing a much lower rate, often around 5% or less.

The Importance of Social Graphs

The article highlights the crucial role of social graphs in user engagement, particularly in social products. It emphasizes that a significant percentage of users (often 50% or more) may lack connections within the product, resulting in a less personalized and engaging experience.

• This lack of connection can be attributed to the difficulty in building a dense social graph from scratch.
• Examples like Instagram illustrate this point, where initially over 65% of users were disconnected from anyone else, highlighting the challenge of building a connected community.

The article emphasizes that a denser social graph, achieved through growth and strategies for connecting users to existing networks, is essential for creating a dynamic and engaging experience.

Strategies for Boosting Engagement

While the article acknowledges the inherent difficulties in driving engagement, it offers some key strategies:

• Focus on pre-existing user behaviors: Rather than trying to change user habits, align your product with existing behaviors to create natural points of engagement.
• Improve onboarding: Ensure new users have a positive and engaging onboarding experience to encourage continued use.
• Leverage existing social graphs: Connect users to their existing Facebook accounts, email address books, or other networks to help them bootstrap their relationships within the product.
• Encourage content creation: Design features that encourage user-generated content and foster a sense of community.

The Importance of Perspective

The article emphasizes that despite the challenging nature of engagement metrics, even small increases can lead to significant success. Many successful businesses have been built on a small percentage of users, whether through paid subscriptions, ad-supported models, or other strategies.

The article concludes with a message of encouragement for entrepreneurs, reminding them that while low engagement metrics are a common reality, persistence and innovation are key to building a thriving and engaging product.