How to Quickly Raise Voice App Retention

Voice-first applications are more popular now than ever! Smart speaker adoption is set to surpass 100 million by the end of the year, and businesses are scrambling to provide voice applications to cash in on the growing platform. While the future seems bright for voice platforms, some developers might be wringing their hands.How can one stand out in this fiercely competitive space? And how does one increase voice app retention to keep those users?

Voice app retention has a unique set of challenges. If users engage with your voice app via a smart speaker, they don’t have a screen to help them remember how to invoke that skill in the future. And the lack of screen hampers discoverability as well, so users are keen to stick to what works without seeking alternative options—so if your skill doesn’t make a good first impression, you might lose them forever. That said, there’s plenty you can do to boost Alexa skill retention by keeping an eye on Alexa voice analytics and revising your conversation design.

Increase Voice App Retention by Forming Habits

There are two major categories of voice apps with high retention: those that fit into daily routines and those that have some sort of utility (like controlling connected appliances). Scan the Google Assistant actions directory and you’ll find things like daily news apps, nightly bedtime stories, meditation apps and more which all fit into the context of their users’ everyday lives.

If you want similar success, you’ll need to consider the context of your voice app or Alexa skill. When are people using it? Where are people using it? Check in on Alexa voice analytics and see when and how users engage with your voice app. Then, determine whether that aligns with your vision.

Keep an Eye on Alexa Skill Analytics for Errors

There’s more to your Alexa skill analytics than seeing when people talk to your app. Alexa voice analytics are essential for discovering when and how often users run into errors as they engage with the bot. Handling errors is critical to user satisfaction. This is important because your app’s ratings and reviews will determine its page rankings in directories, as well as whether it gets featured or not.

Ideally, you want to increase your rate of successful sessions. These are sessions in which the app successfully returns a response that meets the user need. A high rate of success will encourage users to continue using the app and make them more likely to recommend it to a friend.

Alright, so how do you increase success with Alexa skill analytics? First, follow the conversation paths users take by analysing live transcripts of conversations. Ensure that there aren’t too many conversation steps for the user to arrive at an answer. Also look to see where user dropoff occurs and if there are any patterns you can see (for example, do a significant portion of users stop talking to the app at the same step?).

When assessing Alexa voice analytics, pay careful attention toward errors your users face. Common errors include:

The bot is mishearing certain commands it receives
It doesn’t have a response for certain commands.
The bot goes into a feedback loop.
It’s critical that you solve these problems as soon as they happen to mitigate user frustration. Doing so ensures your users have a great experience, which translates to higher Alexa skill retention.

The Low-Down on Voice App Retention

In closing, there are a few points to remember when it comes to voice app retention. Skills with the highest retention:

Have few to no errors
Are simple and easy to use
Provide fresh content or are habit-forming
Focus on doing one thing well

By tailoring your voice app to achieve these qualities, you can easily increase your Alexa skill retention and meet success.