IMVU increased retention by 157% and doubled ARPU with Leanplum
Case Study: Enhancing User Engagement and Revenue at IMVU
The Challenge
IMVU, a leading avatar-based social platform, experienced rapid mobile user growth but faced low retention and engagement challenges. While more users were downloading the app, onboarding drop-off rates were high, and users weren’t progressing through key features like chat rooms, social connections, and in-app purchases. The lack of personalized engagement loops resulted in missed monetization opportunities and lower ARPU than expected. IMVU needed a behavior-driven strategy to keep users engaged, create habit-forming experiences, and improve revenue.
The Solution
To address these challenges, IMVU implemented a comprehensive strategy focusing on optimizing the user experience, personalizing engagement, and enhancing monetization through targeted campaigns and A/B testing:
Onboarding Optimization: IMVU identified significant drop-offs during the onboarding process, particularly when users reached the home screen. To counter this, the team conducted extensive A/B testing of different home screen layouts using Leanplum's platform. By segmenting the home screen experience based on user stages, IMVU tailored content to better meet user expectations, resulting in a 5% increase in retention and a 13% boost in in-app purchases.
Avatar Customization Incentives: Recognizing the importance of avatar personalization in user engagement, IMVU experimented with increasing the initial free credits offered to new users from 2,000 to 10,000. This initiative encouraged deeper interaction with avatar customization features, leading to a 157% increase in retention and a doubling of ARPU.
Retargeting Campaigns: To re-engage inactive users, IMVU partnered with InMobi to launch display ad retargeting campaigns. These campaigns targeted users outside the app, encouraging them to return and redeem free credits. This strategy led to a 279% increase in revenue over a few months.
Habit-Forming Engagement Loops: IMVU designed a series of engagement hooks to create habit-forming loops:
Avatar Creation to Chat Room Visits: Encouraged users who created an avatar to visit a chat room, resulting in a 50% increase in chat room visits.
Chat Room Participation to Friend Connections: Prompted users in chat rooms to make friends, leading to a 40% increase in friend connections.
Friend Connections to Shop Visits: Motivated users with new friends to visit the shop, achieving a 30% increase in purchases.
Purchases to Social Sharing: Encouraged purchasers to share on their feed, resulting in a 25% increase in feed shares.
Social Sharing to Chat Room Re-engagement: Prompted users who shared photos to revisit chat rooms, reinforcing the engagement cycle.
These strategies collectively enhanced user engagement, retention, and monetization on the IMVU platform.
Results
Through the implementation of these targeted strategies, IMVU achieved significant improvements:
Retention: Increased by 157%, indicating enhanced user engagement and satisfaction.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): Doubled, reflecting improved monetization efforts.
In-App Engagement: Achieved a 5% increase in retention and a 13% boost in in-app purchases following home screen optimizations. Additionally, there was a 7% increase in in-app chats and a 17% rise in sharing activity on user profiles.
Revenue Growth: Experienced a 279% revenue increase after launching retargeting campaigns with personalized incentives.
These outcomes underscore the effectiveness of IMVU's data-driven approach to enhancing user engagement and driving revenue growth.
