What is Mobile Analytics? Guide, Best Practices & Tools

In a time when creating and launching apps is fairly easy, designing apps for users becomes an edge. Mobile app analytics allow you to understand user behavior and improve your app accordingly.

Factors like user sessions, heatmaps, and conversion rates are important to determine app success. In this guide, we’ll explore mobile analytics and how you can use them.

What are Mobile App Analytics?

Mobile app analytics allow developers to gather data in order to understand user behavior, retention and conversion rates. They can help you get insights on factors such as:

• The app screens users engage with the most
• The way users navigate through your app workflows
• The most common gestures and interactions in your app

These insights can help you understand user interactions and make informed decisions for your app. Hence, you can notice points of friction and fix them.

Why are Mobile Analytics Important?

User acquisition is the first step to an app’s growth. Other important metrics such as user retention, app downloads, and conversion rates define your app’s success. If these metrics fall, it also increases user acquisition costs. 

Mobile analytics allow you to find gaps and patterns where users may be struggling. You can find areas of improvement and track KPIs. This data can help you enhance user experience and eventually, improve key metrics.

Key Mobile Analytics Metrics for Apps

There are several mobile analytics KPIs that are essential for the tools to be actually useful. Here are the top mobile analytics metrics to track:

• Downloads: It defines how many users install your app over a set period of time.
• Daily Active Users (DAU): It measures the number of users who use your app on a regular basis. 
• Monthly Active Users (MAU): It measures the number of users who use your app on a monthly basis. You can define what ‘user activity’ means to your app.
• Session Length: It measures the average amount of time a user spends on your app per session. 
• Retention Rate: It measures the number of users who use your app regularly after installing it. 
• Conversion Rate: It calculates the percentage of users who convert into paying users. 
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): It estimates the total revenue you can expect from a user throughout their relationship with your app.

5 Best Mobile Analytics Tools

Just like for web app, mobile apps also have mobile analytics tools. They can allow you to find trends, measure user patterns, and make next moves. 

Some of the best mobile analytics tools are:

1. Google Analytics for Firebase

Google Analytics for Firebase is a free analytics tool designed to provide insights on user engagement, app performance, and marketing insights. It is essential for product teams who want basic insights on their app. 

The platform integrates well with the Google ecosystem. This includes Google Ads, BigQuery, and Cloud Messaging, allowing you to get detailed insights for marketing campaigns.

Here are the key features: 

• Monitor user activity and app performance in real-time
• Track key user events (such as downloads, in-app purchases, screen views)
• Personalize marketing campaigns with user segmentation

2. UXCam

UXCam is a product analytics tool focused on user experience. The platform is built for mobile, web, and hybrid apps. With UXCam, you can understand user behavior through session replays, heatmaps, funnels, and event analytics. 

In addition to cross-platform analytics, you can get an in-depth view of user journeys. Hence, you can identify friction points and improve your app’s overall user experience.

Here are the key features: 

• Track analytics and understand user behavior seamlessly
• Watch user sessions in real-time to understand conversions and navigations
• Use heatmaps to find engagement hotspots and usability issues

3. Adjust

Adjust is a mobile analytics and attribution platform focused primarily on marketing. Built for marketing teams, the tool allows you to track campaign performance and measure ROI. You can use the platform to understand how users found your app and engaged with it. 

Here are the key features: 

• Identify where the app’s installations and conversions come from
• Protect ad budgets using built-in fraud detection
• Create dynamic user segments for campaigns and engagements

4. Mixpanel

Mixpanel uses event-based data to track, analyze, and optimize for user interactions. The platform can help you get insights on navigation flows and conversion-driving metrics. 

Here are the key features: 

• Track every key user interaction using event-based data
• Identify conversion bottlenecks by tracking user journeys
• Create visual dashboards to track KPIs in real-time

5. Amplitude

Amplitude is a web and mobile app analytics tool focused on product and user behavior. Digital teams can use the platform to understand friction points and make data-driven decisions. It can help you gain deep behavioral insights to improve user retention rate.

Here are the key features: 

• Analyze user behavior via funnels and engagement patterns
• Identify patterns that lead to long-term user retention 
• Map out user journeys to find conversion bottlenecks 
• Do A/B testing and measure impact on user behavior and KPIs

Best Practices to Get Mobile Analytics Data

It’s one thing to set up mobile analytics tools, but analyzing the data is another thing. Let’s understand the five best practices for mobile app analytics. 

1. Set clear objectives

Define what exactly you want to do with the mobile analytics data. What are the end-goals you’re aiming to achieve? Whether it’s to boost user engagement or improve user journeys, the specific goal will guide your analytics strategy.

In addition, identify the KPIs that align with your goals. Choose metrics that allow you to get actionable insights for your objectives.

2. Select an analytics tool

Next, find an analytics tool that aligns with your goals and KPIs. Consider factors such as integrations, cost, ease of use, and features as you choose the best tool. 

Use multiple tools before you settle on one. Compare their usability, number of features, accuracy, and relevance to your app. 

3. Ensure data privacy

Enforce clear and direct privacy policies specifying how you collect, store, and use user data. Make sure that your app users consent to these terms and conditions. 

In addition, ensure to update your security protocols regularly to protect against frauds. Protect user data with strong security measures. 

4. Connect analytics to your app

Once you’ve chosen your analytics tool, incorporate the analytics software development kits (SDKs) into your app’s codebase. Activate necessary features such as event tracking to get detailed data view.

Make sure to update the SDKs regularly to keep your analytics tool updated. This way, your app can access the latest features and security updates easily. 

5. Analyze the data

Check your dashboards and analyze key metrics regularly. Look for patterns, gaps, and trends and make informed decisions for your app on that basis.

Use the data to get insights on user behavior and app performance. These insights can help you redesign the app, test new features, and fix bugs to enhance user experience.

Conclusion

It’s one thing to integrate mobile analytics tools, but it’s a whole another journey to make use of it. Prioritize user feedback and real data more than surface-level talks. Consider both qualitative and quantitative data to measure user needs.

In addition, make sure that your team is also capable of using these analytics. They should know how to analyze and use user data effectively.