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Why won't people come back to my app?

Idea threads

EntreEden

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Hey all! I'm new to the fastlane and have been working on some side projects to test out some ideas I've had.

The current one I'm working on I've called: Internet Confessional

Summary of app:
You anonymously confide in the internet and find community in others’ confessions. Once you answer you can see other people's answers. Prompt refreshes every 24 hours and old answers are deleted.

Screenshots of all the steps below:

internetconfessional.app_(iPhone 12 Pro) (1).pnginternetconfessional.app_(iPhone 12 Pro) (2).pnginternetconfessional.app_(iPhone 12 Pro) (3).pnginternetconfessional.app_answers(iPhone 12 Pro) (6).png

What's My Ultimate Goal

Since I come from a technical background (software engineer), the biggest goal for me was just to better understand and learn user behavior. I want to see if I can make this app sticky enough that I can profit from having ads in the answers feed.

The Beginning​

When I released the app I shared it on my social media, my friends loved it and the organic growth happened immediately. I addressed some feedback and overall people were loving the concept. Then I noticed there was quite a taper.

I asked people why they didn't come back and most of them said they kept forgetting to come back. I would remind people via Instagram stories but it seemed like more of a bandaid fix than a solution.

Learning From Ads​

Then I spent about $30 on Google Ads to see how people outside my friend group would interact and I saw the same thing. High click through rate, AND even people who were clicking through were answering the questions at a high rate. But just like my friends, they weren't coming back

What's Next?​

Here are my thoughts on how to make the app more "sticky"

1. Move this from a web application to iOS so I users can turn on notifications for daily reminders
2. Add some sort of "reward system" for users, whether that's some sort of streak or keeping track of the # of times they've answered

I'm warey to do the first option because that's a lot of development work that might not even give me the results I want, and the second is a bit of work too. I am looking for feedback from experienced entrepreneurs in this forum, am I missing something right in front of me? What is the next step I should take from here?

Thanks if you've read this far :)

edit: grammar
 
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Private Witt

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This is an interesting concept. Basically a pocket priest, which could be an appeal to people to get things off their chest. Do you have competition with similar concepts? If so do they have retention tactics. I'm really not an app guy so not sure what apps do besides notification which I always turn off.
 

EntreEden

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This is an interesting concept. Basically a pocket priest, which could be an appeal to people to get things off their chest. Do you have competition with similar concepts? If so do they have retention tactics. I'm really not an app guy so not sure what apps do besides notification which I always turn off.
The closest ones I could think of is Yik Yak or Blind when it comes to anonymously confiding in a way. They both have their own niches (colleges / tech communities respectively). I'm not sure what they do outside of having a niche to get people coming back, maybe the niche in itself allows for more organic retention (e.g. people asking did you see X post on AppY yesterday)? And of course they have app notifications as well.
 

Private Witt

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The closest ones I could think of is Yik Yak or Blind when it comes to anonymously confiding in a way. They both have their own niches (colleges / tech communities respectively). I'm not sure what they do outside of having a niche to get people coming back, maybe the niche in itself allows for more organic retention (e.g. people asking did you see X post on AppY yesterday)? And of course they have app notifications as well.

I'm sure they have tons of tactics. I did post on your app and it was a quick painless experience. Let's see if I get retained for a longer term. Can say I don't give my email out much but maybe if stick around that conversion will come in time.
 
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Skroob

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This is definitely something you want push notifications for. It’s not surprising that your users are forgetting to come back; it’s a cool idea but not something that engages them in a daily basis. Send a push when a new prompt goes up (use timezones and user metrics to figure out the best time) and potentially when new results come in, and people will start remembering to engage with your app. Just don’t overdo it, people will absolutely delete apps that annoy them with too many notifications.
 

EntreEden

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This is definitely something you want push notifications for. It’s not surprising that your users are forgetting to come back; it’s a cool idea but not something that engages them in a daily basis. Send a push when a new prompt goes up (use timezones and user metrics to figure out the best time) and potentially when new results come in, and people will start remembering to engage with your app. Just don’t overdo it, people will absolutely delete apps that annoy them with too many notifications.

Thanks for the tips @Skroob! I'll work on the iOS version up next, I imagine the hard part next will be convincing people to download it :p :D
 

Skroob

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Private Witt

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Thanks for the tips @Skroob! I'll work on the iOS version up next, I imagine the hard part next will be convincing people to download it :p :D

Used it second time but was reminded here. For sure would of forgot. Also can already see need it as real app as this just won't work in long term. You really will need a reward system and community possiblity. While gonna be tough when anonymous if I keep coming back I'm gonna want some type of step up of sorts to motivate and make more intriguing. Like it though and looking forward to next prompt tomorrow.
 

BizyDad

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Hey all! I'm new to the fastlane and have been working on some side projects to test out some ideas I've had.

The current one I'm working on I've called: Internet Confessional

Summary of app:
You anonymously confide in the internet and find community in others’ confessions. Once you answer you can see other people's answers. Prompt refreshes every 24 hours and old answers are deleted.

Screenshots of all the steps below:

View attachment 47898View attachment 47899View attachment 47900View attachment 47901

What's My Ultimate Goal

Since I come from a technical background (software engineer), the biggest goal for me was just to better understand and learn user behavior. I want to see if I can make this app sticky enough that I can profit from having ads in the answers feed.

The Beginning​

When I released the app I shared it on my social media, my friends loved it and the organic growth happened immediately. I addressed some feedback and overall people were loving the concept. Then I noticed there was quite a taper.

I asked people why they didn't come back and most of them said they kept forgetting to come back. I would remind people via Instagram stories but it seemed like more of a bandaid fix than a solution.

Learning From Ads​

Then I spent about $30 on Google Ads to see how people outside my friend group would interact and I saw the same thing. High click through rate, AND even people who were clicking through were answering the questions at a high rate. But just like my friends, they weren't coming back

What's Next?​

Here are my thoughts on how to make the app more "sticky"

1. Move this from a web application to iOS so I users can turn on notifications for daily reminders
2. Add some sort of "reward system" for users, whether that's some sort of streak or keeping track of the # of times they've answered

I'm warey to do the first option because that's a lot of development work that might not even give me the results I want, and the second is a bit of work too. I am looking for feedback from experienced entrepreneurs in this forum, am I missing something right in front of me? What is the next step I should take from here?

Thanks if you've read this far :)

edit: grammar

This sounds like a juicy idea.

So I was really disappointed when I got there, and I wasn't able to read people's submissions.

My ex-wife used to go to this website where people would do this kind of thing. Maybe it was a Twitter account, I don't really remember. I just remember that she would check it religiously every night. It was a source of comedy. It was a source of I don't even know what.

I think people will come back, if you just publicize what people write. I'm not going to take part in today's question. But I might like to read other people's responses.

Can I do that somehow?

At the very least have a link somewhere where I can go read it. But I would put it right underneath the box asking for submissions.
 
Last edited:

Xeon

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BizyDad nails it completely. One of the main reason FB got big fast back then was the FB Feed. The FB FEED. You should make that the main screen on the app and the "Post" button on the upper right corner.

Side note....I love the font used in the app, beautiful and cute. The app name seems very long and not as brandable, so you should consider changing it some time in future. Apps like these tend to have short, naughty cheeky names.

I would also consider using ChatGPT to generate spicy/"interesting" confessions to attract more people onboard. That's the thing that gets people hooked for more and the content that gets posted on similar apps/sites like yours. People confessing about their office crush, people accidentally soiling their shorts in the bus etc.

Another one that is similar to yours although not identical: Tellonym - Honest & Anonymous Feedback

I see lots of girls posting their tellonym links in their IG bio, so I would assume the target for such apps are mostly women.
 
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EntreEden

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This sounds like a juicy idea.

So I was really disappointed when I got there, and I wasn't able to read people's submissions.

My ex-wife used to go to this website where people would do this kind of thing. Maybe it was a Twitter account, I don't really remember. I just remember that she would check it religiously every night. It was a source of comedy. It was a source of I don't even know what.

I think people will come back, if you just publicize what people write. I'm not going to take part in today's question. But I might like to read other people's responses.

Can I do that somehow?

At the very least have a link somewhere where I can go read it. But I would put it right underneath the box asking for submissions.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

On not seeing the answers:
The reasoning behind having them hidden was to incentivize people to write answers (this was especially important in the beginning to get people to add stuff). After submitting you can see others answers.

But it's a good point maybe I need to rethink that and just show the answers outright. If I do it that way, what's a good way to incentivize people answering? Or do you think that comes naturally?



 

BizyDad

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Or do you think that comes naturally?
My ex-wife used to go to this website where people would do this kind of thing. Maybe it was a Twitter account, I don't really remember. I just remember that she would check it religiously every night. It was a source of comedy. It was a source of I don't even know what.

No incentive needed. People will just submit.

Try it. If it doesn't work you can always switch it back.

One more suggestion.

If you show this content, then you can change your email request.

-----
Get Today's Topic In Your Inbox.

Don't miss out
-----


One more suggestion.

If you do the last suggestion, send the emails out later in the day. That way people can come back to read, not just to submit.

One more suggestion.

If you do this, add a like button, and show the most liked posts at the top of the list each day.

People will secretly want that top post, so you'll get submissions. And they'll probably post earlier in the day naturally, for a better chance at the likes.

One more suggestion.

Eventually, you might want to segment the email list and time when the emails go out.

If at some point you really think this is going to be big, you might as well build that functionality in early. But seriously, this little idea of yours can have a worldwide reach.

Man, I'm on a roll today...

Hope this helps.
 

EntreEden

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BizyDad nails it completely. One of the main reason FB got big fast back then was the FB Feed. The FB FEED. You should make that the main screen on the app and the "Post" button on the upper right corner.

Side note....I love the font used in the app, beautiful and cute. The app name seems very long and not as brandable, so you should consider changing it some time in future. Apps like these tend to have short, naughty cheeky names.

I would also consider using ChatGPT to generate spicy/"interesting" confessions to attract more people onboard. That's the thing that gets people hooked for more and the content that gets posted on similar apps/sites like yours. People confessing about their office crush, people accidentally soiling their shorts in the bus etc.

Another one that is similar to yours although not identical: Tellonym - Honest & Anonymous Feedback

I see lots of girls posting their tellonym links in their IG bio, so I would assume the target for such apps are mostly women.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

I've actually been using ChatGPT for responses especially when it's slow Couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

And a good point about the name (it was even longer before) but I'll start thinking of something that rolls off the tongue more.

Also I haven't heard about Tellonym before, thanks! It's been hard to find similar apps so I'll do some more research on this one
 
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EntreEden

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Jan 19, 2023
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No incentive needed. People will just submit.

Try it. If it doesn't work you can always switch it back.

One more suggestion.

If you show this content, then you can change your email request.

-----
Get Today's Topic In Your Inbox.

Don't miss out
-----


One more suggestion.

If you do the last suggestion, send the emails out later in the day. That way people can come back to read, not just to submit.

One more suggestion.

If you do this, add a like button, and show the most liked posts at the top of the list each day.

People will secretly want that top post, so you'll get submissions. And they'll probably post earlier in the day naturally, for a better chance at the likes.

One more suggestion.

Eventually, you might want to segment the email list and time when the emails go out.

If at some point you really think this is going to be big, you might as well build that functionality in early. But seriously, this little idea of yours can have a worldwide reach.

Man, I'm on a roll today...

Hope this helps.

This is gold! Thank you for giving me a ton of ideas to iterate on and, "Try it. If it doesn't work you can always switch it back." that's a great point, not sure why I didn't just think about that.

I like the idea especially of doing the emails out much later after the submissions start coming in so people aren't showing up to a blank page

"If you do this, add a like button, and show the most liked posts at the top of the list each day":
I was a little torn on this, it felt sort of unethical to have likes tied to people's confessionals but at the end of the day likes really do drive submissions so it might end up going that way anyway (or else how will I know what to put at the top automatically)

Thanks again for all the advice
 

BizyDad

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This is gold! Thank you for giving me a ton of ideas to iterate on and, "Try it. If it doesn't work you can always switch it back." that's a great point, not sure why I didn't just think about that.

I like the idea especially of doing the emails out much later after the submissions start coming in so people aren't showing up to a blank page

"If you do this, add a like button, and show the most liked posts at the top of the list each day":
I was a little torn on this, it felt sort of unethical to have likes tied to people's confessionals but at the end of the day likes really do drive submissions so it might end up going that way anyway (or else how will I know what to put at the top automatically)

Thanks again for all the advice
Don't call it a like.

People are going to be sharing some sad stories, some awful things, you don't want to call it a like.

Call it an upvote. Maybe even offer a down vote.

Or come up with some similar terminology that is your own unique to your site.

Edit 1. Please keep this as a progress thread, and let us know how it goes. I'd be fascinated to look at the analytics behind this thing as it grows.

Edit 2. Oh wait, don't put analytics. It's got to be anonymous. Shoot, I'm really torn on this...

Well, glad I'm not the one who has to decide if analytics goes on it or not.
 

EntreEden

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Don't call it a like.

People are going to be sharing some sad stories, some awful things, you don't want to call it a like.

Call it an upvote. Maybe even offer a down vote.

Or come up with some similar terminology that is your own unique to your site.

Edit 1. Please keep this as a progress thread, and let us know how it goes. I'd be fascinated to look at the analytics behind this thing as it grows.

Edit 2. Oh wait, don't put analytics. It's got to be anonymous. Shoot, I'm really torn on this...

Well, glad I'm not the one who has to decide if analytics goes on it or not.

Once there's enough users it'll be easy to share some anonymous high level analytics! I'll definitely keep y'all updated on the journey, thanks for the support and feedback
 
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