Duolingo · B2C · language learning app
Ask active users to bring back friends who stopped using the app
One of the best-performing winbacks; beats app-sent messages, even from leaderboard strangers
Workedretentionproduct-viralitynotifications
What they did
Using the in-app social graph (55-60% of users have a friend), prompt active users to reach out to friends who have been gone for months ('get them to come back'). The message comes from a person, not the brand. Returning users are then eased into social features such as friend streaks (learning alongside that friend). Even winback messages from strangers met on the leaderboard get higher click-through than Duolingo's own messages.
What happened
One of Duolingo's best-performing resurrection/winback campaigns; messages from friends and even leaderboard strangers get a much higher click-through rate than brand messages.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How to Time Reactivation Campaigns for Maximum Impact — Jackson Shuttleworth, Duolingo“one of the things that we've, again, threads we've been pulling on, is getting users to resurrect each other.”
“this is one of our best-performing resurrection campaigns, or winback campaigns, just because, a, it feels more personal.”
Related topics
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- Sell a one-time ad-free month at $3, $5 or $10 to test demandUptake far above expectations; led to the subscription
- Tell users on the paywall you'll remind them on day 5 of a 7-day trialWon A/B tests by easing fear of subscription traps
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- Let an algorithm pick from 250 reminder messages, and A/B test adding new onesNotifications called a top retention driver; no numbers shared
- Keep reminders to about three words for newer users; say more to loyal onesThree-word messages 'worked really well'; no numbers shared
More from this episode
- Duolingo: Send one practice reminder for each missed day; stop after day 7Reminder efficacy drops sharply by day 7; users gone past day 3-4 rarely return
- Duolingo: Send tomorrow's reminder 23.5 hours after today's lesson, not at a time users pickBeat every other scheduling strategy tested, including user-chosen times
- Duolingo: Email lapsed users a weekly progress report comparing this week to lastGuest says simple activity stats get most of the value; no numbers
- Duolingo: Let a learning system pick which reminder wording each user getsPractice reminder copy under test for 6 years; no lift numbers shared
- Duolingo: Send even long-gone users a fun, personal year-in-review of their statsGuest says personal hooks perform much better than product updates; no numbers
- Duolingo: Aim winback messages at back-to-school and New Year's resolution seasonGuest calls these the most important times of year; no numbers