Duolingo · B2C · language learning app
Email lapsed users a weekly progress report comparing this week to last
Guest says simple activity stats get most of the value; no numbers
Workedemailretention
What they did
For users lapsed from about 1 to a few weeks, send a weekly progress-report email comparing this week's activity to last week's (XP earned, time spent). Email gives more room than a push to users who may have uninstalled. Test many copy tones for the lapsed case: hopeful ('Have you taken a break? Come back and jump in'), a challenge ('seems like a slow week. How much are you going to learn this week?'), or slightly passive-aggressive. Showing simple engagement stats and letting the user infer the value was cheaper to build than content-specific recaps (words learned) and got most of the benefit.
What happened
Showing activity stats with supportive copy is 'much easier' and gets 'a lot of the bang for the buck' compared with richer learning recaps.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How to Time Reactivation Campaigns for Maximum Impact — Jackson Shuttleworth, Duolingo“this is nice, because it is a weekly progress comparison, where week to week, we say, "Hey, how did you do this week versus how you did last week?"”
“just showing a user how much they've done and allowing them to infer, and using copy to support it, like, "Hey, look at all the stuff you've done," it's much easier, and honestly, gets, you know, a lot of the bang for the buck.”
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