How to set up a user engagement campaign in Pushwoosh

Create user engagement campaigns with Pushwoosh Customer Journey Builder

Has your new user already completed onboarding and got activated? Great! Now it is time to ensure they maintain interest in your app. A well-designed engagement campaign will allow you to:

  • Build long-term relationships with users

  • Keep users loyal to your product

  • Increase revenue

The steps below will help you set up an effective app campaign for engagement using our Customer Journey Builder.

Think about campaign entry points

In Customer Journey Builder, each campaign starts with an entry point that contains a specific trigger or user segment. Configure triggers or segments depending on what type of entry you want to use:

  • Trigger-based entry: the campaign is launched when a user triggers an event (i.e. performs a specific action). If you want to set a triggered-based entry, first set up Events in your Pushwoosh project.

  • Audience-based entry: the campaign is launched for all users of a specific segment. If you want to set an audience-based entry, first set up Tags that identify your users and create Segments based on these tags.

To drive better engagement, you can create different campaigns depending on predefined triggers or user segments. You can also add several entry points to a single campaign: both trigger- and audience-based.

Prepare engaging content

Think about what content you want to use for your engagement campaign. It may differ depending on user segments and behavior scenarios.

You can also personalize the content (e.g. insert the user's name or mention their preferences in a message). Personalized communications can improve CTR and conversion.

In Customer Journey Builder, you can combine different channels for better engagement, so you may consider creating content specifically for these channels:

  • Push notifications are good for bringing users back into the app and establishing a habit of using it. It can be something interesting that urges users to open the app (e.g. alerts, news, special offers).

  • In-app messages are suitable for presenting helpful tips inside the app and asking for feedback. However, you cannot bring users back into the app by using in-apps only, so it’s better to use them along with push notifications.

  • Emails are perfect for industries like e-commerce. You can send follow-ups after some target action (e.g. purchase), give valuable tips and ideas on using your app, or make special offers.

Create a Customer Journey

Now it’s time to create your campaign in our Customer Journey Builder:

Campaign structure can vary greatly depending on your goals. In our example, we'll show you how to set up a simple engagement campaign for a music streaming app:

1. Define entry points

In our example music streaming app, we will add an audience-based entry point to engage jazz lovers:

To create a jazz lovers segment, we ran an onboarding campaign to find out users' music preferences. Each user was assigned a Preferences tag value according to their response. Using the values of this tag, we created segments based on musical tastes.

2. Send an engaging push

Let's send a push notification to all jazz lovers about a special playlist in the app:

To create this push notification, we first created a deep link leading to a modern jazz playlist. Then we configured a push message containing this deep link and saved it as a preset.

We will split the flow depending on whether this push is opened or ignored:

We will also set silent hours to avoid bothering users when they are not likely to be listening to music:

3.1. Add a listening time trigger

for those who opened the push notification

Now we will divide those who clicked on the push notification into two groups: users who listened to the playlist for an extended period of time and users who took very little time before closing the playlist.

First, we will set up the "N minutes listened" event in the app and the Pushwoosh project.

After that, we will add the Wait for Trigger element with the "N minutes listened" event selected:

3.2. Set a time delay

for those who did not open the push notification

If the user does not click on the push notification, we will set a one-day Time Delay before trying to get them back in the app again:

4.1. Update a user profile

for those who triggered the “N minutes listened” event

If the user has triggered the "N minutes listened" event, we will tag them as Listened to Modern jazz playlist. To do this, we will add the Update User Profile element:

We created the Listened to Modern Jazz playlist tag beforehand and selected the boolean data type.

Add tags to segment the audience further and send relevant future recommendations.

4.2. Send one more engaging push

for those who did not open the first push or did not trigger the “N minutes listened” event

Let’s send another engaging push to those not interested in the playlist to try and get them back into the app. We will invite these users to listen to the track of the day:

To create this push notification, we first created a deep link leading to the track of the day section. Then we configured a push message containing this deep link and saved it as a preset.

To get the best results here, you can personalize the content of your push notifications.

If the user opens the Track of the day push, we will wait for the "N minutes listened" trigger to fire and continue on Journey:

5.1. Show an in-app for further engagement

for those who triggered the “N minutes listened” event

Now we want to show more engaging content to users who have listened to our playlist. First, we will create a Rich Media with a button leading to the Trends section.

Then we will add the In-App element to the canvas:

5.2. Wait for the user to open the app

for those who did not open the second push notification

If the user does not open the second push, we will give them one more day to open the app. For this purpose, we will add the Wait for Trigger element and specify the default PW_ApplicationOpen event with a one-day wait period:

If the user opens the app within one day, we will also show them the Explore Trends in-app:

You can tag users who have not responded to any stage of your engagement campaign. Then, after some time, you can launch a new campaign designed specifically for such users or run a similar engagement campaign with slightly modified push content. You can read more about re-engaging users in our blog.

6. Finish the Journey

To end the campaign, we will add the Exit from Journey element. The campaign will end when the Explore Trends in-app appears or if the user has not responded to any step of the campaign:

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