Optimizing Daily Active Users in Your App: Benchmarks and Strategies

Understanding the optimal percentage of Daily Active Users (DAUs) in relation to your total user base is crucial for maximizing user engagement and retention. This article offers a deep dive into the benchmarks for various types of apps, along with strategies to improve your DAU percentage.

General Benchmarks for Different Types of Apps

The percentage of DAUs varies significantly depending on the type of app, its purpose, and the target audience. Here are some general benchmarks:

Social Media Apps: Aim for 30% or more of your user base to be DAUs. Gaming Apps: A good DAU percentage can range from 20% to 40%, depending on engagement strategies. Productivity Apps: These often see DAU percentages around 10% to 20%. E-commerce Apps: Aiming for 5% to 15% DAUs is common, especially during promotional periods.

A healthy user engagement level typically targets a DAU percentage of around 10% to 20%. However, focusing on user retention and engagement strategies is crucial for increasing this percentage over time.

Competition Analysis

While there is no hard-and-fast rule for DAU percentages, one effective way to determine if you are on the right track is to compare your app performance with your competitors'.

To see how your rivals are performing in terms of monthly active users (MAUs) and then compare that number to their total and monthly downloads, you can use third-party providers of app intelligence. For example, 42matters Explorer offers insights into MAUs and download data for all Android apps and published/unpublished apps available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

If you would like to test this tool, feel free to inquire. We have a free trial available!

Retention Rates and Benchmarks

Your 60-day DAU retention rate of 20% is inline with the SimilarWeb report on install and usage retention, which shows the average social app retains 19.9% at the 90-day mark. This gives you a starting point for setting your own benchmarks to track your progress.

With a sample size of 2000 users, it is way too early to compare your app to global brands like Snapchat and Facebook, which have powerful network effects and global user bases. At your scale, be sure to also look at your current DAU ratio and separate out various user segments to get a more accurate picture.

Conclusion

Improving daily active users is a multi-faceted process that requires a combination of effective user retention strategies and a strong understanding of industry benchmarks. By continuously monitoring your DAU percentage and comparing it with industry standards and your competition, you can optimize your app for better engagement and retention.