What is lifecycle tracking?

Lifecycle tracking is an umbrella term that covers the measurement of a user’s ‘lifespan’ with an app, which Adjust tracks through our uninstall and reinstall features.

To understand how lifecycle tracking can be used to help improve retention, let’s take a look at an example previously featured on our blog:

Let's say you’re a marketer for a travel app and you want to run a video ad campaign about your new speedy check-in feature. You’ll want to track how many users trigger the new feature, as well as their subsequent retention.

As is common for many travel apps, you understand that 90% of your users will uninstall your app after they check into their flight. But those same users are likely to reinstall the app the next time they fly. In this case, if your team ignores uninstalls and reinstalls, the campaign will show a high conversion rate with low retention, which we know is incorrect.

By enabling lifecycle tracking, your travel app can pinpoint the moment users are most likely to uninstall and reinstall, allowing you to better understand users’ needs. If you know your user is likely to uninstall just after their flight, you might decide to retarget that user with an offer for 20% off a hotel booking – but make the offer an in-app exclusive. That way, the user is encouraged keep the app for longer, or even make a second purchase.

Lifecycle tracking is also an important KPI for e-commerce apps. For example, a successful retention campaign could be the difference between an abandoned cart and a significant purchase event.

With Adjust, uninstall and reinstall events can be tracked and reported automatically in your deliverables and cohorts reports as new. This gives you insight into why users leave, and helps you work out how to bring them back.

It’s possible to use Adjust’s Audience Builder to create a custom list of these user who have uninstalled and reinstalled. This means you can target users who churned, and zero-in on them with direct messaging based on their last interaction.