Gamification works — at least, that’s what SessionM is trying to show with some new data about its customer results.
The company offers mobile publishers a platform for adding game mechanics to their apps, including a rewards system called mPoints. The goal is to increase user engagement and retention. And apparently, these efforts are actually paying off, with developers seeing a 35 percent increase in retention rate and a 25 percent lower bounce rate after integrating SessionM.
By looking at publisher data and performing its own A/B testing, the company also compared activity between SessionM users and non-users. It said that SessionM led to a 250 percent lift in in-app activities per visit, and the SessionM users were 40 times more likely to perform in-app social activities, like sharing content and checking-in.
I did wonder whether the difference can be solely attributed to SessionM — it may also be that people who use SessionM are just more likely to engage in these types of activities. When I brought this up while writing the post, a spokesperson responded:
So, SessionM thinks this is a fair question but we actually have seen an increase in key in-app activities among SessionM users. Moreover, SessionM metrics including the overall increase in retention and decrease in bounce rate across all app users point to a direct correlation between engagement lift and SessionM. So yes, we can confidently say we’ve driven engagement.
In addition to helping publishers with engagement, SessionM also provides an opt-in platform for advertisers. CEO Lars Albright (who previously co-founded and led mobile ad network Quattro, which was acquired by Apple) said he was particularly pleased that users seem to receptive to the company’s ad efforts. “Many” developers are actually seeing users opt-in to the ad platform at rates above 70 percent, according to SessionM.
Lastly, Albright claimed that the company is seeing impressive numbers across all of its publisher categories.
“We’re not just going after a gaming audience that’s young and male,” he said. “We’re going after the whole mobile audience.”
SessionM’s investors include Highland Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Charles River Ventures.