As marketers and business people, we all know that the best way to attract our customers is by highlighting the major benefits of our product to them. To attract customers quickly and also make them stay, it is important that benefits are put across more quickly.

But that’s not the case with several apps out there. As a result, these apps lose out on a good number of prospective users by not onboarding them right. 

So how do you ensure that users come to your app and reach the desired activation point?

The one thing that can ensure customers stick around is a good user onboarding experience. 

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What is user onboarding? Definition

User onboarding is not just about making new users proficient at using your application. User onboarding is defined as the initial interaction with the application that helps users achieve a goal. 

Treat user onboarding as the build-up towards the activation point and an experience awaiting your users.

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User onboarding is important for new users because it:

• Introduces them to core features and benefits offered by the app
• Helps them experience what your product enables them to do
• Helps them unlock the inherent value of the app and reach their "aha moment".

User activation - Let’s talk numbers

• Over 55% of users agree to not activating a mobile app because of a long or confusing onboarding/registration process.
• Over 45% of users quit using an app due to a time-consuming login process.
• 1 out of every 4 users on the app does not return to the platform after the first use.
• Over two-thirds of SaaS companies have churn rates greater than 5%.

These numbers help us understand the perils of a badly designed user onboarding and why user onboarding is crucial in achieving user activation.

Here are 5 ways in which good user onboarding leads to user activation

1. Reduces time-to-value

Time to value is a customer metric that measures the length of time it takes before a customer sees positive results from using your product.

Over 80% of people say they would be more likely to stay loyal to a business that invests in onboarding content that welcomes and educates them after they have bought the product.  

The quickest way to make users realize the value of your app is to offer a more contextual experience that helps users satisfy their goals.

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Canva is the best example when it comes to reducing time to value and enhancing the user experience. Did you notice the innovative way in which it guides users to use the platform and create designs on their own?

Quick tip: Leave behind old and overused product tours. Build intuitive and progressive onboarding walkthroughs that drive actions, engage users, and lead them toward activation.

2. Engages users with key features of the product

There are several ways to introduce a feature to first-time users. The best thing to do here is to highlight the core features in the first few steps of the onboarding process.

Contextual nudges make your users familiar with the new feature by grabbing their attention in the most non-intrusive way.

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Here's a great example of a nudge: Netflix uses a nudge to help users discover all the "new and hot" content on the platform.

Another example for this is how one of India’s largest fintech apps, IIFL, helps new users quickly go through the app, and add funds to start transactions. 

IIFL uses Apxor’s Onboarding Walkthroughs to the best possible effect.

Quick tip: Experiment with different nudges depending on the type of feature. Use coach marks, tooltips, pop-ups for one-time use features and video tutorial nudges for more detailed features.

3. Drives activation with personalized, behavioral onboarding

Personalized onboarding is about understanding your user's goals and helping them meet those goals by showcasing the right value at the right time.

Personalize app onboarding flows to help you reduce friction and keep your users motivated throughout the process. 

Duolingo is the perfect example of personalized onboarding. There is a good reason why millions of users across the globe prefer it to achieve their language learning goals. 

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Quick tip: Understand your user's motivations, goals and priorities, to guide them in the right direction.

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4. Deliver a quick win for the users

The biggest mistake made by app onboarding journeys today is preventing the user from finding out if the app is a good fit for them. 

If the onboarding process keeps introducing one feature after the other, it can end up making the users feel lost within the app. 

The biggest responsibility of a user onboarding process is to help its users experience a meaningful quick win. It helps your users realize the value of the app and motivates them to turn towards activation. 

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For example, Slack has identified that its user’s priority is to create a channel and add team members to communicate with them on that channel. So, the first thing it makes its users do is to create a Slack channel to bring all the related conversations in one place.

Quick tip: Focus on the user's priorities and make achieving those priorities a goal for your onboarding flow.

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5. Keeps users on track and nudges them in the right direction to activate

A good user onboarding flow creates a tunnel vision for your first-time users. It gets them excited and motivated to get through the onboarding process and reach the stage where the app satisfies their goals. 

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What’s more, activation does not always have to happen right after onboarding. It can even happen in a day or later. For Facebook, activation was adding 7 friends. This means, keeping users engaged and helping them understand your app’s core features is equally important after onboarding. 

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Bring in elements like core features, interactive walkthroughs, and personalization to create a more engaging onboarding experience for your users that leads to quick user activation.

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Take inspiration from Evernote to understand the blend of personalization, interactive walkthroughs, and core features.

Quick tip: Benefit-focused + function-focused + action-focused = Quick user activation

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Final thoughts

In this article, we showed you how good user onboarding leads to user activation, with examples. Remember, once you figure out the key drivers of user activation, make adjustments to your onboarding process such that it adds value for your users. Personalize your user onboarding process to increase app retention, product activation and reduce the time to value. To bring them closer to activation, make the app onboarding more specific for your app and for the user.