What Are in-App Nudges?

In-app nudges are subtle prompts within an app that encourage users to take action. They're designed to influence behavior and get people to do things like sign up, upgrade, or make a purchase without being too pushy.

Gentle Reminders

In-app nudges are gentle reminders, not aggressive sales tactics. They highlight features, new content or deals in a casual, helpful way. For example, an in-app message may point out that a user hasn't posted in a while or remind them to invite friends to join.

Meeting Users Where They Are

The key to in-app nudges is serving them up at the right place and time. They should appear when users are already engaged with the app to have the biggest impact. If someone is browsing products, a nudge about a sale or coupon is well-timed. Mentioning an upgrade when they're actively using a free tool is also strategic.

Keeping Things Subtle

In-app nudges should never interrupt the user experience or clutter the interface. They use casual language and are visually unobtrusive, blending right into the normal flow and style of the app. The goal is for them to almost feel like a natural part of the product, not an ad or push notification. 

Different Kinds of in-App Nudges

In-app nudges gently encourage users to take action in helpful ways. The most common types are:

1) Walkthroughs

In-app walkthroughs are a series of personalized tooltips that help guide users through your product to take them from one action to the other. With step-by-step instructions, you can easily decrease the time-to-value. It uses the art of persuasion that leaves users feeling empowered rather than overwhelmed.

2) Spotlight

A spotlight is used to introduce or highlight a feature within the app that you want the user to pay attention to. By highlighting the benefits and functionalities of these features, spotlights make it impossible for your users to miss out on them. 

3) Onboarding tour

Interactive onboarding tours are used to create a smooth onboarding experience for new users and help them get acquainted with the app. They are friendly and concise, and help users get comfortable with the breadth of options available. 

4) Coachmarks

Coachmarks are positional nudges that make features stand out and bring users’ attention to them, hence fostering their usage and activation. They’re also used to encourage users to engage and convert depending on the context. 

5) Checklists

Checklists are used to break down complex steps to get started into simple chunks so that users can focus on one task at a time without having to remember what comes next. 

6) In-app messages

In-app messages are used to provide personalized and timely information to the users based on actions (or inactions) to encourage conversion and completed purchases. They can be used to cross-sell, upsell, promote offers, show targeted recommendations, and more. 

Why are in-app nudges used

In-app nudges are designed to motivate users and encourage specific actions or behaviors within an app. They give you subtle clues and reminders to complete a desired task. Apps use nudges because they want you to engage more with their product and make onboarding easier. 

The more you engage, the more valuable you become as a user. Some common nudges include:

• Onboarding prompts: “Welcome to X. Let’s get you set up!”

• Feature discovery: “Click on this button to access your e-wallet”

• Upselling: “For only $2.99, unlock double coins for life!”

Nudges work because they tap into psychological motivations and cognitive biases. The fear of missing out, scarcity, social proof, and reciprocity are all levers that nudges pull to influence behavior.

Best Practices for Implementing in-App Nudges

1) Choose the right moment

In-app nudges should be timed to catch the user when they're most receptive. Send a nudge when the user has just completed an action in your app, like finishing a level in a game or adding an item to their cart. Their engagement and motivation will be high, so they'll be more likely to take the next step you suggest.

2) Keep nudges succinct

With in-app nudges, less is more. Keep your nudge brief, around 10-15 words or 1-2 short sentences. Be specific in your ask and clear in the next step the user should take. If a nudge is too long or complicated, the user is less likely to read or act on it.

3) Focus on one goal

Have a single, clear goal or call-to-action for each in-app nudge. Don't confuse the user or split their attention between multiple requests. Decide on the one thing you most want the user to do next and craft your message around motivating them to complete that action.

4) Test and optimize

See what works for your users through A/B testing different nudges. Try variations in messaging, timing, and placement to find the approach that generates the highest engagement and conversion rates. Make ongoing tweaks to continue optimizing in-app nudges and improving the user experience.