How to Boost User Engagement for Finance and Crypto Mobile Apps

Financial institutions and crypto companies are pushing more of their customers to digital platforms in a bid to free up resources and cut costs. According to market research firm Mintel, 65% of consumers now use financial apps to make payments or transfers. This figure will only increase as younger and more tech-savvy consumers enter the market.

When it comes to cryptocurrency, digital apps and web platforms are the only way to manage and facilitate payments. New cryptocurrencies are emerging every day, and as the global cryptocurrency market continues to grow, so does the demand for specialist apps, with savvy start-ups competing over which can offer the best rates, privacy, and security features for users.

Competition is heating up, and with so many finance and crypto apps to choose from, what can app developers do to keep their users engaged and away from competitor apps?

Christie Crable, Head of Activations at Liftoff, and Kalle Heikkinen, Chief Analyst at Liftoff, recently hosted a webinar to unpack how finance and crypto app makers can boost user engagement.

The webinar covers user behavior and personas through Liftoff Intelligence’s Motivational Framework and how crypto and finance apps tap into popular game mechanics, such as Live Events and progression-based elements, to improve user engagement and monetization.

In this blog post, we unpack the biggest takeaways from Crable and Heikkinen’s webinar, “Cashing In: Boosting User Engagement for Finance & Crypto Apps.”

Let’s jump in.

What motivates users to download and engage with finance and crypto apps?

Before we break down the specific tactics that finance and crypto apps use to boost engagement, it’s essential to understand the motivations of crypto and finance app users. We can do this using the Liftoff Motivational Framework, which categorizes users across seven primary elements and 14 motivational drivers.

People are driven by various needs and desires when they download an app. Regarding finance and crypto apps, some users might be motivated by tools that help them become more financially efficient. In contrast, others might prioritize personal safety and security if they’re banking online.

Various motivational factors also encourage users to use apps that fit their preferences. Some users stay for financial literacy education and self-improvement as they engage with the financial management elements of specific apps to reach certain goals. Still, social connections and status can also motivate users of crypto apps. Some apps have features that allow users to showcase financial or investment achievements that are related to real-life social status.

Progression-based engagement

“If you want to keep your users engaged, give them a sense of progression and achievement,” Kalle Heikkinen says. Progression-based achievements help your users achieve their goals, making them feel like they’re advancing through learning, competition, or exploring new features.”

Progression-based elements are a proven and effective way of engaging crypto and finance app users, as they’re tied to three motivational drivers that are common amongst these users:

• Learning and self-improvement
• Achieving milestones
• Collecting & gathering

Examples of product features that use progression-based elements include:

Task systems

Task systems include features such as daily challenges, onboarding tasks, and feature exploration tasks to keep users engaged and keep them returning to the app to progress.

Achievements

These are tied explicitly to milestones, which give users a sense of reward or accomplishment and drive their motivation to use the app.

User progression and/or levels

Similar to achievements, a leveling or experience system makes users feel a sense of accomplishment as they can see their advancement through an app. Tying progressive elements to achievement milestones reduces the risk of churn. If there’s an achievement that might take a long time to work towards, users can at least measure their progress getting there, incentivizing them to complete the task.

Incentive-based education

Incentive-based education educates users on complex crypto or finance topics while offering incentives, such as in-app rewards, for engagement.

Log-in calendars

Log-in calendars are a common mechanic in mobile games. They reward users for logging into the app daily, keeping them coming back.

Social engagement and Live Events

Plenty of finance and crypto apps also use Live Events to engage their users. Social engagement and Live Events are valuable tools to keep users motivated, connected, and invested in your app. Similar to progression-based engagement elements, social engagement and Live Events tap into four specific motivational factors that are common across finance and crypto app users:

• Connection and empathy
• Social status and competition
• Excitement and entertainment
• Emotional interaction

Examples of product features that use social engagement and Live Events include:

Social media feed

Popular crypto apps display chat communications between users similarly to social media platforms. CoinMarketCap is a great example of a crypto app that uses social media-like feeds to display financial market information while facilitating user discussions and communications.

Tournaments and leaderboards

Leaderboards combine social and competitive elements by encouraging users to place on a leaderboard and compare their progress with others. Binance uses tournaments, such as the Binance World Championship, to challenge users; trading skills as they compete to show who has the highest returns on their trades, incentivizing long-term engagement.

Groups

Groups are a popular feature in non-crypto apps. For example, Venmo has a feature where groups of users can communicate with each other to distribute payments.

Live events

Limited-time events are usually tied to competitive elements, encouraging heightened levels of engagement for a specific period.

Monetizing engagement

Of course, the end goal of heightened user engagement is to convert non-paying users into paying customers, and there are various ways that the engagement tactics we’ve mentioned above can be incorporated into monetization strategies.

Here, we can look again at Liftoff’s Motivational Framework by comparing the motivations driving engagement in crypto and finance apps to specific monetization mechanics. Those motivational drivers are:

• Connection and empathy
• Efficiency improvement
• Personal safety and trust

Two of the most popular monetization mechanics for crypto and finance apps are:

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are one of the most popular monetization methods for finance and crypto apps. They usually include a long list of benefits for users. For example, Coinbase’s subscription comes with zero trading fees, a 90-day free trial to an analytics platform, and exclusive tax benefits via a crypto calculator. Such benefits lead to enhanced customer loyalty and improved efficiency.

Gifting

Gifting a subscription or money to another user is a monetization method that ties into the link between social elements and finance apps. Binance has a feature called Red Packet that allows users to send and receive cryptocurrency as gifts.

Other tips for encouraging user engagement for finance and crypto apps

Crypto and finance are highly regulated sectors, which means that some user engagement and monetization mechanics must adhere to strict rules.

Thankfully, this level of regulation can also be used to your advantage. Think of fun ways to turn enforced education about user safety and investment knowledge into gameplay mechanics, such as creating rewards for turning on two-factor authentication (2FA) or reading through your app’s safety features.

For more information on how to engage users in these sectors, make sure you watch the full webinar →