Engagement & Retention project | Calm

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Engagement & Retention project | Calm

Understand Your Product

Product: Calm

Promotes mental wellness and mindfulness through a digital application.

Core value proposition

Personalised actions for mental wellness
Diverse content library, including guided meditation, sleep stories and breathing exercises
Scientifically backed content developed with experts
User-friendly interface.
Enables physical movements like a calm stretch.

Understanding Engagement with the Product :

Key features the user engages with:

Setting reminders
Streaks
Based on the search results, users find the following features of the Calm app most engaging and use them frequently:

Meditations: This is one of the most popular features, with 80.02% of users utilizing it1. The app offers a wide variety of guided meditations for different purposes such as stress reduction, anxiety management, and personal growth
Sleep Stories: These are narrated fictional stories designed to help users fall asleep, and they are used by 55.66% of users Many of these stories are narrated by celebrities, which adds to their appeal
Daily Calm: This feature offers a new 10-minute guided meditation each morning, focusing on different wellness topics. It's popular among premium users who can access previous sessions in their history
Breathing exercises: Calm provides six types of customizable audio breathing exercises, which users find helpful for relaxation and focus
Music and soundscapes: The app offers a variety of curated soundtracks, nature sounds, and relaxing music to aid in focus, relaxation, and sleep
Mood tracking and check-ins: Users appreciate the ability to track their mood over time and engage in light journaling exercises1 3.
Kids content: The app features a popular section with meditations and bedtime stories specifically designed for children3.
Calm Body: This section offers video lessons on slow, mindful movement routines, although it's noted to have limited offerings compared to other features

These features contribute to the app's high engagement, with 60.03% of users using the app five or more times per week, and an average usage duration of 11.49 month

Natural Frequency based on User Type:

Key actions users perform to experience value proposition:

Perform a guided meditation when a person feels stressed, overwhelmed, and uneasy, and give them a peaceful mind. (20mins)
Drifting into sleep by listening to a sleep story. (15-60 mins)
Performing quick breathing exercises in the middle of the day to become more mindful (10 mins)
Listening to wellness talks by experts. (15-30 mins)
Use to perform a relaxed stretch in the middle of the day (10 mins)

Based on user research, we can categorise the users as follows:

Casual: Once a week. They try some guided meditation and wellness talks but do not form the habit quickly since value surfaces after repeated usage.

Core: 3-4 Times a week. They realise the benefits of using multiple CVPs. These are usually the people who use it when needed.

Power: Every day or multiple times a day. They know and have experienced the benefits of regular usage. These are usually busy and high-performing individuals.

BEST ENGAGEMETN Frameworks Used BY CALM

ENGAGEMTN FOCUS | DEFINITION | METRICS TRACKED | MEANING

FREQUENCY | how often customer interacts with brand | # times completed a session | why?
Depth | Level of involvement with Platform | Using one feature like sleep casts in detail etc | is there depth?
Breath | Range of interactions acrsoos touch points or categories | # of sub categories interacted with | user sis influenced and enhancing their experience

Defining engagement of the product Who is an active calm user:

Core action:

Sub actions with valuable behaviours?

Action | Description | Indication

Key User Segments:

Individuals with chronic health diagnoses (56.86%)
- Mental health diagnoses (41.13%)
- Physical health diagnoses (32.19%)
Users with sleep difficulties (76.31%)3
Busy professionals seeking work-life balance
Students facing exam stress
Healthcare workers
Parents needing relaxation9

Customer Segmentation

build your ICP's- by now you know how to do that in a tabular format as done in earlier projects and segment the users, think about why you are segmenting and what is the goal of your product and segmentation

The core engagement Framework:

Primary is Depth = *Frequency x Time**. The more time they spend on the app, the better the value.*

Secondary is Breadth. More features they engage with, makes them use it more.

Types of segmentations in context with Calm

Segmentation Type	Description	Benefits analysis for calm
Demographics	Age: 18-24: Young adults 25-34: Largest user group 35-44: Middle-aged adults 45-54: Mature adults 55+: Older adults Gender: Female (57.43% of users) Male (42.57% of users) Income level: Middle to high-income brackets Geographic: Urban dwellers Country-based (e.g., United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India)	Pros: Helps personalise content for key users. Helps focus on the age group and combining professions insight Good understanding of who can afford to pay for a subscription. Can help identify progressing plans. Good knowledge of who can afford to pay for a subscription. It helps users to target the campaigns.
Psychographic	Mental Health Enthusiast Chronic health Diagnosis Stress and Anxiety sufferers Sleep disorders Mindfullness Enthusiast	It helps identify what additional content it can focus on to improve product breadth. Can help distribute the product at health centres. Will help personalise their journey on the app.
Behavioural	Usage frequency: Heavy users (5+ times per week, 60.03% of users) Moderate users Light users Feature preference: Meditation users (80.02%) Sleep Stories users (55.66%) Daily Calm users Breathing exercise users Music and soundscape users Subscription type: Free users Premium subscribers	Pros: Helps identify which features users engage most and develop a strong hook of engagement. Helps identify the core value prop for each user. Will help with new and personalised content. Subscription type for different users will help stratergise the payment plans.
Occupational	High-stress professionals (e.g., corporate executives, healthcare workers) Students Parents Entrepreneurs	Pros: This will help understand the critical audience for campaigns. Helps with customisation and personalisation Identify which features can students use and afford to pay..

You can segment your users’ basis:

Power/Core/Casual
ICP/Persona based
~~Natural frequency based~~
~~Revenue generated~~
~~Products/features used~~
~~Advanced segmentation: Loyalists/Champions/In danger/Hibernating~~

WHY

B2C:

Parameter	ICP 1 (Casual)	ICP 2 (Core)	ICP 3 (Power)	ICP 4
Name	Daniel	NIsha	Priya	Vipul
Age	20	25	32	45
Gender	Male	Female	Female	Male
Proffesion	Student	Corporate Job	Working Parent	Business - Factory
Income	Low	High	High	Medium
Psychometric pain point	Stress and Anxiety	Stress and Mindfulness	Sleep deprivation, mindfulness, Stress and anxiety	Sleep Disorder and Mindfulness
Natural Frequency	1 time a week	3 times a week	5 times a week	3-4 times a week
Feature preferences	Daily calm, Meditation, Wisdom, Music	Daily calm, meditation, music, Work podcasts, movement	Meditate, sleep, wisdom, calm kids, Movement, work podcasts	Meditate, sleep and wisdom
Subscription	Free	Premium	Premium	Free
Goal	Studying can get stressful, and a few mindfulness sessions can help calm the mind. Wisdom podcasts provide lots of motivating insights.	Work gets stressful, so I need to calm my mind and live with mindfulness. Which includes movement to help get my mind off work.	Stress from managing Work and family, requires me to sleep well, manage my emotions, have a healthy mind.	Need help with Sleeping and mindfulness.

Key User Segments:

Individuals with chronic health diagnoses (56.86%)
- Mental health diagnoses (41.13%)
- Physical health diagnoses (32.19%)
Users with sleep difficulties (76.31%)3
Busy professionals seeking work-life balance
Students facing exam stress | Individuals Seeking Stress Relief and Relaxation
Healthcare workers
Parents needing relaxation9
People with sleep disorders
Medition beginers
Corporate wellnness
wellness
Metnal health enthuisia
ahtllests and fitness enthu

ICp fireat:

Age

Invome

geo reach

Overview of User Feedback

Positive Feedback: Users appreciate the Calm app for its guided meditations, sleep stories, and calming effects. It is recognized for aiding sleep, reducing anxiety, and providing relaxation. The app's diverse content and engaging presenters are also praised [16][20].
Negative Feedback: Common criticisms include the high subscription cost, limited free features, and technical issues such as app crashes and difficulties with subscription management [16][19].

Feature Requests

More Free Content: Users desire more free meditation sessions and stories.
Improved App Functionality: Enhancements to prevent crashes and improve subscription management are needed.
Longer Meditation Sessions: Users request more sessions lasting between 20 to 60 minutes [1
Mute everything active or inactive
Integrate work plans mails
Integreare with hralths apps.
Refer? Liked the multiple people.

Product hook and engagement campaigns

Answer the list of questions in the project guide to determine your hook. This is not a compulsory section; you can opt for it or always revisit it later.

Write down or mention at least five engagement campaigns to drive engagement.

Hook 1: Incremental length of sessions with streaks. Set urgency to complete the entire course gain the value. Casual to subscrive

hook 2: Upvotes/reviews for sessions. Helps choose time to invest. Core to power

hook 3: Personalisation: form to show relevant content weekly. Core to power

Long term plans with daily breakdown or suggestions. Back to back courses and daily wisdom highlights. - Core and Power

hook 4: In app Webinars

hook 5: Live group comments on same video.

Hook 1: Incremental length of sessions with streaks. Set urgency to complete the entire course gain the value.


Goal	(Activation) Increase value prop realisation Casual user.
Success Metric	Increase in conversion for subscriptions.
Problem Statement	Casual users do not find value easily since they do not complete the program. Putting in a lot of effort to complete an extended first session is demotivating.
Current Alternative	Program length varies across the platform content.
Solution	Shorter starting sessions and gradual increase as program progresses. This will enable consistency with value.
Metrics to track	Increase time spent by casual users. Higher completion rates by casual users
Ramp up milestones	Hook

Hook 2: Upvotes/reviews for sessions. Helps choose time to invest.


Goal	Make it easier to find good sessions to invest time in.
Success Metric	Form CES form.
Problem Statement	Too many programs to choose from. Each program has multiple sessions. It is hard to decide which program to invest in.
Current Alternative	None
Solution	Reviews and upvotes,
Metrics to track	users leaving reviews if happy. Users complete highly-voted programs.
Ramp up milestones	2 months

Hook 3: Personalisation: Form to show relevant content weekly. Core to power

Long term plans with daily breakdown or suggestions. Back to back courses and daily wisdom highlights. - Core and Power


Goal	Better UX for more Frequent engagement and more time on platform.
Success Metric	Frequency increase
Problem Statement	Users hop from one program to another without actually completing them. They are unsure which programs to choose that will help them. Without any aim they have no structure to work towards an end value.
Current Alternative	Self-exploration. Trial and error.
Solution	Personalisation form to capture: Users frequency Pain points Time Short-term goals Long-term goals Checkboxes of secondary interests. Reminder channel: SMS \| Notification \| Email The app can filter relevant programs for the user and provide daily actions for their long program.
Metrics to track	The frequency of users' sessions increases. They are performing
Ramp up milestones	Fortnightly

hook 4: In app Webinars with Live QnA chat


Goal	Inspire people to use Calm features, more to see benefits.
Success Metric	Users engaging with Webinars end up using the App features more frequently..
Problem Statement	Many users get overwhelmed by the amount of content on Calm. Unable to feel the long-term benefits, they are inconsistent users.
Current Alternative	N/A
Solution	Run weekly/fortnightly webinars for all users, where hosts can share success stories and explain how they used Calm to achieve peace (their goal).
Metrics to track	Webinar attendance + Frequency.
Ramp up milestones	Weekly first month and fortnightly there after.

hook 5: Live group comments on same video.


Goal	Users spending More Time on platform.
Success Metric	Double the time spent over 1 month.
Problem Statement	Users exercise by themselves which can get boring and less motivating. Seeing that others are also doing the same exercises simultaneously helps with motivation and is more interactive.
Current Alternative	Meet a friend and do it. or over zoom call.
Solution	When a user commits to a program, they can view other active users. And post the session they can read, and post comments for 5 minutes after their session ends.
Metrics to track	Users return to their program more frequently and interact.
Ramp up milestones	N/A

Engagement Campaign 1:

Hook: Incremental length of sessions with streaks. Set urgency to complete the entire course to gain the value.

Campaign: Completing what you started and experiencing the difference.

Segmentation: Type of user	Core / Working professionals and parents / Wanting to make it routine
Goal of the campaign	Casual to core
Pitch/Content	" To achieve large goals you need to start slow but consistent. Investing in wellness requires you to complete the session to receive profit from your investment of time."
Offer	Display a feature update highlight banner CTA: 'Start today' When starting a session, show a modal, asking to commit to completing in a specific time. And streaks image.
Frequency and timing	Frequency: Always show unless the user has at least one active session.
Sucess Metrics	Casual frequency is 1-2 days Metrics should indicate a shift of casual users' frequency increasing to 5 Monitor free to premium subscriptions Monitor how many users keep up with the commitment to complete the session. If not, then reduce the number or time of the session.

Campaign 2:

Hook: Upvotes/reviews for sessions to Help choose time to invest

Campaign: Feel the difference on completing the program? Help others experience similar benefits by giving an upvote. Together we form a healthier community.


Segmentation: Type of user	Core
Goal of the campaign	Improved user experience
Pitch/Content	"Feel any difference after completing the program? Upvote to help others gain similar benefits as you."
Offer	For every 10 reviews, get exclusive access to new content.
Frequency and timing	At the end of every session ask for an upvote and end of every program ask for a review on that program.
Sucess Metrics	More time spent and Length of program completed. Users engaging in upvotes and review getting higher

3 Personalisation: Form to show relevant content weekly. Core to power

Long term plans with daily breakdown or suggestions. Back to back courses and daily wisdom highlights. - Core and Power


Segmentation:	Core
Goal of the campaign	Increase Frequency
Pitch/Content	"Personalise your wellness journey and receive the programs most relevant to your goals. Having a plan and structure will help you with long-term habits that will keep you well"
Offer	"Answer the following questions, and we will suggest customised programs just for you."
Frequency and timing	Personalised Email everyweek Thursday. In app notification, unless they click remind me next week. After rejecting 3 times, don't show it again
Sucess Metrics	Frequency+Time (Depth) should increase.

4 hook 4: In app Webinars

Campaign: Invite users for weekly and fortnightly webinars with Calm team host and Users with success stories using Calm. Opportunity for users to ask questions in the chat.


Segmentation: Type of user	Casual
Goal of the campaign	Convert casual to core users
Pitch/Content	"Hear our users' success stories live. Get insights of best practices for maintaining a healthy practice. Ask the team questions on live chat."
Offer	Exclusive access for Calm users to view a live interview with the ability to ask questions.
Frequency and timing	Weekly for first month and Fortnightly after
Sucess Metrics	For a user monitor the Webinar attendance + that users frequency after watching the first webinar.

hook 5: Live group comments on same video.


Segmentation: Type of user	Casual and Core
Goal of the campaign	Casual to Core, Core to Power
Pitch/Content	"You are not alone! You can now view others doing the same program along with you! Work together, comment and reach goals by helping others."
Offer	Complete a session, to view and post comments with others on the program. Get motivation and tips to follow by peers.
Frequency and timing	In app, before they commit to any program. Email weekly while they are in a program.
Sucess Metrics	Users return to their program more frequently and interact.

Retention design

Retention Rate Curve:

The industry standard for Retention rate for mental health apps like Headspace, Calm and Pelton is ~63%. Since Calm is one of the leading apps in the industry, I will add 8-9% more to the Retention rate:

Month	Day Based	%RR	No. of Users
M0	Month 0	100%	5000000
Jan	Month 1	92%	4600000
Feb-March	Month 3	84%	4200000
April-June	Month 7	78%	3900000
July-December	Month 12	71%	3550000

Churn reasons:

Based on the available information, the most common reasons users churn from the Calm app include:

Lack of desired outcomes: Users may stop using the app if they don't achieve their mental wellness goals or see the expected benefits from meditation1 4.
Poor user experience: Issues with the app's interface or functionality can lead to frustration and abandonment, particularly during the onboarding process
Failure to form consistent habits: Users who don't establish a regular meditation routine are more likely to churn
Change in personal preferences: Some users may lose interest in meditation or decide to switch to a competitor app4.
Lack of personalization: If the content doesn't meet individual needs or expectations, users may stop engaging with the app1 4.
Involuntary churn: Payment issues such as expired credit cards or declined transactions can lead to unintended cancellations4.
Perceived lack of value: Users may churn if they no longer see the value in the product or find it too expensive1.
Insufficient reminders: The absence of effective reminder systems can lead to decreased engagement and eventual churn
End of pandemic-related usage: As life returns to normal post-COVID, some users who started using Calm during lockdowns may discontinue their usage
Payment failure

Opportunities:

Users using mediation App, Users having sleep difficulty and Core users specially Women drive the higher retention.

Targeting communication based on data to provide personal recommendations
Integration with external calendars to manage time slots
Automate Payment reminders
Automate chatbot for better support
More varied content by partnerships or collaborations with celebrities
Better UX like gamification and progress tracking
Well-timed engagement or reminder prompts
Innovating new features, such as VR experience capabilty

Design resurrection campaigns

Campaigns:

Integration with external calendars to manage time slots
More varied content by partnerships or collaborations with celebrities
Better UX like gamification and progress tracking
Well-timed engagement or reminder prompts. Allow users to set custom reminders.
Personalised insights based on users' actions to provide recommendations.

Integration with external calendars to manage time slots


Segmentation:	Core
Pitch/Content	Are you struggling to manage a time slot for a quick mindfulness session? You can now integrate your Gmail/Outlook/Apple and Samsung calenders to fit your wellness into your busy day easily"
Offer	Offer users the ability to sync their calendars
Frequency and timing	If the user has not used the app for more than 2 days. Show this feature pop-up notification. Continue this cycle until the user has attached a calendar and selected a time slot.
Sucess Metrics	Monitor app usage for those users who have synced a calendar with the App.

2: More varied content by partnerships or collaborations with celebrities


Segmentation: Type of user	Core
Pitch/Content	"Based on your interactions with <Authors> video content, we have partnered with <New Authors> to provide you variety and depth of content"
Offer	Click 'Interested' for exclusive early access to webinars with your favorite authors.
Frequency and timing	Every 10 days
Sucess Metrics	Users click interested. Implying that personalisation is good and effective.

3. Better UX like gamification and progress tracking


Segmentation: Type of user	Casual and Core
Pitch/Content	"Unlock the higher value sessions as you progress. Tracking your progress and reach your goals faster"
Offer	Get starts on completion and share on your social profile.
Frequency and timing	Push notification is user has not used the app for more than 2 days.
Sucess Metrics	Start rates and Completion rates should increase

Personalised insights based on users' actions to provide recommendations


Segmentation: Type of user	Core
Pitch/Content	"We observed you use sleep stories and work music the most. Here are some popular recommendations based on our users' likes"
Offer	Save these sessions for later
Frequency and timing	Weekly
Sucess Metrics	Users saving the personalised sessions.

5. Well-timed engagement or reminder prompts. Allow users to set custom reminders


Segmentation: Type of user	Core
Pitch/Content	"Set a custom reminder at a time suitable to you"
Offer	Complete your commitment without feeling guilty.
Frequency and timing	If the user has an active program. show everyday until set.
Sucess Metrics	Users using the app on the reminder date/time.