[Huawei Developers] ask011:
Operations personnel often face a daunting task: how to distinguish high-value users who can bring value to your business from those who do not and never will. The channel analysis function can help you do that by determining user value at an earlier phase of the user lifecycle, thus helping you improve your return on investment (ROI).

What Is Channel Analysis?​

Channel analysis analyzes the sources of users and evaluates the effectiveness of different user acquisition channels through basic indicators such as the numbers of new users, active users, and total users, as well as day-2 retention of new users. Moreover, channel analysis can be used in conjunction with other analysis models such as user, event, and behavior analysis, to help solve problems that you may encounter in your daily work.

Channel analysis can help you perform the following:

l Analyze the channels that have attracted new users to your app.

l Evaluate the performance of each channel during the paid promotion period and adjust the channel strategies accordingly.

l Assess the conversion effect and collect statistics on revenue generated by each channel.

Why Is Channel Analysis Crucial for Precise Operations?​

In operations, there is a concept called user journey. It refers to the experiences a user has when interacting with a company, from using a product for the first time, to placing an order, to finally enjoying the purchased product or service. Users may churn at any point in the journey. However, no matter whether a user eventually churns or stays and becomes a loyal user, user acquisition channels are an indispensable bridge that introduces potential users to your product or service.

The user journey varies according to the user acquisition channel. Companies obviously want to retain as many users as possible and reduce user churn in each phase of the journey. However, this is easier said than done.

To achieve this goal, you must have good knowledge of the effectiveness of each user acquisition channel, leverage other analysis models to summarize the characteristics of users from various channels, and adjust operations strategies accordingly. In this context, the prerequisite is a clear understanding of the differences between channels, so that we can acquire more high-quality users at lower costs.

Taking advantage of the indicators supported by channel analysis and other analysis models, you can gain access to data of key phases throughout the user journey, and analyze the channel performance and user behavior. With such data at hand, you can design operations strategies accordingly. That is why we say channel analysis is a key tool for realizing precise operations.

How Do We Apply Channel Analysis?​

We've established how useful channel analysis can be, but how do we apply it to our daily operations? I will explain by guiding you through the process of configuring different channels, analyzing channel data, and adjusting your operations strategies accordingly.

1. Configure Different Channels​

After determining the main app installation channels for your product, open the AndroidManifest.xml file in your project and add the meta-data configuration to application.

<application
...
<meta-data
android:name="install_channel"
android:value="install_channel_value">
</meta-data>
...
</application>

Replace install_channel_value with the app installation channel. For example, if the channel is HUAWEI AppGallery, replace install_channel_value with AppGallery.

Channel analysis can be used to analyze the data from channels such as HUAWEI AppGallery, as well as from Huawei devices. You can choose to configure other installation sources in the SDK and release your app on a range of different app stores. Data from those app stores can also be obtained by Analytics Kit.

2. Analyze Data of Different Channels​

a. View basic channel data.​

After the channel configuration is complete and related data is reported, go to HUAWEI Analytics > User analysis > Channel analysis to view the channel analysis report.

This page displays the data trends of your app in different channels, including new users, active users, total users, and day-2 retention. You can select a channel from the drop-down list box in the upper right corner. On this page, you can also view the channel details in the selected time segment, for example, over the last month, and click Download report to download the data for further analysis.

b. Compare the behavior of users from different channels.​

To see which channel features the largest percentage of new, active, or revisit users, you can perform the following:

Go to the New users, Active users, and Revisit users pages respectively and click Add filter to filter users from different channels. Then you can observe the percentages of new, active, and revisit users for each channel, and compare the behavior of users from each channel.

c. Track the conversion of users from each channel.​

Besides the aforementioned functions, channel analysis lets you analyze the conversion and payment status for users from each app installation channel.

To use this function, go to Session path analysis, click Add filter, and select the target channels to view the conversion effect of users in each phase.

As for the purchase status, go to Event analysis, click Add filter, select the desired channels, and select the In-App Purchases event. By doing this, you can compare different channels in terms of user payment conversion.

3. Adjust Resource Allocation​

If the analysis shows that a specific channel outperforms others in terms of user acquisition quantity and user value, then more resources can be invested into that channel.

In conclusion, channel analysis, which can be used together with other analysis models, offers you clear insights into the performance of different app installation channels and helps you gain deep insights into user behavior, laying a foundation for precise operations.

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We’re looking forward to seeing what you can achieve with HUAWEI Analytics!

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