In our previous articles, we explored Duolingo's notification strategies and showcased examples of their engagement tactics. In this article, we’ll focus on Duolingo’s push notification drip campaign after a user stops completing lessons. This strategic journey helps re-engage lapsed users at varying intervals with tailored messages.
Day 1: Streak FreezeOn the first day of inactivity, Duolingo automatically uses a streak freeze - which a user might not know they even have to keep the streak going.
If your'e unfamiliar with streaks its one of the strongest ways of encouraging retention in an app.
Here's the screenshot:
Title:
"🥶 You're out of Streak freezes"
Body:
“You'll lose your 4 day streak if you don't come back today!”
On the first day of inactivity, Duolingo automatically uses a streak saver - which a user might not know they have to keep the streak.
Here's the screenshot:
Title:
"😱 No Streak Freeze!"
Body:
“You'll lose your 4 day streak if you don't practice by midnight”
On day three, they forget the streak freeze, and show two different notifications:
One evokes a negative emotion:
Title:
"💔 Hi it's duo"
Body:
“Every time you skip a French lesson, you break a piece of my heart 💔”
The other tries to bring you back with a leaderboard notification:
Title:
" 🏆 You finished #12"
Body:
“You've moved up a league Duo is proud of how far you've come”
On day three, they forget the streak freeze, and show two different notificaitions:
Title:
" You lost your streak"
Body:
“Don't let all your hard work go to waste! Complete a challenge to earn your streak back.”
On day three, Duolingo offers a chance for redemption
Title:
" 😢 What's wrong, babe?"
Body:
“You haven't done French in 4 days. Can we fix this?”
If a user doesn’t engage after three days, Duolingo pauses notifications to avoid overwhelming them and to “protect the push channel.” This lasts indefinetly until there is a seasonal message or a specific promotion that might be useful.
Occasionally, Duolingo uses seasonal promotions to re-engage. They probably have a content calendar, where a user's local holidays and events inform personalized notifications.
This is an example from thanksgiving:
Title:
"Have you learned enough?”
Body:
"Your year in review is two weeks away! Practice to boost your 2024 stats 💪"
Duolingo’s drip campaign is a testament to thoughtful re-engagement. Each notification in the sequence is timed strategically, first to give a user fear of loss, then chance to earn back the perceived loss, and then finally stops so as to not count as spam, and to protect the channel.
If you're interested in implement similar drip campaigns try using Laudspeaker!
