How to get more users in 2026? A data report

Why it feels so hard?

Because everything is vague.

You have a vague audience, a vague story, and vague data. You talk to “users”, but you cannot picture a specific person picking up their phone and choosing your app over the one beside it.

Median landing page conversion across industries sits around 6–7% based on tens of thousands of pages, which means more than 9 out of 10 visitors do not act. On mobile, the gap is even worse: over 80% of landing page visits happen on phones, but mobile pages convert roughly 8% less than desktop versions when companies do not design for small screens.

For tech, the real funnel is not “impressions → clicks → signups”. The real funnel is much more personal:

• someone hears about you

• they decide to care for 3 seconds

• they click and skim

• they decide “this is for me” or “I don’t get it”

• they sign up or install

• they reach a first win

• they either forget you or you become a habit

App retention data shows how brutal this is: average apps keep only about 10–15% of users by day 7 and 5–7% by day 30, which means most of your hard‑won signups disappear within a month. If you do not guide people to a clear first win fast, almost all of them slip out of the funnel before you can learn from them.

Apps like Duolingo, Calm, Headspace, YNAB, or Revolut did not grow because they threw features at users. They grew because people could describe them in one line, they delivered a quick win, and users felt comfortable recommending them to friends.

If you feel stuck, assume three things:

1. Your story is not yet simple enough that users can repeat it.

1. Your landing page and onboarding make people work too hard for a first win.

1. You are spreading your effort across too many channels without depth.

The rest of this guide is written so you can pick specific actions to fix those problems.

Find your story

Every B2C product starts from a moment that hurt or annoyed you. That moment is part of your growth strategy, not just your “about” page.

Write down that moment as if you were telling a friend in a bar. No jargon, no pitch. Describe what happened, what you tried, and when you decided to build instead of complain. The smaller and more concrete the story, the better.

Jesse Mecham from YNAB did this well. He did not lead with “we built a powerful budgeting platform”. He told the story of a young couple trying to pay bills and survive, and how he turned his own spreadsheet system into software. You hear that story and you can instantly see who the product is for and why it exists.

You can use a simple structure:

“I built this after [specific event], because [other options] kept failing me. The whole point is to help you [core benefit] without [annoying thing you are removing].”

This is not marketing fluff. You will reuse this sentence in your landing page, your social bio, your app store description, and in DMs when you reach out to early users. If you cannot say why this exists in one breath, your story is still muddy.

The user is the main character

Users are looking for a better way to feel something: safe, calm, proud, in control, entertained, happy. If your story puts the product in the centre, you will keep talking about features. If your story puts the user in the centre, you will keep talking about change.

Think of it as a simple cast:

• the hero is your user, in a specific moment of their day

• the problem is what keeps going wrong

• you are the guide, with a point of view

• your product is the tool you hand them

• the result is the part of their life that feels different after a week

Calm did not build a meditation “platform”. It let stressed people fall asleep more easily with short, guided audio. The app is the tool; the hero is the person who finally stops lying awake staring at the clock.

Write one paragraph that starts with life “before” and ends with life “after” one week with your product. If it turns into a list of features, stop and force yourself to describe feelings and situations instead. For example:

“Before this, I opened my banking app and closed it again because the numbers made no sense. After a week with this app, I have one number that tells me how much I can safely spend today, and I finally stop guessing.”

You can use that paragraph as the spine for your whole site.

Where your early heroes already talk?

People complain about products in public. The internet is basically one long complaint form. This is useful.

Spend time where your users hang out:

• search Reddit for “[competitor] sucks”, “[competitor] alternative”, “any app that helps with [problem]”

• read comment threads under relevant YouTube channels and TikTok creators

• browse App Store and Play Store reviews for apps in your space, especially the 2–3 star reviews

Look for exact sentences like:

• “I tried [app] but it kept doing [thing they hate].”

• “I wish there was something that would just [simple wish].”

• “I would happily pay for something that did [very specific thing].”

Paste those into your document. These lines are gold. They will become:

• landing page copy (“You said: I wish there was something that would just…”)

• hooks for social posts

• prompts for demo videos

You also get a sense of which topics make people angry or excited. That tells you where your story should lean.

Positioning your product

Users do not walk around with your category diagram in their head. They have folders on their phone and in their mind: finance, social, games, health, work. They remember a few brands inside each.

You want a simple line that answers two questions:

• what are you instead of?

• when do they open you?

For example:

• “The finance app you open instead of checking your bank and panicking.”

• “The sleep app you open instead of scrolling TikTok at 1 a.m.”

• “The learning app you open during your commute instead of refreshing email.”

This is not cute copy; it is positioning. You can drop that line into your app subtitle, your landing page subheadline, and your social bios. When someone reads it, they should be able to say, “Oh, so this sits where [other thing] sits today.”

From fuzzy idea to clear narrative

You already have a copywriting team without realising it: your users. They write your copy in App Store reviews, Reddit comments, Discord messages, DMs, and support emails. Your job is to collect their words and use them.

Start a simple “voice of user” document with four sections:

• how they describe the problem in their own words

• what they say about other tools they tried

• why they say they tried you

• what they say is the best part so far

Copy sentences, typos and all. Do not clean them up too early. Tools like Duolingo and Revolut are full of copy that sounds like how users speak (“streak”, “boost”, “space”, “vault”) because they listened to real language instead of inventing phrases in a workshop.

Once you have that document, shape your core story like this:

• pain: one sentence that sounds like a real complaint

• tension: a short explanation of why that keeps happening

• product: one sentence that says what your app does in the user’s life

• better future: one sentence that describes the change they get

How to convert strangers

A stranger lands on your page from a link in someone’s bio, a YouTube description, a Reddit comment, or a search result. They give you a tiny window to prove three things:

• what is this

• is it for someone like me

• what should I do now

Across 41,000 landing pages and tens of millions of conversions, Unbounce found a median conversion rate of about 6.6% in 2024, with more recent summaries pointing to medians above 8% as AI‑assisted testing spreads. If your page sits under 3%, you are likely burning half or more of your hard‑won traffic before it even has a chance to try the product.

For B2C apps, the traffic source matters as much as the page. Channel data from 2026 shows email converting at roughly 2.8% for B2C, organic social at 2.4%, and paid social closer to 2.1%, with display often below 1%. That means a click from your newsletter is worth more than a random click from a feed, and a focused landing page for that email traffic can easily outperform a generic “home” page.

Instead of obsessing over “industry average”, treat your page as a simple test: if someone from your target slice lands on the top section and still has questions like “what do you actually do?”, the page is failing.

A practical test: show only the hero section to a friend for five seconds, hide it, and ask them:

• what does this app do

• who is it for

• what would you click next

If they stumble, your copy or layout needs work.

You only have 5 seconds

The hero is where you either earn a second scroll or lose the user.

Your H1 should use user language, not internal labels. Three simple patterns work well:

• problem-first: “Stop losing track of where your money went”

• outcome-first: “Fall asleep faster, without grabbing your phone”

• job-first: “A budgeting app you can stick with”

Underneath, the subheadline can answer “how” in a grounded way:

“Connect your accounts once, then see one daily number that tells you how much you can safely spend.”

This is where you can echo your founder story and your voice-of-user document.

The primary CTA should match the stage:

• live app: “Get the app” with clear store badges

• web app: “Start free” or “Create your account”

• pre-launch: “Join the waitlist” with a simple email form

Early social proof is tricky when you do not have big numbers yet. You do not need big numbers, you need believable proof. That could be:

• a short quote from a beta user (“I finally stopped guessing how broke I am”)

• a screenshot of a real tweet or message (with permission and names blurred if needed)

• a small bar with logos of tiny blogs or newsletters that featured you

This is how small products build trust before they have “millions of users”.

How to explain your product

Below the hero, most founders drop a grid of features with icons and generic labels. Users skim, see “secure”, “fast”, “powerful”, and leave because these words appear on every competitor site as well.

Think in scenes instead of features. A scene has a before, a specific action, and an after.

Pick two or three scenes that matter most. For a budgeting app:

• scene 1: landing on a dashboard that shows “money left this month” instead of twenty graphs

• scene 2: connecting a bank account and seeing transactions categorized automatically

• scene 3: getting a simple notification when you are close to overspending

For each scene, show one screenshot. Under it, write:

• what the user sees

• what they do

• what changes for them

For example:

“You see a single number: how much you can safely spend today. You stop guessing if you can afford to go out tonight, because the app has already done the math based on your past week.”

This is where you can show off thoughtful design and microcopy. Users do not need a full tour; they need to feel that the product is simple enough to try.

Handling pricing

In consumer subscription markets, recent benchmark work shows that trial length and paywall design change conversion more than headline price: one analysis reported that trials of 17 days or longer converted about 70% better than very short trials (roughly 43% vs 26%), but many apps still default to 3–7 day windows that do not give users enough time to build a habit.

Retention studies line up with this: average apps see day‑1 retention around 25–30%, day‑7 around 10–15%, and day‑30 around 5–7%, while “good” apps push day‑30 into the 7–10% range.

In consumer subscription markets, data from benchmark reports shows patterns like:

• free trials increase initial conversion when the user reaches a strong “aha” moment during the trial

• trials with credit card required tend to convert fewer people up front but a higher share of those trialers

• long-term retention depends far more on whether the user built a habit than on the length of the trial window.

For early B2C products, it is often safer to:

• let people experience at least one clear win without paying

• keep pricing simple and visible

• avoid complex tier grids until you actually need them

On the landing page, you can say:

“Start free. Track one account forever at no cost. Upgrade only if you need multi-account support and extra insights.”

Or:

“Try all features free for 7 days. No card required. If it helps, keep it. If not, we delete your data.”

This kind of copy reduces friction and shows that you respect the user’s time and money.

Short LLM & SEO guide

Your landing page is also a piece of content that search engines and AI assistants read and summarise. You want to make it easy for them to understand what you do.

Basic on-page steps:

• choose one primary idea per page (for example “budgeting app for freelancers”, not five keywords in one)

• write a title tag that mixes benefit and clarity: “Budgeting app for freelancers that actually sticks | Brand”

• use a meta description that sounds like a real sentence, not a keyword list

• use an H1 that matches human search language: “A budgeting app that finally works with irregular income”

• structure the rest of the page with H2–H4 headings that describe each section: “how it works”, “who it is for”, “pricing”, “faq”

Structured data (schema) helps your page appear with richer snippets and increases the chances that LLMs cite you when users ask questions. In 2025–2026, more guides emphasise product, article, and FAQ schema because search results and AI answers often lean on those signals.​

Here is a slightly fuller example you can adjust.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{  
	"@context": "https://schema.org",  
	"@type": "Product",  
	"name": "[YOUR-PRODUCT-NAME]",  
	"description": "[YOUR-PRODUCT-DESCRIPTION]",  
	"applicationCategory":  "[YOUR-PRODUCT-CATEGORY]",  
	"url": "[YOUR-PRODUCT-URL]",  
	"operatingSystem": "[YOUR-PRODUCT-OS]",  

	"offers": {    
		"@type": "Offer",    
		"price": "[PRICE-HERE-NUMBER]",    
		"priceCurrency": "[PRICE-CURRENCY]"  }
        
}
</script>

On the same page, you could include FAQ schema based on real questions you get:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "[QUESTION-HERE]": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "[ANSWER-HERE]"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "[QUESTION-HERE]",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "[ANSWER-HERE]"
      }
    }
  ]
}
</script>

For your blog posts and guides, you can add article schema and FAQ blocks around common questions your users ask. This makes your content more friendly to both traditional search and LLM-based answers.

Turning your story into daily content

Users tend to trust other people more than logos. Social algorithms also prefer content that keeps people watching, commenting, and sharing. Real faces and honest stories do that better than polished brand posts.

Plenty of consumer products have grown by using the founder as the main “media property”. Founders behind products use their own accounts on TikTok, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn to talk openly about what they are building and why. Case write-ups and interviews often show that these founder-led profiles generate more signups per follower than brand accounts with similar reach.

If you are time-poor, it is more realistic to:

• pick one platform where your users actually spend time

• focus on building your own profile there with a consistent narrative

Implement this posting system

You are already working on the product. The easiest content is a record of that work.

You can think in weekly themes instead of daily pressure. For example, each week you might share:

• one story about your journey (“I shipped a feature that everyone hated, here is what I learned”)

• one focused product update with context (“We changed how budgets show because users kept saying this phrase”)

• one user-focused story or quote (“A user told me this week that…”), anonymised if needed

• one small educational piece about the problem area (“Three simple ways to avoid bill shock this month”)

You can write these in one sitting and schedule them. Then you only need to show up in comments.

Founders like Harry Dry use this approach: they share marketing breakdowns & small lessons. Over time, that consistency builds trust and a clear mental model of what they care about.

Turning attention into owned channels

You do not control algorithm changes. You do control your email list and your own app.

Whenever you have a post that resonates, make sure there is a clear path for people to get closer:

• a landing page built specifically for that platform, with matching language

• a simple form to join a waitlist or “insider” list for updates

• a small promise (weekly email, launch invite, challenge, toolkit) that matches your product

For example, if you share a thread about handling irregular income, you can link to a page that says:

“You just read my thread about chaotic freelance income. I send one email a week with the exact budgeting rules and product experiments we are running to fix that. Join here.”

This keeps the story coherent and gives people a reason to share their email, not just like a post.

How to pick topics

Not every blog post is a growth asset. Some posts attract people who just want to read, not act. When you are early, you cannot afford to write ten fluffy pieces for every one that actually drives signups.

Analytics and SEO reports repeatedly show that content that matches strong intent phrases (“best X”, “how to do Y”, “[competitor] alternative”, “[competitor] vs [tool]”) tends to bring visitors with a higher chance of taking action. For B2C, that often means:

• “budgeting app for [specific group]”

• “how to stop [pain] without [thing they hate]”

• “[big competitor] alternative for [niche need]”

You do not need heavy SEO tools to pick topics. You can:

• type your problem into search and see what suggestions appear

• look at “people also ask” boxes and note the questions

• scan competitor blogs and write better, clearer answers for the same problems

Focus first on a small set of strong pieces that directly support your product’s story and use them as “pillars”.

Content formats that work for tech

You are writing for people who are busy and often on their phone. The best content formats for B2C usually:

• solve one problem from start to finish

• use examples instead of abstract advice

• show where your product fits into the solution

Examples:

• a guide: “How freelancers can keep taxes under control without spreadsheets”

• a comparison: “Why envelope budgeting works better than tracking every transaction”

• a story: “How a user went from overdraft fees every month to having a buffer”

Within those, you can add one or two screenshots of your app in context. Explain clearly when it helps and when it does not. You will attract more loyal users if the content is honest than if it tries to force the product into every situation.

Internal links matter here. From each article:

• link to your main product page once or twice

• link to one other relevant article

• from the main product page, link back to a few strong supporting articles

This gives both humans and search crawlers a clear path around your site.

Where to show up as a founder

Communities can be slow but steady sources of high-intent users.

You can choose one or two spaces aligned with your problem:

• for finance and money: specific Reddit subreddits, Discord servers for freelancers, communities around “fire” and savings

• for health and wellness: forums, Facebook groups, Telegram chats focused on sleep, stress, or habits

• for learning: language-learning communities, student groups, hobbyist clubs

Enter as a person, not a pitch. Answer questions honestly. Share your own struggles. When it feels natural, mention that you built something to help and offer early access. For example:

“I built a small app to deal with exactly this issue because I kept overdrafting my account. If you want to try it, I can share an invite link.”

This quiet, consistent approach builds a reputation and leads to users who already trust you.

Schedule small events

You do not need a big webinar. You can run tiny events where the product plays a natural role.

Ideas:

• a 7-day challenge where participants use your app each day and share progress in a chat

• a monthly “open office” call where you review people’s budgets, sleep routines, or learning plans live (with permission)

• a joint session with a YouTube creator or podcaster in your niche, where you show behind-the-scenes of how you designed the product

Design the event with a clear path:

• registration page that explains the promise

• simple instructions about how to use the app during the event

• follow-up email that recaps and invites people to keep going with the product

Events like these create deeper trust with a small number of users. Those users often become your best advocates.

1:1 outreach as a growth channel

Talking to users one by one is the opposite of scale, but it is where you learn the language and objections that shape your product and your marketing.

You can reach out to:

• people who complain about related problems on social or forums

• people on your waitlist

• new users who have not activated yet

A simple outreach pattern:

“Hey [name], I saw you mention [specific problem]. I built [product] because I struggled with the same thing. I’m trying to understand how people like you deal with this now. If you are up for it, I’d love to give you early access and hear your honest feedback.”

Sometimes this leads directly to a new user. Sometimes it leads to a quote you put on your landing page. Either way, it feeds your growth.

Turn users into advocates

Referrals at early stage need to exist.

Think about what your users get by inviting a friend:

• a better experience (more people to share with)

• a tangible reward (credits, free months, unlocks)

• a small status reward (badge, “founding member” label)

Then put a simple referral element inside your product:

• a “invite a friend” screen with one code and a clear explanation

• a small nudge after a positive moment (“You saved 200 this month. Invite a friend and both of you get one month of premium free.”)

• an email that reminds users they can invite others and how it works

Past consumer products like Dropbox and Revolut used generous referral rewards to grow. You may not want to or be able to match that, but you can keep the core lesson: make inviting people rewarding, clear, and easy.

A small set of metrics

A small, consistent set of numbers will tell you if things are getting better:

• signups or installs

• activation rate (what share of new users reach your “first win”)

• day-7 retention

• day-30 retention

• CAC (cost to acquire one signup or one activated user)

• simple payback view (how long until a cohort brings in enough revenue to cover its acquisition cost)

App retention reports for 2026 put average day‑7 retention around 10–15% and day‑30 retention around 5–7%, with finance and productivity apps often at the higher end of that range. If you sit below those ranges, you do not need more channels, you need a sharper story and better onboarding.

Tracking where users actually come from

Attribution at early stage can be messy. You can still get a usable picture without building a full data warehouse.

Practical steps:

• add UTM parameters to links you share on social, in emails, or in ads (source, medium, campaign)

• create simple, separate landing pages or URLs for major channels (for example, /tiktok, /reddit, /podcast-name)

• ask a small question during onboarding: “How did you hear about us?” with a free text field

When you review your data, look for patterns:

• which channels send users who actually activate and stick around

• which types of posts or creators send the best users

• which experiments lead to spikes in signups but weak retention

You can then decide where to put your limited effort.

6 steps you can implement today

It is easy to read a guide like this and think you need to do everything everywhere at once. You do not. You need to move in a sequence that respects your time and keeps your product at the centre.

A realistic order for the first quarter of pushing growth:tighten your story and rewrite your landing page so that a stranger can say what you do in one line.

1. tighten your story and rewrite your landing page so that a stranger can say what you do in one line.
2. define a clear activation event inside the product and improve onboarding to lead users there fast.
3. start showing up on one social platform as yourself, sharing the journey with intent.
4. set up a simple welcome and activation email flow.
5. publish a small number of strong, intent-driven articles that support your landing page.
6. start a light referral mechanic

Each step makes the next channel more effective. When your story is sharp and your landing page is clear, every visitor you pay or work for has a higher chance of becoming someone who actually uses your product.

Sources

Here are sources you can cite or explore further. They include benchmark reports, channel breakdowns, landing page studies, and practical guides on schemas and acquisition channels.

Unbounce – Average conversion rate by industry benchmark report
https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/​

Unbounce – What is the average landing page conversion rate? (Q4 2024 data)
https://unbounce.com/average-conversion-rates-landing-pages/​

Unbounce – What’s a good conversion rate? (Based on 41,000 landing pages)
https://unbounce.com/landing-pages/whats-a-good-conversion-rate/​

Amra & Elma – Best landing page conversion stats 2025
https://www.amraandelma.com/landing-page-conversion-stats/​

First Page Sage – Digital marketing conversion rates: 2026 report
https://firstpagesage.com/reports/digital-marketing-conversion-rate/​

Enable3 – App retention benchmarks for 2026: how your app stacks up
https://enable3.io/blog/app-retention-benchmarks-2025​

Pushwoosh – Increase app retention 2026: benchmarks, strategies & examples
https://www.pushwoosh.com/blog/increase-user-retention-rate/​

GetStream – 2026 guide to app retention: benchmarks, stats, and more
https://getstream.io/blog/app-retention-guide/​

Unbounce – Average conversion rate by industry benchmark report (master page)
https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/​

Data Analysis Journal – 2026 benchmarks: more apps, less quality
https://dataanalysis.substack.com/p/2026-benchmarks-more-apps-less-quality​

Contentsquare – 2026 digital experience benchmarks: what they reveal and how
https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/​

HubSpot – 2026 marketing statistics, trends, & data
https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics​

The Loop Marketing – Email marketing statistics 2026: 25 key data points
https://theloopmarketing.com/email-marketing-statistics-2026-25-key-data-points/​

Cognism – 80+ must-know email marketing statistics for 2026
https://www.cognism.com/blog/email-marketing-statistics​

Knack (Knak) – 85+ email creation & AI statistics for 2026
https://knak.com/blog/email-creation-ai-statistics-trends/​

adjoe – Definitive mobile user acquisition guide 2026
https://adjoe.io/blog/mobile-user-acquisition-guide/​

Y77.ai – Mobile app user acquisition 2026 guide for growth teams
https://www.y77.ai/blogs/mobile-app-user-acquisition-2026-guide-for-growth-teams​

Duolingo – How Duolingo is prioritizing user growth in 2026 (CEO interview)
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/duolingo-prioritizing-user-growth-2026-170000710.html​

Duolingo – Duolingo’s Android performance case study and DAU growth
https://blog.duolingo.com/android-app-performance/​

The Case Centre – Duolingo: learning at scale in an AI world (case spotlight)
https://www.thecasecentre.org/caseSpotlight/2026/Duolingo