What is mobile app reputation?

In this article, we will tell you about mobile app reputation: how to manage the reputation of a mobile app effectively and why it is so important for strengthening the position of a modern brand in the market.

Mobile applications as a brand promotion channel

Mobile apps are another channel to market your brand's products. Very often, they remain outside a company’s marketing strategy.

Research from Sitecore and Vanson Bourne found that 97% of marketers believe a strong mobile reputation increases target audience loyalty. However, 41% of companies don’t develop a promotion strategy for the mobile market.

Every year the growth of mobile traffic increases, so ignoring M-commerce is tantamount to losing profits. Google Play and the AppStore are a huge field for interaction with target audiences of all ages, demographics, interests, and more. User reviews and ratings play a decisive role in how successful a company is.

The importance of ratings and reviews in mobile marketing

In an Apptentive survey, 77% of consumers said they read at least one review before downloading a free app, and 80% wrote that they always read comments if they choose the paid version. 55% said a low app rating from a popular brand negatively affects their perception of the company. 77% answered that having 4 and 5 stars in the rating increases loyalty to the company.

Apptentive Survey Results

Increasing the app's rating from 2 stars to 3 stars increases conversion by 30%. When moving from 3 to 4 stars, conversions rise by 92%.

slides with indicators of increase in conversion when the app rating moves from one star to another

Reviews and ratings are the main indicator for users to install your application or not. First of all, of course, you need to work on improving the quality of the product itself, then it is important to communicate your benefits through the opinions of other users.

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Why doesn't your app have 5 stars?

Apptentive study results which show that the most common rate of users for apps is 3

Apptentive research results

Before moving on to practical tips on how to improve ratings, we want to examine the reasons for low or average app ratings.

Products with few stars are not always bad and, conversely, high ratings cannot guarantee 100% quality. Often, the reason for the lack of a 5 star rating is low brand awareness or insufficient motivation of satisfied users to leave a comment.

Let's look at the statistics of how people rate applications. Most often it is an average rating of 3 stars. Fewer people are willing to give the lowest or highest possible grade.

In the case of mobile apps, the consumer has less incentive to leave a comment if everything is working fine. A person likes the product from a technical point of view, so he may simply not attach importance to the attractiveness of the design. If he finds a broken link or any other bug, he will most likely write a review about it and significantly lower the rating.

6 tips to improve app ratings

1. Ask the client what they are missing

Analyzing customer feedback will help you understand what needs to improve first. If you are preparing to launch an update, information is a lifeline that helps you avoid problems in the future. By listening to your customers, you will not only correct mistakes, but build a reputation as a customer-centric brand.

In the future, consumers are more patient with errors if their opinion was taken into account before. By doing this, you encourage people to leave reviews. Positive reviews in particular, according to the Appentitive study described above, are rarely left without additional motivation.

2. Segment the audience, then develop a strategy for each segment

Here are three guidelines for segmenting your audience:

Set goals.

Do you want to receive lots of reviews and ratings to popularize the application, or do you need honest feedback? Or is it more important for you to understand what attracts users and what changes they would like to see?

Determine the segmentation parameters.

You can filter the audience by smartphone model, OS, the most popular version of the application, or user activity. Use any data that accurately describes an audience layer.

Analyze the results.

If you didn’t meet your goals, we recommend setting up another segment.

3. Don't just listen to customers—improve based on what you hear

By establishing and maintaining constant contact with the audience, you increase loyalty to your brand and its products. This is a very important point for reputation marketing.

It is important to provide a detailed, personalized response so that the person does not get the impression that you are simply brushing them off.

If you use form responses or completely ignore your users, you automatically lose their loyalty.

4. Ask for feedback at the right time and place

Pop-ups asking for app ratings are often intrusive. Users often dislike being interrupted while working with the program. Test out different frequencies to find what works best for your audience and doesn’t trigger negative feedback. Track what the person is doing, where they are navigating, whether they close the application, and what kind of reaction in general do you receive to 2, 5, or 10 notifications with a request to rate the app.

It's better to only ask loyal users to rate the app, such as users you can see have been using the product often and for a long time. Another option is to create different “Like” and “Dislike” buttons for segmentation. If the user clicks “Dislike”, ask them to describe the problem and thank them after leaving a comment. If the user is satisfied, you can send them directly to the app store to share their positive experience with others.

It is also advisable to design the application to track users in problem areas and redirect them to support. You can add a button such as “Didn't find what you were looking for?” that automatically opens a support chat.

5. Secure yourself for the future

Don't neglect your work with reviews. An average rating isn’t enough to make your app successful.

There is always a risk of an error or a failed update, and the rating will drop to 2 stars. Earning as many high marks as possible makes your rating sustainable.

Try to turn a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied customer. In most cases, a negative person who has received competent feedback from a brand can become its advocate in the future.

6. Pay special attention to popular reviews

The App Store has a feature that shows the most useful posts, according to the service.

The main criteria for usefulness are the number of likes and dislikes. Respond to popular positive and detailed comments so that your audience can see positive posts about the app.

Remember that your answer is important not only to the author of the question, but to all readers of the reviews.

Conclusion

If you don't manage your reputation, then you don't have one. A satisfied user is often silent, so you motivate them in ways that are suitable for you.

Taking into account the opinions of your audience can help you quickly gain their trust. Modify the application according to user feedback. Process all negative feedback, admit mistakes, and communicate about measures taken to correct them. Remember, with the right response strategy, a dissatisfied customer can become a brand advocate.

An app rating not only reflects on the product but also on your company and team.