Getting 5-star ratings on app stores is every app marketer’s dream, and why not? Your app store rating is the key to increasing your app downloads and ensuring success. After all, other people’s opinions always play a significant role in a consumer’s purchasing decisions. Whether we’re choosing a restaurant to dine in, what movies to watch, or what apps to download, we usually depend on social proof.
But just how important is it to get reviews for your app? Let’s look at the top reasons why getting reviews will do wonders for your app’s download rate.
1. App reviews and ratings affect your app discoverability.
There are over 5 million available apps on Google Play Store and Apple App store alone. As the app market grows, competition becomes more fierce. To differentiate yourself from the game, you need high ratings that will help your app move up the ranking. Appearing higher up in search engine results will improve your app downloads immensely.
2. App reviews will help you stay ahead of your competitors
App ratings and reviews help you measure and track your competitor’s regularly. It also helps you compare your performance to your competitors’. You can benchmark against app reviews to help you optimize your ASO and monitor your app’s marketing efforts. Moreover, generating more positive reviews than your competitors will heavily influence the app users’ decision making, especially when they’re deciding which app is best to download out of a bunch.
3. App reviews help you identify bugs and glitches that need fixing.
Even negative reviews, low rating scores, or complaints can yield benefits for your app. You’ll be able to identify and address issues which exist within your app to improve your users’ experience and your app’s overall performance. Just ensure that you can master the art of efficient and polite replies to provide users with a superb customer experience.
App reviews are essential for your app’s success. But App reviews don’t happen by themselves. It’s also not enough to simply ask your friends and family to provide your app reviews. The good news is, it’s not that hard to ask for organic app reviews and ratings. Here are some foolproof strategies to help you achieve higher ratings.
1. Be sincere in asking for it
The best way to receive app reviews is to ask for them, however, you should be mindful when asking for reviews. Most users find app review pop-ups annoying, but if done right, it can be highly beneficial to both the service provider and the customers.
When asking for app reviews, personality and sincerity matters. Ask for a review kindly and always thank your users right after. You should design the copy of your pop-up in a way that makes users feel they’re contributing to something special and important. This helps you establish a connection and get closer to them. People always appreciate care and sincerity.
Also, remember to ask your users for ratings at the right time. You must give them sufficient time to explore your app first. Never interrupt your users while they’re occupied with something else. Instead of push notifications, go with a dismissible & well-designed in-app message.
You can use an app review plugin for your app platform; it will make the process of reviewing your app better for your users. One great app you can use to help increase positive reviews for your app is iRate. It’s a simple open source plugin for iOS and Mac app store environments.
iRate prompts your users to rate your application after using it for a while. It gives you basic control over the plugin such as, its appearance and when the prompt is shown. Compared to other app rating tools, iRate has a simpler, cleaner interface, and also has automatic support for iOS fast application switching.
2. Give incentives
People love free stuff. Giving your users rewards for rating your app is a great way to generate more app reviews and ratings. Most people love freebies, so the possibility of users clicking on your app review popup is likely to soar if you incentivise them with a gift.
3. Respond to Reviews
A lot of reviews on the app store go unanswered. Responding to reviews or providing solutions to users’ issues can make all the difference. It is the best way to turn those 1-star reviews into 5-star reviews and make your users happy. A helpful service provider who pays attention to the needs of its users is more likely to receive a higher rating score, favourable reviews, and have their app recommended to others, by their users.
When dealing with customer reviews, you should apply the following principles behind an impactful response:
- Your reply should be precise and relevant enough to address your customers’ feedback.
- Use consistent brand language including terms that your customers will appreciate.
- Respond promptly as swift responses keep users engaged, which will result in a more direct dialogue with your users.
- Prioritise app store rating scores with the lowest star first.
- Don’t forget to acknowledge and thank your users for their appreciation.
- Publish release notes that include updates on technical issues mentioned in negative app reviews.
4. Update Regularly
For obvious reasons, you have to fix the issues from your apps that people are complaining about. Monitor your app reviews and look for your users’ common complaints. Apart from fixing issues, you should also update your app regularly with requested features where possible. Users love frequently updated apps.
5. Use other channels
Here are some additional ideas to help you get more reviews and ratings:
1. Add free tools to your landing page that enable users to rate directly from the site.
2. Ask tech bloggers and early adopters to rate and review your app once it’s out; of course after they’ve had some time to familiarise themselves with it.
3. Get reviewed on app stores under editor’s choice.
4. Localize your app to achieve higher rankings in as many countries as possible.
5. Modify your email list to target app users and include a CTA to review your app in your email signature.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In the end, attracting positive app reviews all comes down to building a good app that users will love. Nobody will be there to rate your app if your app is not good enough for people to use it. Nurture your user base by creating great apps that deliver the best services and make your users happy. Always remember to listen to your users and iterate continuously.
