Start Responding to Your App Reviews ASAP
App Store reviews have now become a whole new channel for customer support. Before the iOS 10.3 update, developers had no way to thank positive reviews or address negative reviews. You can now reach those users and engage with them!
(Whether you want to or not)
Why App Store Reviews are Important
The more positive reviews your app gets, the better. But don’t just take my word for it, take Apple’s!
“Positive ratings and reviews can encourage customers to download or purchase your app. By delivering great responses to users’ comments and assisting those who have questions about your app, you can create a better user experience, drive increased engagement and improve your app’s rating.”
It’s proven that there’s a correlation between your app’s ratings, whether they’re positive or negative.
With that said, you should do everything in your power to receive and nurture positive reviews and address negative ones. Why?
Because those couple of sentences and star ratings hold a lot of weight and can either make or break a potential user’s decision to download your app.
Always Respond to Reviews
Always respond to every review you receive.
The users who take the time out of their daily routine to leave a review in the App Store一are invested. They either love your product or had high standards for your app and were let down. The biggest mistake you could make is to let your reviews sit and collect dust. Engage with the user whether the review is positive or negative.
70% of people read a minimum of one review before they decide to download an app. 10% of people will read over five reviews for a free app, and more than 30% will read the same amount or more for a paid app.
The people who leave reviews are invested in your app in some way shape or form, so prioritizing the timing and value of your responses is key. A quick and sincere response to a review shows people considering downloading that if there ever is a problem with the app you are there to help.
How to Respond to a Positive Review
If your app isn’t launched yet, keep these simple two steps in the back of your mind when you reply to future reviews:
- Acknowledge the review and thank the user
- Be creative with the response and keep in line with your brand
Already have fantastic reviews? The same applies! Go back through all the reviews you received and personally thank those users for their feedback and attention. There’s no downside or time lost by responding to positive reviews. You can show genuine gratitude and build trust just by taking a couple of minutes to engage with those users.
Responding to positive reviews is very simple and effective but is overlooked by many. All that’s required on your part is a basic thank you and a personal touch.
Your users want to feel acknowledged, so do just that!
How to Respond to a Negative Review
One of the worst things you can do from a customer service standpoint is not acknowledge complaints or issues. If a user runs into a problem and leaves an inquiry or complaint, their needs should be addressed immediately.
Check out these statistics to fully understand the importance of resolving these types of issues ASAP:
- A dissatisfied customer will tell 9–15 people about their experience.
- It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience.
- Resolving a complaint in the customer’s favor will result in them doing business with you again 70% of the time.
- It’s 5x more expensive to acquire a new user than it is to retain one.
Best Practices
Don’t: Respond to negative reviews like this.
- “Please call xxx-xxxx to speak with a customer support representative.”
- “Refer to our Website’s FAQ.”
- “We can’t fix that at the moment.”
- “There’s nothing I can do.”
- “Please calm down.”
Do: Follow these three simple steps to resolve any complaint or negative review.
- Acknowledge their complaint, apologize, and sympathize with them
- Explain why they experienced that problem and offer a solution
- If needed, take the rest of the discussion off of the App Store and give them priority in your normal customer service flow.
If you can acknowledge your user’s negative review, apologize then offer a solution, your company/brand will be in a better position than if you didn’t respond at all. Because even if you don’t win that particular user back over, other potential users will be reading that review and your response.
Conclusion
Again, always reply to your reviews. Don’t make the mistake of being lazy, because you’ll miss out on an amazing opportunity that’s there for the taking. Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile either!
According to VC, Paul Graham, this is considered “doing things that don’t scale”. If someone left a 5 star review raving about how awesome your app is, send them a piece of your merchandise or an iTunes gift card! If someone was really dissatisfied with their experience, ask for their email and send a personal apology.
Doing things that don’t scale and genuinely caring for your users always pays off in the long-run.
This post originally appeared on our App Partner resource center. Click here for more.
