The Psychology of Bad App Reviews
A primer on getting stellar reviews to avoid the burn
The task of securing positive customer reviews doesn’t begin during the marketing process. By shaping the user experience for your apps, developers can build them for a successful response. Good reviews mean better word-of-mouth, and effective referral marketing, with the result reflected in app store rankings.
Several factors can have a significant impact on the likelihood of getting negative reviews.
As anyone who has ever browsed an internet forum will know, anonymity makes critical and negative feedback more likely because it decreases the perceived consequence and risk to the user.
Certain cultural factors also make people more likely to speak up if their experience is less than stellar. For example in the US, people expect recourse if they are not satisfied with a product or service.
Here are some approaches you will help you secure a 5-star rating fast:
Make your mobile app top notch
How to combat the threat of negative reviews? Build a really awesome mobile app. Easy right? First and foremost, you want to test, test, and test. You can even do automated app testing to speed up the process. Before your mobile app goes to market, make sure you’ve solved all of the issues and made the process as smooth as possible for the end user. A customer may have high expectations, especially if your app is attached to a big brand. This is your opportunity to shine — if not, you’ll inevitably face bad reviews.
Have excellent customer support
Part of great user experience is excellent customer service. Being able to connect on a person-to-person basis with empathy and understanding and in a timely manner makes a huge difference. Effective customer service makes the difference between a disappointed, frustrated customer who gives bad reviews, and someone you might turn into an enthusiastic reviewer for your product.
Craft an expert story
Every brand has a story — to get customers interested and invested in a product, you must share your story. It makes brands seem more human and your relationship with your customers friendlier. Share your mission and values through the power of good storytelling. When customers feel more connected, and well taken care of through customer support, they are more likely to share rave reviews.
Ask “Strategically”
Let’s get back to the technical details and focus on the strategic task at hand. Think about the customer journey. Where do you want to take them? At what point will they feel the most happy and willing to give a review? Timing is everything. Wait until the end of their journey, or after they’ve gotten through the app enough times to have opinions about it.
Be careful not to overdo it with push notifications; there are rules to this. A prompt to review an app as soon as you open it can be quite annoying, aggressive, and ineffective. Instead, try a more subtle approach that empowers the user to choose whether they’d like to review, or not. Don’t make it seem forced. Give the user an opportunity to feel good about giving a review. Catch them at the right time, when they’re more likely to be agreeable.
Focus on what matters
If you focus on building the great experience your users love and follow these tips, you’ll have a great head start on getting positive marks. Plus now being armed with a better understanding of psychology of human behavior and persuasive marketing, you’ll be one step ahead of your competitors AND rolling in great reviews.
☞ Please tap or click “♥︎” to help to promote this piece to others.
