Mobile App Reputation Management

Reputation management is part of creating a mobile application. And that creator is bad, who does not think about the reputation of the brainchild even before users appear on devices.



What to manage? First of all - ratings and comments in app stores.

Ratings and comments

Ratings and comments to the mobile application in the app stores on the mind. Users decide to install the application based on the opinions of other users. These factors affect the conversion from page views of the application to the installation.

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Ratings and comments affect the mood of investors and developers. No one will like it when labor is estimated at three points.



Ratings affect the application's position in the TOP. Although this is not the main ranking criterion, it directly and indirectly (through conversion in the download) affects the position in the TOP.

App Stores

Google play

1. You can respond to user feedback. How important this is to be discussed later;
2. Ratings and reviews are shown for all versions of the application;
3. New ratings and reviews appear with a delay of a couple of hours;
4. Users see the number of app installations. This factor affects the conversion from views to installations;
5. The application is tested automatically and gets to the users in a couple of hours after sending a new version of Google Play;
6. To promote apps, Google uses the “G +” button. This metric participates in rankings in search results and in TOPs;
7. Google Play indexes the description and name of the application for searching by keywords;
8. Allows you to add a link to a promo video on YouTube.

App store

1. You can not respond to user feedback;
2. By default, ratings and reviews are visible only in the current version. This is logical. If in the previous version of the application there were problems, and in the new one they were solved, then why should users read the comments about already non-existent problems? One trick is related to this - if you received a lot of negative feedback on the current version of the application, you can release a new version to hide the old reviews;
3. New ratings and reviews appear with a delay of 24 hours;
4. Users do not see the number of installations;
5. Applications are manually tested by Apple employees. Before the application gets to the users, it will take from several days to several weeks;
6. App store uses FaceBook likes to promote in social networks. This metric affects the ranking of the application in the search results and in the TOP;
7. App store is able to search only for keywords that need to be filled out when placing an application. The field length for keywords is limited to one hundred characters;
8. Allows you to add a video clip of the application, but it severely limits the video format, length and content.

Microsoft Store

1. You can respond to user feedback;
2. Ratings and reviews are shown for all versions of the application;
3. Download statistics, reviews, ratings are updated every 2-3 days;
4. Users do not see the number of installations;
5. The application is tested automatically and gets to the users within 12 hours after the release of the new version;
6. Microsoft Store can search by application name and keywords (7 words of 30 characters each).

Responses to user comments

At the time of this writing, it was possible to respond to comments on Google Play and Microsoft Store. It is important to respond to user comments, as this is an excellent feedback channel and it is always in sight. Users read and rate developer responses.



Comments are left by people tuned to you either extremely negative or extremely positive. Negative comments are written by unbalanced people or people whom the application failed at an important moment. Positive comments are written by people in whom the application caused a wow effect. People who have everything in order, comments do not write .



As a result, the average rating of a popular application is gradually slipping to 3-ke.

What to do?

1. Solve the user's problem and write about it in the comments;
2. Stay emotionally neutral, even if the user is aggressive;
3. Prevent or eliminate negative feedback at the application level. We will talk about this later.

If done correctly, two outcomes are possible.

1. Initially, an aggressively tuned user, having seen your help, and, perhaps, you are the only one who has not turned away from him, will become a defender of the brand;
2. The user will continue aggressive behavior, despite your efforts. Then, in the eyes of other users, it will not look adequate, and other users will not consider its opinion when deciding whether or not to install an application.

Leave comments yourself and make colleagues do it

Project participants should be interested in the success of the project. And they should not be limited to performing their formal duties. In this context, this means that all participants in the project to create a mobile application should be its users, as far as possible. There is no one worse than a project participant who does not use the results of their own labor .



Everyone should rate and leave a comment, or even better, ask friends and relatives about it.

Catch users in problem areas of the application and send to support service

Remember: loyal - to the app store, distressed - to the support team. Design your application in such a way as to catch users in problem areas and send it to support service. In our practice, while developing the search, we added the button “Did not find what you were looking for?”, Which was shown on the screen if the search did not return any results. When you click on such a button, an automatic request flew to the support service asking to add the desired content, and the user saw the message with gratitude and promise that we will do everything. Prior to the implementation of this feature, users wrote requests to the app store, accompanied by poor ratings.

Please rate the application

If you simply add an alert asking you to rate the application, the application’s score will worsen. You do not know how the user is configured in relation to you, to whom you show an alert, and even alerts infuriate people.



Ask to evaluate the application when you are sure that the user is configured to you loyally. For example, if you see that he has long and often used the application.



Add the ability to rate the application on the About Application screen.



Separate negative and positive feedback. Make two like and freak buttons. If the user clicks "Furious", ask them to describe what is furious, and send this information to the support service, thank the user for helping to develop the application. If the user clicks "Like", send to the app store, let others see a positive opinion.

Create brand advocates

A negative user who has received unexpected help more than expected can become a brand advocate. How important it is to have brand advocates read in marketing books.

Assess the KPI application for the manager, developers, QA, helpdesk and marketers

The material rewards of the creators of the mobile application should depend on the evaluation and other indicators of this application.



Modified score is an important indicator. If the user has changed the rating, it means that you did something good or, on the contrary, disappointed the user. In other words, a modified score is not a relation to the product, but a relation to your user interaction.



Developing KPI refer to the source - Norton and Kaplan .



Abstracts on KPI:

1. Improvement occurs through learning and development;
2. KPIs that affect employee remuneration should depend on them;
3. Failure to comply with KPI should not result in fines. By penalizing employees, you run the risk of continuing to work in the society of thick-skinned degenerates.

Buying reviews

I will not touch on the moral side of the problem, but I will give the facts known to me:

1. Reviews and installations are cheap;
2. Reviews and installations are bought through job exchanges;
3. App stores can identify and delete purchased reviews, but not all;
4. Competitors may buy you negative reviews.

findings

1. Who does not control the reputation, he has no reputation;
2. Satisfied users are silent;
3. An angry user can become a brand advocate;
4. App evaluation is the score of you and your team.