AppFollow Blog Webinar recap: Maximizing Your Mobile App's Ratings & Reviews

During our recent webinar, we talked all about getting more ratings and reviews for your apps. In this recap, you’ll also learn how to revive review acquisition for apps with a lot of users and apps that have been around for a while. After all, ratings and reviews matter. A lot. App reputation is a combination of factors. Ratings and reviews are the face of your app. It's what users and potential users see. But there's more to it. Customer support and community engagement also matter. Do you have a dedicated support team? How fast and efficient are they? Do you engage with your audience outside of reviews? It’s all a factor that plays a big role in high star ratings. Then there's ASO performance. How well is your app optimized in terms of metadata, screenshots, and everything else that makes up the visual and textual face of your app? Finally, app performance, security, and privacy. If your app performs well and has no bugs or security concerns, you won't need to pull any tricks to get good ratings. Why is this important? To improve your app's visibility. Good ASO makes your app easily searchable. Good ratings make people more likely to download and subscribe. And having both increases your chances of getting featured. It's a circle. All these factors combine to improve all four components. So, let’s break it all down! Tackling app reputation the right way You've got some users, and now you want them to rate your app. And you want good ratings, obviously. First things first, you need to figure out the right time to ask for a rating. You can do it in-app but target the most engaged users. When someone first downloads your app, they'll do some stuff. They might seem engaged, but if you can, measure it over a longer period. Then, ask them at the right moment, like when something positive happens in the app. If it's a game, ask when they win a prize or have a success. That's when you encourage them to leave a rating. But there's no one-size-fits-all formula, especially for apps that have been around for a while. You've got to do A-B testing. But the key is to ask after something positive, after a psychologically reinforcing event, or a successful activity in the app. Then, target engaged users. It's tough to know who's engaged right after launch, but if people have been active throughout the first day or continuously logged in for the first couple of days, you can definitely hit them with an in-app rating request. Alright, so you've got users who have been using your app for a bit but still haven't left any ratings or reviews. What do you do? Offer them some incentives or use notifications to nudge them. But don't go offering them money. That's a no-go. Instead, if it's a game, give them special prizes or unlock a feature early just for them. That way, the stores won't think you're up to something shady. Now, let's talk about those early adopters. They're using your app and leaving feedback all over the place. If their feedback is positive or their reviews are lengthy, engage with them even more. Invite them to chat, shoot them an email, or get them to fill out a survey for more feedback. Show them how valuable they are to you. They're your early adopters, and they could stick with your app to give you more feedback, get bonuses, and have early access to everything—as long as they like the app and the whole process. These people can be your loyal user base. Lastly, keep it simple. This goes for anything in your app. Make sure requesting feedback, ratings, and reviews is as easy as possible. One click to the store, a simple message to motivate them, and bam, done. No long, complicated process. Responding to reviews and leveraging social proof is crucial, especially when you've just launched your app. If you're lucky enough to get hundreds of thousands of reviews from day one (which, let's be real, isn't likely unless you're a worldwide brand), respond to as many as you can. Show those early adopters that you value them and let potential customers see that there's a dialogue between you and your audience. They'll trust you more and be more likely to leave comments themselves. Now, when you get positive comments and reviews, promote the hell out of them. Show off the voice of the customer, the people who like your app and have a reason for it. Every industry uses social proof in different ways. Use case studies, others use customer quotes. You can even use a screenshot of the review if you can publish it fully, or just a quote. It'll help you promote your app. Methods for encouraging ratings & reviews The methods for getting reviews and ratings for new and old apps are pretty much the same. You bug users with in-app requests, notifications, or email campaigns. If your app's been around for a while and has a lot of users but not many ratings or reviews, or you've updated it a bunch but haven't seen much change, you need to go after those inactive users. Use segmentation and personalized campaigns to tell them what's new and ask for feedback. Your most loyal users are always the best bet. Optimize your review request prompts by finding the right time to ask, which isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. Test different timing and target different groups. If the app's been around, you should know when users are most likely to be happy and give you a good score. Reward your long-term users with exclusive deals, discounts, or milestone celebrations. Let them know how much they've used the app and ask for their feedback as valued users. Use social proof by putting together blog posts or campaigns showcasing what people like about your app. Find funny quotes or slang people use when talking about your app to help your community grow. What really matters is getting users to rate your app and figuring out what to do with those ratings and reviews. Once you start getting reviews and engaging with them, you need a strategy that works for you. Spoiler alert: it's A-B testing. Some strategies and guidelines work well, but no magic phrase will turn a negative review into a positive one. You'll have to experiment to figure out what works best for your app. The Feedback Loop There are positive reviews (4-5 stars) and negative reviews (1-3 stars) where people complain. So, what do you do with these two categories? For positive reviews, respond to the feedback. Show that you appreciate the good comments, not just that you're trying to fix problems. It's important to acknowledge happy users. Consistently deliver quality app updates. Your app should work well and keep users satisfied. This should be a no-brainer. Start using benchmark reports for different industries (gaming, shopping apps, etc.) that show teams who respond to reviews in less than 24 hours have a higher percentage of converting negative reviews into positive ones. But responding quickly isn't enough—you need to actually follow through with solutions and fixes. Empty promises won't turn a 1-star into a 5-star review. Engage with your community outside of reviews too. Maintain communication with customers, monitor and respond to reviews, and integrate user feedback into your app. If you actually listen to feedback and use it to improve your app, especially when it comes to fixing issues and letting users know about it, it can make a big difference in turning negative reviews into positive ones. For negative reviews, responding quickly is the top recommendation. Own up to your mistakes and offer solutions. If something doesn't work, acknowledge it and apologize (but only if you know it's actually not working). Make sure your tone matches your team's style. If your team is really friendly and open, don't go overboard with the "we're so sorry" stuff. Keep it real. Also, follow up is everything. If you fix something that users asked for, take the time to let them know. They might have stopped using your app or missed the update. Remind them and encourage them to update their negative review if you've addressed their issue. Actively encourage users to revise their reviews after you've made improvements based on their feedback. The best review management techniques Want users to update their reviews after changes? Tell them to. Simple as that. When they give feedback, actually use it instead of just saying you will. Your responses are public—everyone sees them. But your internal feedback handling is just as important. Set up a basic tagging system to sort feedback by topic. Send it to the right teams—dev, tech, marketing (especially for social media complaints). Fix issues fast.When you fix something, tell users. They'll probably leave good reviews if they're happy with the updates.You can do this straight from the app store console if you're not using AppFollow. Sure, you won't get fancy AI stuff, but you can still update users, save reviews in a Google Sheet, and tag things.For social proof, be straight with customers. Tell them you're solo and just starting. Thank them and keep them updated when you implement their suggestions.For small apps getting a few reviews daily, just respond on your phone. Use templates for basic stuff, and personalize for bugs. AppFollow has different tiers, including a free version for basic monitoring. Try it if you want. Even with the free version, you can tag manually. As reviews pile up, you need to track common issues. Start with basic tags: bugs, positive, negative, and feature requests. Add more specific ones later. Even using Google Sheets, have some kind of organization system. Helps prioritize changes and track who you've responded to. Review management can become a full-time job if your app blows up. Speaking of organization. Review response methods: Manual: Direct from the console or through servicesBulk: Select similar reviews, and respond all at onceAutomated: Rules based on keywords/issuesAI: Manual or fully automated New apps? Read and respond personally. Bugs and complaints need real responses. Same for complex issues with multip