In-App Feedback: What is it & Why Does it Matter?

App Store is populated by thousands of mobile applications, each with unique functionality and target audience. So, it’s not possible for every App to make it big. It’s common to find brands that had a smashing start at the App Store, but ended up being the most uninstalled application later. Likewise, it’s also possible to find Apps that suffered from a lower than moderate audience response, but quickly caught up to the trends and became a benchmark in its industry. So what’s the critical difference between a top-rated app and one that’s struggling? The ability to listen and act on feedback. Enriching user experience is essential to take your App to the top of the list, and keep it there for as long as possible. In-app feedback is the best means to check if your UI strategies are working as effectively as projected. It may look like a small survey, NPS rating form, open comment sections, or slightly lengthier interview forms – in any of its forms, in-app feedback gives you a real-time review of your app’s performance and improvement areas. With these insights in hand, you can further optimize your ad campaigns with the help of a mobile marketing software to highlight the user-verified USPs of your App against your competitors. But before we jump ahead, let’s take a step back to see why in-app feedback matters to all stakeholders in the mobile app industry. 

Feedback in App: Weighing its Pros And Cons

• Bug Check: Users can give you a head-up about any bugs or technical breakdowns before they completely hijack the operations, through in-app reporting. For best results, make sure to place your feedback button in an accessible spot, where it is visible to all users.

• Strategy Optimization: A short, but precise iOS or Android feedback form built into your app can give you data about user preferences, in terms of gameplay, dashboard layout, in-app ad rewards, etc. Users can fill in the form at their convenience timing, after spending significant time to know the app, thereby making your data foul-proof (and freely available!)

• Community Haul: By integrating your feedback surveys into the app, you can increase the likelihood of receiving cooperation from every user. They wouldn’t have to switch between different platforms to record their observations or wait for an exhausting amount of time for the acknowledgment of their suggestions. You can connect with the users in real time by receiving and responding to their comments as and when they are posted. What better way to make a close-knit community, right?

• Time Sensitive Approach: User experience is subjective to the marketing and PR activity revolving around your brand, and/or app. It’s possible to notice sudden changes in the strain of in-app feedback when you alter your app UI, temporarily disable features, limit app access to free users, etc.

• New Form of Engagement: Despite how important it is, seeking in-app feedback from users can also become a plague for your app when it becomes recurrent, or persistent. It’s best advised to keep your surveys crisp, quick, and distanced. Going overboard might push your users to become unresponsive, or worse, uninstall the app altogether. 

Things to Keep in Mind While Creating In-App Feedback Strategy

1. Your survey questionnaire should be interesting, yet short. Do not include shallow, subjective questions like, “How much do you know the app?”. Prefer to pose short answer or MCQ format questions that seek feedback on pinpointed features of the App.
2. Place your in-app feedback button in a section where it can be accessed easily, yet does not intervene in the App experience. It is best to avoid nudging the users repeatedly to fill out the iOS or Android feedback form. Alternatively, you can encourage user engagement by offering rewards and coupons for providing suggestions. 
3. Not every suggestion you receive would be valid for your brand goals. To avoid receiving unfounded comments, segment your audience to target the users who have crossed the initial threshold of in-app purchases, indulge in a specific set of features/content that you want to be reviewed, or are resident to a target region on the globe. 

Putting it Together

Recording in-app feedback is a perpetual and highly beneficial process that can help your developer, marketing, and product design teams to make your App stand out from the competition. You can act on the feedback on app to make it more impressive for new users, and alter ongoing marketing campaigns to highlight the features of your App that draw the highest appreciation. But don’t rely on in-app feedback only as the final verdict. Connect with your audiences through email, social media, and telephone as well to double-check your derived results with all the major groups of users. Remember – in-app feedback can only be a means of information, not the ultimate source. 

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