Customer feedback is the backbone of every successful company.
Whether you’re looking to improve your conversion rates or just want to know what’s going on with your customers, customer feedback should be at the forefront of everything you do. From pre-launch to post-launch to five years down the line, you should continuously use the thoughts and opinions of your customers to make your app better and better.
That’s what we’ve done, and because of our commitment to utilizing customer feedback, our app—a DMV practice test app that helps US learner drivers get their license —has grown to 300,000 monthly users in only two years.
Customer feedback significantly changed our app and resulted in a high number of consistent users, though it’s critical to first understand how to use customer feedback to improve your app.
How Customer Feedback Has Changed Our App
We’ve found that, in order to grow our app’s user base and make it more efficient for users, we had to continually implement changes based on customer feedback.
Here are some examples of how this strategy has helped us:
- Updated the course structure to draw the user in earlier on, which led to more conversions
- Added new features at users’ request, including additional tests
- Added additional courses at users’ request, some of which have been extremely successful
- Clarified the gamification to improve the overall user experience
- Changed the app store screenshots so they better reflected the product; A/B tests show that the new screenshots performed better
- Changed features within the app at users’ requests, such as changing the statistics to give users more control over their progress
Customers today want full transparency with the businesses, brands, and apps they support. It’s not enough to like or reply to a comment. Customers want to see real, tangible change, and because we took action after receiving their feedback, our conversion rates improved, and our downloads increased. Plus, we’re able to tap into the common struggles they faced.
For example, in Zutobi’s case, our target user’s most common struggle is failing their permit test, so a large portion of our content creation is geared towards helping them navigate the test. For example, in South Carolina we created an exam-like learners test to prepare students for what the actual permit test would be like.
So if you’re struggling to get more users or are stuck at a certain number of downloads, we strongly recommend that you do the following to build your customer base and improve your app to meet their wants and needs.
A/B Test Everything
A/B testing will help you optimize your app so that it’s perfectly designed for your customers. You can also use this to test new features during development and find the best combination of text and images based on user preference.
Test every single thing about your app, even the small details like the text on a button or your visual design. It all matters, and, more importantly, it all makes a difference. At Zutobi, we made sure to test all of our different practice tests in every location to make sure they were as valuable to those local residents as possible.
Be Data-Informed, Not Data-Driven
It’s easy to get lost in a sea of data, but you need to be able to find the nuggets of data that will help you know what to do next. For instance, we knew our user conversion rates were suffering because people weren’t even getting through our course structure before quitting. Hence, we made some changes and updated it with features like additional tests.
This is a delicate balance between using your intuition and respecting the numbers. You have to be crystal clear on the brand you want to create while still listening to your gut.
Test Different Pricing
In the app world, pricing your product is a hard challenge to navigate. With so many free and low-priced options available, it can be overwhelming to figure out the price-point that your customers will be happy to pay.
The only way to figure this out is to test it.
We’ve tried almost every pricing model from free trial periods, totally ad-supported, in-app purchases, and a mixture of all three. There is no one perfect formula.
But one thing is certain– the more you test and learn about your user base, the better chance you have of finding a pricing style that works well.
Survey Everyone
When you’re getting customer feedback, it can be tempting to focus on your most devoted users. And while they definitely have important opinions you need to be aware of, they’re not the only voices you need to hear.
You need to get feedback from everyone who uses your app, even those who don’t love it. If you just focus on getting feedback from people who rave about your product, you may miss out on valuable customer input that could help improve your business model and bottom line.
Getting both ends of the spectrum will give you a full picture of what works within your app and what needs to be improved upon. We particularly wanted to survey the people who completed the practice tests on our app, especially in various locations, to see where we could improve.
Don’t Forget About The Broader Picture
It’s not just the app you should focus on improving– there are other aspects of your brand that also deserve your attention.
When getting customer feedback, be sure to ask them what they think about your app store page, website, icon, and screenshots. These are all the things that people first see when they come into contact with your app, and improving them could help you get more users.
Be Prepared To Slaughter Features That Don’t Work
When creating an app, you can’t create something that only you want. You have to create something that customers want. Your goal should always be to deliver value for your customer, so if you release features that aren’t adding enough value, then it’s best to remove them and move on.
Remember: features that don’t work from the start won’t magically start working later.
Install Frameworks To Monitor User Activity
Monitoring user activity is a key way to find out what people actually want. You should always be using frameworks that will show you how app features are being used and which ones have the highest usage rates. This lets you know where your customers spend their time, so then it’s easy to make updates based on these insights.
The more you know what your customers are actually using, the more informed decisions you can make on what needs to be changed, updated, and removed in your app.
The Takeaway?
At the end of the day, it’s important to stay informed and make sure you’re listening to your customers.
Customer feedback is a valuable resource that can help you grow your app into something successful while also keeping users happy with new updates and features they want.
