When it comes to driving app success, many brands focus on the obvious – keywords, compelling copy, and eye-catching icons. However, there's another crucial element that can make or break your overall app store strategy: ratings and reviews.

In this article, we'll explore why app user experience is critical to App Store Optimization (ASO) marketing strategies and provide actionable advice on how to improve yours.

What is ASO Marketing Strategy?

An ASO marketing strategy revolves around improving an app's rank, discoverability, and reputation in the app store. Like search engines, app stores consider various factors, including keywords, downloads, and reviews, when deciding which apps to display first in search results and top charts. A well-executed ASO strategy ensures your app meets these ranking criteria and rises to the top of a search results page.

The Power of Ratings and Reviews

Ratings and reviews have a profound impact on customer acquisition. Here's why:

  • 79% of customers check ratings and reviews before downloading a new app.
  • A one-star increase in rating can lead to an 89% increase in conversions.
  • 90% of customers consider star ratings essential when evaluating an app.

Brands are now prioritizing ratings and reviews because they understand the cost of a low app rating. With an average star rating of 4.67 across 1000 apps, brands with poor ratings stand out more than ever. A low rating is a tough hurdle to overcome, emphasizing the importance of ratings and reviews in your ASO marketing strategy.

How Ratings Impact Your ASO Strategy

Ratings have a significant impact on discoverability. Here's why:

  • 63% of iOS customers find new apps through app store search engines.
  • Apps with high rating quality and quantity dominate top charts.

In fact, our analysis found that the highest correlation between ratings (both average rating and rating count) and ranks is a significant ranking factor. Across the board, apps with a large volume of positive ratings rise to the top charts.

Shifting Your ASO Strategy

If your app has a low star rating, all hope isn't lost. You can adapt your strategy by:

  • Consistently monitoring app ratings and reviews.
  • Acting on customer feedback to address product and CX issues driving down your app store rating.
  • Using analytics tools like Insights to quickly identify customer experience issues or UX problems.

The Importance of Feedback

Customers don't leave feedback just for other customers to see; they also provide feedback so that brands hear them. By consistently monitoring app ratings and reviews, you can:

  • Quickly identify customer experience issues or UX problems.
  • See trending feature requests to prioritize roadmap using real-time customer feedback.
  • Identify comments that tell you how customers compare your products to competitors.

Conclusion

Incorporating strategies to increase rating volume and quality is critical to your overall ASO marketing strategy. By adapting your approach, prioritizing ratings and reviews, and consistently monitoring app store sentiment, you can drive app success and rise to the top of search results pages.