Weekly App Review: How Periscope Can Compete Against Meerkat

Helpshift’s Review Analytics gives a thorough, actionable breakdown of what people say about your product in the app store. You now have the ability to transform feedback into a solid product development and marketing strategy at scale. Every week we’ll provide data-driven insights for an app based on its publicly available user ratings.

Periscope has a global average review score of 3.0 on iOS, excluding ratings without a review attached. People seem to love what the app offers, so what issues are causing the app to be rated below 4 stars? How can they provide help to their rapidly growing userbase?

Out of 159 reviews this week, Periscope has received a fair amount of critical sentiment for their Monday update. Most of the reviews happened on Friday, contributing to a bulk of the 1-star reviews. That bad Friday is one of the main reasons why the overall scope dipped to a dangerous 3.0 flat.

New apps should focus on getting high ratings and reviews, because otherwise they have little chance of climbing the top rankings. 75% of the top 1000 apps have 4.5 stars or more–while simply being in the top 1000 apps can exponentially increase your organic acquisition. Managing your app reviews is a necessity for the competitive app marketplace.

Since the latest update seems to be causing complaints, let’s search “Update” to see how Periscope can bring their reviews back to a competitive level:

The first thing you can see is that users still love what Periscope offers. With this sample of the 159 reviews, users are frustrated simply because of the response behind a recent bug with the app’s update. They write “I’ve sent it (sic) 2 tickets, tried reinstalling, tweeted so many times…why can’t they at least tell us they are aware and working on it. The app would have 5 stars…” The next reviewer makes a similar claim: Pericope would get a 5 star review if they began acknowledging a problem with the update.

The Value of a Quick Response

Dramafever’s Jeremy MacKechnie has illustrated that one guaranteed way for an app to grow is by responding to users quickly–regardless of the answer you give. Users are far more likely to leave a good review and stay with the app when you simply acknowledge the issue. If user volume is a concern, Pericope could use an in-app knowledge base to keep users informed without needing the extra staff to do so. Ticket deflection is a common strategy that works excellently for apps that have even a million monthly active users.

Pericope could also invest in an automations tool to immediately let users know an answer is on the way. Hundreds of top apps use automations over the holidays when Agents are otherwise occupied, or to smartly solve issues using key phrases that a user writes in. For example, if a user submits an issue with the word “update”, Pericope could have an automation detailing how the latest update will be fixed. That fast, hands-free response can resolve a user’s ticket altogether.

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Stay Competitive by Keeping Costs Down

Mobile technology has allowed today’s customers to be more vocal than ever. This environment can greatly help–or hinder–the success of mobile apps. During what Forrester calls the Age of the Customer, apps should leverage the vocal community by consistently delighting them with proactive service. Helpshift’s battle-tested suite includes review analytics, automations, knowledge bases, and other tools you’ll need to get ahead of competitors.

Not providing an easy way for customers and Agents to solve issues will ultimately cost more money than onboarding a solution. In fact, the cost of acquiring a user is 7 times more than retaining one. Periscope can remain lean by promoting brand loyalty with fast customer care that engages their growing community. Companies like Haystack have shown the benefits of that strategy will pay for itself.

There are more tips to remain competitive with a fast-growing userbase in How to Hack Your App Retention Strategy: After Launch.

Summary:

Pericope’s overall review score dipped after an update on Monday, but analytics show most of the critical reviews happened on Friday. It is common for users to review apps close to the weekend.
Users complain about the update bug, but are specifically concerned because Pericope isn’t answering them quickly enough (or at all). Pericope could increase their response time with automations or let users self-solve with a native FAQ.
Industry professionals have explained that users will leave a good review if they receive any response at all–even if the response is “we’re working on it.”
The benefits of onboarding a retention solution is worth the cost. Most apps with a solution say that the software will pay for itself with saved business.

Improving your mobile app reliably is all about data-driven feedback. We’re happy to help. To get a free ratings breakdown, contact me at [email protected].