It goes without saying that today’s consumers spend an incredible amount of time on their smartphones. We all do, right? The numbers behind smartphone and app use, though, are truly mind-blowing. Consider these statistics:
- Smartphone users access an average of 30 mobile apps in a month, at an average rate of 10 every day.
- Mobile apps are expected to generate more than $935 billion in funds by the end of 2024.
- In 2022, 3.8 trillion hours were spent using mobile apps worldwide.
- 70% of time spent on digital media in America came from mobile apps.
- 21% of people between the ages of 23 and 38 usually open an app more than 50 times in a single day.
Across every industry, apps are clearly an essential channel for customer engagement. They also present a valuable opportunity to collect user feedback on a range of topics, from brand sentiment to user experience, using mobile app surveys.
Gather real-time feedback with optimized mobile app surveys
Companies use mobile app surveys for several reasons, including to:
- Get feedback on the mobile user experience, including usability and design
- Empower users to report bugs or issues with the app
- Discover how to improve features and functionality
- Learn why users are taking certain actions, like abandoning their cart
- Ask for post-purchase feedback to enhance the buying process
- Measure customer satisfaction and loyalty levels through metrics like CSAT or Net Promoter
- Understand how your users feel about your app and your brand
All of these use cases can deliver meaningful information about your company’s mobile user experience specifically and customer sentiment in general. And while different mobile app surveys are used to elicit various types of feedback, they can all benefit from a thoughtful and strategic approach to the mobile app survey experience.
Four best practices for successful app surveys
In some ways, mobile survey best practices are similar to those for other channels, like email. Ask clear, concise, unbiased questions. Carefully craft the order and flow of your survey. Use a combination of different question formats, like multiple choice, Likert scale, and open-ended survey questions. Always test, test, and test again.
In-app surveys, however, also have their own unique set of must-dos to drive survey completions and boost customer engagement. We’ve found the following four techniques to significantly impact the success of feedback campaigns and provide the data necessary to improve the mobile app experience.
- Keep it short and sweet. Mobile app surveys are not the time to dig deep into your users’ every want, need, and desire. As demonstrated by the statistics above, people are in and out of many apps, many times a day, and will quickly ignore a survey if it seems time-consuming or cumbersome.
Our rule of thumb: Keep mobile app surveys under three questions. One proven format is to start with a quantitative question, such as a 1-to-10 scale or thumbs up/thumbs down, then ask a follow-up question asking the user to explain the rating, and then, if desired, finish with an open-ended question to get any additional feedback.
- Optimize survey design for mobile. In-app surveys require that each question is easy to complete on small screens. Mobile optimized surveys should include design principles like:
- Avoid large images
- Use standard text fonts
- Keep survey pages short to minimize scrolling
- Make sure text is brief and to-the-point
- Design clickable elements to be big enough to tap with a fingertip
As always, it’s important to think about your audience. Gen Z will have different needs and preferences than older generations for instance, and the design of your mobile app survey should reflect that.
- Consider timing for in-app surveys. Properly timing your mobile app survey is key. To increase response rates, data accuracy, and user satisfaction, make sure not to interrupt your users at inconvenient or bothersome moments. Instead, send surveys at strategic times like:
- After a specific interaction or transaction, like completing an order, making a purchase, or reaching a certain milestone
- When something in the app changes, such as a new feature is added, or the user is asked to run an update or adjust a setting
- In conjunction with the completion of an event, like when a conference concludes, a sale is over, or someone finishes a training or educational course
- On an ongoing basis (but not too often – more on survey timing here) to keep the pulse of your user or customer base
The right survey software can play a big role in timing your mobile app surveys appropriately. With precise targeting capabilities in products like Alchemer Digital, surveys can reach customers at the heart of their digital experience, offering real-time insights into their sentiments, preferences, and satisfaction levels.
- Personalize your mobile app surveys. To further optimize and improve the mobile user experience, tailor questions based on user behavior or app activity. This allows for deeper insights on the business end and makes the user more inclined to respond. For instance, instead of asking every user to rate the overall mobile user experience on a scale of one to five, you could ask:
- People who just ordered food how easy it was to browse the menu
- Consumers who made a purchase whether it was simple to check out
- Repeat customers how likely they would be to recommend your brand to a friend
- Users who engaged with a new feature how much they liked it
Like we mentioned above, consider your general user base in your mobile app survey design and functionality as well. That might mean larger text and bigger buttons for older folks or more visuals, like a smiley scale, if your target audience is on the younger side.
With these mobile survey best practices, and the help of powerful digital survey software like Alchemer Digital, you can turn your mobile app into an engine for ongoing feedback, continuous improvement, and greater customer satisfaction.
Want to learn more about the importance of digital feedback collection? Check out our new e-guide, Customer Feedback in the Digital Era
