[Teardown #7] App reviews not convincing enough?

Fix this today to build more trust & increase paywall conversion

Wakeout vs. Finimize [user review in paywall]

Imagine this…

You recently learnt adding ‘social proofs’ to your onboarding & paywall can help you sell more subscriptions.

[Growth experts on your LinkedIn feed probably hammered into your brain. I might be guilty of that too 😅]

So, you went ahead. A/B tested your paywall with your app store reviews plastered all over it.

“This should build so much trust”, you think.

But then, you are left utterly disappointed.

You didn’t get as much uplift as you expected.

Even worse, the paywall conversions stayed the same.

You complained, “I followed expert advice. But why didn’t this work for me?!”

This is where I come in and break the news…

Here are 3 solid reasons why adding social proofs didn’t make a significant impact…

1. Wall of text: Your users didn’t have the attention span to read the block of text someone else wrote

2. Banner blindness: Your users unconsciously ignored the reviews. Aren’t we all a bit desensitized to 5-star reviews of products that end up being far from what was advertised?

3. Lack of relevancy: Your users didn’t relate to what others were saying about your app.
   

That said if you want to make your app reviews more relatable, trustworthy & persuasive, fix them with Wakeout’s app review design pattern…

Here are 5 things you can steal from the Wakeout app…

1. Display the avatar of a real user [avoid stock photos. Don’t be lazy]. Also, show how old they are.

2. Paint the picture of how life was “BEFORE” using the app.

3. Include relatable pain points. Make it easy to skim through

4. Paint the picture of how life is “AFTER” using the app

5. Include relatable benefits & transformation of the user.
   

Now the question is…

“Most users won’t write out a review in a specific format. How can I make them do that?”

The solution is simple → Email your power users/long-time subscribers or use the in-app survey to collect answers, primarily for these 4 questions…

1. What problems did you face before using our app?

2. What solutions did you try before but didn’t work for you?

3. What benefits/transformations have you experienced so far?

4. What was your motivation behind buying our product?

If there’s one key takeaway it’s this,

Don’t blindly follow expert advice you see on LinkedIn [even mine’s too].

Understand the ‘why’ behind something working.

And then…Test. Learn. Iterate. Repeat.

//End of today’s rant//

PS: Did you know? You are sitting on 30 to 45% more in-app purchase revenue as you read this!

Want to unlock it? Book a spot in my CRO & experimentation program.

I will assist you in testing 2 to 3 research-backed hypotheses per month.

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Hi, I’m Muhammad Rahat.

I help mobile app founders increase in-app purchase revenue with A/B testing.

When you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you…

1. The In-app Funnel Fix OS: My CRO/experimentation program where I come in & help you fix your leaky, confusing, & mediocre onboarding & paywalls.
   

2. Wallet-opening Onboarding: Playbook: My swipe file of 30+ top-performing mobile subscription app’s onboarding & paywall examples [with a visual explanation of what’s working & what’s not]. I spent 300+ hours on this. But it’s yours. For FREE!
   

Want to work with me 1:1? Say hello to me on LinkedIn!

Or tap on the button below to visit my website.