Gain A Competitive Edge With App Review Analysis

At Boundev, we've repeatedly seen that maintaining a competitive advantage over other businesses is a key part of any product strategy.

Conducting research into a product's competitive space, however, is often time-consuming and expensive. As a result, many companies—particularly those in the early product planning and development stages—have limited insight into their competitors and customers. We utilize a fast and free user sentiment analysis technique for mobile app competitors on Google Play and Apple's App Store to help our dedicated teams build strategies based on facts, not assumptions.

We recently used this process successfully for a client that was planning to launch a mobile app in the coupons and discounts space. While the client knew its major competitors across web, mobile, and other platforms, the company had only a vague notion of its customers' opinions or how to position the app in the space.

It's important to note that strategic analysis and planning should continue for the lifetime of your product. We used this method as the jumping-off point for a more detailed plan that included proprietary and third-party research.

Determining Your App's Competition

The first step in this method is to create a list of competitors. You may already have this information, but you can round out your existing list or develop one from scratch using Google Play or the App Store. Search for the keywords you think are most relevant to your business; in our client's case, the list included "coupons," "savings," and "saving money." Next, begin typing what you think your customers may search for organically, and the software will provide a list of apps. These are your product's competitors.

The apps you find on Google Play may differ from those you find in the App Store. In this instance, we created a list of six competitors, but the number you find will vary depending on industry concentration. If you need mobile experts to refine this process, consider looking into how to hire ReactJS developers who understand app store algorithms.

To discover more keywords, use an app store optimization (ASO) tool, which reveals organic search opportunities and estimates search volume. Point your chosen tool at your listing—or your competitors'—and it will extract the keywords it thinks Google is using. Note the keywords you think are going to be most relevant and that provide the best ranking opportunities.

Next, read your competitors' store pages to learn how they position themselves. Start with the app's title, then the icon and screenshots, then the short description, and finally the long description. Try to understand what problems they focus on solving, how they prioritize solving them, and if they imply a focus on a specific audience segment. The strength of your competitors in this space can typically be gauged from their ratings and the number of downloads.

Understanding Audience Sentiment

Create a spreadsheet with a column for each competitor. Study the competitive reviews, looking for specific things users liked or disliked. As you identify common themes, create a row for each one and keep track of how many users mentioned it.

Try to gather at least 100 mentions per competitor. Finally, sort the rows into Likes and Dislikes.

In practice, people tend to be much more specific and verbose about what they dislike. Research has found that a consumer is 21% more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than a positive one, so don't be surprised to see more comments containing complaints.

Analyzing the Results

You now have a list of what users like and dislike about your competitors and an understanding of the significance of each issue. Strengths and weaknesses are typically inward-focused, while opportunities and threats are outward-facing. The likes and dislikes revealed by this exercise speak to the latter two.

You can use a number of these data points to shape your app. For starters, you know why users like certain apps and what you need to build to appeal to those users. Enabling users to save money on everyday shopping might be the most important thing to achieve. Usability is an essential offering for all mobile apps and should always be an objective. When working with teams capable of scaling mobile apps, like when you explore software outsourcing, you set a clear standard of what must be achieved structurally.

The things users mention that they dislike can be looked at as a map of opportunities for your product. Problems with usability and quality are cited frequently, and while the most obvious takeaway is to avoid those issues, they may also indicate weaknesses to exploit in competitors.

Next Steps

In just a few hours, you will have performed an app competitive analysis, mapping out an initial take on the competitive mobile app landscape, and defining threats and opportunities for your product. Keep in mind, however, that this exercise makes a number of assumptions that need to be proven.

Interviews and surveys of app users can be used to validate the insights gained from your app review analysis. During testing and after launch, interview your users and ask them which competitor products they've tried in order to gather additional intelligence. A larger exploration across channels will provide a more comprehensive guide. If you have any internal questions about maintaining mobile app longevity, hire Python developers and system architects at Boundev to ensure back-end flexibility.

This fast and free analysis of customers' opinions can give you a competitive advantage early on, helping you know which competitor features to replicate or improve upon and which to avoid, and guiding your product development to better serve customer needs from the outset.