App beta testers play a vital role in the development of your application. They help you to find bugs and other issues before you share your app with the world. However, one of the biggest challenges many developers face during this process is actually getting enough feedback to make the desired changes that motivate beta testing in the first place.
The big challenge to overcome is that only one in five testers will actually try your product, so getting a high number of testers, to begin with, is crucial – but what can you do to encourage more feedback?
Understandably so, many app owners offer rewards and incentives to encourage their testers to give quality feedback. This is a great strategy when executed correctly. However, if done poorly, it can greatly undermine the integrity of the feedback you receive. Offering a cash payment, for example, can cause a high volume of bugs being reported – many of which may not be that serious. The high volume of feedback you’ll receive may not be as helpful as you’d hoped as people are simply looking for another payday.
On the other hand, not offering anything enticing or acknowledging will leave many of your testers unmotivated to give you the feedback you desperately need.
So, how should you go about rewarding your app beta testers? Let’s find out.
Like in a working environment, respect is essential. If those in your team don’t respect you, or each other, they won’t put in the level of care and time that you need. The same goes for your Beta testers. Acknowledge them, and the importance of the work they’re doing for you, and they will be more inclined to give you some of the feedback you’re looking for.
This could be in the form of a personalised email or message thanking those that find bugs, or thanking them publicly on your social media channels or even your app store description.
These small gestures show that you value your testers, and will also encourage others to help should you need future testing as they may receive similar recognition.
So if cash is not the way to go to reward your app beta testers? One very popular option is gift cards. The restricted value means your testers can’t use you for a quick cash grab, but instead, are motivated to provide valuable feedback in order to relieve the voucher. When picking the vouchers you’ll offer, try to make them versatile. Something like Amazon or ASOS – these will give your testers a wide variety of options when it comes to spending. Another suggestion would be a gift card for a popular food chain or supermarket – who doesn’t love food afterall?
Another alternative to cash is discount codes. If you can organise this with a business, this is another great way to reward your testers.
One other suggestion is a tester event. Depending on the number of testers you have, you could always run an event as a thank you! This could be an invitation to your offices to see the heart of the app they’ve helped to build. Alternatively you could host a private event with some food, drinks, and entertainment. Again, keep in mind who your testers are – if they are widely spread geographically, this may not be the best option.
Your app is a brand, and part of growing that brand is through awareness. A two birds approach to rewarding your testers could be with branded merch! This could be pens, mugs, hoodies or t-shirts. This way, you can reward your testers with physical items, and they will spread the word about your app as they go about their day!
You can take this one step further and put something that indicates that they were a tester on the merch. For some this will be a badge of honour, and they will take pride in helping to develop your app.
Another great way to reward your app beta testers is by giving them disoucnted or free access to your app. For many testers this will be expected, as they did afterall help to build it! It doesn’t have to be for life, but you could offer free access for a year, or someother window of time. Alternatively, discounts on the paid features of your app is another great gesture.
The most important thing to keep in mind is the crucial role your app beta testers are playing in the development of your app. Rewarding them in a clever and creative way will ensure you get the valuable feedback that you need. Not rewarding them enough, or offering too much, will see that you get unhelpful feedback that will slow the development of your app.
