Just made a category top 100! Now what?

beginer2007 · 03-19-2010, 07:14 AM

After almost 7 months in this game, I've finally broken into a category top 100. Once I reached the top 100, I got the "rocket ship" effect so often cited by the increased exposure. The problem is, its a $0.99 app so its not getting massive revenue. There are competitors priced at $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99. I have 2 options for pricing strategy:

1. Keep it at $0.99. This will ensure maximum sales and maintain its top 100 status.
2. Raise it to $1.99. Half the sales will keep the app in the top 100 for the moment, but its possible that it could fall off the charts. I can always price-drop it to $0.99 if it falls off the charts.

What do you all think?

thadre · 03-19-2010, 07:31 AM

I think you should kee the price and offer new special features as an In-App-Sale.

Rudy · 03-19-2010, 07:34 AM

Keep it at $0.99 you'll stay ni the top100 longer... if you want when sales are dropping (when you fall off the top100) you can increase the price

Sinecure Industries · 03-19-2010, 07:55 AM

Definitely keep the price. Better do some promotion as well, you want to get in that top 50!

beginer2007 · 03-19-2010, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinecure Industries

Definitely keep the price. Better do some promotion as well, you want to get in that top 50!

What do you suggest? I haven't sent any promo codes out to blogs and review sites, but anything else I should consider?

dre · 03-19-2010, 10:03 AM

Getting to top 100 really doesn't matter much. nobody scrolls down to see more apps. Getting to top 25 of popular category makes the difference. Getting to top 25 of unpopular category doesn't make any difference either though.

I did experiments like that, when I was getting to top 25 I was raising the price (from 1.99 to 2.99). It didn't help much - moneywise it was the same, but since the number of sales was lower I started dropping pretty fast. Lowering the price didn't have impact either - all these "dropping detection" apps/sites don't make sense either, since there are so many apps doing it.

Sending promo codes to review sites doesn't work (unless it's a major review site) - there are so many apps, nobody pays attention. You need some major site and you need some professionally made trailer, massive campaign, pre-launch campaign, launch campaign, follow up campaign. Write articles. If you do all that - then it will work (but it's a lot of work and investment). If just send promo codes and links to your youtube videos... meh... might give you couple of sales..

IMHO, the best thing is to promote your app through other apps. (buying ads, offering users virtual goods in exchange of purchasing your apps, paying other devs to promote your apps, etc.) At least that's what works for me.

bravetarget · 03-19-2010, 01:45 PM

What app are we talking about here? You should post which app so we can give better feedback....

dre · 03-19-2010, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bravetarget

What app are we talking about here? You should post which app so we can give better feedback....

Mine is Pentix (Here). I made it to #27 in puzzle games (never could crack top 25). I did manage to get to top 100 in action, but it was pointless, so I changed to less popular category - "board games" and managed to get to #17, which increased the sales.

Adding OpenFeint seems to make a positive effect. I'm actually thinking adding it to all popular similar online "things" (don't how to call them). And give a user option which one to choose. It will increase the visibility.

DonomaGames · 03-20-2010, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Getting to top 100 really doesn't matter much. nobody scrolls down to see more apps. Getting to top 25 of popular category makes the difference. Getting to top 25 of unpopular category doesn't make any difference either though.

+1

This is my experience as well. One of my games made it to #11 in games->educational and it didn't seem to have much organic growth. Bleh.