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.
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.
__________________ Game Pack - All-in-1 Game Pack Shinro - A combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku Nibbles - Remake of a classic snake game Hooptie Browser - Humorous web filter
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.
__________________ Game Pack - All-in-1 Game Pack Shinro - A combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku Nibbles - Remake of a classic snake game Hooptie Browser - Humorous web filter
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.
Just made a category top 100! Now what?
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