Surely, somebody has collected this. (Now, are they willing to give it away for free, though?)
I'd also be interested in sources of traditional media contacts.
Being new to both iPhone development and Apple, the list doesn't just roll off the top of my head. Heck, other than MacWorld, I couldn't even name one other Mac magazine...
Experience with PR agencies? Cost? Are there "boutique" agencies that deal with iPhone apps? Any good?
I'm really afraid of the idea leaking, though, so I prefer to do the PR myself. I won't do any advance publicity - no embargo is worth the bits it's printed on. I know my app will be duplicated, so it's a matter of maximizing the time it is exclusive.
Should I try to stand-out by mailing some little tchotchka related to the app, or at least making the mailing stand-out. (Yes, I plan on using the "obsolete" postal service. I think it gets more attention than an email.) Anyone have any experience with this? I get the idea that bloggers love tchotchkas. But are traditional journalists insulted by them? (I should stress that if I do this, it will be a low-value tchotchka - I won't be bribing anyone with an iPhone pre-loaded with my app, or some-such. That is likely to get coverage, but the wrong kind...)
I'm curious how many people have experienced the "oh we got your promo code and now we'll review your app for only $x..." syndrome.
If you're going to basically charge for reviews, make that clear up front so we can go ahead and give one of our scarce promo codes to someone who will genuinely do something with it, not just sit on it. I can't drop $50 per review on every review site out there. I'd rather send my app to honest bloggers who really care about what they're writing, not just writing thinly-concealed ads.
I'm curious how many people have experienced the "oh we got your promo code and now we'll review your app for only $x..." syndrome.
If you're going to basically charge for reviews, make that clear up front so we can go ahead and give one of our scarce promo codes to someone who will genuinely do something with it, not just sit on it. I can't drop $50 per review on every review site out there. I'd rather send my app to honest bloggers who really care about what they're writing, not just writing thinly-concealed ads.
Is this common? Can you let me know who does this? I don't want to waste my promo codes either.
Is this common? Can you let me know who does this? I don't want to waste my promo codes either.
Honestly, I've lost track of who did. It would be an interesting experiment for someone publishing a brand-new app to submit it to all the review sites and see what response you got from each. HEY APPLE! It sure would be nice to be able to determine which promo codes were never used, and be able to re-issue expired codes that never got redeemed.
Jerad - given the question that's been asked above by several posters you might have mentioned that you charge for varying levels of video demo and 'featured' coverage at your site. The more money that is paid, the more an app is featured. This is openly stated on this page at your site.
AppCraver is another site listed above that charges for reviews, and for 'expedited' reviews.
Both sites are up front on their policies and don't try to hide them, so to each their own I guess.
My approach is that this is something I would not feel at all good about, it's not the way I want to do things. In fact, I'm part of a group of sites that takes a clear stance against accepting pay for coverage or reviews. It's called OATS (Organization for App Testing Standards) - 148 Apps i one fo the founding members - and I believe the principles are good, solid ones.
My site, as mentioned above is Just Another iPhone Blog, by the way ...
Jerad - given the question that's been asked above by several posters you might have mentioned that you charge for varying levels of video demo and 'featured' coverage at your site. The more money that is paid, the more an app is featured. This is openly stated on this page at your site.
AppCraver is another site listed above that charges for reviews, and for 'expedited' reviews.
Both sites are up front on their policies and don't try to hide them, so to each their own I guess.
My approach is that this is something I would not feel at all good about, it's not the way I want to do things. In fact, I'm part of a group of sites that takes a clear stance against accepting pay for coverage or reviews. It's called OATS (Organization for App Testing Standards) - 148 Apps i one fo the founding members - and I believe the principles are good, solid ones.
My site, as mentioned above is Just Another iPhone Blog, by the way ...
Oh, and for info on OATS, what it stands for, and who are its members see:
Can anybody point me to a good "promotional contact list"?
That is, a list of the most prominent, influential, widely-read, etc. relevant:
........
etc. etc. etc. who cover iPhone apps?
Surely, somebody has collected this. (Now, are they willing to give it away for free, though?)
I'd also be interested in sources of traditional media contacts.
Being new to both iPhone development and Apple, the list doesn't just roll off the top of my head. Heck, other than MacWorld, I couldn't even name one other Mac magazine...
Experience with PR agencies? Cost? Are there "boutique" agencies that deal with iPhone apps? Any good?
jtara,
Great question. There are some nice lists of sites posted here. It looks like you are ready and willing to go through the effort to roll your own marketing.
But, you ask about boutique agencies - we are one such agency. Check us out at bootcampmobile.com. We believe our experience will allow developers to focus on building "great" apps and we can handle all the marketing to maximize the revenue.
We also have brand and agency clients who are looking to license a yet to be released product - which gives up front license fees to the developer before an app even launches!
I don't want to go on too much and violate the integrity of these forums.
Just wanted people to know that firms exist to help market your app, and there are other options than just putting the app in the iTunes store and delivering to app review sites.
Good luck!
mark
tw: @bootcampmobile
NOTE: We are always on the lookout for good developers to add to our developer network too.
I'm curious how many people have experienced the "oh we got your promo code and now we'll review your app for only $x..." syndrome.
That's the only reply I ever got, and I tried submitting several applications to several blogs, including iphonealley, appstoreapps, appcraver, and possibly others which I don't recall. Of course the really big ones, like Gizmodo or Engadget simply don't answer.
I even tried doing an ad in response to one of those email. I tracked carefully the sales before the ad, during and after, I plotted the ad hit numbers as reported by the blog and my sales, and found absolutely zero correlation. The ads simply had no effect.
My conclusion is that the app related blogosphere is way too crowded, just like the app store, and the impact each blog has is minimal. I guess to really have an impact you need to have an ad with on of the big blogs. The issue is that AppStore prices don't make it economical to advertise. It's hard to justify a $0.1 per hit price when the App costs $0.99 and only in the wildest dreams you'll get a conversion rate that is better than 1 to 10.
Nice work. You took my idea and expanded on it, good.
A few notes though:
- Why limit to games, make the form suitable for any app, with games being one category.
- You could get all the information you are asking in your app submission form automatically from the appstore based solely on the app name - with the exception of the promotion codes of course - saving the developer the work, just a nicety...
- Why developers can't claim codes? We are the best users ;-)
Promotional contact list?
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