I tried almost everything except AD networks, because based on my other experiences I think, it is too much work for nothing.
Some techniques I tried:
1. Submitting app to review sites Review sites should attract people to your app by spreading the word about it. The main idea is nice, but in my experience has no effect at all.
- Only small and upcoming review sites were willing to take my promo code and review the app.
- Big sites have no time, no ressources or no intention to review your app without a payment plan.
- People read, maybe comment on your app, but you don't see real impact and/or you can't track that your customers were led to your app by these review sites.
- Customers don't review your app on iTunes or anywhere else.
- Your websites gets no to very little visits
2. Paid banner advertisement We all know the idea behind it. You place an AD banner on a site and hope, people click on it and you sell your stuff.
(Update October 3. 2010: Our banner on TouchArcade forum has a 0.14% CTR - Click Through Rate and costs $300/month)
- Expensive. Some sites want $1000 / week (!) to place your AD on their site. I think, I don't have to explain the "cost - revenue" thing...
- Small and upcoming sites charge from $25 a month, but it doesn't matter. Their visitor numbers are to low
- We all know, what internet users in general think about banner advertisement. If it is not filtered, then it is ignored by most of the people.
- No track about which site led the customer to your app and which site led them to buy your app.
- Your website doesn't get any visits.
3. Making your app free for a short amount of time It may work for spreading the app. Our 99 cent app with 20-100 downloads a day skyrocketed into 5000-7000 downloads a day.
- Your free app ranking position doesn't remain if you change back to paid version
- People who download free apps don't review on iTunes
- If they review they will give you 1 star just becuase your fully developed game with nice features (which took you months to make) doesn't have tilt control or another feature, which would be essential in their opinion.
4. Promo code giveaways Promo code giveaways are the best way to go, but you have to know, what you do with your 50 promo codes (you get 50 of them by every update of your app)!
There are many possibilities to spread them, but there is only one way, which is really working!
What don't work: - Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Forums etc.
- You have to visit many forums and sites to give away 3-5 codes everywhere. Takes hours for managing them.
- People will take your code and disappear. Often they don't even tell which code they have taken.
- You don't get any reviews on that site and for sure not on iTunes
- You have no control over your codes. You never know, which one is where and which one is taken or which one you can relocate.
- You have to manage sweepstakes and/or other lottery type games, which takes hours and days to manage
- Your site doesn't get any visits
- Your email/PM box WILL be spammed by beggars for more codes.
- Your app will be cracked immediately.
- It's absolutely FREE
- Everything is in one place.
- Everything is automated. You upload your info with your codes and you watch.
- You always see, which codes are taken and which are not.
- You always know, who took your code.
- Your codes are marked if they expire (coming feature: email alert)
- You get 100% reviews and rating on iTunes! That means, every taken code generates a review!
- Your website gets tremendous boost in visits!
- You don't have to manage sweepstakes
- Your email/PM box DOESN'T get spammed by beggars for more codes.
- Crackers have no intention in work, so they don't visit Promo Dispenser
So, that's all in short.
The only thing that boosted my sales is Promo Dispenser, because my apps got reviews and ratings on iTunes and that is the only thing that really matters except of a good ranking and visibility on the main site of iTunes, but you don't get the one without the other.
My company website has far the most visits from Promo Dispenser.
If anybody has other input (maybe about AD networks), let us know! :-)
EDIT: Promo Dispenser is over one year old and many things have changed since this post was written.
---
Our Promo Dispenser app has just hit the appstore! It's free!
Get hundreds of paid apps for free directly from itunes, directly to your iPhone with the Promo Dispenser app!
I found promo dispenser had the least effective out of all those options. Only 2 out of the 5 codes were used, my app was quickly shuffled off the main page as people added other apps and out of the 2 codes that were used nobody left a review or comment.
Wait a second, aren't you the guy that runs promo dispenser?
Yeah. Your site is a good idea and all but it needs a bit better organization and a larger/more active user base.
Also- lots of people upload their adult picture apps so the site is becoming sort of NSFW from their descriptions, I don't know if someone would want their boss catching them reading a site that says "all your favorite rubber/vinyl fetish pics"
1. It was only one guy, who uploaded all those "sex" apps and I talked to him to limit those apps to 1-2 per week. He aggreed.
On promodispenser is everybody equal. There are no queues no sweepstakes, nothing. It's free and for all. You were giving an opportunity. You use it or you don't.
If you can only criticize and you can't see the revenue behind it, then let it be.
2. Promodispensers userbase is growing day by day. We have over 2000 unique visitors.
3. I don't know, why everybody wants to always stay on the main site? It doesn't matter on promodispenser to stay on the main site.
4. You can also help to spread the word. There is a button for every app to share it on EVERY community site like facebook or twitter.
Did you use that button to tell people, where they can get your codes? Or did you spam your codes everywhere not knowing what happens with them?
Is it not easier to link a single link to your app's info site and let the people take the codes from there? If you tell everybody, where they find your codes, the userbase of promodispenser will also grow faster.
Maybe you even help other developers through advertising and helping to get more users. Hm? Ever thought about that?
Why is it so hard to understand the idea behind promodispenser? You think "there is a site, I see how many people use it".
You are wrong. Promodispenser is a TOOL not a site. If you never use your tool, you can't expect anything from it.
5. You must have an app which is worth to try. You can imagine, those sex apps you criticize don't give out many codes as well, because there are apps, which people don't want even for free. And if they have to choose one app every 24 hours, they think about twice, which one they take.
6. Yes, I am the guy who made it, but it doesn't matter. I have 4 apps on the appstore and I am going through exactly the same things as you are. I don't know, why this is a problem that a developer develops a site which helps developers which is even free and then everybody suddenly sees the Public Enemy #1 in him.
I know, why promodispenser is the best thing to promote my apps and I have proof for it. It was made because of a need for it.
I am not a guy, who thought "hey, I know nothing, but I want to jump on this iPhone waggon, so I make a review site and become millionaire".
7. If your codes were taken, you will get a review, because the system works that way. The users who took your codes have to write a review, becuase they won't be able to take another one until your app was not reviewed by them.
It may last a bit longer and you can get your review tomorrow or in two weeks, but you will get it.
It depends on, when the guy will visit the site again.
8. What better organization? You mean, your app stays always on the main site and the others on the second? :-P
There are categories on the right side. And believe me, people use it. There are page numbers on the bottom of the page and believe me, people use it!
I can post you the heat map of promodispenser if you want.
----
As I told, users have to review the apps on iTunes, otherwise they won't get another code.
Please tell me, what you got from other sites? I am courious, because I paid for advertisement, I did the forum spam thing and I got reviews, but nothing seemed to boost my sales.
When Promodispenser was released, suddenly I got reviews and my sales went up. I didn't become rich of course, but I got reviews and that heleped a lot.
My website's visits exploded and I have thousend % more visitors every moth then I had before.
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 04:56 AM.
Yeah. Your site is a good idea and all but it needs a bit better organization and a larger/more active user base.
I absolutely credit Hunnenkoenig for writing a whole articles with its pro and cons even though he own the site. (A lot better compare to some one that just only post ads with content nothing related to the forum).
If only you did not put your promodispenser ads in signature, I believe a lot of people will try it right away. . You almost got it, just a little bit detail change.
Overall, good and convincing well written article.
I didn't want to just make another thread with blatant advertisement, so I wrote an article about my experiences as a DEVELOPER.
I believe that PromoDispenser is a good thing and so do the over 1000 developers signed up as well. I want that more developers and users learn to know the site, so the community can grow.
Why are you people so hostile?
Did I want your money? No!
Did I lie? No!
Did I try to trick you? No!
Then why don't you just go there, try it with a few codes and make your own opinion and if it delivers what it promises, you just spread the word?
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 04:57 AM.
I think in general, the issue is not that you are promoting your site, we all promote our own stuff (hey everyone, go to The Appency Press!!!), its that you tried to portray yourself in your post as a unbiased app developer, and not as the creator of the product.
When promoting yourself, you need to disclose that you are promoting yourself.
I know what you mean and believe me, I didn't want to do it. I already had a thread about it here, but the admin refused to rename my topic after choosing a rather unlucky title and then he also moved it into the shameless advertising forum, where I tink it is not belonging to.
Promodispenser IS a marketing technique. Period. It doesn't matter in my opinion who brings the word about it to the developers. I think it belongs here and more people recognize it here.
I don't see, why I am different from Avarage Joe if I tell everybody that there is this site and these are my experiences with it.
The site was made for promoting our own apps and everything I wrote in my OP is true. Those are my unbiased experiences as a developer. I don't try to sell you anything, because I don't make money with the site (rather the opposite). I simply want to try fellow developers to find the best solution for marketing.
But I think, no matter how you see this topic based on the OP, you are welcomed to write about your own experiences with different promotion techniques.
Why bashing me instead of writing about the "Best marketing technique worked for YOU"?
I think, this is the problem with most of the people on most of the forums. They can't focus on the real topic.
So what was YOUR best marketing technique and why?
How are you getting 80-100% of people to leave reviews? What keeps them from taking the code downloading and leaving?
They require each account to post an on-site review (not an necessarily an iTunes review) before they dispense another code. It can be spoofed with a fake e-mail account, though they check for the easy ones, like 10-minute mail.
Despite the (truly annoying) tone-deafness in terms of self-promotion, it is actually a pretty good idea. If nothing else, it allows for keeping track of which promo codes have been taken and used.
It can be spoofed with a fake e-mail account, though they check for the easy ones, like 10-minute mail.
I edited this message for this: The site has changed and now you have to register your Appstore ID and you have to write reviews only on iTunes. If you don't write a review for your first code within 3 days, your account will be banned.
There is only a little chance for cheating.
All spam email providers are banned on our site (we ban them as they appear).
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 05:02 AM.
If you want reviews, try checking out our RateMyApp system. You'll get every review you pay for (sorry folks, its unbiased, can't promise you positive reviews... make a good product!) as well as demographics on the reviewers, a chance to answer back to them and have it within a specified time frame.
No, its not free - but then generally you get what you pay for. Also - looking for more RateMyApp Reviewers - sign up here, its a great way to get free apps!
Not trying to undermine you mate, but your system is simply LOL.
Did you really mean it? Sorry guys, but I can see it only as a joke. And that is what I mean with all other review sites and sh****
There are people who just try to make the quick buck on the iphone madness without a clue.
Your system tries to do the same, what promodispenser does, but you want to be paid for it, but you can't ensure that the 25 reviews I paid for on your system will really appear.
On Promodispenser you get 100% reviews on iTunes for free!
And like your system, all others suck too. Toucharcade and all other sites will review your app only for money or if you are a big name, but look into the appstore's top 100 how many apps are there reviewed by Toucharcade.... you will be surprised. Namely just a very few, if even...
So forget all of your banner adds and reviews and such.
You must generate a hype around your app and some reviews may help, but if you have no reviews on iTunes, your app's site will suggest that it sucks.
I am no marketing guy and I don't know what would help to sell your app, but what I know is that banner adds on small blogs and reviews on toucharcad do absolutely nothing.
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 05:03 AM.
Not trying to undermine you mate, but your system is simply LOL.
Did you really mean it? Sorry guys, but I can see it only as a joke. And that is what I mean with all other review sites and sh****
There are people who just try to make the quick buck on the iphone madness without a clue.
Your system tries to do the same, what promodispenser does, but you want to be paid for it, but you can't ensure that the 25 reviews I paid for on your system will really appear.
Promodispenser will be updated soon, where you get 100% reviews on iTunes for free! We just have to sort out a few things.
And like your system, all others suck too. Toucharcade and all other sites will review your app only for money or if you are a big name, but look into the appstore's top 100 how many apps are there reviewed by Toucharcade.... you will be surprised. Namely just a very few, if even...
So forget all of your banner adds and reviews and such.
You must generate a hype around your app and some reviews may help, but if you have no reviews on iTunes, your app's site will suggest that it sucks.
I am no marketing guy and I don't know what would help to sell your app, but what I know is that banner adds on small blogs and reviews on toucharcad do absolutely nothing.
Promodispenser.com is free service right? If it is, then I think it is a good thing. Sure beats those who ask for USD100+ for 100 reviews. I must say Hunnenkoenig, just ignore the others who slams down on your good effort to help other developers to get reviews on their apps. Continue what you are doing.
I think ideas such as Promodispenser are great, in that developers create these ideas for the community to use. Too many places expect iPhone developers to pay money up front for reviews and advertising, without any proof of value for that service.
I've created something similar, PromoHelper!, to track promotion codes to iTunes reviews. It's free and just getting off the ground, but like Promodispenser, it was created to help the community solve a growing issue, which is always a good thing.
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Hunnenkoenig - we absolutely assure you that you will get all of the reviews that you pay for, that's part of the beauty of the system. I'm not sure where you're assertions comes from.
You talk about ads, reviews, etc not making a difference in sales. You are absolutely wrong on that point. If you are looking to spend $500 on ads and get $500 in direct sales back - no - its not going to happen. On the other hand - the more times a potential consumer sees your branding and brand message, the more likely they are to purchase your product over a competitors product when it comes to make a purchase decision. Marketing an app is a mulit-part, multi-touchpoint process that cannot, and should not rely on any one solution, be it promodespenser, RateMyApp or any other.
I don't appreciate your attempts to trash me, or one of the services our ad agency offers here in the forums. I have almost a decade of marketing experience with some of the top mobile marketing agencies in the world, I've worked with major brands like Budweiser, Frito-Lay, Pfizer, and the US Air Force. Generally, this is a place of mutual respect and peoples initial reactions to your post were due to its deceptive point of view as mentioned before (ie promoting a product without disclosing that it was your own).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunnenkoenig
@Appency:
Not trying to undermine you mate, but your system is simply LOL.
Did you really mean it? Sorry guys, but I can see it only as a joke. And that is what I mean with all other review sites and sh****
There are people who just try to make the quick buck on the iphone madness without a clue.
Your system tries to do the same, what promodispenser does, but you want to be paid for it, but you can't ensure that the 25 reviews I paid for on your system will really appear.
Promodispenser will be updated soon, where you get 100% reviews on iTunes for free! We just have to sort out a few things.
And like your system, all others suck too. Toucharcade and all other sites will review your app only for money or if you are a big name, but look into the appstore's top 100 how many apps are there reviewed by Toucharcade.... you will be surprised. Namely just a very few, if even...
So forget all of your banner adds and reviews and such.
You must generate a hype around your app and some reviews may help, but if you have no reviews on iTunes, your app's site will suggest that it sucks.
I am no marketing guy and I don't know what would help to sell your app, but what I know is that banner adds on small blogs and reviews on toucharcad do absolutely nothing.
.... The only thing that boosted my sales is Promo Dispenser....
Hunnekoenig,
1. you pretended that you are doing a fair unbiased review as a developer, but you promote the site. So your above statement is a lie. No problem if you disclose that you run that site at the beginning, so we know that it's a promotion.
2. now you trash talk others. Appency is offering services, if his services are bad - nobody is gonna buy, if the services are good - he is gonna make money. Nobody is stupid here and there is no reason to trash talk anybody.
that ain't right...
PS. In reality - iTunes reviews what matter the most. Most of the people buy apps from their iphones and the first thing they see is those stupid rankings. Appency's offer to review and rate the apps makes perfect sense and since nobody is working for free he charges for that. What's wrong with that?
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PS. In reality - iTunes reviews what matter the most. Most of the people buy apps from their iphones and the first thing they see is those stupid rankings. Appency's offer to review and rate the apps makes perfect sense and since nobody is working for free he charges for that. What's wrong with that?
And what did I say?
---
I don't lie!
I can't see, why it is necessarily a lie when I say, it boosted my sales? How you come to this conclusion is a riddle to me.
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@Appency: How can you ensure that I get the reviews? You simply can not. At least with that system, what you describe on your site. Period.
You even mentioned that on your site.
I believe you that you have marketing experience, but that doesn't matter.
I didn't want to trash you. I just told you what I think about your service. That's all.
I was also trashtalked by you and by many others here, but I provided explanation and tried to clarify things from my point of view, which you didn't.
I still don't know, why should I pay you, when there are similar or better solutions than yours and those for free.
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 11-04-2009 at 04:01 PM.
....
I was also trashtalked by you and by many others here, but I provided explanation and tried to clarify things from my point of view, which you didn't.
.....
If you look through the messages you'll see - nobody trashtalked you. Many (including me) actually liked your idea, your site, and what you do. I think you keep missing the point. People picked on you for not WHAT you do, but HOW you presented it That's all.
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I ensure you get reviews by only paying the reviewers back for their app costs once the reviews have been left.
What is said on our site is that we cannot ensure POSITIVE reviews. To do so would be frankly unethical. Our focus groups are unbiased consumers with an interest in mobile applications. If your app is bad - trust me, they will tell you. We do ask that our reviewers give constructive cristisism when they do not like an app instead of just leaving a "this sucks". Same when its a good app - a review of "Great App!" does not do the developer or the general public any good unless they say why.
A value however of using RateMyApp is that we give the developer the chance to have a dialog with the reviewer.
Let me give you an example:
One of our teams reviewed an app that tells you how many days to any particular holiday. One of the reviewers on the team gave it a bad rating because it did not integrate with the calendar on the phone, and said so in their review. The developer contacted us and let us know that it was a function that was not available in the SDK, and because of that the review was not "well informed".
Two things happened at that point: the first was that the developer made a note of that in the app description so that other consumers were not disenchanted in the same manner, and the other was that we notified the reviewer of the reason, and with that information in hand, the reviewer changed their rating and comments to reflect it.
Why pay for a service like this? Because its a benefit to the developer. Along with the reviews we provide a demographic analysis of the users reviewing your app - valuable market research that can be used to improve your product and your products marketing efforts. We can also create review boards that are of a specific demographic - IE if you have a child focused app, we can create a review board that is all parents with children in the right age range.
My thanks to everyone who has sat through this discussion and weighed in. As an thank you to the support we have received on this board, anyone contacting us to utilize the RateMyApp service in the month of November and who mentions this posting can receive a 10% discount on the service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunnenkoenig
And what did I say?
---
@Appency: How can you ensure that I get the reviews? You simply can not. At least with that system, what you describe on your site. Period.
I ensure you get reviews by only paying the reviewers back for their app costs once the reviews have been left.
What is said on our site is that we cannot ensure POSITIVE reviews. To do so would be frankly unethical. Our focus groups are unbiased consumers with an interest in mobile applications. If your app is bad - trust me, they will tell you. We do ask that our reviewers give constructive cristisism when they do not like an app instead of just leaving a "this sucks". Same when its a good app - a review of "Great App!" does not do the developer or the general public any good unless they say why.
A value however of using RateMyApp is that we give the developer the chance to have a dialog with the reviewer.
Let me give you an example:
One of our teams reviewed an app that tells you how many days to any particular holiday. One of the reviewers on the team gave it a bad rating because it did not integrate with the calendar on the phone, and said so in their review. The developer contacted us and let us know that it was a function that was not available in the SDK, and because of that the review was not "well informed".
Two things happened at that point: the first was that the developer made a note of that in the app description so that other consumers were not disenchanted in the same manner, and the other was that we notified the reviewer of the reason, and with that information in hand, the reviewer changed their rating and comments to reflect it.
Why pay for a service like this? Because its a benefit to the developer. Along with the reviews we provide a demographic analysis of the users reviewing your app - valuable market research that can be used to improve your product and your products marketing efforts. We can also create review boards that are of a specific demographic - IE if you have a child focused app, we can create a review board that is all parents with children in the right age range.
My thanks to everyone who has sat through this discussion and weighed in. As an thank you to the support we have received on this board, anyone contacting us to utilize the RateMyApp service in the month of November and who mentions this posting can receive a 10% discount on the service.
Quoting "Step Brothers" Will Ferrel Line: "EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY!!!"!!
I registered at your promodispenser site and checked the apps there.
Erm.. I look through some apps, but it seems those who got the promocodes, only review it on YOUR SITE, and I saw a developer keep on asking them to review in itunes. many times... not sure whether he/she got it reviewed on itunes or not finally though.
This is a problem. Because if those who registered at your site, only review at your site, then that is no good.
I registered at your promodispenser site and checked the apps there.
Erm.. I look through some apps, but it seems those who got the promocodes, only review it on YOUR SITE, and I saw a developer keep on asking them to review in itunes. many times... not sure whether he/she got it reviewed on itunes or not finally though.
This is a problem. Because if those who registered at your site, only review at your site, then that is no good.
EDITED: The system changed. People review only on iTunes now.
Reviewing on promodispenser is not possible anymore.
Most of our users give pretty detailed reviews of the apps.
But ... ehm... one question...why is it so iportant to you to discredit me and my site, again...?
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But enough. I still don't see any constructive discussion here about the best marketing technique.
Still no arguing about "Forget promodispenser, toucharcade is the best thing since sliced bread" or "forget promodispenser, my youtube video turned me into a millionaire"...
Everybody is talking about me, how unethic I am, because I tried to viral market my site, but nobody talks about the actual topic.
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 05:11 AM.
You could make it nearly free for developers by giving us an option to "buy" copies of our apps for the reviewers on the site, just like RateMyApp, and to skip the whole promo code thing.
Let's say I have a $4.99 app and I want 10 reviews. I send you $49.90 and you put it into a pool. When one of your reviewers can show he reviewed the app on the iTunes store, you pay him back the full cost of the app. Meanwhile, the developer gets back 70% of the cost from Apple at the end of the month. Under this system, a developer ends up paying $14.90 for 10 reviews. Less expensive apps end up costing less. A $0.99 app would cost $9.90 for 10 reviews up front, with a net cost of $2.90 to the developer after settlement.
The only difference compared to RateMyApp is that there's no additional cost to the developer. I think most developers would welcome such an inexpensive alternative, especially since it guarantees a larger number of actual reviews on iTunes.
Alternatively, you could make it totally free to developers by only paying back reviewers 70% of the app's cost. Reviewers wouldn't get apps for free, but they would be nearly free. A $0.99 app would cost the reviewer only $0.29 and a $49.99 app would cost the reviewer $15.00.
Think about it. And maybe RateMyApp might think about it too. At the moment I couldn't possibly afford RateMyApp, but I desperately need to get a start on some worthwhile promotion since I just got my first app approved. Although it's quite decent and useful I wonder how anyone will ever see it unless I make it free for a period of time. And of course there's no guarantee of reviews in that case.
Not to mention, I already have a 1.0.1 update ready to post, and my reviews will get purged as soon as the update is posted. It seems like you have to really keep up the momentum to get noticed in an ocean of 100,000 apps!
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You could make it nearly free for developers by giving us an option to "buy" copies of our apps for the reviewers on the site, just like RateMyApp, and to skip the whole promo code thing.......
First of all you can put some codes on promodispenser. Promo codes are essential becuase they count as paid downloads and they are important to your ranking on appstore. Don't put too much there (maybe 5 or 10), so you can spread the codes elswhere too. Or put them all there, but tell on other sides, where to get the codes, so people find them from other forums and blogs too.
Promodispenser is still a TOOL to help to promote your app, not a promotion site!
To your idea:
I don't like solutions including money on any side of the app. For me it would be too much work and it sounds too complicated. I don't believe people would understand how it works, when I get emails and messages asking me how to register on promodispenser or how to get codes there
Appency will realize your idea for sure
As I said in my previous post (which you probably didn't read, because we posted about the same time): the new system ensures 100% iTunes reviews through promodispenser. There is no more reviewing on promodispenser, just on iTunes. And that for free.
Last edited by Hunnenkoenig; 08-04-2010 at 05:13 AM.
The only marketing technique that worked for me:
. You almost got it, just a little bit detail change. 
That's all.
PromoDispenser needs a paid option...
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