What have you guys found to be the most effective way of promoting your app?
My first app went live on the store a few days back and sad to say but I have only received a couple of sales each day so far. Seems my app is already lost in a sea of thousands of others - any pointers in getting things off to a better start?
Here's my experience (from Dynamate a 99c app in the games/puzzles category)
The best way to get sales is to have your game at the top of the release list. As soon as it is a couple of pages back then your sales will only be 1 or 2 a day.
To do this, as soon as you receive the email from Apple saying that your game is ready for sale you need to go into iTunesConnect and change the release date to the current date. If you don't do this then your app will be 2 or 3 pages back on day 1!
I've tried getting reviews done (incl. a youtube video) The guys at MobiRiot.com did this for me - Jason did a great job. I think this was worth doing but I didn't notice a massive boost in sales. If I remember, they went to 3 or 4 a day for a couple of days.
I then tried joining all of the various forums and posting to them - this is very time consuming and again didn't generate enough sales worth mentioning.
I've also bought advertising space (banner ad) on one site but again the sales figures haven't jumped up enough for me to suggest doing this. The prices vary massively. Some sites can charge up to $900 per month!
So finally I tried the Lite version of the game, remembering the "change the date" trick to get it on page 1 when it was released and last weekend it had about 9000 downloads. The Lite version has only a few levels and when you beat the last level it has a button that takes you to the Full version in the AppStore. So far this has generated around 90 or so additional sales (about 1% return)
So in conclusion I think the Lite version is the best promotional tool for the least effort. But I think the games category is too competitive now. I have canned the ideas for other games that I was going to do. [shame really Denki Blocks using the accelerometer could have been quite good]
Also how can you compete against the likes of Pangea selling their 68MB 3D console style games for 99c.
I released a new game (Trio) this week and I only sold 1 of it!
I was considering to promote my app on others sites but according to what your saying, I've lost all my hopes.
Maybe it's because it was compiled for iPhone OS 2.2 (I did a mistake when I compiled). I hope the next version compatible with iPhone OS 2.0 2.1 and 2.2 will boast my sells because I invested a lot of time in this application and I taugth the game was fun (The only guy who downloaded the game gave me 5 stars).
If the sells doesn't raise after the new version, I think I'll just quit iPhone programing... I won't be able to pay my house if I have to compete agains a bunch of programers from india who gets 1$ a day.
Hey, don't give in! iPhone dev is like a game in itself. "Level 1 Complete" is the writing of the software. You've now progressed to the next level, Marketting.
When Apple sent you the 'Ready for Sale' email did you remember to edit your release date to the current date? If not your app would probably have been a couple of pages back which means not many people will see it and low sales.
If your App will only work on 2.2 then you have probably limited your market. I'd also go for a Lite version putting a link somewhere on the app to your full version.
It's hit or miss, here is my $0.02. First, you need a quality app...the days of relasing a quick "bad" app to make money are gone since there are so many choices. If you market it well(hard, I can't figure it out) then maybe some blogs will pick it up and you will sell a few more. The biggest jump is if you can get Apple to recongnize it...which seems to be luck at this point. If you get featured then you should see a pretty decent jump in sales.
From what I can see, and this goes with most things in life...make something that people want/need and it will sell.
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cool pic! I like it and indeed I want to know more now :-)
I think creating a buzz is a superb idea. But you would need 2 or 3 more of those teaser images *and* you should use them for advertising. That means, you will need to invest money before you even know wether you will get enough revenue from the software to pay for it and make a living. But that's buisness, I think. No risk, no fun ...eh... money. :-)
To the main question here: I can only say the same as all the others before. Getting blogs to write about you with a "press-release" or demo-copies is almost impossible. They just get flooded it seems and pick what they like. I was lucky enough to get mentioned on one big blog without intervention from my side and allthough it didn't show directly in sales I saw a huge leap in traffic on my website.
Also, Lite Versions are a bit tricky...if you make them too good/big/complete they will decrease your sales! You also need to be lucky to get through review if you mention your paid version. We got rejected with Skippy Lite for mentioning (only mentioning, not even linking!!!) Skippy XL... very frustrating to see how people get thru with this and more of it now some months later... :-(
Advertizing is necessary but it's a long term approach and expensive! People need to now you exist. They need to get your AppName in their heads. That doesn't mean they will buy it - neither immediatly nor in the future. But if they think about something to buy/gift or about software to solve a problem at hand, they must remember your app's name. I think, you can't really measure advertizing success in any way...but it definetly is there...it does make a change!
The only thing that will help boost your sales for sure is getting fetured by Apple. Noone can tell you how it's done, it's just good luck...but it helps A LOT! :-) So there's always hope. Besides that...even an App that makes only $10 a month will pay for the iPhone developer program for you.
So, just my 2 cents...
Markus.
Last edited by Software-Diner.de; 12-10-2008 at 04:56 AM.
I think the teaser apps look fantastic! but where to do post them? The majority of app downloads are from people just clicking App Store on their phone.
I've noticed a few more apps turning up with AdMob bars on the bottom of them. Anyone any experience of being one of the advertisers? (as opposed to the other side of the deal of having an ad bar on your app). Does it actually equate to sales?
I've done some advertizig with AdMob in the past...spent around $ 800 so far and from an advertizing point of view this is not very much...it's more like peanuts I guess. Anyway, I didn't see a directly related surge in sales. I always had a peak in site visitors - so I had an effect...over time sales started showing a little bump on the weekends I did advertizing compared to thos I did not...was about 1 or 2% more...so my ROI so far has been pretty much 0. :-)
But on the bottom line I will continue to do advertizing...just to spread the word. I believ it will make a difference in the long run...
We are using these in our Game PR PDF which will include everything
needed to promote the game, screen shots, promo images, HD video ( shot on red RED / Index ) and more.
isnt the menu beautiful ?
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Last edited by Inkstar; 12-18-2008 at 09:09 AM.
Reason: typo
What have you guys found to be the most effective way of promoting your app?
Well, according to PR for dummies, you need t have a good story. Writers want to review interesting stories, unique angles, original ideas.
It's all about the packaging. How did your App come alive? Is there a political/humorous/adventurous story that can be attached to it? Is there a personal story about the developers?
Also, remember to clearly define your target consumer. Who will use this app? Why? Where can these consumers be found? What else does this type of consumer like? etc.
What have you guys found to be the most effective way of promoting your app?
My first app went live on the store a few days back and sad to say but I have only received a couple of sales each day so far. Seems my app is already lost in a sea of thousands of others - any pointers in getting things off to a better start?
In my opinion, a great example of an app that has awesome 'story' potential:
-nice graphics
-fun to discuss
-'rastamonkey' gives bloggers stuff to talk about
-Timing - since fart apps have been recently released in the istore, reaching number 1 in downloads, we're pretty sure now that apple's not as conservative as they seem.perfect timing for a Rastamonkey debut
What have you guys found to be the most effective way of promoting your app?
My first app went live on the store a few days back and sad to say but I have only received a couple of sales each day so far. Seems my app is already lost in a sea of thousands of others - any pointers in getting things off to a better start?
Alright. Last post for me today.
========================
Get a good review, describing why your app/solution/product is disruptive, innovative, addictive or simply spectacular.
For ex, the solution to information overload, available on iPhone:
My first app, 100sounds, went live 12/12 (and yes, I had to reset the release date, otherwise it was September, which was when I created the profile in iTunes Connect). iTunes uses the earlier date of your profile, or the approval date. So you can't keep resetting it to 'today' to try to be listed as new each day!
I submitted 100sounds before Thanksgiving, and was pleased to get it out before the holidays. So timing is key.
But I've been in Marketing for 20 years so I went all out. I emailed, individually (no blind carbon copies or mass emailing) a ton of iPhone app review sites. I posted on related forums, but made sure my posts were meaningful. My signature included my appname and URL. And I'm extremely reachable to my users...if you look at the reviews on my site, you see a lot of comments on my responsiveness.
My app, I think, was well thought out and adds value beyond what was out there. There are a lot of sound apps but they play 10 to 20 sounds. As a user, I care more about my app screen real estate than $0.99. So I offer 200 sounds in one app. That's a lot better than 10 apps, not to mention cheaper. And you can loop and delay sounds for practical use or practical jokes. And reorder favorites to the top. Then, I didn't call it 200 sounds, I went with 100sounds. Why? I'd rather UNDERcommit and OVERdeliver. We'll keep adding sounds, based on user requests, and keep the name. When's the last time a software developer gave you twice what they promised?
Plus, I got the domain name, www.100sounds.com, and put up a cool Flash demo. Since there isn't a trial version, I wanted people to see how it works. Originally, I didn't have the demo and I was getting a lot of questions. Those have diminished (while sales have increased) so it makes it a lot easier to support.
Finally, I have to admit I've been lucky. After ten days on the market, my app is #13 in Entertainment.
Last edited by No Tie Software; 12-25-2008 at 01:54 AM.
I think that the "free" or "lite" versions are double edge swords. Here's a couple thoughts:
- Apple doesn't allow the free version to up-sell or reference the full version. At least not anymore. I posted "sketchinz free" in around 12/07/08. The "save" and "upload" button opened up a message that said this function is not available in the free version. I got this email from Apple, with the app rejected:
"sketchinz free cannot be posted because it is a feature-limited version. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version. After tapping on the "Files -> Upload" button, sketchinz free displays the alert message "Sorry, this feature is not available in the free version of sketchinz."
So I removed those buttons to make the app non-feature-limited.
- The free version was identical to the full version with the exception of not being able to save and not being able to upload. I always planned having this version, so if you created a sketch with the full version and wanted to send it to someone else, the other person could enjoy your drawing without paying. However you could create drawings with the free version and even without the ability to save I think I gave too much away.
- The free version downloaded thousands of copies, but it only results in as someone said earlier, about 1% full version sales.
Hope this info is helpful to someone. And since we are talking about it, check out sketchinz :: anyone can draw . I think it's a really cool app.
I got the same email a couple of weeks back about not allowing 'feature limited' versions. I re-worded my alerts so hopefully Apple will allow it through now. I've been waiting over a month now for them to get a move on!
I actually played it safe, probably too safe. Took out all messages that mentioned and functions that mentioned the full version, my app went through that way in a couple days.
Do you have any age rated content? I don't understand why it's taking so long. Have you contacted them?
Do you have any age rated content? I don't understand why it's taking so long. Have you contacted them?
No it's actually just a small utility app. I think it may be the tax & contract processing that's delaying them but it's impossible to tell. I sent my tax info to the Texas office about 6 weeks ago. Emailed twice with no response! When you call they know nothing about your case. Its very frustrating. I've got my app all ready to roll but can't sell it!
Sorry for your troubles. I remember I had some problem in the beginning, they emailed me back two months later. By that time I almost forgot what the problem was.
Hope your situation will be resolved soon.
I guess if it's not Ocarina (the popular Ocarina, not the unpopular one) or iFart (the popular fart app, not the dozen unpopular ones) it can wait... is that survival of the fittest or just plain unfair?
1)
i have done some app list entries on other sites and a video on youtube
=> Only one week with a 10% higher return
2)
One of my apps is 0.99 and i thoght before doing a update i am doing a pro version for 1.59 and the 0.99 for free.
=> Free app got 500% more downloads
=> Pro had 30% of the 0.99 light before!! That was a bad idea :-(
3)
I sold my free again for 0.99 and made the pro version another app (with another icon and name)
=> The 0.99 sold like before my experiment
=> The new app (the pro) sold 50% of the light
=> That combination is better in earnings as the light/pro combo
4) BEST VALUE FOR ME:
I am doing a update of all my apps every week!
=> Earnings are pushed every week!
=> Rating got better
=> I am always on the first page in new apps section
So that may not be working for all apps but test 4) got by far te best results in App Store marketing for me! => Doing every week a new update (with a little benefit or bugfix inside)
Here's my experience (from Dynamate a 99c app in the games/puzzles category)
The best way to get sales is to have your game at the top of the release list. As soon as it is a couple of pages back then your sales will only be 1 or 2 a day.
To do this, as soon as you receive the email from Apple saying that your game is ready for sale you need to go into iTunesConnect and change the release date to the current date. If you don't do this then your app will be 2 or 3 pages back on day 1!
I've tried getting reviews done (incl. a youtube video) The guys at MobiRiot.com did this for me - Jason did a great job. I think this was worth doing but I didn't notice a massive boost in sales. If I remember, they went to 3 or 4 a day for a couple of days.
I then tried joining all of the various forums and posting to them - this is very time consuming and again didn't generate enough sales worth mentioning.
I've also bought advertising space (banner ad) on one site but again the sales figures haven't jumped up enough for me to suggest doing this. The prices vary massively. Some sites can charge up to $900 per month!
So finally I tried the Lite version of the game, remembering the "change the date" trick to get it on page 1 when it was released and last weekend it had about 9000 downloads. The Lite version has only a few levels and when you beat the last level it has a button that takes you to the Full version in the AppStore. So far this has generated around 90 or so additional sales (about 1% return)
So in conclusion I think the Lite version is the best promotional tool for the least effort. But I think the games category is too competitive now. I have canned the ideas for other games that I was going to do. [shame really Denki Blocks using the accelerometer could have been quite good]
Also how can you compete against the likes of Pangea selling their 68MB 3D console style games for 99c.
App Promotion
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