These series of guest posts are written by the teams attending the Tetuan Valley Startup School 2010 Fall edition. This post is from the KPad team, formed by Damasia Maneiro and German Viscuso.
In this blog post I will provide some tips that will hopefully make you more successful when it’s time to publish and maintain your mobile app in any major mobile applications market (AppStore, AndroidMarket, etc).
You created a nice app and now you want to show it to the world. The fact that you’re a skillful coder doesn’t mean you’re a good marketer also (right?). Your app is probably kick ass but how can you make sure that it’s going to make an impact among users and that it’s going to be popular?
Let me share a list of activities that you should really tackle before (and after) going live with your app (the structure will be more like a “recipe” list that it’s worth going through).
Let you app popularity skyrocket!
Analyze the market and your competition
Even though you probably think that your app is unique you want to avoid over-saturated categories. Instead of creating yet another TODO list app and make it cheaper you must take a look at the existing apps and pay special attention to users’ comments: What is it that they want and is unfulfilled? What do they buy? Take a good look at the store where you’ll publish and you’ll get tons of ideas. Also pay special attention to rankings, average prices, comments and popular apps. You’ll be surprised on how this exploration phase can help you give your app the special twist that makes it different. Another important source for competitive research is the myriad app catalogue sites. Just do your homework!!
Create your business canvas
Ok this one should be done when you start the whole process but it’s never too late to create in oder to understand your startup and to know the direction of the whole venture. It will help you understand who your customers are, get an idea of how much will you spend and earn in the process, what key activities will guide you and more. I recommend you go with the startup canvas (you can use thestartuptoolkit.com to generate an on-line version of the canvas).
Your app is your best marketing tool
Try to make your app look professional (logo, aesthetics, etc). First impression is everything and for most users it will be love at first sight (if your app also actually fullfils a need of course). Think like a user not a developer. Get user reviews before publishing if possible, show the app to your friends and colleagues and get feedback an how to improve the marketing impact of your app. If your app is already published pay attention to the users comments when they rate your app (I can’t stress this enough).
Overall you should invest as much time in marketing your app as you spend developing it!
Leverage free publicity
Reach out to the meaningful app review sites and make sure they list (or will list) your app. you might even get lucky and get one of the editors in these sites to write an exclusive review of your app. Write a press release and put it in your site plus send it to tech press release redistribution sites (it might get caught by the press and amplified). Look for high profile endorsements by tech leaders, celebrities, etc (you can turn these into quotes and get lots of eyeballs). Become yourself a tech leader and write about your app! =) And don’t forget to spread the word about your app in social networking sites (see next item).
Build Buzz!!
Marketing requires an audience so you must invest the time to find yours. Try to identify where your potential users hang out and make a splash there. Publishing a game? Target gaming communities (and so on). Make sure you have a decent website for users that want more information about your app and that your web infrastructure is enough to accomodate a peak in traffic (common during the release buzz phase). Make you site compatible for web browsing via the browsers of the mobile platforms you’re supporting (chances are they’ll take a look at your website from the phone). Don’t use Flash on the website if you’re targeting iPhone.
Also set up a blog, reach out to your social networks (hopefully you’ll get a nice mout-to-mouth effect). Create a demo video of your app for YouTube (if your app is nice it might get viral).
Carefully select and research your price point and monetizing strategy
Should I go cheap and charge .99 or go way up to 9.99? What about going free and monetizing through advertising? What about using in-app purchasing? This is far from trivial. Impulsive buyers won’t pay more than maybe 2.99 and in that range you’re not forced to have a pro looking app with tons of features. Make it more expensive and you’re sending a signal to your potential customers saying “there’s value here” but you’ll have to deliver accordingly! Do a lot of research on how similar (or disimilar) apps are charged. Try to come up with a proper estimation of sales. Use temporary promotions but don’t abuse them (it’s bad for the whole economy if all apps (even the awesome ones) sell for .99). DO offer a free stripped down version if your paid up is 4.99 or more!!
Consider paid advertising
You can use AdWords or similar to publicize your app and even target mobile users specifically. Do assign a marketing budget for your app (you’re gonna need it). Part of the budget can go to paid advertising which (if done right) can help you expand your reach.
Build you brand
If your app is good enough you can use it to create a series of apps under a strong brand. Chances are that users that bought your app and were satisfied with it will buy again from you if you solve another of their needs (when it comes to choosing between a new app provider and a known quality one like you there’s no doubt that they will choose you). Leverage your brand to enhance the marketing impact!
Increase awareness of your app
On top of the previous items you can use alternative techniques to increase your app’s awareness. You can try things like promo codes, provide review materials (videos, docs, interviews, etc), use promotions and giveaways and combine all these with proper timing (eg. Christmas sale). You can also try to get deals in place for app sponsorships and product placement deals (you’re not alone and maybe you can also help them in exchange). Finally, never underestimate the power of awards and endorsements (use them right aways as soon as your app starts to make a splash in the apposphere!)
Focus on the most important 10 traits an app should have
If you you focus on these traits it’ll be very difficult for you to screw up (even with weak marketing):
- Great Design: user interface design superiority always prevails (otherwise just go check an iPhone).
- Unique Data and/or functionality: you provide interesting contents or functionality that can’t be obtained elsewhere and you have a winner.
- Connectivity: make you app ubicuos and updatable. If if has to operate off-line allow it to sync later. Make it respond to cloud events. Maximize connectivity.
- Stickiness: an app that people want to use all the time will be popular by definition. Make your app touch a nerve that make your users come back again and again.
- Specific Purpose: solve one problem, not ten (it’ll be confusing, avoid the Swiss army knife of apps)
- Ease of Use: even your mama should be able to use your app
- Correct Pricing: don’t charge 99.99 for yet another fart generator
- Smart Use of Device Features: modern devices have tons of sensors and are touch enabled. Don’t make your users go old school with your app if you can avoid it (mainframe terminal like functionality in an iPhone? nope)
- Fun to Use: if you can add a some fun to the interaction you’ll help make your app more sticky. So don’t be afraid to try it!
- Special Sauce: Some apps just have something special that beat the competition. You should try really hard to find the special sauce that will make your app prevail among the rest!
And that’s it for now. I hope you get at least some inspiration from this blog post. If you need a hand with marketing your next kick-ass app you can reach me at germanviscuso [at] gmail
