How to promote your app

Producing a great app is surely hard and when it is finally out the work is just starting. Here are some top marketing tips for app developers make their apps noticed.

By Michel Lent Schwartzman
Dad, Founder Apps4Kids.net

We have been helping developers promote their new apps for kids (and parents to find them) since August 2009. From our empirical experience, we came to summarize this Top 10 Marketing Tips for App Developers. We hope these tips help developers even more to promote their new apps and, hopefully, get them to the top charts of the app stores. Tips were not put in a specific priority order.

1. Get your app reviewed
There is now a handful of review sites like this one willing to write about new apps. Search them in Google, look up for the results on the first page, get in touch with the ones you like the most and submit your app.

2. Make a promotional video
Creating a ‘trailer’ of your app is easy and fast. And surely helps showcasing your work for people who have not tried it yet.

3. Save some promo codes and run giveaways
Pick some of the review sites where you have confirmation that your app will be featured and give them some promo codes (5 to 10) for giveaways. That way, more people will try it out immediately and if they like the app, they will help mouth-to-mouth marketing.

4. Put together an info page for your app
It might be a Facebook page, or a blog page. But it is important to have an ‘official’ place where you will be able to concentrate all the promotional information about your app.

5. Plan ahead your review requests
The busiest review sites get dozens of review requests per month. Sometimes they might take up to 4 weeks to be able to write about your app. So have your promotional material ready before submitting your app (Apple will take long to release it any way) and begin contacting the sites upfront.

6. Invest some money for advertising on review blogs
Sure Google AdWords might look cheaper sometimes, but placing ads on the top review sites is an important part of your marketing strategy. Why? Because having your new app right next to other targeted quality content transfers that quality and trust to your app. And that only happens on review sites.

7. Pay attention and react to your reviews
Some sites might not take your app for a review. Users might not give you full stars or comment negatively on your app. Don’t get offended. Treasure this and use it in your favor. Why people are not responding well to your app? Fix it. Do it again, start from scratch if necessary. If your app is great it will start getting traction after some marketing effort. If it does not get people’s attention, just pushing it won’t help.

8. Do your best for your ad artwork
We’ve seen great apps being advertised with poor ad artwork. In the same position and ad size, a great artwork might get sometimes 4, 5 times more clicks than others. Clicks mean drive to the app store which means downloads and sales. Pay attention to your artwork!

9. Don’t give up!
It’s a jungle out there. We’ve seen great apps that had a lot of work put on that simply did not break to the top charts. The dynamics here are not easy. There is a lot of competition out there. But the important part is not to give up! Study the ‘enemy’, see what’s being offered in your category, apps alike. Find the right spot and it will take off. The guys from Angry Birds did not get it right from the start.

10. Have fun
Most important aspect of the whole app industry is to have fun. If you’re having fun this will transfer to everything you do. It will get to users, to the industry, it will get you there!

Have a great one!