Over the past two years, we have witnessed something remarkable as iPhone developers have created and posted apps to Apple’s App Store at a breathtaking pace. The App Store has swelled to more than 180,000 apps and shows no signs of abating. The gold rush to sell iPhone apps is on, and you’ve created (or want to create) the next blockbuster iPhone app.
You see dollar signs and want to be a part of this explosive new business opportunity. So do 125,000 of your friends all toiling late nights and weekends to strike it rich. Large development companies also want a piece of the action and have teams of programmers cranking out apps as quickly as they can bring them to market.
Compounding the problem is the accelerated pace of technology. We have moved beyond “Internet time” referring to the incredible speed at which technology advances to “mobile time,” where technology is deployed almost instantly to anyone with a mobile device. This means that consumers have an avalanche of choices when it comes to the technology and content they consume.
What we are seeing on the App Store, however, is not a new phenomenon. Amazon boasts hundreds of thousands of book titles, most selling perhaps a few copies a month. Only the most publicized and best books make Amazon’s Top 100 list on its home page. The fact that the top 100 selling books are on the list helps them sell even more copies. It’s self-perpetuating. So, every author aspires to be on that list. In a similar fashion, every iPhone app developer aspires to make it on Apple’s Top 100 or Top 10, or the New and Noteworthy or Staff Picks lists.
They know that making it on those lists will catapult them into realizing dramatic sales. How do you increase your chances of getting noticed? Well, not doing marketing is a surefire way not to get noticed. Marketing in some form or another is going to raise your chances of success. All apps that have achieved dramatic success have done so through marketing, either intentionally or unintentionally. The apps have managed to attract the attention of reviewers and capture the imaginations of thousands through positive word of mouth.
Beyond posting your app on Apple’s App Store, you may be wondering what else is needed to successfully market your iPhone/iPad app. In short, lots! The days of simply posting your app on the App Store and achieving instant success are long gone. Sure, some developers have hit pay dirt, and, just like the next Vegas jackpot winner, we all love to read those stories. It’s not impossible, but the odds of hitting the jackpot have gone up dramatically.
So many apps have been introduced so quickly that it’s impossible for any casual observer to keep track of the 600+ apps delivered to the App Store each day. Once on the store, customers are faced with the challenge of reviewing scores of similar apps, trying to figure out the best one to download. It’s a tall order for any app buyer.
How does an independent developer stand out in a sea of apps? How can someone beat the odds in this high stakes game? The answer is (sort of) simple. Build a great (and I mean great) iPhone/iPad app and devise a stellar marketing plan to capture the hearts and minds of thousands. The execution of these two strategies, however, is not so simple. Many developers rush their apps to market and think the momentum of the App Store will carry them forward. They hope a little luck will be on their side and that they’ll get a positive review or get noticed by Apple’s staff with a mention.
But often they end up with a mediocre app, no reviews, and maybe 3–4 downloads a day. Then, they consider marketing...as an afterthought. But if you have aspirations to make more than a little spending money from your app, then you must follow tried-and-true marketing (and some offbeat) principles to get your app noticed.
As a developer you need to think about the key areas of marketing before, during, and after your app is created. You need to build your app with a clear objective and have a clearly identified audience who is interested in your solution. You also need to think about pricing and promotions, sales and support, and creating buzz for your app. This is not easy work but absolutely necessary to achieve the results you want to see with your app.
The good news is that the marketing process for iPhone/iPad apps is really no different than marketing any other product; it’s just highly compressed in terms of the buying process. The principles are the same, even though some of the marketing tools have expanded dramatically in recent years, especially in the area of mass communication and social media.
The steps are also still the same: You develop an app that customers need and want, create a solid marketing message, deliver the message to the right audience, build a following, and develop new apps and upgrades to retain existing customers. Remember that marketing is a process, not a one-time event. Marketing also takes hard work and effort. It is not a spectator sport.
When you understand that marketing is a continuum that incorporates these fundamental steps, you will be able to plan and implement them to increase sales success for your iPhone app. This book will assist you in understanding the necessary marketing steps to increase exposure for your iPhone/iPad app(s), whether you are just starting out as a first-time developer or have created and posted a number of apps for sale. This book assumes you want to move beyond being a casual developer and seller of iPhone apps to a successful marketer of your own best-selling apps and brand. The following sidebar illustrates the broad steps in the marketing process.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: George T. at 04272010
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