“It’s brutal!”
Peter Vesterbacka, ‘Mighty Eagle’ of Rovio (publisher of multi-million dollar grossing app ‘Angry Birds’)
‘Brutal’ is how current iPhone App poster boys Rovio describe the competition created by the sheer number of apps (250,000+ and rising) app producers face when first launching on the App Store (‘How did Angry Birds become a blockbuster?‘).
For some app creators perhaps, this will be less of an issue.The main part of their work might be just getting their app on the store.They might even already have a loyal audience they are certain will snap up the app and their business plan does not revolve around making it into the Top 50 apps. If that’s the case, then even though you might feel you have less to gain from this section. I suggest you read on as much of the following advice will still apply even if you are reaching out to a niche audience.
For others though, promoting their app as aggressively as possible will be a top priority, but how to do this? If it’s not already clear to you, know this:
Having a great app is not enough.
Does that depress you? It shouldn’t. Just by knowing this you are already way ahead of a lot of app producers who simply don’t give app marketing enough attention. Don’t have a big budget? It needn’t cost you a fortune either, many of the examples I give cost next to nothing.
If you are willing to go that little bit further than your rivals, and coupled with the knowledge you can pick up from this guide, you can give your app a boost that theirs will never have. So where to begin?
Well you can’t buy ads on the App Store last time I checked, so if marketing the app is a priority for you then you’ll definitely need to go to Plans B, C and D. Fortunately though there are many ways to to give your app a push (not all of which you will have direct control over but you will at least want to understand) all of which are covered in this section.
Note: not every marketing suggestion discussed in this section may fit with the goals you have for your app or your intended audience. It is important then that you select your promotional ideas to align with your overall strategy, public image and resources and avoid anything that might ‘put off’ your target audience and ultimately be counter-productive. Nevertheless I recommend reading through the entire section as it may give you other ideas which you can adapt to your own strategy.
Part Four – The Push
