Archive for the 'Mobile Application Marketing' CategoryRob Weber, founder of W3i and Apperang, shares his thoughts on how to successfully promote iOS and other mobile applications. Rob is a ten-year veteran of application marketing and believes in the freemium model to create a sustainable iOS application business.
Deborah Manthei, Director of Marketing Communications, W3i, LLC, evangelizing the use of consumer application marketing to engage brands’ essential users.
Aaron Kardell, developer of iGarage Sales and other successful apps, gives great tips on how to create awareness for your iPhone, Android or other mobile applications in this video. The three key points are summarized here and can increase your chances for success after release.
Apply viral hooks in your app that will encourage people to share the app with others. Include links that make it easy to share the app on Facebook, Twitter, etc. If the app is only useful when a friend installs the app too, the referral will create additional installations.
People look for apps to download that have good ratings. There was a catch in the AppStore that users were only asked to rate an app after uninstalling. This created a negative bias. To improve ratings prompt users after they use the app awhile to provide feedback and ratings will improve. Attached are two examples of apps that include a request for ratings while users are playing the game, Angry Birds by Clickgamer.com/Rovio Mobile and Golf Putt Pro by Neon Play.
Don’t blindly introduce your app into the app store. Put a marketing plan together. Take into consideration doing pay per install, press releases and pay per click to increase your ratings in the app store.
You can watch the full version of Aaron Kardell’s video by visiting Untether.tv. By using these tips to generate awareness for your iPhone, Android and other mobile apps your app will pull ahead of the competition.
Rob Weber, Vice President of Business Development and Co-Founder, W3i, LLC
Rob is an Internet marketing pioneer with over ten, profitable years evolving W3i in the consumer application industry.
Ngmoco made headlines last week when Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch reported that Google Ventures made an investment valuing them well above $100 million. It’s amazing, considering that August 15th marks only the ten month anniversary of Apple supporting in-app purchases through free apps. In this post, I’ll brief you on key market information relating to the business of freemium mobile app publishing.
The Challenge
There are now over 244,000 apps in the App Store. Getting your app noticed is no small feat. It is even more difficult for paid iPhone apps since they comprise 72% of this total while contributing a far less proportionate number of downloads.
The Opportunity
Free apps are getting more than four times the number of installs as paid apps (source: Admob ‘09). A few developers, like Ngmoco, are earning more money from free installs than most earn on paid installs.
According to data provided to VentureBeat from 21 companies, iOS freemium game apps are generating $14.66 per user per year. Neil Young, CEO of Ngmoco, said in an interview hosted by Jason Calacanis on 6/29, that WeRule had received 2.5M unique installs leading to high hundreds of thousands of daily active users. WeRule was only released in the U.S. on March 20, 2010. Let’s assume that WeRule averages 800,000 active users for an entire year with no additional installs. This would lead to revenue of $11.7M per year and $4.68 per install. The average cost of a paid app ($2.98) is less than the revenue generated for a free install of WeRule.
How does Ngmoco make so much money per user?
Inside Social Games reported that Jason Oberfest, VP of Social Applications at Ngmoco, told them that they were earning 40% of their revenue from in-app virtual goods purchases and the rest from other revenue sources including brand and app-install advertising.
Distimo reported in July that just 2% of iPhone apps leverage in-app purchasing. The freemium model is working for more than just games too. Distimo reported that a significant number of apps from a range of app categories are leveraging in-app purchases including top performers.
Freemium Mobile App Publishing Costs
Global app store revenue is expected to grow at 60%+ CAGR for the next few years according to many analysts. Freemium mobile app revenues will grow even faster. A market as ripe as this one is going to attract a boom of competition. However, the costs to develop and market a freemium mobile app are modest. The following is a high level breakdown of freemium iOS app publishing expenses.
The most basic freemium mobile apps require native iOS development as well as a web application backend. The costs vary greatly depending on the complexity of the app. A couple of established for hire custom game development studios have shared quotes with me ranging from $30,000 to $300,000.
There is plenty of organic installs being generated for freemium mobile apps. To accelerate the growth of your user-base I recommend that you also spend some money advertising your app. Incented app advertising ranked the most effective method according to a few dozen developers we surveyed. You can buy incented app distribution from W3i and others. Create a campaign that drives around 50,000 installs daily for a couple days to achieve a top 50 ranking in the App Store. 100,000 incented app installs will cost you around $35,000.
Are you looking for a strategic partner and/or investor for a freemium mobile app? Contact me (ryan.weber at W3i.com) regarding an opportunity to raise $10,000 without giving up any equity for funding your freemium mobile app.
Ryan Weber, Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Co-Founder, W3i, LLC
Entrepreneur and pioneer of internet and mobile marketing, focusing on increasing revenue and distribution for mobile applications.
Featured on ClickZ, Jul 13, 2010
Through increased understanding of what drives users to heavy mobile app consumption, a more effective marketing plan can be created and executed to increase Android, BlackBerry, and iOS app distribution. My company conducted mobile app distribution research with both B2B mobile app developers/marketers and B2C mobile app users in an effort to understand more about successful distribution tactics. The results are useful as you develop a kick-ass distribution plan.
This month’s column covers the results of our B2C mobile application research focused on Android, BlackBerry, and iOS applications. The results of the B2B mobile application research were covered in my last column.
B2C Mobile Application Research Summary
Method
This data was derived from 448 valid and fully-completed responses to our mobile app survey. The survey was hosted online with links distributed through a third-party site. Recipients of the survey link were asked to participate in the survey and received $2 for completion.
Purpose
This survey seeks to quantify aspects of mobile app discovery, acceptable ad formats, app purchases, and Web search from the three leading U.S. smartphone players: Apple (including iPod touch), Google, and RIM.
Criteria
Due to the difficulties in obtaining Android respondents, the survey company focused more than half of their efforts on targeting Verizon customers. Valid users included only those that correctly answered trap questions and met minimum qualifications. User composition by primary device was: 130 iPhone, 103 BlackBerry, 100 iPod touch, and 115 Android. All were from the U.S. All have an app-capable device. All have at least one app installed on their primary phone.
Quantity of Apps on Smartphone
Tip: Make the iPhone your starting point. Currently, iPhone users are the largest, most passionate user group and install the most applications.
How many apps do you currently have installed on your primary phone?
Twenty-three percent of all users have 21 or more apps installed (heavy app users). IPhone owners have the highest ratio of heavy app users (iPhone – 34 percent, Android – 30 percent, iPod touch – 21 percent, and BlackBerry – 7 percent). These figures are reasonably consistent with the secondary research reviewed.
How many apps do you download per month to your primary device?
Forty-one percent of all users install four-plus installs per month. IPhone owners rank the highest in achieving this minimum (iPhone – 48 percent, iPod touch – 43 percent, Android – 38 percent, BlackBerry – 29 percent).
Role of the Desktop Computer in Mobile App Discovery
Tip: Syncing is a routine behavior, so marketing via the Web is a viable distribution tactic with links back to the App Store. Don’t ignore the influence of desktop websites to mobile app discovery in your mobile distribution plan. Submit free copies of your app along with marketing information to the various mobile app review websites. Users prefer to search the App Store for your app, so make sure the keywords most commonly used for your app quickly bring up your app in search results.
Syncing their mobile device with desktop computer: Eighty percent of Apple mobile device users fully sync at least once per month. Sixty-two percent fully sync at least once per week. These figures are relatively the same between the iPod touch and the iPhone. It would appear that Apple mobile device users are familiar with syncing and for most it is a routine behavior.
Downloading apps using desktop software: Ninety-two percent of Apple mobile device owners understand that you can download apps using the iTunes desktop software (96 percent for iPhone, 86 percent for iPod touch). Seventy-two percent download at least one app per month using this method (76 percent for iPhone, 64 percent for iPod touch). Forty-six percent download at least one app per week using this method (48 percent for iPhone, 40 percent for iPod touch).
Preferred method for downloading an app discovered while using their desktop computer:
Apple mobile device owners:
BlackBerry owners:
Android owners:
Mobile App Purchases and Advertising Formats
Tip: Offering the mobile app for free increases distribution. IPhone app users are most willing to pay $0.99. Users are receptive of an ad-supported model. Users are also receptive to paying for additional features. IOS app marketers are successful with the freemium model.
Installing free apps as a substitute for paying: Most users would prefer to install three free apps (52 percent) over paying $0.99 for an app or premium feature (42 percent). IPod touch, Android, and BlackBerry users all shared this preference (58 percent, 53 percent, 55 percent, respectively), whereas iPhone users preferred to pay the $0.99 (54 percent compared to 43 percent to install three free apps).
The remaining users (6 percent) selected the other option, which asked them to submit their own custom answer. The general response was that these users would simply avoid apps that require some form of payment.
Ad formats for free apps: Users showed a strong interest in new advertising formats when asked to select their top three options in supporting free apps.
New advertising formats:
Existing advertising formats:
Influences to purchasing a paid app or extra feature: Forty-two percent of all users have purchased an app or extra feature, after first trying the free version of an app. Apple mobile devices show a much higher composition of users that made such purchases (iPhone – 55 percent, iPod touch – 49 percent, Android – 27 percent, BlackBerry – 34 percent).
Users ranked what motivates them to purchase a full version app or an extra feature (selecting all that apply):
Mobile App Discovery
Tip: Appearing in the top 25 and category lists is essential for effective mobile app distribution. Users prefer to find apps using the top 25 and category lists in the app stores. Popularity (past 24 hour downloads) and total following (overall active users) are the two preferred options for sorting apps from a list. It’s no surprise that in our B2B survey, incented app distribution was the most effective type of advertising for mobile app marketers. This is generally the low-cost, predictable, high-volume source of distribution. Since search is also important, paying close attention to keyword and description SEO tactics is important in your app marketing campaign.
Methods tried by users for finding new apps (select all that apply):
Apple mobile devices have the top two selections being categories and top 25 overall (iPhone Top 25 – 65 percent, iPod touch Top 25 – 63 percent, iPhone Categories – 61 percent, iPod touch Categories – 64 percent). IPhone users are far more likely to try a personalized recommendation solution than other device owners (iPhone – 27 percent, iPod touch – 17 percent, Android – 12 percent, BlackBerry – 15 percent).
Methods preferred by users for finding new apps (rank order):
There was no significant variance between devices.
User preference toward different sorting options in their app store (rank order):
The order is consistent between devices, but on Android, the Everyone’s Rating option is noticeably closer to the Total Following option (Everyone’s Rating – 3.6, Totally Following – 3.5, Popularity 2.0). It’s noticeable that several very popular sorts are not yet available in Apple’s App Store (Total Following, Friend’s Rating, and Expert’s Rating).
By understanding user preferences, you can put a more effective mobile app distribution plan together for your Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone app marketing campaign. Hopefully this application research gives you some ideas on elements that are important in your marketing and design tactics. Be sure to read last month’s column on B2B mobile application research and its implications. If you have any thoughts on how to get top iPhone apps, please leave your comments below.
Rob Weber, Vice President of Business Development and Co-Founder, W3i, LLC
Rob is an Internet marketing pioneer with over ten, profitable years evolving W3i in the consumer application industry.
Thinking about developing an iOS or Android app? Find out more about the five mistakes to avoid when creating an iOS or Android application; and how you can learn from others’ mistakes, made in the creation and marketing process, that will save you a lot of time and money.
Boring Doesn’t Sell- Remember, there are a ton of applications available to users. Make sure your app says something to your intended customer. If it’s a game, make it exciting and interesting for the people downloading it. If it’s a weather app, make it intriguing to your target demographic. There is a lot of noise to sift through, so make sure your app doesn’t get lost with the rest of the apps that are failing. If you are creating an app that was developed six times…it is going to be BORING to the user. Be creative and think of something unique. According to Read Write Web, Apple receives 15,000 app submissions a week and 95% are accepted within a week of submission. Apple paid out over a $1 billion in AppStore revenue shares so there is a major opportunity to make money. You need to create something that catches people’s attention with significant user value to alleviate them from their boredom.
Your App is Good, Not Great- After creating your app, you may think that this is the best thing that’s happened since bubble gum in Blow Pops. Well I’m here to tell you that that isn’t true. You need to look at your product from a consumer standpoint. Point out flaws you see and what needs to be improved. Don’t become blind to what your product really is. After all, it is an application and that application needs to serve a purpose. Whether it’s providing information, entertainment, or music, it needs to be demonstrated. Listen to people that are close to you. If they think it has flaws, most likely other people will as well. Be creative and have fun with it!
Track Your Success- Be sure to realize who’s installing your app and what group these people fall into. Make sure to form a contact list of people that are contributing to your success. This will help when it comes to market other applications you create. Realize who is covering your application and where the buzz is coming from. What are the characteristics of the typical user and how can you target more of them? These sources are helpful when you decide you want to pitch other companies your new application. I highly recommend you get an account with Google Analytics. It provides you with information on traffic and marketing effectiveness.
Advertising- Once you settle on your product, it is time to determine available avenues for free advertising. Many social networks exist such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and your own website. Learn how to use these networks effectively, and it will save you time and money in the long run. There are ways to inhibit your success, so I recommend reading…yes reading, a few pieces of literature. Moller Marketing lists the top 10 social media marketing books that can improve your knowledge. They outline ways to be productive using social networks. Having your app on a web store list is important to get your app seen by the greatest audience. If you have a mobile web store, you better be promoting your app on it! Paid advertising is also an option. Email and text message campaigns can help you get the word out. Customers that already exist can receive messages via their phone or email or by building in a cross-sell feature in your apps.
Highlight Features- Make sure that users are aware of all the features included in your app. I for one don’t want to have to search around for what makes your app unique and helpful; it should stick out and impress me. Your app’s features need to be apparent to the user, don’t hide anything important that should be noticed.
So what struggles and success have you had regarding mobile app development? How has your business improved from avoiding development mistakes at the beginning? This article highlights key areas to focus on when developing and marketing your iOS and Android application; but if you have more to share, please feel free to leave a comment.
Matt Machacek, Marketing Communications, W3i, LLC
Matt is a senior in the Marketing program at SCSU. Matt is applying his learnings to W3i’s social media outreach.
St. Cloud, MN, June 28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, launches Apperang.com, a new Internet service where consumers get rewarded for discovering and sharing great mobile applications.
“Apperang.com gives consumers a way to discover interesting apps and then get paid for each installation,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i. “By becoming members of Apperang and sharing their interests, consumers view applications that they find useful and get paid for installing them. What could be better than that?”
Apperang.com works as follows:
Apperang will initially support apps available on the App Store for iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® devices. Apperang launches as a desktop website and will be extended with an iPhone app at a later date. Only US residents will find available apps, but additional markets will be added quickly. Consumers in other countries can become a member and will be notified when apps become available for their country. Users must be 13 years older to join. Members get paid a 5% referral bonus for the first 2 years on all install revenues generated by their direct referrals.
Apperang.com launches its public beta on June 28, 2010, at 6:00 a.m. CDT. Participating apps in the beta include MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios. To start earning cash, join Apperang.com today.
About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications. On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel. On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration. W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value. InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009. W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. W3i runs several owned-and-operated consumer sites including Apperang.com, Freeze.com, and Screensaver.com with more than 15 million unique visitors a month. To learn more, visit www.W3i.com or view our W3i Mobile Press Kit.
Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com
The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
St. Cloud, MN, June 28, 2010 – W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the Internet industry, today announces the launch of W3i Mobile Solutions, a new mobile app distribution service delivering low-cost advertising campaigns for iOS apps on a pay-per-install basis with no integration.W3i Mobile is utilizing InstallIQ™, the intelligent installation technology, built by W3i and optimized on more than 400 million application installs, including 100 million in 2009 alone.
“W3i is excited to extend its distribution solutions to now include iOS applications,” said Andy Johnson, CEO at W3i. “By using InstallIQ’s intelligent installer technology, W3i Mobile offers advertisers several benefits right out of the gate — speed-to-market with no integration, powerful targeting to increase relevancy for users, and sophisticated reporting to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.”
W3i Mobile distribution is initially available through W3i’s new consumer web site, Apperang.com and works as follows:
One of the ways iPhone® app developers are using mobile distribution services is to increase their rankings in the App Store®, creating the critical mass necessary for a profitable app business. With more than 225,000 apps in the App Store, and 15,000 submitted each week, the key to success for developers is to use mobile distribution services to get their apps into the hands of users to increase their rankings. According to Pinch Media (as of March 2009), appearing on a Top-100 list increases daily new users by an average of 2.3 times. Greater gains result from appearing in the Top-25 and Top-10 lists (more variable but often an order of magnitude). The private beta of W3i Mobile launched June 22nd, and today the company launches a public beta. Participating apps in the beta include, among others, MyTown by Booyah, Inc., Fingerzilla by Inert Soap and Sigma by BigStack Studios. To learn how you can participate in the W3i Mobile Solutions beta release, please contact W3i or call Thomas Heitz at 1-877-257-7025, ext. 7593.
About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications. On the desktop app side, app publishers get paid for recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance-driven distribution channel. On the mobile side, W3i Mobile Solutions offers low-cost, targeted advertising campaigns for iOS app distribution on a pay-per-install basis with no integration. W3i’s solutions use the company’s InstallIQ, intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value. InstallIQ was optimized on more than 400 million app installs–including more than 100 million in 2009. W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit www.w3i.com or view the W3i Mobile Press Kit.
Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com
The names of the companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
W3i is launching a new service that pays consumers to download iPhone apps
By WENDY LEE, Star Tribune
Last update: June 22, 2010 – 9:10 PM
Just launched a new game on the iPhone? 
Prepare to join more than 200,000 applications battling it out to land on top download lists. If you’re not listed, it’s likely consumers won’t even be aware of your existence.
One new solution? Tell consumers that for every app of yours they download, they’ll receive 25 cents in their PayPal account.
Sartell, Minn.-based software distributor W3i says it’s a good way for new apps to attract attention. On Monday, W3i will launch an online service featuring dozens of iPhone applications, offering consumers real cash for every download while letting developers pay to gain the traffic they need.
“There is no easy way to discover apps that one might be interested in,” said Andy Johnson, CEO of W3i. “To get there you have to break through the clutter. This is what we do.”
W3i is launching its service, called Apperang, at a time when the number of mobile applications and the demand for them continue to grow. More than 4 billion iPhone applications have been downloaded since the app store launched in 2008, according to financial services firm Morgan Stanley.
But getting a share of those downloads can be difficult, developers said.
James DonFrancesco hopes that by using Apperang, his company’s 99-cent app that measures elevation will move up from its No. 30 ranking on the app store’s top navigations downloads list and generate more sales.
DonFrancesco, vice president and director of business for Eden Prairie-based Precognitive Research, said his company is paying W3i $500 for Apperang and estimates it will bring about 400 downloads.
Meanwhile, consumers will log onto www.apperang.com, plug their iPhone into their computers and download the app for free.
“It’s going to help us boost our ranking in the app store, and that’s the key,” DonFrancesco said. “When you get listed higher in the app store, consumers will see your application listed and more people will see it and more will buy it.”
Executives at W3i hope Apperang will provide an additional revenue stream for their company. It also makes software that helps Web developers attract more users for things like wallpaper and toolbars by giving people additional recommendations when they download something online.
The company said it has been profitable for 33 consecutive quarters and has 67 employees. In 2006, it said it had $26.8 million in revenue, but has not disclosed sales since then for competitive reasons.
W3i came up with the idea for Apperang in the first quarter of this year. As more people were buying smart phones and using the mobile Web to download applications, W3i wanted to get into that market, executives said.
“There is a bigger opportunity with this than our core business,” Johnson said.
Still, some industry analysts are skeptical whether there is enough incentive for consumers to go through Apperang to download an app.
“I’m not sure if I’m highly motivated by a quarter,” said Mark Beccue, a senior analyst at ABI Research. “It doesn’t buy me much these days.”
Nashville developer Jackson Miller, who helped launch the popular iPhone game gpsAssassin, said he’s not sure if he would use Apperang to advertise his apps because there’s no metric to track whether the consumer uses the app once it’s installed.
Giving away cash is easy
“Paying 25 cents to install it and delete it would do me no good,” said Miller, who plans to relaunch the game this year. “It’s really easy to give away cash. I don’t know if the people that you are going to get from giving away cash are going to then turn [that] into revenue dollars for me.”
iPhone applications can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 to develop, according to Forrester Research. Some developers choose to charge money for their apps, while others offer them for free.
Free apps generally make money through virtual products bought inside a game, mobile advertisements or by encouraging customers to purchase other products. Apple retains 30 percent of app sales.
W3i will be selective as to which apps it features on Apperang, said Ryan Weber, vice president of corporate strategy and co-founder.
Weber said the company has had success in attracting customers to other recommended software and will select applications that are high quality. The company plans to promote Apperang through blogs, cross-promotions within its business and Apperang’s referral service.
“The cash incentive alone is not going to be significant enough,” Weber said.
Click Here to View Star Tribune article
With the proliferation of mobile applications, the age-old marketing problem of discovery is now paramount. A major element of success is getting top iPhone apps.
W3i conducted mobile application research with both B2B mobile app developers/marketers and B2C mobile app users, in an effort to understand the successes and challenges developers face when vying for the top spot in various app stores. The results are useful as you develop your plan to develop top iPhone apps.
This article will cover the results of W3i’s B2B Mobile Application research; and the results of the B2C mobile application research will be covered next month.
B2B Mobile Application Research Summary
Method
This data was derived from 33 survey responses to our Mobile App Monetization and Business Model research. The survey was hosted online with links distributed through 3rd party sites and personal emails. Recipients of the survey link were asked to participate in the survey and received a whitepaper as an incentive.
Purpose
The purpose of the application research was to uncover app marketing techniques employed to drive mobile app discovery and downloads of native apps developed for the top mobile platforms in the US.
Criteria
A respondent was required to be a developer of native mobile apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and BlackBerry devices. Each of these platforms offer a proprietary “app store” to developers for managing the discovery, download, and monetization of apps developed on their respective platforms. Most respondents to our survey were iPhone app developers (53%) that develop native iPhone apps as their primary business (47%).
App Store Rankings
Tip: Learn how rankings in each app store work and how they affect the number of installs an app receives. Many of the top apps are using mobile app advertising campaigns to get them to the top of the ranking. Try flighting—run promotion to get to the top and then stop promotion and let it ride until the app drops below the top rankings, then run promotion again. Other app stores to consider: Handmark, Handango, GetJar, and carrier app stores (long approval time).
Each of the 3 app stores addressed in this application research (i.e. Apple iTunes App Store, Android Market, BlackBerry App World) have specific methods for ranking mobile apps. Only half of the respondents to this survey had a clear understanding of how rankings impact the number of installs they receive. Most BlackBerry and Android developers do not know their peak popularity ranking in their respective app stores. iPhone developers have a better understanding of where they fall within the various rankings.
iPhone
50% of iPhone developers have achieved peak popularity in the App Store for a free iPhone app. 28% have made the top 100 list for a paid app.
Android
36% of Android survey respondents have achieved peak popularity in the top 100 rankings for a free Android app. Most Android developers (90%) don’t know their peak popularity ranking for a paid app and 63% don’t know their peak for a free app.
BlackBerry
2 out of 9 BlackBerry respondents have achieved peak popularity rankings in the top 100 for both free and paid apps. 78% do not know what peak popularity ranking they have achieved.
Business Model
Tip: Make sure you understand how pricing will affect your demand. Offering a mobile app for free can rapidly grow your user base; however, to sustain your business you must have a source of revenue. Charging for your app is one option, other options include: ad supported, selling virtual goods for micro payments, and sponsorship. Run tests to optimize pricing.
Revenue from paid apps is the primary business model of most of our respondents (43%), followed by ad-supported free apps (22%). The three most important factors in determining the business model of their apps were: user acceptance/experience (81%), revenue-per-install (71%), and quality reporting (33%).
For the majority of respondents (81%), user experience, and not revenue-per-install, was the more important factor in determining the business model of their app.
Advertising Techniques
Tip: Paid search is only one option. Because mobile advertising is experiencing slow adoption from major brands, much of the mobile ad inventory is affordable (think remnant). Also, once you have an application with a large user base, use cross promotion to introduce a new application. Cost effective tactics are PR, blogger outreach, social media and the elusive, viral marketing.
Most survey respondents have tried at least some form of advertising. The three most common practices were: offering ads within another mobile app (35%), mobile keyword search (26%), and ads on a desktop website (22%).
A significant number (30%) of respondents are not using any of the common advertising techniques to drive demand for their mobile apps. This could mean that they either are not advertising at all or are experimenting with entirely new and different techniques altogether. However, if we take into account that 42% indicated that they do not spend any money on advertising, we can safely conclude that this 30% simply does not advertise.
Although survey respondents have tried most of the common app advertising techniques, most (52% of ad techniques) yield average results.
Engagement
Tip: Don’t forget that retaining the user is as important as acquiring the user—depth of content and fresh content are both important to engage users. It is easier to plan engagement features into the development of the app than to try to retrofit. And you can’t improve what you don’t measure. How to measure: segment subscribers by multiple variables, prioritize segments, determine variables to measure, run a/b tests, roll out across segment, and continue to optimize. Reports can include: device reports by vendor and model, traffic reports on how content is being consumed, destination reports to identify potential partners or places to run ads.
Most respondents are satisfied (52%) with how their apps were rated in the app store. However, 48% see that their ratings either need improvement or are not important.
When we asked app developers what they valued most, increased usage ranked highest (48%). Given the option of increasing usage of an app by 10% or increasing the number of installs by 10%, developers would rather increase usage. This is consistent with earlier responses which indicated that 81% of developers value user experience and user acceptance over revenue-per-install.
Marketers are just beginning to get an understanding of how to get top iPhone apps. Hopefully this application research will give you some clues on elements that are important in your marketing and design tactics. Stay tuned for next month’s article on the results of the B2C application research of 448 US smart phone users. If you have any thoughts on how to get top iPhone apps, please leave your comments below.
Rob Weber, Vice President of Business Development and Co-Founder, W3i, LLC
Rob is an Internet marketing pioneer with over ten, profitable years evolving W3i in the consumer application industry.
Tech Crunch recently posted an article by guest author, Alex Ahlund, that’s worth reviewing if you are interested in marketing an iPhone app. The article tries to answer the question most asked by application developers and those considering building an iPhone app–How much money can I make developing apps?
Ahlund conducted a survey to see if he could uncover any information that might shed some light on the answer for this question. He cautions readers not to take the information too literally, “I strongly encourage you to interpret this information only as an overview of the industry.”
Summary
Financial information is provided on 96 different developers with average units sold around 101,000 during an average of 261 days. The average price per application was $5.49 with around 387 sold per day. According to Ahlund, developers have seen a return of 15 times their development costs. Numbers may be skewed with the top 10% of developers being the ones with the best sales.
*Note that Apple seems to be a key contributor in the rising sales of iPhone applications
Promotion Is Key
Success lies in being able to market your application so that it gets into the Top 100 or into any mentioned list. Being on a recognized chart creates awareness of the application and continued sales.
Other application marketing techniques include using Twitter, Facebook, forums, blogs, LinkedIn, and other social networks. Developers continue to search for their niche hoping to create an application that will catch on with consumers and incur high amounts of revenue. Ahlund states that success is a pretty basic product management theory, “Developers need to produce a fantastic product with high production values.”
Learn more about W3i entering the iPhone application distribution space. If you have any iPhone application distribution advice, please leave a comment.
To read Ahlund’s full article, click here.
Matt Machacek, Marketing Communications, W3i, LLC
Matt is a senior in the Marketing program at SCSU. Matt is applying his learnings to W3i’s social media outreach.
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