Featured on ClickZ, Aug 10, 2010

Increasing application use is essential to a thriving app business. Studies show that it costs five times more to attract new customers than it does to get repeat customers and less acquisition costs equate to higher profits. One reason is that current customers are easier to convert as they gain trust and experience the value of the app. To measure success, a game developer uses this rule of thumb: more than 50 percent of total revenue should be from repeat players, and second purchases should be 30 to 40 percent of sales, according to Lisa Marino, chief revenue officer at RockYou.

Here are some ways to increase application use and safeguard an app business used by game developers:

1. Know the users/players: While planning an app, determine the target audience and what features will be sticky for that audience. Pretty basic, but it’s the key to building and marketing an engaging app.
2. Entertainment value: Again basic, but it’s much easier to increase application use with strong entertainment value. Incorporate human triggers: lust, mystique, prestige, alarm, power, vice, and trust. A narrative will increase interest in the app as well as rules, time pressure, ranks and levels, marketplace, different environments, and winning assets.
3. Tips about use (a start to advancing the user through the app): Reveal the rules as necessary, educate the user about app usage, reveal secrets or hints on improving the experience, or add features for additional interest (be sure to inform the user). Continued feedback accelerates mastery and increases application use.In Bookworm, basic rules are presented to the player prior to the start of app play.



4. Creating a community: Not only does it defray distribution costs, creating a social outlet for the audience increases buzz about the app. App promotion could include sending requests to friends or getting friends to work together to win a prize or achieve a goal.Apps like Resident Evil 5, Unreal Tournament III, Guitar Hero/Band Hero, and Mercenaries have features where the user gets a friend to join as they play through the normal game mode. This fosters community by encouraging play with others (regardless of their location or progress within the game). Facebook is a great place to start a community and then promote the app profile in the app to increase friends.Many games, like Bejeweled, have started Facebook pages for passionate app users. 
5. Collecting: Most people love to collect; it is innate in our nature. Provide opportunities for players to collect something to gain bragging rights with their friends.Games like LittleBigPlanet encourage players to collect as many items as possible. Some of these items improve the user’s status by changing the way the character looks. Players who have obtained items difficult to acquire will generally flaunt their success by dressing their avatars with these items.
    
6. Exchanges: Two-player games or teams encourage engagement by adding a social element and increasing competition. Exchanges can include: taking turns, making allies, getting app usage advice, sharing weapons or accessories, etc. Is there a way to add a social element to the app?The best game to demonstrate this is Nintendo’s Pokémon games. Each player is allocated only a certain number of items (in this case, Pokémon). In order to collect them all, the user must trade with other players. Some Pokémon will change forms while being traded, while others are simply not available unless traded. This also fosters community by forcing trades between players.
    
7. Customization: The more a user can customize the app and the interface, the more invested the user is in the app. Tests show that creating a character for the opponent instead of just labeling the opponent as the “computer” will create more player involvement.Customization is a game marketer’s friend. The Sims is a good example; games have slowly integrated the ability to create a custom character or shape experience to preferences. Games like Guitar Hero allow players to create a custom star. Customization gets as detailed as settings for four points on the cheek and three points on the chin for each character. Playing with the customization, players have recreated their favorite heroes/villains as well as creating self portraits to immerse themselves further in gameplay.
    
8. Points: Can some scoring method be built into the app to challenge the user to increase app usage? Psychologically, redeemable points drive loyalty as users equate earning points (especially to earn something) to not wasting time.PlayStation and Xbox use a trophy/achievement system to encourage users to compete against friends to see who can score higher or complete more objectives.
    
9. Create competition among friends using visible metrics: People are social beings; the more interaction the user has with the app, the more engaged the user will be. Some additional features could include:
   • Friend walls
   • Customization
   • User vs. user engagements
   • Instant messaging interfaces

   Console apps use messaging systems for players to keep in touch and send app invites. For example, while playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, the user can send a message to other friends requesting they join them in play. When friends are offline, messages can be sent through the app system similar to e-mail. In many cases, players on the friends’ list are more apt to check their gaming message box over their traditional e-mail box. For example, the app’s messaging box is used as a means to set up times to play apps with friends at a later point.
    

10. Messaging when inactive: It’s important to build rapport and maintain relationships. Be sure to build a messaging platform into the app. Make messages interesting: new features, promotions, cross-selling opportunities, etc. Don’t drop the connection with the user if at all possible, but beware not to message too much to cause irritation.
11. Fresh content: Continue to perfect the app and use messaging to tell users when there is something new. Many games now utilize downloadable content (aka DLC) to expand the experience for gamers with brand new content, like additional stories, side quests, characters, or costumes. Sony’s Heavy Rain released a brand new side story as downloadable content, allowing the gamer to broaden their experience with the game for a nominal fee.
12. Incentives for returning: Give the user a reason to return – bonuses, additional app usage tips, special privileges, etc. Nintendo’s Animal Crossing is a perfect example, always giving players reasons to return. Depending on the date that the user fires up the app, they experience different events, meet new characters, or find new collectibles, like bugs or fish.
13. Accessible: Build the app for multiple platforms to ensure continued use. With the introduction of smartphones and now the iPad, loyal players want to engage where and when they have free time.
14. Mashups: If possible, build ways that an app can be repurposed/embedded on other sites, blogs, or apps. Can you create a teaser app with content from the app?
15. Syndicated: For speed to market, a sure bet is leveraging the success of an established brand.Many apps are syndicated. If you grew up in the 1980s, you’ll recognize Mario and Sonic. Both mascots are still heroes to the current generation. Mario was a villain (Donkey Kong Jr.), a Plumber, a Doctor (Dr. Mario), a racer (Mario Kart), and more. While Sonic’s resume isn’t nearly as impressive, Sega managed to slap Sonic in more titles than most people realize. In the Dreamcast Title Shenmue, players collected Sonic the Hedgehog action figures. Keeping this brand recognition, both Sega and Nintendo have managed to chain games together around a character. When players hear the names Mario or Sonic, sales are guaranteed.

Now that you have a checklist and some examples, build features to increase application use into the app design or add them as the app gets more traffic; and they become the foundation to a thriving app business. As revenue increases, you may want to buy traffic for your app.

Is social gaming impacting console game sales?  Youbetcha. Social games have seen a tidal wave of interest over the past few years, and are rising to the top of the charts in popularity and revenue generation.  Screen Digest forecasts that social games will be worth $1.5 billion in 2014. 

While retail sales of console games are starting to feel the pressure.  The NPD Group states that “U.S. retail sales of hardware, software and accessories are down 6 percent from a year earlier, to $1.1 billion.  Game software has taken a hit in sales decreasing 15 percent to $531.3 million, while hardware sales grew 5 percent to $401.7 million in June, 2010.  Another important statistic is that total industry sales for the year through the end of June were down 9 percent to $6.66 billion according to NPD. 

 Let’s be honest, we were playing social games for centuries.  From poker, to billiards to backgammon, to chess, we used games to be more social.  It is just in the last decade that we became infatuated with new online social games.  Many companies are benefiting from the buzz and popularity that these games are generating.  

Edge Magazine states that “Zynga is by far the most profitable social game company thus far and has generated revenue over $100 million.”  It is reported that Zynga earns over $1 million per day with its social game, Farmville.  Farmville has nearly 60 million active monthly users; and Zynga plans on expanding their user base in the next couple years. 

 Social games are less complex compared to console games like Xbox 360 and Playstation.  Users have the ability to socialize with friends in their network while playing the game making the games appeal to a more mainstream audience.    

Disney acquires Playdom, a maker of social games, for $763 million; and the talk in the industry is that Google is developing a new social media platform to give Facebook a run for its money.  This would help developers be less dependent upon Facebook to distribute their social games.  “The common denominator here is that social games have the highest growth rate in the video game industry right now,” Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets said in an interview.

How do companies make money marketing social games?  Charging for the game, freemium or ad-supported revenue models are common.  But 90% of all revenue generated by the world’s top social game developers is through virtual goods.

 “Comparing information from 1st party sites, Social Networks lead the way with the median spent on digital goods coming in at $50 per year. This was followed by MMO ($40), Casual Games ($40), Free to Play Games ($40), PC Games with Online Play ($37) and Console Games with Online Play ($20). Also worth noting is that overall 32% of respondents made purchases within social networks.” reported by VSC PR for PlaySpan.

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.

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 15^th 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.

Do you know the performance of your download network?  It’s important for application publishers to understand how their delivery network is helping or hurting their download completion rates.  Often end users’ internet speed is thought to be the only factor in the speed of downloads to the user’s desktop.  However, the network outside of users’ internet service providers can also greatly affect performance.  Generally the greater the distance between your downloads and end users, the greater chance for high levels of latency which translate to slower download speeds and lower completion rates.

According to a 2009 study completed by Gomez Inc. a slowdown in web response time from 2 to 10 seconds caused abandonment to increase by 38%.  This effect is similar to customers walking into a restaurant only to find the wait time is too long which prompts them to take their business elsewhere.  On the internet this effect is amplified further by the fact that users have so many other engagement points readily available.   For application publishers losing customers to lack of speed is simply not acceptable.

So how can you ensure a fast download experience and high completion rates? Make sure your download network utilizes CDN (content delivery network) technology.  CDN providers place your content in geographically distributed locations decreasing the distance between downloads and users.  By distributing the content, customer download requests have less distance to travel, which reduces latency, increases download speeds and completion rates.

Publishers who utilize W3i’s IntstallIQ platform by default, experience the benefits of CDN technology through W3i’s partnership with Limelight Networks.  Limelight’s advanced global computing platform distributes W3i’s publisher’s files among 900 access points worldwide ensuring users have the fastest route possible to their content.  In addition to providing the fast downloads, the distributed network also provides layers of redundancy should a particular data center or network become unavailable.  Best of all, W3i provides the use of its CDN to all its publishers at no additional cost.  Publishers not only enjoy InstallIQ’s monetization capabilities but also rest assured that their content is being delivered via one of the most advanced content download networks available today for optimized download completion rates.

Jeff Bollinger, VP of Information Systems, W3i, LLC
Jeff is W3i’s Information Systems’ leader with over 7 years of IT experience.  He is a firm believer in Agile and Lean development principles.

An app developer of iPhone® and iPad™ apps, Evan McMahon of Veiled Games.com, pointed out something to consider when doing app development for the iPhone and iPad—the app only counts on the ranking for the iPhone or the iPad, splitting the count for a universal app. 

In the end, all apps want to score it big in the iPhone app ranks.  Evan pointed out that there is an additional consideration when designing a universal app (a single application that can be run on the iPhone as well as the iPad), and the way it is counted in the ranking.  With a universal app, purchases on the iPhone count for iPhone rankings only, purchases on the iPad count for iPad rankings only, and purchases in the iTunes desktop application count for iPhone rankings only. Also, if the intended use for the app is iPad and purchased through iTunes, it is counted as an iPhone app.  Therefore, creating a universal app creates value for the user as they can use the app on both the iPhone and iPad, but as a developer, creates a possible disadvantage since it splits the count in the rankings.

Another situation that arises from this scenario is the inability to create different price points for the iPhone and iPad app to capitalize on the different price tolerances of the two markets.  

Creating a universal app is advantageous to the user, but as a developer attempting to optimize the revenue generated from the app, the developer must choose the most effective pricing and sales strategy possible.  It is a difficult balance for developers who want to provide the most utility for users while fully monetizing the investment in the application. 

Creating a universal app and how it affects your app ranking is another thing to consider when doing app development for iPhone and iPad apps.  Please comment if you have additional tips for app developers.

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.

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?

• 1 to 5 (24 percent)
• 6 to 10 (21 percent)
• 11 to 15 (16 percent)
• 16 to 20 (15 percent)
• 21 to 30 (10 percent)
• 31+ (13 percent)

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?

• None (7.61 percent)
• 1 to 3 (51.23 percent)
• 4 to 10 (29.31 percent)
• 11 to 20 (6.94 percent)
• 21 to 30 (1.79 percent)
• 31 to 50 (1.57 percent)
• 51+ (1.57 percent)

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:

• 56 percent prefer to search the App Store from their mobile device for the app
• 17 percent prefer to use the iTunes desktop software
• 13 percent prefer to have the download link sent via e-mail
• >7 percent prefer taking a picture of an app’s designated bar code, receiving a link via SMS
• >7 percent prefer receiving an alert via a mobile app

BlackBerry owners:

• 42 percent prefer to search the App Store from their mobile device for the app
• 40 percent prefer to have the download link sent via e-mail

Android owners:

• 72 percent prefer to search the app store from their mobile device for the app
• 11 percent prefer to have the download link sent via e-mail

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:

• Submit a rating and a review for an app I like every five uses (25 percent)
• Complete a short survey every five uses (24 percent)
• Select and install a free app from a recommended list after every five uses (21 percent)

Existing advertising formats:

• See a 20 second ad once during each use (33 percent)
• See persistent small ads during use (24 percent)
• Select and install a free app from a recommended list in exchange for a virtual good (16 percent)

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):

• Expanded features and capabilities (77 percent)
• Remove ads (44 percent)
• Trial expired (35 percent)
• To support the developer (22 percent)
• Curiosity (16 percent)

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):

• Categories (57 percent)
• Search (57 percent)
• Featured – new (52 percent)
• Top 25 overall (52 percent)
• Features – what’s hot (48 percent)
• Featured – personalized recommendations (e.g., Apple’s Genius) (18 percent)
• Ads in other apps (12 percent)

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):

• Most popular topics (7.3)
• Ads in other apps (7.0)
• Featured – personalized recommendations (5.2)
• Search (4.5)
• Featured – what’s hot (3.9)
• Featured – new (3.3)
• Top 25 overall (2.3)
• Categories (2.6)

There was no significant variance between devices.

User preference toward different sorting options in their app store (rank order):

• Buzz – media mentions and links (7.2)
• Recommendation – based on other apps you have installed (7.1)
• Discount (6.8)
• Newest (4.9)
• Expert’s rating (4.9)
• Friend’s rating (4.8)
• Everyone’s rating (3.8)
• Total following – active users (3.4)
• Popularity – past 24 hour downloads (2.1)

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.

Twitter works.  Read on to find out how we used Twitter to successfully launch our new app business, Apperang; along with other ideas, from a tech journalist, on how to use Twitter for app promotions.

I read Twitter Means Business by Julio Ojeda-Zapata on vacation in Mexico. Julio is a nationally recognized tech journalist (for example, see his post about his recent appearance on TWiT) who covers tech news for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

A quick tangent on my Mexico trip before I continue…

I knew Nokia was #1 in global market share for mobile phones, but I haven’t traveled outside of the U.S. much over the past year so this hadn’t really sunk in. I was amazed at how many low-end Nokia feature phones there were in Mexico. For example, I sat on a ferry ride next to a young guy who worked for mobile game company Gtech.  In my extremely choppy Spanish and his choppy English, we discussed the difference in iOS versus Android, and games built for feature phones.  Pretty funny discussion on who’s the target market for various phones.

I was late to adopt Twitter… Why?

I was down on social media after watching Facebook transition from its initial early adopters to its current position of mass consumer penetration. Through the transition to the mainstream, Facebook ended up becoming a pretty worthless professional tool for me. I’ve always been a LinkedIn fan, but I find LinkedIn tends to be where relations go to die versus to develop.

What caused me to finally pay attention to Twitter?

I was urged by friend and fellow Minnesota tech entrepreneur, Philip Hotchkiss, to adopt Twitter for professional purposes about a year ago.

How did I get started?

I started following individuals I came across during my general professional life.

Eventually, the number of relationships I followed became hard to manage so I started building Twitter lists on key conversations I like to participate in, such as app marketers, app developers, tech media, and Minnesota tech.

What did I miss during the Twitter early days?

By being a late adopter to Twitter, I missed out on some of the early business success stories. Julio’s book did a great job of retelling these early stories.  Here are a few excerpts that specifically apply to app developers:

Evernote’s stellar customer service, for Windows apps and other OS apps, fix problems before most users even notice them. “Twitter has proven invaluable for identifying problems with its software, if a bug crops up, Evernote will hear about it, almost instantly,” comments Andrew Sinkov, Evernote Marketing Director (page 58). Evernote built a strong following due to its popularity with the web-tech set.  Tweets help identify bugs, as well as capture usage ideas, as a vehicle for new product/feature communication, and a polling medium to get user feedback. 

Graeme Thickens and DoApp: “He (Graeme Thickens) used his @DoApp identity as a sort of news feed to keep followers apprised of developments in iPhone application development, which was a superhot subject in the consumer-technology universe” (page 57).  Thickins searched for mentions of DoApp on Twitter and asked for permission to post some of the more creative tweets.  Users were finding all kinds of interesting uses for the myLite program, which is a combination strobe, emergency flasher, and rock-concert lighter.  Nearly two dozen uses were identified including: a radiologist setting it to red for use in the x-ray room; and a WVA medic using the emergency flasher at night festival “so other members of rescue and fire could find me in a dark sea of people.”

Amy Worley, Director of Digital Marketing, H&R Block, used Twitter to increase awareness of their desktop software (page 41). Worley was on a crusade to publicize the company’s digital offerings, including its TaxCut options, for doing taxes online. She used Twitter to broadcast tax tips like tax deductions commonly missed or W-4 tips.  She also used Twitter to answer tax questions, creating a two-way conversation with users.   Twitter evolved to become an integral part of their marketing efforts showing that H&R Block is a true advocate for the taxpayer.  

My own personal Twitter business success story

While on vacation in Mexico, I joined my fellow colleagues at W3i in launching Apperang, a service which pays consumers to try iPhone and iPad apps. 

A couple of weeks prior to the launch, I used Twitter to reach two app developers, which resulted in their participation in the public launch of our iOS app promotion service before we were even live. I found that many app developers are hard to reach, and Twitter is a very useful tool for engaging in conversations with them.

Perhaps even more telling of the business value in using Twitter, as a part of our launch, was how an unsolicited tweet was able to connect me to a writer at TechCrunch named, Gagan Biyani, which ultimately landed us a story in Mobile Crunch. This was no small feat for a company headquartered in central Minnesota, far from Sillicon Valley. Later on, several other tech blogs followed on the TechCrunch coverage and they wrote their own stories. The post Biyani wrote ended up being among the most popular in Mobile Crunch for the entire week – during a week that was competing for coverage against the iPhone 4 launch. Not only was it good industry buzz that resulted in several leads from additional new app developers who wanted to participate in our app promotion service; but it helped provide a big organic boost in early adopters on the consumer side of our service as well, which has provided great feedback while we are in our public beta phase.

I would highly recommend Julio’s book for anyone involved with using Twitter for business purposes.  I am also looking forward to reading Julio’s new book when it is published on how businesses are using the iPad.

If you are an app developer interested in tips around the business of apps, I would recommend following @W3i, or if you are interested in following me personally, @robertjweber.  Please comment if you have any interesting stories on how you used Twitter to grow your app business. 

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.

Follow me on Twitter at @robertjweber

It was Christmas in June for me this week. I received my backordered iPad 3G (yes, I waited for a few weeks, I wasn’t completely sold on the iPad initially) and my backordered Droid Incredible (I tossed my Blackberry after ten plus years with RIM) within a couple of days of each other.

After I played with each device for a couple of days, I started to form some entrepreneurial opinions in terms of how I might think about the iOS versus Android as an app developer and app marketer.

1. Both Android and the iPad need more apps! After scanning through the games which were available in the Android Marketplace, I was pretty disappointed. Most of the titles and genres I was familiar using with my iTouch for the past couple years had no viable alternative in the Android Marketplace. As for the iPad, there were very few apps available in the utility categories I count on. For example, I was only able to quickly locate one free Twitter app specifically built for the iPad, versus on the iPhone/iTouch, where there are many free Twitter apps.
2. Android makes me think about the user interface to navigate, the iOS makes me feel stupid. In Android, I have encountered several different user interface challenges which would cause me to not want to hand the device over to my four year old daughter to play with. With the iPad, as with other iOS devices, my four year old has no trouble. The result? The iOS makes me feel stupid after awhile. I like a technology that is a little rough around the edges and makes me think. At times, the iOS is too simple for me. With that said, the iOS is the best mobile operating system for the mass market right now. This week on MediaPost, Jeff Litvack, GM of global product development at The Associated Press, said he’s not seeing the same level of engagement on Android devices as he is on Apple devices. I think this is directly related to the UI not being completely dummy proof, and the lack of apps on Android.
3. The Android OS is lacking a robust ecosystem of tool providers for app developers when compared against the iOS- Whether it is leader board functionality, in-app cross promotion networks like W3i, etc, Android fundamentally does not seem to have as many robust tool providers bringing functionality to the app developers. This is very apparent when you engage with apps in Android. This will likely change as Android’s market share grows, as I know many top tool providers on the iOS are planning to enter the Android market soon. Apple’s unpredictable policies are causing a lot of tool providers to look for other viable options. Microsoft and RIM should take note.

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.