W3i’s new custom toolbar platform, 3quency, helps publishers increase engagement and user retention, as well as strengthen their brand presence and generate meaningful revenue through the creation of browser toolbars.  Each toolbar can be customized with a unique look and feel, as well as cool apps, buttons and features.   As product manager for 3quency, I know well the great things our platform can do.  This is why I’m introducing a weekly blog post called “3quency Highlights”.  I’ll be highlighting the awesome apps that 3quency offers and the cool features that 3quency is capable of each week and how they can be used to benefit your site or business.  This week I’ll be focusing on 3quency’s Social Apps.

An important part of making your custom toolbar “sticky” and thus increasing the amount of time users keep it installed is to ride upon the shoulders of social media.  Most users have Facebook, Twitter or YouTube accounts these days, so why not extend those services directly to your user base in your custom toolbar?  3quency has three great apps to charge your toolbar with the power of social media:

Twitter app:  Users can log directly into their Twitter account to view their timeline right on their toolbar.  Compose a clever 140 character or less quip or reply to tweets directly from the app.

Facebook app:  This app allows users to log into their Facebook account, view their Newsfeed, submit updates, and view events, among a plethora of other features.  Why go to your Facebook page when you can access your social network from within your toolbar?

YouTube app:  View most popular, top rated, and top viewed videos or search videos on YouTube with this app installed on your toolbar.  There’s no better way to make your toolbar sticky by providing direct access to today’s viral video sensations.

Your custom toolbar can leverage the power of social media by including social media buttons piggybacking on the strength of social media to continue to engage your valued users. 

Look forward to more 3quency Highlights in the coming weeks!  And if you want to become a 3quency custom toolbar publisher, click here to get started!

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i, LLC
Eric is a Pragmatic Marketing Certified Product Manager and uses his experience in internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution from both a consumer and business standpoint.  

Amazon, along with all other book retailers and a variety of device manufacturers, are faced with a most disruptive competitive threat to their eBook business to date, the April 3 US release of Apple’s iPad.  Amazon is turning to app marketing to defend their competitive position.

Defending and Growing Their Core Business, Books–There’s an App for That

Amazon and other book retailers, like Barnes and Noble, are in the business of selling books, not selling devices.  Apple is in the business of selling devices, not selling books.  

Armed with this knowledge, Amazon has launched Kindle for the PC and Kindle for the iPhone.   Think of the Kindle for iPhone as a consumer’s “eBook store for iPhone/iPad” more so than Apple’s owned and operated e-Book store. This is a smart move by Amazon’s marketing team. Recent research conducted by W3i shows 50% of respondents indicate that they have an interest in using an application to aid in the discovery of books. Amazon introduced Kindle for iPad March 22, integrating with the Kindle bookstore and making more than 450,000 Kindle books available through its Kindle app.  Able to sync with Amazon’s servers, Kindle for iPad makes it possible for you to continue reading on a PC, Mac, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Kindle e-reader.   Amazon will continue to grow by knowing their strength, selling books, and making sure that their content is available in emerging platforms—like Apple’s iPad.  Barnes & Noble has already jumped on this bandwagon with the anticipated early April release of their eReader app for the iPad.  Other book retailers will be wise to follow suit and use app marketing to their advantage. 

It is important that app marketers consider what utility is provided by the apps they are developing and marketing. Amazon did a fantastic job with their PC and mobile apps versus their Kindle eReader. (I own a Kindle 2, and I rarely use it. When I am traveling, I’m much more likely to carry a pocket device like an iTouch, and when I am at home, I am much more likely to use my laptop PC.) I’ve used both the Kindle for PC and the Kindle for iPhone apps for a couple of months now, and I’ve found both to be very fast, easy to use, and well thought out. After I installed the Kindle for PC on my laptop, I tried out its “free sample” feature and skimmed through a few pages of Chris Anderson’s “Free” book, which is one of my all-time favorites. Unlike the Windows iTunes app by Apple where most of the navigation of content itself is within the app causing it to be very slow at times, most of Amazon’s desktop app is built by calling back to Amazon’s web technology while still managing the eBook files locally on my machine. This makes for a much faster, enjoyable experience. Next, I installed the Kindle for iPhone app on my iTouch. I purchased the book “The Quants” by Scott Patterson, and read it while on vacation with my family in Orlando. Amazon’s website, iPhone app, and PC app are all synchronized through their “Whispersync” technology. Kudos to Amazon for having a truly synced up, multi-channel strategy that creates great utility for its users.

Finding Alternative Distribution Channels-Mobile

Now that Amazon and other brands have very user-friendly mobile and PC apps, they need to find solutions to market their apps to the masses.  Last month, my Clickz column discussed a variety of ways marketers could find alternative distribution models for mobile, including rebates, free-for-a-day, free for virtual goods, and cross-promotion in app advertising. One example mentioned was the cross-promotion solutions provided by Tapjoy.  Tapjoy drove the Book Bazaar app to a top 10 position in the Books-Free(App) Category.  

How might Amazon push their Kindle for iPhone app more aggressively?

One of the most common distribution tactics used by top mobile app marketers is to get top ranking in the App Store.   As I read recently, “You don’t call Apple, they call you.”  I doubt Amazon will be getting a call from Apple to give them free publicity on the AppStore.  Amazon needs to use a variety of other consumer application marketing tactics: 

• Advertising – go old school with traditional advertising; an expensive tactic, but it can work.
• Download exchange – optimize ad campaign performance with mobile ad networks like Admob.
• Word of mouth – make it easy for friends to engage.
• Social buzz – expand your app’s horizons through viral market on existing social media such as blogs, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook.  
• Review sites – get app ratings and reviews on sites like AppShopper, iUse This, AppVee, and Apple iPhone School.  Let positive reviews to do the work for  you.

Finding Alternative Distribution Channels-PC

One very effective application marketing tactic currently employed by Amazon is sponsored search.

However, there are limitations to search marketing; a major limitation being the lack of volume available in many new product categories. Amazon is also using In-house promotion tactics by heavily advertising new Amazon apps on their already highly trafficked and successful website.

How might Amazon push their Kindle for PC app more aggressively?

• PC OEM Deals – expand relationships with channel partners.  Ever heard the phrase, “enemies of your enemies are your friends” from Art of War? Most PC manufacturers are very concerned about the growth of Apple’s market share in the desktop and laptop market, the smartphone market, and now with iPad and Netbook sales. Even if the iPad is a smashing success, total unit sales are not going to come close to all other devices.
• Cross promotion- similar to Tapjoy in mobile, Amazon could contract with cross promotion companies like W3i.
• Affiliate marketing – Amazon is a pioneer in affiliate marketing.  If they are not already doing so, adding apps to their affiliate program could boost distribution.

Will Apple Block Amazon’s Apps?

No, there is too much risk from user outrage and potential unwanted attention by anti-trust government agencies.  Ultimately Amazon does not cannibalize Apple’s device sales but adds value.   

Strapping on the Amazon Marketing Armor

Amazon is making its content readily available on emerging platforms and in doing so is providing greater utility to its consumers.  Marketing their great new apps using cross-promotion,  search engine marketing, and other consumer app marketing tactics has Amazon well armed to fight the ensuing eBook battle.

If you observe any other Amazon app marketing tactics, or otherwise have a perspective, please post a comment.  We are always eager to learn from our valued readers. 

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.

Why is the opportunity for marketing free apps larger than paid apps? Analyzing user engagement trends, mobile app advertising trends, and details regarding the lack of attention being given to free apps compared to paid apps gives some strong indications. The explosive growth of mobile apps since Apple’s App Store launched on July 10, 2008, has led to increased competition as well as innovation. App store revenues are expected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2009 to $29.5 billion in 2013. Mobile advertising expenditures are predicted to increase 28 percent to $914 million in 2010.

The value of free mobile apps is not limited to advertising revenue; free mobile apps are also the leading influencer on paid downloads and support the rapidly booming virtual goods business through in-app purchasing. The importance of free apps is misunderstood by developers, as the number of paid apps is disproportionate to their demand and revenue contribution.

Free Mobile Apps Drive User Engagement

Android, iPhone, and iPod touch users are averaging 79 to 80 minutes per day engaged with apps. This is phenomenal usage.

Flixster, the leading online destination for movie enthusiasts, touts 30 million unique visitors per month and 2 billion movie ratings. Flixster found that mobile apps provided superior user engagement over their mobile Web page. Flixster apps offer an easy way to share movie choices and meet-ups with movie-going friends because it combines movie information with social networking. Flixster now has 11 apps built for various platforms including Facebook, MySpace, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. The “Movies” app is said to be installed on one in five iPhones in the United States. Eight million users engage with the apps, adding to the 20 million unique visitors Flixster attracts on the Internet. Using mobile apps, Flixster’s mobile user base more than doubled in 2009.

Demand for App Distribution Drives Mobile Ad Innovation

Publishers are using mobile advertising campaigns to propel their app to the top of app store lists. AdMob routinely sells burst campaigns to help marketers achieve prominence in the Apple App Store. Being on the top of app store lists fuels revenue, whereas not making it can plunge an application into the great abyss. Of course, the cost to buy your way into the top 25 free apps in the App Store is growing fast: $10,000 in October 2008, $11,000 in December 2008, and $20,000 in March 2009. The coveted number one spot can cost as much as $250,000. It’s tough to make these numbers work without a strong business model.

New promotional methods are leading to new, innovative distribution alternatives for mobile apps. Here are some examples:

• Rebates (paid apps)
  • iPhone Game Rebates
• Free for a day (paid apps)
  • Free App A Day
  • Great App a Day
  • Free Game of the Day
• Free for virtual goods (free apps)
  • Tapjoy
• Cross-promotion in-app advertising
  • Flurry: AppCircle

Free Apps Are Underserved

Apple knows it. Apple acquired mobile advertising firm Quattro Wireless in January 2010, investing $275 million. Apple launched in-app purchase support in October 2009, to support the monetization of free apps. Popular opinion is that Apple will feature app ads in the App Store similar to AdSense.

Google knows it. Google is investing in a mobile future by signing an agreement to acquire AdMob, a mobile display advertising company, for $750 million. It was reported in November 2009 that AdMob served over 10.2 billion ad impressions per month, up from 1.6 billion a year ago.

Game developers know it. Backflip Studios CEO, Julian Farrior said he uses its free app (Paper Toss, now with 17 million downloads generating 400 million impressions per month) to cross-sell Backflip’s paid apps and generate ad revenue. “Free impressions give you a lot of flexibility in terms of how you run your business,” Farrior explained at the recent 2010 Game Developers Conference.

SGN, iPhone game publisher, CEO Randy Breen said, “The charter of this company is free apps with micro-transactions.” He predicts the mobile market will become larger than Facebook.

click to enlarge

The power of free is driving the success of mobile app marketing. Users continue to demand apps with value – be it time-killers (entertainment) or time-savers (information) – and the companies that can figure out the way to leverage this monumental demand while promoting their mobile apps for free will be the long-term winners.

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.

Different forms of media engage consumers in different ways. Social media apps can’t engage the audience in the same way a Web site, mobile, or desktop application can.

Marketers, stop trying to force the utility of your Web site into a social application. It won’t work! Unlike a Web site, the goal of a social media app is to get people to share their action with friends, thus creating the viral effect marketers relish.

Social media apps must have a simple interface and an entertainment factor (or other value to the consumer) to start engagement, as well as an easy-to-share interface to create the desired consumer response. Let me explain with several examples:

Trek Me and Tweet in Klingon were created by Friend2Friend, as part of an integrated social media campaign across both Facebook and Twitter to create buzz for Atari’s February 2 release of “Star Trek Online,” a highly anticipated MMO game. The combined applications resulted in more than 20 million social impressions for the brand, and helped build the “Star Trek” Facebook fan base to 40,000 in advance of the game’s release.

In Trek Me, the Facebook application, “Star Trek” devotees can easily morph images of themselves or their friends into exotic and detailed backgrounds and characters developed for “Star Trek Online.” With a simple click, the picture is uploaded and edited; with a couple more clicks, the image is posted and shared with friends. “Star Trek Online” is entertaining and intuitive with an easy-to-share interface.

In addition, Atari includes an easy way to preorder the game to accelerate sales. This is an engaging application for Facebook users, where the branded element actually enhances the consumer’s experience and increases the social appeal.

Atari’s Tweet in Klingon is a social media application for use with Twitter. Twitter is all about tweeting a short message to your followers. So, Tweet in Klingon enables “Star Trek” fans to publish their messages in an easy-to-use text generator and then post it on Twitter – in Klingon.

Again, the interface is simple to use: type your tweet in English and click continue to progress to your Twitter login page, log in, and post. More than 60,000 tweets were sent in Klingon, each one from a branded microsite with information and visuals from the “Star Trek Online” game. The app provided entertainment and spread the “Star Trek Online” message to its target demographic at the same time.

Success factors for winning social media apps:

• Make the social media application “go viral” by making it easy for everyone to participate. Rather than appealing to people with design skills with a promotion for best video or graphic, include all the tools to make it easy for everyone to participate, as in Trek Me, where the consumer can upload an existing Facebook picture or snap one from their Webcam and simply place it in the various backgrounds and characters included in the application. Similarly, the Klingon translator lets anyone tweet in Klingon, not just hardcore Trekkies who know the language.
• The process should be simple, but the visuals should communicate quality. Whenever someone morphs themselves into a Cardassian or tweets in Klingon, they showcase the fantastic visuals which create the great visual experience they will get in “Star Trek Online.”
• The brand theme must be consistent. While these apps enable “user generated content,” the users put their content into a controlled environment that is consistent with the brand. Both Trek Me and Tweet in Klingon appeal to people who are already big “Star Trek” fans, in part because the brand experience in these apps is consistent with what “Star Trek” fans already love. Tweet in Klingon was also monitored to remove profanity.
• Design for sharing. By enabling the consumer to easily create something personal and giving them the interface to share, the outcome is natural – consumers share their creation with friends, increasing the chances that the app goes viral.

Let’s look at one more example. Vitamin Water used a Facebook app to crowd source its next flavor. By having fans vote and collaborate in the FlavorCreator app posted on Vitamin Water’s Facebook fan page, it created excitement and engagement with the brand.

The FlavorCreator made it easy for fans to participate and share the experience while focusing the community on realistic flavors. Adding more allure, it sweetened the promotion with $5,000 cash to the winning flavor creator.

Appropriate interaction with the brand, entertaining, easy sharing, and motivation made for a winning social media application. Vitamin Water’s Facebook fan page now has more than 11,000 fans.

Branded applications are excellent tools for increasing fan engagement and loyalty while providing for the viral spread from advocates to their friends. Winning social media apps create an entertaining, unencumbered consumer experience appropriate to the brand, with a built-in interface to encourage sharing.  So easy to say, but so difficult to execute.

When planning an application, make sure that it engages the audience appropriately for the media. Social apps are covered above. Desktop apps are an excellent way to engage the audience when content provides daily utility – like weather updates or music. Browser add-ons are a great way to extend your brand by providing consumers additional functionality within the browser experience.

Mobile is perfect for location-based information and for an Internet interface when the consumer is away from their computer. Keep this in mind and all your apps will be winners.

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.

The Challenge
Going live with an advertiser’s offer is only the beginning when distributing through the W3i Application Network.  As with landing pages, the challenge is to optimize the critical elements so that ROI is optimized.      

The Solution
W3i provides consultative and testing services for advertisers to increase acceptance rates.  One of the first things we look at is the disclosure screen itself.  The disclosure screen is the screen shown to the user within the installation manager, InstallIQ, that discloses the required information about the application.  Ultimately the goal is to improve acceptance rates.  It works like this, W3i mocks up multiple disclosure screens based on the findings of previous tests.  W3i runs tests on the disclosure screen mocks showing the various screens to users to determine which one has the highest acceptance rate.  W3i replaces the original disclosure screen with the one that performs the best. 

The Results
An example of a disclosure screen test that W3i recently ran was for a security application.  There was a 6.45% gain in acceptance rate with one of the versions tested. Needless to say, that version was rolled out.

Here are some things that W3i found to perform better in terms of improved acceptance rates with disclosure screens, but ultimately testing can only determine what works best for each particular application:

• Illustrating what the software does instead of having multiple useless graphics
• Having the copy left aligned
• Showing the functionality of the applications simply
• Trying to limit the amount of information on the screen to avoid crowding

Following is an example of these tips at work on an internal W3i product disclosure screen:

The top image is a control disclosure screen for one of W3i’s internal products.  The bottom image is a test version that had a 2.48% improved acceptance rate.

Find Out More
To learn more about optimizing within the W3i Application Network, contact Nicole Przybilla at nicole.przybilla@w3i.com or call 320-257-7500 ext. 1020.

Nicole Przybilla, Account Executive, W3i, LLC
Nicole focuses on growing W3i business relationships, making sure the client has what they need to help them be successful. If they aren’t happy, she isn’t happy. 

Marketers are challenged with how to grab people’s attention and how to keep it.   Software marketers are no exception.  Of course, given the nature of software applications, software distribution campaigns can become more creative than your typical “durable” product. 

With the recency of the Super Bowl, I remember the one-time-only showing of the Orwellian Macintosh ad, which generated considerable interest in Apple’s Macintosh; but there are more light-hearted examples than 1984.

• Thanks to LimeWire for some search power and a new recipe combination

When LimeWire launched their application, the LimeWire team dressed up in bright green clothes and gave out jars of Nutella, with a Limewire.com sticker on the top, to students at NYU.  They only gave out a few hundred jars, and things grew virally from there (100 million downloads and counting).   I have one question, what would Nutella with a squeeze of lime taste like? (find out here)

• I learned the word “ubiquitous” and got my first taste of the internet at home from AOL

As the price of copying a CD went down, (and I am sure a volume discount was involved), the world saw the AOL free-trial CD as the new software distribution model.  Not to mention some great artwork.

• The perfect tag from Apple

If my sources are correct, the reason Apple is Apple is because no one was coming up with a name, and since apples were Steve Jobs favorite fruit, and, for lack of a better option – ta da.  Putting aside the tribulations with Apple Corps and anything musical from Apple Inc., how great is that name now? There’s an app for that, from Apple.   It is almost like they planned to write software and mobile applications from the very beginning.

• Jerry Seinfeld for Microsoft (and the memorable butt wiggle)

Ummmmm…. yeah, moving on….

• CNN’s exposure of the gullibility of the of the United States

I personally don’t believe this was an advertising campaign to increase software distribution, rather a hard-hitting undercover story revealing that people BELIEVE everything on the internet is true.   The comments really drive it home.  Either way, it caught my attention.  The concept is a silly low budget commercial featuring two guys who created the ZapNewsApp  being foiled by the much better CNN News App.  If you believed there really were two guys being wronged, I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you.

• Digsby Gains Awareness by Advertising on New York Garbage Cans

Digsby created a great following by building an avid community and an interesting ad campaign with eye-catching artwork on garbage cans lining New York’s busy streets.

Ultimately, every one of these companies achieved great distribution for their software, whether we thought their marketing campaigns were silly, lucky, or something else.  If you are looking for a unique distribution model for consumer software, check out W3i.  

Kristin Oberhaus, Product Manager, W3i Holdings, LLC
Kristin has over 13 years of product management experience and is a certified usability analyst. She is an avid believer in pragmatic marketing.

On a regular basis, it’s important to take a look at the application user experience and truly try to understand the value delivered to users.  When this topic comes up, some questions arise:

1. Since this is so subjective, how does one accurately measure value? 
2. How can you be sure your marketing is properly conveying value to end users?
3. How can one quickly and easily measure value?

There are a variety of ways to determine value; listening to your users is a big one, revenue generation can give some insight, but when asserting the value that an app communicates and subsequently provides, there must be a quick and easy way to measure value.  For this reason, we’ve created a tool called the Application Value Matrix.  Two performance indicators are used to determine the value that is communicated and delivered to users: attrition, which is the rate users uninstall an application, and acceptance, which is the rate users decide to download/install an application.  By plotting these two performance indicators, you can easily gauge how well you are communicating and delivering value, understand how these two metrics are related, and subsequently take action to improve.

The Application Value Matrix is divided into four quadrants:

1. Valued:  High Acceptance, Low Attrition
2. Misinterpreted Value:  High Acceptance, High Attrition
3. Unrepresented Value or Niche:  Low Acceptance, Low Attrition
4. No Value:  Low Acceptance, High Attrition

I challenge you to plot your apps onto this matrix.  By doing so, you can determine certain action items necessary to improve the value communicated and/or delivered to users. 

So, what does each quadrant mean?

Valued

This quadrant embodies effective value communication and delivery to users.  Users understand the value that the app provides up-front, thus there is high acceptance of the application.  Users value the application as they use it, thus there is low attrition.   Even if your application falls into this quadrant, it’s important not to stand still.  Continue to deliver value to end users through consistent improvements and by being the best of your breed.  Also, remember that delivering value does not mean piling on new features or adding unnecessary complexities.

Misinterpreted Value

Apps that fall into this quadrant have high acceptance and high attrition.  So what does this mean?  One of two things:  first, it could mean your marketing campaigns communicate value that fails to be delivered to users, thus causing high attrition.  If this is the case, look at your marketing assets and adjust the communication so it properly conveys the true value your app provides.  Second, this could mean (and this is probably rare) that your app is a victim of the “hype machine”.  Perhaps you have a lot of positive press about your app, causing a lot of people to download your application.  However, upon using it, a large percentage of users find that it’s just not for them.  Maybe it does deliver value to a subset of users, great; but seek to understand why the majority did not find value in your app.

Unrepresented Value or Niche

Apps that find themselves in this category have both low acceptance and low attrition.  Again, this can mean one of two things.  First, it could mean that value is not effectively communicated to users.  Look at your marketing campaign and enhance the messaging so it truly communicates the problems your app solves for users.  Second, this could mean your app is niche.  A certain subset of users wants your application and this subset truly values your application.  If this is the case, formulate a plan to enhance your application to improve acceptance for new personas or markets. 

No Value

The meaning of this quadrant is fairly intuitive.  Very few users download your application and of those who do download it, have high attrition.  The good news is that in this quadrant, you have nowhere to go but up.  Ultimately, you need to focus on the value your app provides first before you look at enhancing your marketing assets.  This is not a “chicken or egg” scenario.  There is only one thing that can come first and that is delivering value.  Once you have achieved this, you can quickly follow up by improving value communication for a one-two punch.  To improve value delivery, ask yourself some questions:  Are you properly engaging users?  Are you truly solving a problem that exists in the market?  Is your app easy to understand and use?  Did you design it with yourself in mind and not your users?

I hope you find this tool useful as it is important to effectively create and communicate value.  This tool is not meant to substitute other important ways to measure the value your app provides, such as user feedback and other various performance indicators.  The Application Value Matrix is intended as a supplement, used to quickly and easily identify areas for improvement.

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i, LLC
Eric is a Pragmatic Marketing Certified Product Manager and uses his experience in internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution from both a consumer and business standpoint.  

As you know, W3i gives users access to a wide catalog of applications on a variety of unique sites. At the same time, we also create value by connecting users to other apps they might find useful, interesting or relevant during the installation of these applications. As a clear investment in our application network, content discovery and furthering distribution opportunities for our advertising partners, I have the pleasure of announcing the release of a new internal product called Integrated Content Network.

Integrated Content Network (known internally as ICN) improves content discoverability through increased content availability and dynamic categorization on our sites. This benefits both users and advertisers. Users will discover more applications to download thus leading to greater distribution opportunities for our advertising partners, getting more of their applications in front of more potential users. Visit the freshly redesigned Freeze.com to see our first site powered by ICN.

But there’s more: ICN also increases internal efficiencies by leaps and bounds, allowing us to ensure we stay on top of application trends and seasonal changes. Couple that with ICN’s real-time site updates and we’re set to meet users’ needs with great speed.

ICN has a bright future. We have some great things in store for it, providing even further benefits to our partners and users. When these improvements are ready to be rolled out, you’ll be sure to hear about it.

As W3i moves forward, now is a better time than ever to become part of our application network. ICN is a perfect example of our investment in improving user experience and increasing distribution opportunities for advertisers. Looking for distribution for your app or monetizing your current traffic? You’ve come to the right place.

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i, LLC
Eric is a Pragmatic Marketing Certified Product Manager and uses his experience in internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution from both a consumer and business standpoint.

New York is exhausting compared to central Minnesota, but I love the passion for Internet marketing one finds at ad:tech. It always regenerates me.

If you didn’t make it this year, here are some of the trends that I picked up on for Application Marketers:

1. Mobile – The talk is mobile. The slow-up is facilitating the transfer of money and getting found (distribution).
2. The Cloud – Creating opportunities for open-source application developers. Cuts down on overhead costs.
3. Generating revenue from content – Consumers seek knowledge; deliver value in your application and they will follow.
4. Social is here to stay; it pays to really listen. Multiple tools are available for listening. How many do you use?
5. Increased spending in digital. Combining digital with traditional media can double response rates (per Rod Lehman of HP Software). Be adventurous—think application, it’s a powerful engagement tool. http://www.adtechblog.com/blog/detail/marketing-3.0building-great-brands-in-the-digital-age/
6. App discussion: “Branded apps are not marketing”:
   • Again, apps need to have utility—they must serve a purpose. User’s app interests vary by geography. In US, consumers like social apps; in India, productivity apps rule.
   • 64% of mobile users are open to seeing advertising on their phone(per GetJar); advocating for the free model.
   • Apps offer incredible engagement.
   • Mobile another touch-point.
   • Measuring success through number of downloads, returning traffic, and engagement.
     http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/database-crm/4579.html

What do you think the latest app trends are? I appreciate your comments—now back to my emails.

Donny Snyder, Business Development Manager, W3i, LLC
Donny uses his experience and excitement for the internet industry, along with W3i’s Application Network, to provide distribution and monetization solutions for content providers.

As a product manager, when doing market research, I always come across interesting articles, blogs, and other media that are worth sharing with others. What I want to do today is share three of my favorite YouTube videos that really made me think critically about how to build application experiences that users love. So sit back, grab some popcorn, and soak in the shared knowledge.

1. Understand your users
   Google set out to understand how many people knew what a browser was. If this video teaches you anything, it’s that if you are involved in this space, you probably know much more than the majority of your users. Building a connection with your users might mean you have to break down barriers. Understand them and speak in their terms. The result is a pretty fun video that shows the barriers Google has in place when trying to increase adoption rate of Chrome:
2. Embrace social; it’s huge and it’s important
   No way around it, social media is huge and is no fad.  Watch this video to grasp its enormity.  Then, brainstorm how to build social media and features into your applications and marketing plan.
3. Obsess over customers, invent, and think long term
   Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of e-commerce site, Amazon, describes what he’s learned over the years about providing a great service.  All of the items that Jeff reviews can be applied easily to building a great application that users love:

If anyone has favorite videos that speak to anything remotely related to the Windows application marketplace, feel free to share in the comments!

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i, LLC
Eric is a Pragmatic Marketing Certified Product Manager and uses his experience in internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution from both a consumer and business standpoint.