Apps World Europe is returning to London Olympia on 29-30 November for two days of discussion and insight around multi-platform apps, with some of the leading brands and individuals from around the industry gathering to examine the latest industry trends, and the impact they will have on us.

This year’s event includes three separate conference tracks, covering a broad spectrum of the industry’s most burning issues; operator and developer revenue streams, publishing strategies, mobile and tablet app marketing, handset innovation, branding and the rise of the TV app.

Oren Todoros will be attending Apps World London on behalf of W3i.  If you’re developing a mobile app for either Android or iPhone, this is a perfect opportunity for you to talk to us and discuss your marketing strategy.

To put things in perspective, 16 of the top 25 grossing US iPhone apps have partnered with W3i to maximize their app’s reach and increase revenue.

Ian Johnson, Apps World founder, said: “We feel like this has been a real watershed year in terms of companies recognizing the value and scope of what apps represent to their future business activities. The interest in apps has broadened to include marketing professionals across all industries. The opportunity for talented developers to connect with large multinational brands is a facet of the show we take very seriously, that’s why we’re offering the developer streams for free.”

Attending Apps World London? Let us know in the comments or reach out to us via Twitter @W3i or @OrenTodoros – The drink’s on us!

I just returned from the GDC Online (Game Developers Conference) in Austin, TX, and found many of the sessions focused on data and how to use it to grow an app business. This is a subject dear to my heart, as it has helped my company grow our business over the years. For example, in 2004 we created our first business intelligence system and grew the business by more than 400 percent. (Making all the employees quite happy, as they won a trip to the Florida Keys.) Here are some examples of how you can use your data for actionable insights that will have a major impact on your app business.

Optimizing Images for Huge Performance Improvements

It is very important to test and optimize images. Our game investment company, Recharge Studios recently optimized an image in My Pet Zombie that increased the click-through rate (CTR) from 6.6 percent to 32 percent. Just by testing and optimizing the creative, 4.8 times more users clicked the image.

Optimizing the Tutorial Reduced Churn

Not many developers think of optimizing their tutorial. The new iOS game called My Pet Zombie from Riptide Games had a huge churn rate during the game tutorial prior to optimization. By optimizing the tutorial and improving the user interface, My Pet Zombie reduced the churn from 41 percent completion rate to 81 percent completion rate – a 98 percent improvement.

Improving just one particular image in the tutorial saw the churn rate go from 25 percent to 4 percent. The developer focused on the elements circled in pink.

Distribute Through Multiple Channels and Measure the Results

Not all app developers believe in paying for distribution. However, buying the right traffic and knowing the return can have a major impact on scaling your business. By knowing the return on investment (ROI) for each source of distribution, you can make smart buying decisions, but you need to experiment and understand the data. Also, some of the more expensive channels may have the most qualified users and can prove to be your best source of traffic, but you will never know unless you look at the data.

On the left side are various sources of traffic, and on the right side are the user retention rates after 30 days. As you can see, there was a lot of variance in the traffic sources. Once you know what traffic has the best ROI, it is a pretty easy business decision to buy more of that traffic. If you are interested in more information, check out my blog article.

Offer Users More Than One Revenue Stream

Only around 5 percent of users are willing to pay for an app or make an in-app purchase. By adopting an incented purchase model – offering users virtual currency for installing another app, for example – app revenue can more than double.

In this game, Dolphin Play, the user is offered Dolphin Bucks for installing Tap Fish 2.

In a recent case study using the incented, offerwall system, My Pet Zombie’s average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 131 percent.

Do I have you convinced that to grow your app business, testing and optimization is important? (It’s almost as fun as playing the game itself.) Getting actionable insight from your app stats can turn an unprofitable app into a profitable app. Are there other tests you performed that made a major impact on your revenue? If so, please share the data in the comment section.

Rob Weber, Senior Vice President of Mobile 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.

Already have an app up on one of the app stores? Just starting your development work or simply thinking mobile? Don’t underestimate the knowledge and impact that attending a mobile app industry event can produce.

Feedback; it’s an essential part in developing an awesome app, the problem is that getting straight-up user feedback online isn’t always easy since it’s usually not at the top of your user’s mind. Industry events on the other hand offer a prime opportunity to meet others in the mobile app industry, share ideas, gain insight, and crucial feedback you might be missing to take your app to the next level.

Network Like There’s No Tomorrow

When it comes to your online brand, your social presence and your blog, you mayhave jumped in whole-heartedly; but how many of your online connections have you really made the effort to meet offline? The fact is that some of your online friends and followers might already be attending the events that you should be at. More importantly, your app’s potential users are definitely attending those events. Obviously, you need to make an effort to attend more “real world” events or better yet, pitch event organizers for a speaking opportunity. Even if you don’t get a full speaking spot, there may be an opportunity for you to be part of a panel.

Discovering the Right Events For You

Finding out about “must attend” events is actually a lot simpler than you think, if you know where to search. A great starting point is Eventbrite, an online events organization service. Searching for events in Eventbrite is as easy typing in keywords such as mobile, apps, telecom or any other string of relevant search terms. For example, searching for the word “Apps” and filtering the location to New York generated 37 possible events, which included App Store Revenue Optimization, mHealth Conference – Mobile Apps, NYC iPhone/iPad Boot Camp, Fundamentals of iOS Development and many more.

LinkedIn events is a great resource.  Search for events related to apps, games, etc. and drilldown by location.  Don’t forget to add your events to get additional attendees.

Facebook events are equally a primary go-to destination to discover upcoming mobile industry events in your area, some of which may even be hosted by your Facebook friends which presents an even greater opportunity for you to work your charms and seal a speaking opportunity spot. Keep in mind, however, that even if you are invited to speak, the focus should never be directly related to you or your app, unless you have an outstandingly interesting story to share.

It’s almost impossible to discuss mobile industry events without mentioning WIP Connector, a hub for many of the mobile industries leading activities. WIP has been organizing its WIPJams for the last 3 years either as stand-alone full day events or as dedicated sessions that are part of other events. WIP also organizes other activites such as receptions or workshops. The regularly updated WIP calendar covers most of the mobile events from California to Budapest.

Event Preparation Tips

Take a look at the event schedule before attending to determine the sessions that are taking place.

Find out who will be attending the event and try to schedule a meeting with them beforehand.

Networking is the name of the game. Invest more time in meeting people you don’t know than talking to individuals you might already have a connection to.

If you’re speaking at an event, carefully prepare before hand with a presentation deck that’s timed according to your speaking spot. Don’t go over your allotted time and save a few minutes for questions.

Business cards; make sure you have plenty handy but don’t force them on anyone. Remember: introduction first, business card next.

Prepare your app’s elevator pitch. If you can’t explain what your app does in 10 seconds or less, no one’s interested.

On a final note – If you’ve invested the time in searching for mobile app industry events but couldn’t seem to find the right fit, that usually means that there’s a perfect opportunity for you to pick up the glove and host your own event. Find the perfect venue, invite app developers in your area to speak, invite a sponsor to host a few pizza’s and you’re good to go. It really doesn’t take a lot more than that, and it will also serve as a perfect backdrop to take pictures and videos you can share through your social presences.

Know of must attend mobile app industry events in your area or any great places to find mobile events? Share them in the comments below or reach out to us over on Twitter @W3i and @OrenTodoros. We’d love to meet you there!

In part one in this two-part series, we focused on how the iOS operating system impacts user acquisition for apps. In part two, we’ll explore how the Android operating system impacts user acquisition for apps.

Android devices are more customizable and, therefore, more complicated to use, lacking the elegant interface of iOS apps. They are also generally less expensive, thus becoming more mainstream – especially in global markets. Google operates in a much more open environment, making it easier on the developer but causing some chaos in the marketplace. For example, developers can use multiple billing systems, making it more difficult for a user to purchase an app and causing lower conversions for app developers utilizing premium billing or in-app purchasing. They also have ad-hoc quality control for apps with minimal central vetting, creating a confusing marketplace and major piracy problems. In a recent article, my company reported that premium developers are seeing 100 pirated app installs for every one legitimate paid app install. For developers, app development and porting can be more difficult due to the fragmentation of devices, while device manufacturers can turn off features, adding additional complexity.

Key Points About User Acquisition on Android

1. Android Market is not as influential as Apple’s App Store in app discovery by users, so strategies to rank high are not as impactful. Also, the Android Market handles rankings a bit differently than iOS, causing bursting campaigns to be less impactful.
2. In addition to Android Market, app developers should consider taking the time to publish their apps in key third-party app stores, like Amazon’s Appstore and SlideME. These third-party app stores will often offer favorable terms to entice developers, creating another meaningful alternative user acquisition channel.
3. Similar to iOS, third-party ad networks, especially those focused on apps, perform well to drive user acquisition. Since payment-based business models are not performing as well for app developers, there is an even greater supply of ad inventory, which is driving down the rates versus iOS. Expect the cost to acquire a user to be less on Android.
4. Carrier and handset partner deals. It is reported that Google is sharing advertising revenue with carriers and handset partners that use Android.

Android Demographics

Android users skew male at 73 percent compared to 57 percent on the iPhone and 54 percent on the iPod touch, according to a chart by AdMob.

Additionally, Mobile Mix shows 65 percent of impressions on connected devices are on smartphones, 18 percent are on connected devices, and 17 percent are on feature phones. Of the smartphone OS Mix, 54 percent were Android, 26 percent were iOS, 15 percent were RIM, and 5 percent were other.

The more you know about the device and platform, the more effective you will be in promoting your app. The smartphone market is changing rapidly, so it pays to do your research and adapt your user acquisition strategy based upon the audience you are targeting.

Rob Weber, Senior Vice President of Mobile 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.

Minneapolis, Minn. September 19, 2011- W3i, a leading network for app distribution and monetization for personal computers and mobile devices, is very pleased to announce the following promotions:

• Jeff Bollinger was promoted to Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President.  Jeff joined W3i eight years ago as a Software Developer.  Today, he leads the Information Systems Group, which includes Software Development, Business Intelligence, and the Information Technology teams.  
• Lisa Nistler was promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  Lisa joined W3i four years ago and has increasingly taken on additional responsibilities.  Today, she leads Business Development, Account Development, and Creative Services.
• Ryan Ranweiler was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President.  Ryan joined W3i six years ago and has progressed through his career at W3i.  Today, he leads the Finance team and the company’s Owned and Operated team.
• Ryan Weber was promoted to Senior Vice President of Product Management and Co-Founder.  Ryan Weber co-founded the company in 2000 and leads product management.
• Rob Weber was promoted to Senior Vice President and Co-Founder.  Rob Weber co-founded W3i in 2000 and leads business development for mobile.

“W3i is experiencing outstanding growth in 2011, surpassing all financial expectations.  In addition to outstanding company performance, these promotions recognize the increasing demands of a growing organization and creates a framework to further expand our organization to meet the demands of a high growth company.  I would like to congratulate my senior management team and the W3i team as a whole.  We look forward to an exciting future at W3i as we strive for leadership in the consumer app industry.”  comments Andy Johnson, CEO.  

About W3i: W3i is an application network that increases revenue and distribution for consumer applications. W3i’s solutions use InstallIQ technology for recommending PC and mobile apps that users value.  InstallIQ was optimized on more than 600 million app installs, that’s 6 apps per second. W3i is an experienced team of app-savvy marketers with deep technical know-how and many years of industry experience. To learn more, visit www.W3i.com.

 The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

The smartphone war is heating up, and although it is still unclear where Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Web OS will eventually fit into the crowded mobile operating system market, it is very clear that iOS and Android are the market share leaders.

Gartner reports that Google and Apple are the “obvious winners” in the smartphone category. The combined share of iOS and Android doubled to nearly 62 percent in Q2 2011, up from just over 31 percent in the same quarter last year. Google’s mobile operating system now accounts for 43.4 percent of all smartphone sales, up from 17.2 percent in Q2 2010; and Apple reached 18.2 percent, up from 14.1 percent at the same time.

Many app developers ask me for my perspective on how to develop and scale a profitable user acquisition strategy for their app. One of the primary gaps in knowledge I see from app developers is a clear understanding of how the operating system impacts user acquisition.

As the first post in a two-part series, we’ll explore how the iOS operating system impacts user acquisition for apps. For the second post, we’ll focus on how the Android operating system impacts user acquisition for apps.

How Differences in Smartphone Operating Systems Impact App Promotion

Smartphones as a whole skew to a younger audience – 18 to 34.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, as reported by eMarketer

IOS devices have a hands-down great user experience, but at a higher price. With elegant style and the best integrated hardware and software, iOS devices are the simplest to operate. Apple oversees a more regulated, closed environment than Google. This creates positives and negatives. For example, users can only buy apps through the App Store, making the transaction more streamlined and thus driving significantly higher conversion rates for premium billing or in-app purchasing because Apple has so many credit cards on file. Apple also regulates the apps that are listed in the App Store based upon its App Store Review Guidelines, making it problematic for some new apps to get published, as they must play by Apple’s rules. To complicate things even more, Apple’s rules are not always black and white and are subject to Apple’s evolving interpretation.

Key Points About User Acquisition on iOS

1. Because of the reliance on a centralized App Store for all user acquisition, it is important to rank high overall or in your category for driving organic traffic.
2. Popularity also impacts where you rank in search results, another driver of organic traffic.
3. Editorial features in iTunes can drive significant installs. “The only promotion we’ve found to be consistently effective in driving paid downloads has been promotion via iTunes, either as a ‘Staff Favorite’ or a ‘New & Noteworthy’ selection on iTunes itself. The reasons and process by which Apple makes these selections are a mystery to us, but we have found it useful to always consider Apple’s interests when positioning a new product,” said Paul O’Connor, brand director, Appy Entertainment, developer of Trucks and Skulls, FaceFighter, and Tune Runner, all featured in iTunes.
4. Unlike Android, carriers have little impact on user acquisition on iOS.
5. Third-party ad networks, especially those focused on apps, perform well to drive user acquisition. Seek performance-based campaigns, whether CPC or CPI, with these networks. Be mindful of limitations in behavioral ad targeting.
6. The social impact on user acquisition for apps (i.e., the viral coefficient) is not as strong in iOS as it is for Facebook, but one marketer at a leading social game recently told me that they get a 3/10 viral coefficient (i.e., for every 10 new users they acquired outside of social means, they get their audience to incite three more users to play with them). I would speculate that Zynga’s Words With Friends has a much higher coefficient than the average on iOS. Read more about “How Mobile is Getting More Social.”

iOS Demographics

Possibly because of the higher price of devices, iPhones skew to higher income users.

Source: The Nielsen Company

IPhone users buy more paid apps – half of them buy at least one per month – compared with 21 percent of Android users and 35 percent of iPod touch users.

IPhone users are the most loyal at 91 percent, iPod touch at 88 percent, and Android at 84 percent.

As far as mobile ads, the average click-through rate (CTR) is 0.52 percent. IPhone users are by far more willing to click on ads, with an average CTR of 0.78 percent, while Android users are at 0.47 percent.

IPod touch skews to a young audience – 65 percent are 17 and younger, according to a chart from AdMob.

IPod touch users love their apps – especially free apps, downloading an average of 12 apps a month – 37 percent more apps than iPhone and Android users. They also spend more time using them: 100 minutes a day.

For the second post , we’ll focus on how the Android operating system impacts user acquisition for apps.

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.

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New England scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Englanders, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story in the San Francisco Chronicle read: ‘California archaeologists, finding traces of 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Bostonians.’

One week later, The Pioneer Press, a local newspaper in Minnesota, reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Embarass, Minnesota, Ole Olson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ole has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Minnesota had already gone wireless.

Thank Heavens for Ole

Happy Halloween from the Land of 10,000 Lakes!

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak at the Twin Cities Startup Weekend at CoCo MSP. The Startup Weekend event organized by Shane Reiser had over 100 participants, which formed into 12 different teams with the task of creating a start-up in a weekend.

Thanks to Jeremy Mooney for snapping the photo of me, Rob Weber, Founder of W3i, presenting.

The winner of the event was:

Qonqr- There was a little buzz building about the new start-up called Qonqr, Qonqr is a location-based, Risk-like, mobile game played out over the face of the earth! Players are operatives who must capture geographic zones by deploying nanobots to help their army defeat the opposing armies and qonquer the world. Successful deployments, recruiting, and squadron coordination result in experience points that, over time, promote the operative through higher and higher ranks, providing more powerful nanobot options. Monetization opportunities include player purchased virtual armament upgrades and local businesses paying for the opportunity to be a featured battleground. Game interface for field operatives will be mobile devices, and the Command Center will be accessible from the web.

There are Startup Weekends across the globe—in over 100 cities and 25 countries. The weekend brings together a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphics artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

One strategy I garnered was to pick a team by the quality of the participants—not the best startup idea as experience is keyto turning the idea into a product within the time allotment.  Also keep it lean–only adding the minimal features to make it a viable product.        

Although I was initially a bit skeptical about the whole format of Startup Weekend, I would highly recommend that you participate the next time they are in your city.

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.

Users want to connect with their friends when playing games, but application developers are struggling to make this happen since a user’s friends are not all playing games on the same platform.  With all the hype behind cross platform gaming, there are very few true successes.

PopCap Games cracked the cross platform code with Bejeweled Blitz for Facebook and iOS.  Bejeweled Blitz is the #10 most popular Facebook application and the #14 paid iPhone app in the App Store at a $2.99 pricepoint, #14 in top grossing.  This synchronization enabled Bejeweled Blitz to get a mass user base—last count is 12,506,757 users as of 9/12/2010 (source, www.appdata.com) as the game allows users to connect to Facebook and compete with friends whether they are on their PC or iPhone. 

 Source:  Topappcharts.com

In the example below, Colleen is playing in a weekly Bejeweled Blitz tournament on her PC through Facebook, while Jessica is playing in the same tournament on her iPhone —now that’s an integrated platform.  Colleen and Jessica had never played the same game together, because Colleen doesn’t have an iOS device. Now they are regularly competing for the highest Bejeweled Blitz score.

Another indication that apps are moving toward cross platform synchronization is Google’s recent acquisition of Social Deck, a platform which provides social synchronization for app developers across Blackberry, iPhone and Facebook .  Google is reportedly working on a social platform to rival Facebook.

OpenFeint is also working on a multi-player, cross-platform solution for Android and iOS called OpenFeint PlayTime.  Reportedly OpenFeint PlayTime also gives the user matchmaking, game servers and real-time voice chat. “Traditionally, multiplayer technology has been accessible only to top-tier developers. It’s just too complicated and time-consuming.” states Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron.

Strong cross platform synchronization is going to become a defining requirement for games to achieve top prominence as social experiences will require that users can play all of their friends. I believe we’ll see Apple incorporate tools in Game Center to make cross platform experiences easier through tighter integration with Facebook within the next year.

Kudos to PopCap Games for their work on Bejeweled Blitz!

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, September 7, 2010

Are you thinking about how you can annoy people less and be more effective with your advertising? If not, start paying attention, because your competition is.

Digital marketers are shifting their advertising strategies on how they reach people in social apps. The old, impression-based advertising model in social apps doesn’t work because it annoys people. Ever wonder why the cost of Facebook display ads is so low? People do not want to be interrupted by display ads when they are trying to play games with their friends. The same goes for display ads located within social apps in mobile. The mobile ad networks and publishers provide good air cover to help prop up their rates, but it is commonly accepted by most insiders that the majority of mobile ad impressions are going unsold. Marketers are finding that the right advertising strategy for social apps is to stop annoying people and to start focusing on ways to integrate with actual social activity.

Here are four examples of brands connecting with people through their true social activities:

Activity-Based Advertising on iPhone Apps In January, Bravo created badges that Foursquare users could earn by checking into locations linked to shows like “Top Chef” and “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” The Foursquare app saw a 31 percent increase in downloads those two weeks.

Bravo badges in Foursquare:

Powermat on MyTown: Powermat, a company specializing in wireless charging stations, worked with Appssavvy to advertise in Booyah’s MyTown. The Powermat campaign included a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes promotion on MyTown to enter to win Powermat’s Wireless Charging System for iPhone by physically interacting with Powermat products in-store. Powermat saw an increase in recall of 38.2 percentage points to 43.3 percent. 

Activity-Based Advertising on Facebook Applications

Cascadian Farm virtual good on FarmVille: Zynga, developer of the famous Farmville app on Facebook, launched a number of activity-based campaigns. Recently, over 310 million Cascadian Farm organic blueberries were planted by FarmVille players.

 MTV interview on Social Interview: Appssavvy also created a campaign for MTV that ran on Social Interview. A Facebook application, Social Interview has an audience of more than 11 million monthly active users and was used to promote MTV’s new original comedy, “The Hard Times of RJ Berger.” More than two-thirds of Social Interview users who saw the “Hard Times” branded interview clicked to start the application – nearly seven times the average engagement rate.

As Damon Burrell, VP, marketing, at MTV Networks puts it, “Currently there is a fundamental shift going on in digital marketing, which we are embracing, especially as it relates to social media. The Hard Times of RJ Berger on Social Interview exemplifies this shift, as true engagement isn’t about users clicking on a banner and coming to our site, but rather integrating them into the experience and providing something of value.”

The trend toward activity-based advertising in social apps is not only a win for marketers, but it helps the publisher maintain a high level of engagement with its audience. As most social app developers will tell you, their most important measure of success is how large and how active their audience is in engaging with their social app. That’s why application metrics sites like AppData for Facebook focus on the amount of active users of a unit of time, and not just the number of installs of a particular app.

When developing your advertising strategies for social apps, be sure to connect with people while the social activity is taking place in the app.

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.