Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Creator of Yumby
The day your app hits the App Store, you need to be ready to respond to anything and everything. This is your biggest single day for marketing and promoting your app, and here’s what you need to do.
Launch Phase – Marketing & Promotion
- Upon launch, email blast all the journalists you didn’t contact ahead of time. Point them to the press release and the App Store, so they can download your app. Also include a link to a video of your app. Journalists are lazy and often won’t download your app unless they find the video compelling.
- Mass email all your users and friend, and encourage them to download the app and give it a high ranking.
- Tap all your social networks and spread the word about your app.
- Run a contest on your site and Facebook page giving away an iTunes Gift Card or iPad to the user who writes the most creative “review” in the App Store or “post” on Facebook/Twitter. You can be the judge! This is easier than a sweepstakes, which has some tricky rules you need to follow. Keep the timeframe under 7 days.
- Get your app featured on select “App of the Day” sites and “Review” sites. Do this the first week.
- Check out other app stores. In addition to Apple and Google, there’s the Kindle App Store, a Knook App Store, a Verizon App Store, etc.
- Focus on a single version of your app at a time and drive all traffic towards it. Concentrate all your marketing and PR efforts so that you can drive this version of your app into the top 50. Don’t spread yourself out over multiple versions or platforms or various app stores. Do one app in one app store at a time. For example, do the Kindle launch separate from other Android launches. Each launch should be its own concentrated campaign.
- Line up launch partners who can help promote your app. Take whatever is unique about your app and recruit partners. The best partners are ones who have users who would be interested in your app. If your partner has a large mailing list or popular website, this could be used to promote your app. Other partners could lend credibility to your app in the eyes of the media and help you get press coverage. For example, if you’re doing a wine review app, get a famous wine critic involved or partner with a top winery to promote the app. Think of your partners as helping you build your brand and reach new customers. Also, consider what you can offer them in return. Is it increased visibility? Or a cross promotion of their products? Or a revenue share?
Would it be a problem for a press release if an app already has been on the appstore for some weeks? Will they think it is not news worthy then?
Very useful articles, thanks a lot!