Well done, but here’s the bad news: you now have to compete for attention against hundreds and thousands of other applications in the various app stores. And if you’ve used any of the app stores recently you’ll know they are not the easiest things to navigate, it’s pretty hard to find anything new, and it’s almost impossible to sift the wheat from the chaff (we’ll get on to the problem with app reviews shortly).
At last count, Apple’s App Store had 425 000 apps, the Android Marketplace is hovering at just less than 400 000 apps, and the Ovi Store has 48 000 apps for download.
It’s a needle in a haystack situation.
Here are five tips for making sure your app gets the downloads it deserves:
1. Don’t only rely on the original app stores. Getjar, for instance, which offers apps for a range of operating systems, is in the top three app stores, with more than two billion downloads and in excess of 155 000 games and apps available. The new Appstore for Android from Amazon is also an interesting one to watch.
Although currently only available to US customers, it offers daily free app specials and has the ability to tap into the vast Amazon retail customer base. Also investigate the app review sites that have sprung up to help people find apps more easily.
2. Once your app is in the various marketplaces, the work doesn’t stop. Join the various marketplaces developer communities and tap into the paid and unpaid ways for you to get your app to rise to the top. Find out how you can get your app to be featured in the highlighted sections within the marketplace, in newsletters and on the marketplaces’ social media platforms.
3. Encourage reviews of your product on the various app stores but be careful not to overstep the mark and have them appear contrived. It is possible to pay for reviews but this is generally not recommended and you risk losing the trust of your customers.
Likewise, all good reviews are going to look suspicious — treat negative reviews as an opportunity to address issues with your customers and to learn about how they are using the service. Indeed, according to Panos Ipeirotis, associate professor at the Stern School of Business, even negative reviews inspire confidence about a product if they are well-written.
4. Make your app as viral as possible. Can your customers easily recommend the app to friends, or share your app with the world via Twitter, Facebook and other channels? Consider rewarding your customers for sharing the app with their friends.
5. Don’t forget more “traditional” marketing channels such as PR, video, blogger reviews and endorsements. Try and match these to a group of people with similar interests – so if your app logs training runs, have branded t-shirts made and hand out vouchers at the next fun run you do.
Source: Vomo News
