Positive External Reviews
Sometimes a developer is lucky in that his or her app gets a positive review by an iPhone/iPad app review site. That review gets picked up by a blogger or other news agency, and it can be off to the races in app sales. If you’re not fortunate enough to get such a review, you have to “prime the pump” to help increase the likelihood that your app will have the same sales outcome over time.
This means that you can’t rely on getting a lucky break by a reviewer just stumbling upon your app. Instead you have to employ other techniques to get the word out about your app and get reviewers to notice you. Don’t ever give up on getting reviews from as many sources as possible. Try to obtain write-ups in several magazines and websites that would be interested in showcasing your particular app because it’s topical to them.
For example, the app shown in this image was launched to help people locate health-related apps on the App Store. The developers of this app sought out publications that focused on health related devices and solutions for the elderly rather than only going after an iPhone/iPad app reviewer.
The elderly are part of this app’s market, and it was a good fit for this publication to do an article. This site (www.eldergadget.com) was interested in doing a write-up about this app because the senior crowd is very interested in iPhones and iPhone/iPad apps. The article gave the developer good press and helped strengthen the launch of his app.
Your strategy for obtaining reviews for your app should be to contact as many iPhone/iPad app review sites as possible that are likely to review your app. Do not submit a nongame app to a game review site because it will simply get ignored. Seek out sites that give you the best chance for a review for your type of app. Utilize any and every contact you may have at these review sites to get your app noticed and reviewed.
Seek out other venues to get reviews of your app. For example, if you have an app that helps people learn how to garden, look for web and print publications that are focused on gardening and make a few inquiries to see if they would be interested in reviewing your app for an article.
You’ll be surprised how many publications will be interested in doing such a story. The reason is simple. Publications are always looking for topics that would be of interest to their readers. The iPhone still carries the “cool factor” and for those readers outside of the traditional tech world, the iPhone/iPad and apps that are germane to their interests carry strong interest. You will probably have to arrange a call to demo the app for the editor or writer of the publication if he doesn’t have an iPhone, but it is well worth the effort and you circumvent the long lines at the traditional review sites.
A truly successful marketing campaign requires that you have a coordinated presentation of your message and offer for your buying audience. You will want to engage in multiple marketing “touch points” to get the word out such as blogs, product reviews, and other social media tools.
All of these delivery options presented to your prospects in a coordinated (or at least steady) fashion will lead them to purchase your app. In short, you have to develop a following for your app. As mentioned before, sometimes the pickup for an app is fast (usually implies a bit of luck) and other times the sales momentum takes more effort on your part. If you have a truly well-written app and it’s not getting the downloads you deserve, then it’s time to roll out a marketing plan and use the ideas presented in this article to make more sales happen.