How to promote an iOS app?

Hey @aljosa, I wouldn't say I have a success story here, but I'm currently working as an intern for a small company developing apps too.

What I write below might not be ideas or suggestions per se, but some questions to get you thinking....

I think it's always good to start by doing some research. Understand your app and the audience you want to reach, as well as other competitors. Who did you made the apps for? Is it a game app for kids? For teens? Or are they apps that everyone in the family can play?

How is your app different from other game apps? After all, there are many other choices.

Have you tried creating a Twitter or Facebook account for your app? Doesn't cost anything, and you can slowly build up the page with pics and info.

Hope that helps you, good luck with your apps!

I think you should move onto your next app. Not every app is going to make a lot of money. The more great apps you have, the more you can cross promote them.

It seems to me that the longer you spend trying to promote something on no budget, the more frustrated you'll get.

Oh, put them in your MR signature and be an active member of the forums. My Google Analytics stats suggest that around 60% of my downloads come from my signature.

ArtOfWarfare said:

My Google Analytics stats suggest that around 60% of my downloads come from my signature.

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How are you able to use Google Analytics to track a link that takes you directly to http://itunes.apple.com...?

ArtOfWarfare said:

Oh, put them in your MR signature and be an active member of the forums. My Google Analytics stats suggest that around 60% of my downloads come from my signature.

Click to expand...

What signature?

aljosa said:

hi,

I have recently developed two iOS games and i am trying my best to promote them with a minimum budget. I think tried more or less everything there is (review sites, PRsites,..) but it doesn't really have a big effect on the downloads. I'd love some ideas or suggestions or even if anyone has a success story of their own on how to promote your app without spending a fortune. thx

Click to expand...

Go on Youtube and ask a popular app reviwer to review your app if you're confident about the quality of your app.

Social media marketing can also work wonders, you need create a branding though, like a company name.

Apple fanboy said:

What signature?

Click to expand...

Signatures only appear on the non-mobile version of the site... And I think there might be some other requirement, like a minimum post length requirement, to make them appear on the full version of the forums.

I've noticed that there are a few stories that MacRumors seems to love to post.

1 - They love stories about apps that have to be throttled because too many users downloading it causes the server to crash.

2 - I haven't quite figured out what this is... But sometimes they'll post videos of apps that will be launching in the next 2-4 weeks... I've noticed that I know about apps that will later be at the top of the charts because they had a 0:30-3:00 minute video that MacRumors posted in their iOS blog that demonstrated it. I haven't figured out what the secret is there, yet.

3 - MR loves their bad boys and will report on anything from emulators to wireless hotspot apps. Do something that clearly violates the rules, slip it past Apple, and MR will report on it. I don't know what the reprecautions are.

4 - MR also enjoys posting about jailbreaks and apps for jailbroken devices. So much so that I think I may have heard about a higher % of apps on Cydia than I have heard of about on the iOS App Store via MR.

I think I had some other things to say when I started writing this post but I've since forgotten what they were.

dejo said:

How are you able to use Google Analytics to track a link that takes you directly to http://itunes.apple.com...?

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Could he be using a service like bit.ly as an intermediary? I can't see his signature for some reason.

waterskier2007 said:

Could he be using a service like bit.ly as an intermediary? I can't see his signature for some reason.

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No, the link in his sig definitely points to http://itunes.apple.com...

There's definitely a format

We (Little Rocket Software) are in the same boat. We have made a great free game called Frenzied but have no budget at all to promote it.

If you search round some of the message boards on the internet they all tell you that there are some surefire methods for free promotion of you app.

1. Contact review sites.
There's some good sources for email and contact details for these such as http://maniacdev.com/2012/05/ios-app-review-sites which has a simple list of contact details

2. Get your review request right
The email you send to request a review is your one-shot to get it right so take time over it. This site has an excellent explanation how to do that along with downloadable templates and an interview with top marketer Erica Sadun
http://www.appdesignvault.com/erica-sadun-pitch-perfect-interview/

3. get social
Create a microsite for your app, do a short demo video of what it does and get on sites like this to promote it. Contact small time bloggers as they will most likely do it for free in return for the publicity

4. Use multi- channel
set up Blogger, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, youtube, Vimeo etc and post links to your app there. follow lots of people as there is a good chance they will follow you right back

Its a complex minefield as we are just discovering.

Good luck