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1 888 99 FLARE | www.cloudflare.com/apps
App Developer Playbook
Step-by-Step Marketing Guide
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02 Overview What’sCloudflare? What’saCloudflareApp? AppSubscriptionRevenue
04 Optimizing Your App for Discoverability TitleandShortDescription Screenshots AboutSection Categories
06 Promotional Activities BuildinganAppPreviewLink InstallBadgeandPlacement EmailAnnouncement BlogPosting InPersonEventsandMeetups SocialMediaAnnouncements CrossPromotionThroughOnlineCommunities ProductHunt Reddit HackerNews
12 Building Momentum Before Launch TestYourMessagingandBuildaList
Step-by-Step Marketing Guide for Cloudflare App Developers
TableofContents
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OverviewWhat’s Cloudflare?CloudflareisonamissiontohelpbuildabetterInternet.Cloudflarerunsoneoftheworld’slargestnetworks thatpowersmorethan10trillionrequestspermonth—nearly10percentofallHTTPInternetrequestsfor morethan2.5billionpeopleworldwide.
Cloudflareprotectsandacceleratesanywebsite,application,orAPIonlinewithoutaddinghardware,installingsoftware,orchangingasinglelineofcode.Over6millionInternetpropertiesarepoweredbyCloudflare,andhavetheirtrafficroutedthroughitsintelligentglobalnetwork,whichgetssmarterwitheachnewsiteadded. Asaresult,theyseesignificantimprovementinperformanceandadecreaseinspamandotherattacks.
What’s a Cloudflare App?Cloudflareofferstheopportunityforappdeveloperstotapintoitsglobalnetworkof6millionwebsites,application, andAPIs,throughitsbrandnewCloudflareappstore.Cloudflare’sappstorehelpsyougetdiscovered,earnrevenue,andbuildaglobalbusiness.
Cloudflare Apps prioritize ease of use and discoverability. Themostsuccessfulappsareeasytopreview,andallowuserstocompleteallactionsintheappinstaller.ExampleappsonCloudflare’sappstorecanbefoundbelow;alloftheseprojectsareinstallableonover 6millionwebsites:
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App Subscription RevenueAuto-renewablesubscriptionsgiveCloudflareappuserstheabilitytoinstallyourappontheirwebsiteandcontinuetoutilizeitonanongoingbasis.Attheendoftheappsubscriptionduration,itwillautomatically renewforappusersuntiltheychoosetocancelit.
Therevenuestructureforauto-renewableCloudflareappsubscriptionsarecomparabletootheronlineappstores:developers receive 70% of the subscription price at each monthly billing cycle, minus applicable taxes and fees.
Cloudflareappsalsosupportspaymenttiers,providingdeveloperstheabilitytoofferlevelsofaccessand functionalitiestotheircustomers,dependinguponwhichtierthey’vesubscribed.
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Optimizing Your App for DiscoverabilityOneofthemostimportantactivitieswhichyou’llpartakeinduringtheCloudflareappdeploymentprocessisensuringthatbothCloudflareappstorevisitors,aswellasanyonedoingasearchontheweb,canquicklyandeasilyfindyourapp.ByoptimizingyourCloudflareappfordiscoverability,you’llreceiveagreaternumberofviews,installations,andrevenue.Let’sreviewthevariouscomponentsofproperlyoptimizingyourappfordiscovery:
Title and Short DescriptionYourapp’stitleandshortdescriptionarethefirstthingmillionsofwebsiteownersaregoingtoseewhencomingacrossyourCloudflareapp,whetherit’sthroughtheappstoreoronasearchengine.It’sgoodtothinkofyourtitle andshortdescriptionasahook,usedtolurewebsiteownersintoreviewing,previewing,andinstallingyourapp.
It’simportantthatanapp’stitleisunique,descriptive,andidentifiable.NoAdBlockisagreatexample;theapp’stitleisuniquelyidentifiable,whiledescribingexactlywhatitdoesonauser’swebsite:notifyingvisitorsusingadblockingsoftwaretoeitherturnofftheiradblocksoftwareorwhitelisttheirwebsite.
Yourapp’sshortdescriptionisshowndirectlybelowtheapp’stitleandicon,providingadditionalinformationaboutwhatyourappdoes.NoAdBlock’sshortdescriptionstates“Increase your revenue by disallowing ad-blocking software.”Goodshortdescriptionshelpusersunderstandwhatyourappwilldoforthemin themostsuccinctway.
InstickingwithourNoAdBlockexample,you’llfindaGooglesearchresultbelow,whichcomesupwhensearching “blockingadblockerscloudflareapp”;thetitleoftheapp‘NoAdBlock’appearsasthesearchresulttitle,andthe shortdescriptionofyourappfollows.Thegoalofoptimizingforsearchenginevisibilityistouserelevantkeywords, whichpotentialappinstallerswillbesearching.
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Screenshots Showcasinghowyourapplooksonauser’swebsitebringsadditionalconfidencetousersthinkingaboutpreviewingandinstalling.Foundbelowisagreatexampleofhowtheapp‘Chatra’hasshowcasedtheirscreenshots;you’llnoticethereareavarietyofscreenshots,showingmultiplewaysinwhichthesoftware canbeconfiguredonauser’swebsite.
Somescreenshotsalsoincludeamobilevisitorview.Thisisasmallbutimportantaspectofshowcasingyourapp;mostwebsitestodayaredesignedresponsively—meaningtheirdesignadaptstobothdesktopandmobileviewsandexpectanyappsinstalledonthemtofunctioninasimilarfashion.
About Section The‘About’sectionofyourCloudflareappstorelistingisamoredetaileddescriptionofthefeaturesandbenefitsyourappprovides.Foundbelowisastandardtemplatewhichcanbeusedforyourapp’s‘About’section:
About Usethisinitialtopsectiontoclearlydescribewhatyourappdoesforusersin3-5sentences;thisshouldexpandupontheshortdescriptionyou’vecreatedabove.
Benefit #1 Usethissectiontoestablishtop-levelbenefitsofyourappasheadings,andthendescribethefeaturesofwhichmakeupthelistedbenefit.Youcanusebulletpointstooutlinethesefeatures,describethesefeaturesinaparagraphformat,orusebothofthosetechniquesincombination.
Benefit #2 SectionwillmirrortheformatofBenefit#1.
Distinctive Features Bulletpointlistoffeaturesthatmakethisappstandoutfromsimilarchoices.
Final call to action Usethissectiontoleaveuserswithafinalstatementorcalltoaction,askingthemtopreviewandinstallyourappontheirwebsite.Agoodcalltoactionclearlytellsuserswhatyouwantthemtodonext.
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Categories Bytaggingyourappwithspecificcategories,Cloudflareappstorebrowserswillbeablefindyourappeasier.Cloudflareappsallowsyouselectspecificcategoriesinwhichyourappisapplicabletowebsiteowners.Thesecategoriesinclude:Add-ons,marketing,eCommerce,designandpolish,socialmedia,analytics,communication,fordevelopers,security,humor.
Bytaggingyourappwithspecificcategories,Cloudflareappstorebrowserswillbeablefindyourappeasier.
Promotional ActivitiesOnceyourapphaslaunchedinCloudflare’sappstore,it’simportanttobuildmomentumandmakenoise arounditsrelease.Thisnoiseandmomentumwillhelpdriveviews,previews,andinstallations.Participating inthepromotionalactivitieslistedbelowareagreatwaytodojustthat.
Building an App Preview Link Previewlinksallowyoutogeneratealinktotheinstallpageforyourapp,whichincludescustomizedoptionsspecifiedforusers.Previewlinksalwaysstartasalinktoyourapp’sinstallpage,andcontainfurtherinstructionswithintheURL.
UsingtheYouTubeappasanexample,hereisalinktotheinstallpage: https://www.cloudflare.com/apps/youtube/install/
ForafullwalkthroughofhowtocustomizeyourapppreviewlinkusingJavascript, pleasevisittheCloudflareappsdeveloperdocumentation: https://www.cloudflare.com/apps/developer/docs/promoting-your-app/preview-links
Install Badge and Placement TheCloudflareInstallButtonisaninteractivebadgewhichcanbeaddedtoanyonlineassets,includingwebsitesandemails.
TousethefullCloudflareAppinstallbadge,pastethefollowingcodeontoyourwebsiteormarketingpage.Remembertoreplace[ appTitle ]and[ appId or appAlias ]withtheappropriatedetailsforyourapp.Thesedetailscanbefoundonthe“Configure”pageofyourapp.
Here’stheiFramebuttonforthe“GoogleAnalytics”appandtheHTMLembedcodetoproduceyourapp’suniqueiFramebutton:
<iframe src=”//install.cloudflareapps.com/cta/?appTitle=[appTitle]&appId=[appIdorappAlias]” allowTransparency=”true” scroll=”no” frameBorder=”0” style=”width:292px;height:194px”>
</iframe>
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Wealsohavemadeavailableasmallerbuttonforsituationswherethefullcalltoactionmaynotbeappropriate:
FoundbelowisagreatexampleofhowNoAdBlockhasusedtheInstallbuttonontheirwebsite:
<iframe src=”//install.cloudflareapps.com?appId=[appId]” allowTransparency=”true” scroll=”no” frameBorder=”0” style=”height:48px;width:180px”>
</iframe>
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Email Announcement Aquickandeasywaytoannounceyourappsavailabilityistonotifyyouruserbase(seebelowforhowtogrowyouruserbasebeforethelaunch)thatyourappisnowavailableforthemtopreviewandinstallthroughCloudflare’sappstore.You’llwanttoprepareyour“apppreview”linkusingtheinstructionalsectionabove,attachittoanemail,andsendittoyourusers.
Whentheuseropensyouremailontheirlaptop,desktop,ormobiledevice,andclicksonthecustomizedlink,theCloudflareappstoreautomaticallyrecognizesthisuniquelinkandtakesthemtoyourapp.Fromthere, userscanpreviewyourappbyclickingortappingonthe“Preview”buttonandinstallbyclickingortapping the“Install”button.
Here’sanexampleemailannouncementwhichcanbeusedasatemplate:
Hi[First Name],
We’reexcitedtoannouncethat[AppName]isnowavailableforinstallationonyourwebsite,fromtheCloudflareappstore!
With[App Name],youcan:
Benefit #1 XXXX
Benefit #2 XXXX
Distinctive Features XXXX
Toseehow[app name]appearsononyourwebsite,headovertothe[Cloudflare apps store | https://www.cloudflare.com/apps/[insert app]/install/]andclick“Preview”;onceyou’vepreviewed[app name],youcaninstallitinoneclick.
[INSERT INSTALL BUTTON | Hyperlink to Custom Preview Link]
Forquestionsorsupport,feelfreetoreachouttousdirectlyat[[email protected]].
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Blog PostingAnotherwaytopromotethereleaseofyourappisbywritingablogpostingonyourapp’swebsite,delvingintothefeaturesandbenefitsthatyourappbringstocustomers.YoucansubmitthepostingtoCloudflareforanopportunitytobesyndicatedontheCloudflareblogforevenmoreexposure.
AnexampleblogpostingcreatedbytheappdeveloperAdmiralcanbefoundhere: https://blog.getadmiral.com/admiral-launches-adblock-solution-for-cloudflare-publishers/
In Person Events and MeetupsPresentingyourappataconferenceormeetupeventcanhelpraiseawarenessofyourappsavailability, whilealsoreceivingreal-timefeedbackfrompotentialusers.Agreatwaytofindmeetupsisbybrowsing https://www.meetup.comforappand/ordeveloperrelatedmeetupsinyourcity.
Social Media AnnouncementsTargetingusersacrossmultiplechannelsisagreatwaytoensurethatwebsiteownersknowyourappisnowavailableforinstallationthroughCloudflare’sappstore.Besuretotag@CloudflaresothatteamsatCloudflarewillhaveanopportunitytoretweetorreshareyourpost.
Foundbelowaresomeexamplesocialmediaannouncementsthatcanbeusedtopromoteyourapp:
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Cross Promotion Through Online CommunitiesYourapp’spotentialaudiencelikelyreadscommunity-aggregatednewssitessuchas:HackerNews,ProductHunt,orReddit.Sharingyourappacrossthesewebsitesisanothergreatwaytogainexposureandhelpthosewhoneedasolutiontotheproblemyourappsolves.
ProductHuntsurfacesthebestnewproducts,everyday.It’saplaceforproduct-lovingenthusiaststoshare andgeekoutaboutthelatestmobileapps,websites,hardwareprojects,andtechcreations.
ProductHunthasreleasedablogpostingwhichoutlineshowtoproperlysubmityourapporproducttotheircommunity:https://blog.producthunt.com/how-to-launch-on-product-hunt-7c1843e06399;werecommendreviewingthispostinginentiretypriortosubmittingyourCloudflareapp.
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Redditbridgescommunitiesandindividualswithideas,thelatestdigitaltrends,andbreakingnews.Theirmission istohelppeoplediscoverplaceswheretheycanbetheirtrueselves,andempowerthecommunitytoflourish.
TosubmityourapptoReddit,you’llfirstneedtocreateanaccountontheirwebsiteathttps://www.reddit.com/.Onceyou’vecreatedanaccount,clickonthe“Submitanewlink”buttonontherightsideofthepage.
Onthenextscreen,you’llsubmitalinktoyourapp,screenshots/videos,adescriptivetitleforyourposting,andthenyou’llneedtoselecta“subreddit”topostinto.Forthetitleofyourposting,you’llwanttousesomethingdescriptiveaboutyourapp;forexampleyoucouldsay“IjustbuiltanappthatdoesX”;XbeingtheshortdescriptionthatyoucreatedfortheCloudflareappstore.
Forthesubredditinwhichyou’llbeposting,ithastoberelevanttotheappyou’vecreated,orit’slikelyyourpostingwillberemovedbymoderators.Herearetwosubredditstogetyourstarted,whichshouldworkwell:https://www.reddit.com/r/apps/https://www.reddit.com/r/Cloudflare/
ThebestwaytounderstandtheHackerNewscommunityistoreadtheirwelcomepageandreviewtheir officialguidelines.
TosubmityourapptoHackerNews,you’llfirstneedtocreateanaccountontheirwebsiteat https://news.ycombinator.com/byclickingthe“Login”buttononthetopright;you’llbetakentoapage whichyoucancreateanaccount.
Onceyou’vecreatedanaccountandloggedin,clickthe“Submit”buttontotherightofthemaintopnavigation.You’llseethreefields:title,url,text.You’llneedtostartyourtitlewiththewords‘ShowHN:’(thisindicatesthatyou’llbesharingsomethinginterestingthatyou’vebuiltwiththecommunity)andthensubsequentlyexplainyourappwithinthesamefield.Next,you’llhavetheoptionofeithersubmittingtheURLofyourapp,orexplainingalittlebitaboutyourself,theapp,andpastealinktotheappitself.Werecommendthelatter,asithelpsbuildgoodrapportwiththecommunity.
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Building Momentum Before LaunchThemostsuccessfulappsandcrowd-fundedcampaignshaveanaudienceinmind,testtheirmessagingonthataudience,andbuildalistofcontacts,allpriortothelaunch.
Test Your Messaging and Build a ListBeforeyou’velaunchedyourCloudflareapp,thereisanadvancedpre-launchmarketingtechniquewhichcan beusedto:
1.Testoutyourappsmessagingtofigureoutwhatresonatesmostwithyourprospectiveinstallbase.
2.Collectcontactinformationpriortotheofficialreleaseofyourapp.
Testingoutmessagingpriortoanappgoingliveisanimportantaspectoflearninghowtopositionyourapptoyieldthegreatestnumberofinstallationsandgartnerinterest.OnewaytotestyourmessagingisbyusingTwitterorFacebookadvertisingcampaignstotestoutdifferentmessages(wording/phrasing,screenshots,etc.),whilecomparingengagementratestodeterminewhatmessagesresonatebest.
Becauseyourappisn’tyetavailablefordownload,it’ssuggestedthatyourmain“calltoaction”fortheseadvertisementsistotakeuserstoasimplelandingpageonyourwebsite,whichdescribesyourappand collectstheirinformation—typicallyjustanemailaddress.Indescribingyourapp,youcanincludeyourappstitle,mockupscreenshots,andhigh-levelbenefits.Inreturnforusersprovidingtheircontactinformation, youcanguaranteeyou’llfollowupwiththemonceyourappisliveorprovideperiodicalupdates.
Asyoucontinuetocollectemailaddressesfromusersthroughyoursocialmediamessagingtestsandyourlandingpage,you’llbegintobuildanextensivelistofuserswhoarelikelytopreview,install,andpayforyour apponceitbecomesavailableinCloudflare’sappstore.
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1 888 99 FLARE | www.cloudflare.com/apps
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