Pricing and Promoting Your AppNot sure how much an app costs, or how to promote a good one? The Magora App Guidebook will show you how.

A Matter of Fine Tuning

Sadly, many first time app creators don’t plan beyond the build and launch.

There is a sense of “I’ll do everything perfectly, and then I let it run itself”. There

are several misconceptions in the statement, the first of which we should all

dispel. That is “perfect”. It is an impossible ideal you will always be chasing,

because users, technology, habits and even your own perceptions change,

meaning there is no magic condition that is without its downsides. We want the

best app we can create and keep great, which means, as always, vigilance, input

and flexibility.

The Price is Right

Setting The Price Scheme For Your App

Excluding anyone who does this as a hobby and wants to give it away, it’s time

to figure out how to monetize the app. Let’s look at the primary pricing models

app creators use:

What else is important when it comes to price?

A big thing to realise is you don’t want to try and replace everyone. Let users

use the built-in calendar instead of forcing them to use one that only works on

your app. People love mobile technology because they can integrate everything

into one system, so don’t attempt competition against the mainstays of mobile

technology. Focus on what your smartphone and/or tablet app is supposed to

do and skip some of those fancy, but unnecessary extras. Use what is already

out there to have your app fit the way your users are already using their phones.

Also:

• Free (Apps): Get your users in the door quickly with a free download and then collect ad revenues. Just be mindful who controls the conversation here – you or the ad companies.

• Free (In-App Purchase): Same idea about getting new users, but here you have the chance to see a profit from the same users multiple times when you unveil new features or levels of usability for your app. This is probably the most profitable method.

• Paid: You know every user will be paying for the value you bring them, but it’s a kind of one-and-done approach, as new revenue generation means constantly getting new users.

• Try different approaches to app costs. $0.99 is the standard, but fails to deliver any impression of your program being something “special”. Anything over a dollar tells the user, “you get more value here than you usually would”.

• Look at the competition. See how successful they are in their app pricing and use that knowledge to develop your own price strategy.

• The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so always think about improving user experience by simplifying and cutting out unnecessary steps.

• Follow the latest trends and updates to make sure you are at the front of the pack when it comes to innovation. These devices, smartphones and tablets, are powerful little machines, so always think how to harness that power and the capabilities of new technology in interesting, new ways.

• Be clever or quirky. You’re always fighting against a massive crowd, so what makes you unique is often all you’ve got to stand out. Don’t be afraid of laughs and smart references. Your crowd appreciates the little things, and, importantly, passes the word on.

Just because someone downloads your phone app doesn’t mean their

interactions go much farther than that. You have to “onboard” users, which

means get them to download and then, more importantly, continue to use your

mobile app. That means that first usage is key to keeping this relationship going

long-term.

Walk your users through their first use. Show them around, give them the tour

they need to make sure they see everything there is to offer. Don’t make it

mandatory, because some users want to explore on their own, but make sure

everyone can navigate between small bits of information and go back if they

miss something the first time around.

• Allow them to make the application theirs. Select a colour palette, register a username, or something that makes them feel they don’t have the same thing as everyone.

• Social Media. Have them link it to what they’re already using. Everyone loves integration.

• Thank them with a freebie. If they get through the tutorial, reward them, even if it’s with something they get anyway. It makes people wonder what else there is to be had if they keep exploring.

• All Work and No Play… Turn it into a game, which just means make users feel they achieve something. Something as simple as usage statistics and a couple benchmarks (100 connections, 50 messages sent, etc.) gives users a sense they should keep going to reach the next “level”.

Get Users Involved

Have an Analytical Mind For App Development

Using And Learning From Data

Just by virtue of having an active app, you are going to have all sorts of new

data to play around with. So, what are you looking for?

• How do your users behave? What do the people who use your app long-term have in common? Is there a difference in devices? Age groups?

• What features in your app are people using? Is anything just a complete miss? Is that because they don’t like it, or they just don’t realise it is there?

• Is your app running properly? Is it crashing? Are there lots of errors? Are your users running for help from your support? Why?

• Are things simple enough? Are users following the same logic you built to get them where they want to be quickest, or are they going through circuitous routes to get there?

• How’s your pricing? See any significant changes as you experiment?

• Where are users coming from? Is Facebook driving your downloads, or is it a dud?

• If you want help, try using tools like:

• Try making minor changes, using controls and following the scientific method to fine tune what you’re doing, rather than simply making sweeping overhauls of your product. This goes for your marketing, graphic design and user experience. No stone should be left unturned, but don’t hurl the stone down the mountain in frustration either.

App Store App Analytics Social traffic analysis

Google Analytics for mobile apps Android App Analysis

Build Brand Loyalty

How to Establish A Following

Mobile users love to find new and exciting apps, but once they find a good one,

they can get pretty loyal following that app, its success and its evolution. You’ve

got a great opportunity to spread the word through such people, so make sure

to treat them well and make their job of passing on the good news as easy as

possible. This means:

• Keep the conversation going. Use forums and discussion groups to keep talking with people who face the problem your app will help them overcome. Have some good canned responses and phrases. Your followers will pick up the lingo and that ensures a somewhat consistent message.

• Find the people who are pushing your app. Look at who’s taking advantage of your in-app purchases. They are using your app to the fullest, so throw them a freebie every once in awhile to show you appreciate.

• Don’t be antisocial. Don’t set alarms and notifications that go off late at night, or spam anyone’s inbox or social media. No one likes those guys, so don’t be one of them.

• Stay fresh. Even if users don’t think your app is perfect, if they see support is forthcoming and there is an effort to make things better, you’re going to have people ready to see what else you have to offer.

The Good Word

We’ve touched on the effectiveness of a good word-of-mouth campaign, but

let’s dig a bit deeper into what makes this approach, as well as other, more

traditional methods.

Build Your Street Cred

The Word Of Mouth Approach

Mobile users love to find new and exciting apps, but once they find a good one,

they can get pretty loyal following that app, its success and its evolution. You’ve

got a great opportunity to spread the word through such people, so make sure

to treat them well and make their job of passing on the good news as easy as

possible. This means:

And, of course, there are many other sides to that coin, but very quickly we see

several different audiences are addressing several slightly different problems

with the same solution. That means they are going to look for that solution in

different venues, whether they are discussion groups, forums, news outlets, etc.

• Recycling

• Cleaning house

• Going paperless

• Dissatisfied with the advice about my app

Get a Professional

Using Journalists And Bloggers

The internet has brought a form of democracy in getting your message out

there, but that doesn’t always mean people are going to automatically listen.

For that, at times, you might look to someone like a journalist or a blogger who

does have an existing following and might be interested in what you’re selling.

Try to find people who:

• Are speaking to the audience you want. Don’t waste your time looking for everyone to publish something about you. Find people with a reasonably large group of active readers. Make sure just because they have a podium to shout from that people are listening.

• Willing to listen. It may seem obvious, but go for low hanging fruit and find people you or your colleagues might know. If there is some personal or professional connection, they’re far more likely to hear you out. Also, try and at least call to get in touch, otherwise you may find your emails in a lot of spam and junk folders.

Know Your Niche

How’s Everyone Else Doing It

Narrowing Your Targeting

Studying The Apps Competition

It’s very important you know what makes you special. This goes back a bit to

when you picked your category before you launched your app, but really think

about how your application excels. Then get yourself into some “Best of…” lists,

because most users want to see and search for that kind of easily digestible

information. See what kind of lists are out there in which you think you belong,

then get in touch with the author and see if he agrees.

You should now have a good idea of where your traffic is coming from, but

using something called “backlinks analysis” you can see where your

competition’s traffic is coming from too. To do this, you can use tools like:

If you see your competitor has a whole lot of people linking to their app or

homepage, that means lots of people out there are interested, and you should

be app to convince some of them to link to you too!

Ahrefs Backlinks Checker - free, but only the paid version will give you the

whole picture.

Similarweb - the free version is effective in giving you an understanding of

traffic sources.

Don’t Lose Sight Of Who Is In Charge

Follow Google

You should always keep tabs on how well your keywords are doing, but you can

also use features like Google Alerts to see when people mention you or relevant

topics. If you can get in touch with people who have written recently, you’ll find

a much more receptive audience.

The Holy Grail

Getting Featured

The best way to get the word out is when the App Store or Google Play does it

for you. This is called “Getting Featured” and is a pretty big deal. These apps are

considered the best in the business, so you need to work hard and really make

sure you’re in top fighting shape if you want a chance at this. There are a few

“shortcuts” though:

• Align your interests. Apple and Android are always coming out with something they are excited about, whether it is a new hardware or software. If you can find a way to really tap into something in your app and use it to show that feature’s full potential, you can get those companies interested in showcasing you (to showcase themselves). You just have to follow all the latest news and updates really closely to know when you can take advantage of this.

• Reach out to them directly. Apple and Android have experts who are looking for great apps all the time, but it doesn’t mean they always find them, or at the right time. For that reason, if you think you’re really onto something, go ahead and write. Just be careful not to harass them, because that can get you blacklisted pretty quickly.

• ‘Tis the season. Are you willing to add some red and green accents, or change your logo to feature a glass of eggnog to deliver a yuletide feel to your app? Some people claim that seasonal apps perform better at that time of year, so if you think yours is centred around a certain holiday, make sure not to let that slip under the radar.

• Just give it away. The App Store and Google Play sometimes have a special place for app developers who are willing to offer their apps for free over the course of a day or week, but there is even more serious competition for this than usual.