Sex App-eal

Marketing Basics to Attract More Buyers

“Get a hold of yourself, Chad. Not cool. Come on, man, get it together.”

My mind raced as I walked awkwardly through the noisy crowd. I was a freshman in college, attending the first party of the year for the 2003 class. Colored lights dotted the room, songs by Snoop Dog, and Jay-Z blasted overhead, while kegs of beer were flowing like Niagara Falls.

The girls were wearing dresses and heels, and the guys looked as though they had walked out of a GQ magazine. I seemed to be the only one there who didn't get the memo about the dress code. Though everyone else was dressed for a night on the town, I was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and sandals with socks. My hair was disheveled and my untrimmed beard made me appear as if I had walked in from a campsite rather than a magazine spread.

People were laughing and joking with each other. As I shuffled through the crowd, I tried to look confident. I threw out a smile, which somehow stayed stuck like I had been injected with Botox. I felt uncomfortable, self-conscious, and out of place.

As I walked through the crowd, I could feel the eyes of the people I walked past staring at me. I nervously jetted to the nearest open spot and sat down.

Suddenly, the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen walked by.

She had luscious long brown hair, deep ocean-blue eyes, and a smile that could light up a small city. She was wearing a classy, long, black dress that perfectly fit her tall, athletic body. Excitement and anxiety swept over my body like a tsunami, reckless and uncontrollable.

I felt compelled to stand up, walk to her, and say something.

“Hi, uh,” I stammered. “This is a cool place.”

“Yeah, it is,” she said as she sized me up by glancing at my evening attire. I could tell she had made up her mind. I had lost her at hello and since I had used all my oxygen on those five words, I had nothing left to say. I gave her a nervous smile and turned away. She disappeared.

I felt like a complete loser, empty and rejected. I realized I didn't know the first thing about making myself attractive to the opposite sex. It didn't matter who I was or what I had to offer because the outside wrapping didn't match what was inside.

In other words, I was clueless how to market myself. I was sure I had a great product, but I didn't know how to package it. I didn't know how to attract interest.

After a while, I decided to leave the party. As I was making my way to the door, I heard laughter coming from another room. I looked to see what was going on.

A group of beautiful women were intently listening to one guy telling a funny story. He was dressed in a sports coat and designer jeans that said “expensive.” His hair was perfect, and his posture commanded attention. Every move he made exuded confidence.

He must have been saying all the right things because the girls were laughing, and I saw more people gathering around, leaning in to hear what he was saying.

How did he do it?

I knew the answer to my question. People were drawn to him because he looked great and said the right things. He was confident and owned the room. His name was Monaco.

As I made my way home, I decided I would learn from him, so I could light up a room when I walked in. I befriended Monaco, who later taught me how he was able to draw people in and entertain them. After that, my social life changed.

I was still the same guy who had cluelessly walked into that first party, but I had learned how to present myself to get a new result. The lesson translated well in business. At a fundamental level, that's how all marketing works. You want to create an experience that intrigues people from the beginning, so they feel confident with their decision to invest their time.

The app stores are filled with thousands of great apps, but most developers are not skilled enough in marketing. Meanwhile, many poorly designed apps rank highly because their developers have figured out the marketing game.

To be successful in the app business, you don't need to come up with the most innovative app on the planet. All you need to do is provide value and understand the strategies to market your apps so your customers discover and purchase them.

In this chapter, I show you simple but powerful marketing techniques that will drive traffic and get customers flocking to your apps.

DRESSED TO KILL

As with any business, you will have to set yourself apart from the competition. Your app needs to be a well-designed, quality app, but the best app in the world won't do you much good if people can't find it or, when they do find it, they are unconvinced of its value and choose not to download it.

Most developers focus almost exclusively on creating apps and severely underestimate the importance of implementing some of the most basic marketing techniques. These techniques are effective and won't cost much. You should consider them part of the app development process. As you grow your business, you can spend some money on more advanced marketing. (I discuss this in Chapter 8.) I recommend you don't do this until you have seen demand for your app and have started to make money with it.

Here's the formula for app success:

Effective marketing = Traffic = Downloads = $$$ =

Happy Business Owner

This is a no brainer, but most people don't pay attention to it. The more effective your marketing, the more people will see your apps. The more people see your apps, the more downloads and dollars you will get. Think of it as a numbers game. For instance, assume that you have 10,000 people looking at your app every day and you converted only 1 percent of them. That would give you 100 downloads a day and for a paid app that's $70 a day which is about $2,100 a month. That's one app with a rather low conversion rate. So, remember that your job is to create great apps and to put in the same time and effort to get them in front of as many eye balls as possible. Sure, you're going to get some visibility by being in Apple's App Store, but with so many apps there, you can't count on that.

So, how do you dress up an app?

During the impulse buy discussion in Chapter 3, we learned that users typically assess the icon, title, description, and screenshots before downloading an app. Understanding how each of these basic elements of an app are marketing opportunities that allow you to dress up your app is essential to being successful in the app business. Your job is to create a seamless flow from the icon all the way to the download button. Let's take a closer look at each one of these.

ICONS

The icon is the first thing users will see when they are checking out your apps. It's the small square image with the rounded corners to the left of the app title. It's also the image that users see on their phone after they install your app.

The icon is important because it's how the users will identify with your app. It should capture the essence of the app. It must look good, attract the users' attention, and compel them to investigate your app. It's the visual ID of your app.

The icon is the first impression you will make on the users. The old expression “you don't get a second chance to make a first impression” applies here. Would you want to show up in your pajamas or your best suit to a job interview? Make sure you have a quality icon that represents your app and makes the users feel it has value.

Your icon should appeal to the customers you want to attract. If the icon displays a cute, cartoon animal, you probably won't look in it for help with navigation, right? Many developers create icons as an afterthought and focus all of their effort on the app itself. It's crucial to work with your programmers and graphic designers during the design phase of your project to craft the icon for your app.

APP TITLE

Your title should be exciting, snappy, trendy, and catchy. If it meets these criteria, people naturally are going to want to check it out. But the title of your app is more than just a name. (See Figure 6.1.) It is also critical in helping users find your app when they perform a keyword search on the app store. Each word in your title serves as the most valuable keyword, much like keywords in search engines. Think of the title as your URL. If you type “angry” into the App Store search field, the Angry Birds apps will return as a search result.

Your title needs to be memorable and specific to what your app does. When deciding on a title for your app, consider other successful apps in the App Store. I do this often, and ask myself the following three questions:

1. Why are these titles working?
2. What makes these catchy?
3. What terms are people searching for to find these apps?

FIGURE 6.1 Top grossing app titles.

It helps to think about words in your title as the vehicles of users who will find your app. It's fun to create cute names, but it's not so much fun if nobody can find them.

When naming your apps, keep in mind the Chomp analytics (mentioned in Chapter 3). Over 90 percent of searches in the App Store are focused on the functionality of the app rather than a specific app name. So, when you're deciding whether to name your app Fun Colors or Flashlight you should go with the more descriptive name, which is Flashlight.

DESCRIPTIONS

Next comes the description. Having a compelling description for your app is like having a great opening line. People are more willing to learn more about you if you pique their interest. Following the impulse buy theory, you should not have an overly long description. Most people won't take the time to read the whole thing.

The first chunk of the description needs to be packed with information. It should tell users just about everything they need to know about the app. You should make it interesting or funny. Add two or three sentences of marketing copy here. Where applicable, use statements like “Top App 2012” or “One of the Most Addictive Games in the App Store.” Then, follow it up with a call to action such as, “Check out the screenshots and see for yourself.”

For example, the description for Fingerprint Security (Figure 6.2) starts with the short headline:

One of the Top Apps Worldwide

This marketing copy would not apply to all apps. If you're starting out, you can write other descriptions that catch users' attention by pointing out how your app is different and better than the competition and by including testimonials. For instance, if I were starting out with Fingerprint Security, I would write something like this: “The Most Realistic Fingerprint Scanner Prank in the App Store.” Or get a positive testimonial from a user, such as, “This app blew my mind. Its sounds and graphics are unbelievable.” Another example is “Free for a limited time.” This gives customers a sense of urgency and incentive to download the app.

FIGURE 6.2 Fingerprint Security - Pro description.

After this description, follow it with a few sentences explaining why the users must download this app: “The most impressive and realistic fingerprint security application on the market. Check out the screenshots and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed.”

SCREENSHOTS

Screenshots are pictures you supply with your app description to show the customer your app. Consider them the graphical description of your app. The trailer to the movie, so to speak. Basic screenshots are images that are screen captures of the app. More advanced screenshots are graphic designs that are appealing, contain marketing, and convey how the app works (see Figure 6.3).

Screenshots are great marketing tools because they give a snapshot of what users will experience using your app. Many people shopping for apps often don't read the description but instead scroll down to the screenshots. The screenshots need to convey the main functionality of the app without showing too many details that may confuse users. If your screenshots are cluttered, it will be as ineffective as selling a house with messy rooms. The brain gets overwhelmed and buyers have more trouble seeing the product's true value. Therefore, the screenshots you include should be clean, appealing, and informative so users are not overwhelmed yet are compelled to download the app.

FIGURE 6.3 Basic screenshot (top); Advanced screenshop (bottom).

When I started out, I used screen captures of my apps to create basic screenshots. The capture was simple; most developers were doing this. While looking through the app store, I noticed some successful apps had more elaborate screenshots. They were adding banners that attracted the user's attention and explained the benefits of the app. I tried these advanced screenshots for one of my apps and the results convinced me to create them for all of my apps.

These days almost all top apps have advanced screenshots. Most developers have understood that their screenshots are a major tool to make an impression on users. This is another reason why you must work with a team that has a graphic designer. Your graphics guy will create the graphics in your app and your icon and will create killer screenshots that persuade the users to buy the app now.

Also, be aware that the sequence of your screenshots is important. You can showcase a maximum of five images. Be sure your screenshots tell a story that compels users to click the download button (see Figure 6.4).

These are great examples of advanced graphics. Through the images, users quickly understand how the app works. Text banners further clarify each step, and as an added bonus, these advanced screenshots include the app's graphics.

KEYWORDS

Unlike your icon and title, keywords are not something the users get to see. When you submit your app on the App Store, you're allowed to provide keywords relevant to your app. When users search for one of the terms you chose, your app appears in the search results.

For example, if you type in the word “kids” or “game” on the App Store, you will find that Angry Birds is one of the search results. The terms “kids” and “game” are not in the app title, therefore, the makers of Angry Birds most likely chose those keywords to associate with their app. This makes perfect sense as Angry Birds appeals to a lot of kids and anybody searching with those terms will find the app.

As you can see, keywords are important because your target demographic will use them to find your apps. Each word in your app title represents a keyword, so you don't have to repeat them when you're providing the keywords during app submission.

FIGURE 6.4 Screenshots that tell a story.

The best way to determine keywords for your app is to think like users. What is your target audience searching for? Do not use keywords that are irrelevant because you can only provide a limited amount of keywords. When Apple introduced the keyword tool some time after the App Store opened, I added keywords I thought people would be searching for. For my app, Fingerprint Security, I used terms like “camera” and “video.” I thought that's how the keyword tool worked and my rationale was that if people were searching for a camera app, they might see my app and get interested in it.

I realized that app shopping is like any other kind of shopping. If you go in for batteries and walk past a toothbrush, you're not likely to buy a toothbrush when all you need are batteries. So, the keywords must be relevant, or users will ignore your product even if it's part of the search results.

A good example of effective keyword usage is an app I created called Flashlight. Since the name is Flashlight, we came up with keywords, such as “bright,” “help,” “light,” and “camping.”

When coming up with keywords, consider these three questions:

1. What is the demographic?
2. What are the users' needs?
3. What are they searching for?

I don't use any particular tools to brainstorm for keywords. I use common sense and think like an app user.

CATEGORIES

Most app stores organize apps into specific categories to help users find them more easily. Some of the categories in the App Store include Games, Entertainment, Utilities, Books, Business, Education, and so on. In addition to the top overall rankings of all apps, each category has its own top rankings and, therefore, generates a certain amount of visibility based on these charts. An app that doesn't show up in the top 200 overall, might still be in the top 10 of a particular category. Users looking for certain apps often browse through these category charts without looking at the top overall charts.

When you're submitting your app for review, you have to select the category you would like your app to appear in. Make sure to select the most relevant category for your app. For example, an alarm clock app should be in the Utilities category rather than in the Games category. On the other hand, many apps could be classified into more than one category. You have to choose one but you can change the category during an update. Some categories are more competitive than others. Check out the categories of competing apps to see which category they seem to be popular in. This is usually a good indication of where you should place your app.

THE POWER OF FREE APPS

Prepare the basic marketing elements mentioned above for all of your apps. After you take care of the basics, your greatest marketing tool will be free apps. They generate traffic and visibility that you otherwise wouldn't get. Using free apps is the equivalent of having a brick and mortar retail business on Main Street as opposed to five miles outside of town.

Free apps create the most traffic because they have the smallest barrier to entry. It takes five seconds to download, and it's free. Why wouldn't you push the button? More free apps are downloaded than paid apps. After all, if you can't give away your app for free, how are you going to get people to pay for it? Once the free version of your app gains some traction, you can use it to advertise the paid version of the same app. This is like getting those free food samples at the supermarket. If you like the sample you tasted, you might go buy the whole bag and become a long-term customer.

In Chapter 9, I show you how to take that free traffic and convert it into dollars. Using the free apps as part of your marketing strategy will dramatically increase the likelihood of having a successful paid app.

COURSE CORRECTING

After you launch the free version of your app, you need to give it some time to generate interest. I give it about one to two weeks while I assess the incoming data and continue the market research. During that time, the App Store customers will vote with their downloads, and let you know whether your idea or marketing is working.

Give the marketing basics your best shot for your app launch, but you will not always hit the bull's-eye with your first attempt. You must understand and accept this concept. Most developers make the mistake of ignoring these marketing basics. Of those developers who don't make this mistake, many make another mistake, which is to think that they need to worry about the marketing only once. They create an icon they like, pick a title that excites them, and publish the app.

When it doesn't work out, they blame the app. “It was just not a good app” or “The market was not ready for it” are some of the excuses. This may be true, but their initial marketing angle may not have been the correct one even though the app was good.

Just as your app will always need certain refinements due to consumer demand and competition, so will your marketing. What makes an app successful is improving it and making regular adjustments or additions to all its marketing elements. For most of my apps, I have changed the icon and screenshots three to five times and the title and description between 5 and 10 times. I change keywords almost every time I update apps. I always switch the categories when it makes sense. Keep an open mind and continue to be inspired by your observations during your market research.

For example, one time, I added the term “phone” to the keywords of my free prank fingerprint app. This seemingly minor change propelled the app to the number one top overall free category. It was advertising the pro version at the same time, so this shot the pro version to number 27 top overall paid and had a major effect on some of the other apps since I was cross-promoting everything. This one change moved the income of the company from around $1,000 a day to about $3,000 a day. This is the power of tweaking your app marketing. One change can dramatically increase your revenue.

When making these changes, keep your speed of implementation in mind. Whatever you want to do, you must do quickly. You have to have a team in place to make marketing tweaks because if you want to change a screenshot and it takes a month to do it, you'll possibly miss out on the benefit of that change. This equates to leaving a certain amount of money on the table. Also, do not change too many things at one time because then you won't be able to track what's working. Do not mess too much with apps that are doing well since you don't want to reverse your success.

Once your customers purchase the app, the marketing doesn't stop there though. You have to wow them and turn them into raving fans, so they'll spread the word about your app and come back for more. You have to give them reasons to keep coming back to your app. These reasons may include improved functionality, new options, or new levels. If your customers have a positive experience with one app, they will likely buy more apps or upgrades.

How do you know if your marketing is working? Analytics. They show you everything you need to know about what's happening in your app. It's crucial to the health of your business. So, follow along in the next chapter.

What I Learned

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2.

3.

Actions to Take

1. For each one of your new and existing apps, research the App Store for icons, titles, keywords, categories, descriptions, and screenshots of successful competitor apps.
2. Create free apps as part of your marketing strategy.
3. Systematically tweak your app marketing.