MARKETING

This section examines resources in the area of marketing.

App News and Review Sites

In August, 2011, ManiacDev (www.maniacdev.com/2011/08/ios-app-review-sites/) put together a fantastic list of current news and review sites for promoting your app, very handily sorted by Alexa ranking. Following are the top 30 from that extensive list:

image Useful search engine terms include “iPhone app reviews” and “iPhone news.”

Ad Networks and Affiliates

Following are resources for ad networks and affiliates:

  • iAd (Apple's ad network) — See developer.apple.com/iad/. This provides media-rich advertising on any iOS device. It is recommended as one of your free or lite solutions.
  • AdMob (ad network) — See www.admob.com. Owned by Google, this is a huge ad network with metrics.
  • JumpTap (ad network) — See www.jumptap.com. This is smaller than AdMob, and still one of the larger networks.
  • Adwhirl (ad mediator/exchange) — See www.adwhirl.com. Also owned by AdMob (and thus Google), this is an ad-mediation tool that lets you use several ad networks together.
  • Mobclix (ad mediator/exchange) — See www.mobclix.com. This is another ad-mediation network with the capability to use multiple networks and bid for ads.
  • iTunes Affiliate Program — See www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/. If you can link to products on iTunes, the App Store, and other Apple venues from your app or website, you can generate extra income via up to 5 percent returns on iTunes purchases. Some developers have used affiliate ad banners for other popular apps as part of their in-app advertising.

image Useful search engine terms include “iOS advertising” and “iOS affiliate marketing.”

Award Sites

You can promote your app and brand easier by entering competitions for awards.

  • Apple Design Awards (award site) — See developer.apple.com/wwdc/ada. Apple picks these from apps on the App Store.
  • Appy Awards (award site) — See www.appyawards.net. You can also be featured as its “App of the Week” if you submit an entry.
  • Best App Ever (by 148Apps, award site) — See www.bestappever.com. This includes many possible categories of eligibility, and a good presentation of award winners.
  • AppsFire Awards (award and recognition site) — See www.appsfire.com. Use the contact page for more information about its awards.

image Useful search terms include “app awards” and “iOS app awards.”

Press Release Submission

Following are resources for press release submission:

image Useful search engine terms include “press releases,” “press release promotion,” and “free press release submission.”

E-Mail Marketing

Following are resources for e-mail marketing:

  • MailChimp (e-mail newsletters, some free options) — See www.mailchimp.com. This highly popular service lets you design and send your own newsletters and get code to insert into your websites. E-mail lists are one of the best ways to reach out to your existing fan base with new services (known as pushing them through the marketing funnel). Some others follow.
  • Campaign Monitor (paid full service) — See www.campaignmonitor.com. This is another full-featured mailing and newsletter service with great analytics. This is paid starting at $15 per month (currently).
  • Constant Contact (e-mail + social networking) — See www.constantcontact.com. This integrates well with social media, and is recommended.

image Useful search engine terms include “e-mail marketing” and “newsletter service.”

Full-Featured Marketing Solutions

Following are resources for full-featured marketing solutions:

  • Apalon (mobile development and marketing studio) — See www.apalon.com/iphone_marketing.html. In addition to being an outsourced mobile development house, it has marketing plans covering hype, release, and post-launch with multiple tier pricing. There are countless others, as well as individuals and small firms that also do this type of thing, so shop around for something that fits your budget and needs.
  • Appency (marketing) — See www.appency.com.
  • App2Market (marketing) — See www.app2market.com.
  • Appular (marketing) — See www.appular.com.

image Useful search engine terms include “mobile application marketing” and “iPhone app marketing.”

Social Media

Following are resources for social media:

image Refer to specific subsections within this section for recommended search terms.

  • Facebook Vanity URL — See www.facebook.com/username/. Once you have 25 “likes” on your Facebook Fan Page (you can buy these, too), you can use this link to change your name to your brand or app's name.
  • Twitter — See www.twitter.com. When you've finalized the name of your app, go here to sign up for a Twitter account and start tweeting. You can/should also do this with your brand, in case it's the brand you want to feed into.
  • Timely (tweet scheduling) — See www.timely.is. Write your tweets in advance and schedule them so that you can get more done.
  • BackTweets (Twitter search analytics) — See www.backtweets.com. Acquired by Twitter, this is a free search engine to look for any URL or @term, or hashtag (tags) to see where and when it was “tweeted.”

Sharing Toolbars

The following toolbars can be implemented into websites, posts, and more:

  • Add This (general social media toolbar) — See www.addthis.com. This is a customizable sharing toolbar to implement most anywhere with analytics (see Figure B-6).

    image

    FIGURE B-6: Social toolbars like this one from Add This are becoming mandatory to keep up with social marketing

  • ShareThis (general social media toolbar) — See www.sharethis.com. This is similar in function to Add This.
  • WP Social (social media toolbar plugin for WordPress) — See www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-social-toolbar/. This is a fantastic customizable toolbar for any WordPress site.

image Useful search engine terms include “social media toolbars” and “sharing toolbars.”

Video Marketing

Following are resources for video marketing:

  • YouTube — See www.youtube.com. Tie-in videos of your app with your brand via other social channels.
  • TubeMogul — See www.tubemogul.com. Use TubeMogul to distribute, market, advertise, and analyze your branded videos.

image Useful search engine terms include “video marketing.”

Customer Support

Following are resources for customer support:

  • Zendesk (built-in site support) — See www.zendesk.com. This is the current leader in customer support platforms (see Figure B-7).

    image

    FIGURE B-7: Zendesk offers excellent, high-quality support options for your brand

  • Get Satisfaction (built-in site support) — See www.getsatisfaction.com.
  • Tenderapp (built-in site support) — See www.tenderapp.com.

image Useful search engine terms include “online customer support solution.”

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