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Kissing the App Store Goodbye

thecodist.com

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Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#11

Post by tienshiao »

wvenable wrote: post #3
ajg1977 wrote: post #2

Another developer who fails to grasp the difference between distribution (the App Store) and marketing (the bit you must do to raise awareness of your application).

Yes, but the app store is 99% of the marketing for iPhone applications. And their are other issues, like the app store approval process, for example.

I don't see why the developers can't do additional marketing outside of the App Store. If the App Store didn't exist they would need to do their normal indie developer advertising. Why can't they do that now? And just treat random App Store sales as gravy?

So the dude becomes an indie Mac developer. He's going to have advertise and promote his new Mac app. Why can't he do the same with the iPhone app?

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#13

Post by olefoo »

kalid wrote: post #10
ajg1977 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rubbish. How on earth does a distribution channel limit ones marketing ability? These are completely orthogonal aspects of producing a successful product. Do you think movie studios hope that you'll stumble across their film by looking at the show times of your local theater? Do Authors pray that you'll stumble across their book in the M-R fiction section of a bookstore?

Unfortunately, smaller independent films and authors probably do hope you stumble upon their works -- it's notoriously difficult to sell books unless you are picked up by a major publisher. I think his point is that things like the App store should be more of a meritocracy (like the web), but it's becoming increasingly difficult for smaller players to get noticed to due the economics (strong downward pricing pressure…

A list of all the things one can do to raise the profile and track the marketing of a single developer app would be a useful resource. Hell, if you put together a decent sized ebook, it would probably be a reasonable successful product. If you could reach the right audience.

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#14

Post by axiom »

ajg1977 wrote: post #2

Another developer who fails to grasp the difference between distribution (the App Store) and marketing (the bit you must do to raise awareness of your application).

The problem is that when you're forced to sell your product for $0.99 (actually $0.69) none of the traditional marketing methods are cost effective. So the only way to make money is either getting mainstream press coverage, or having Apple feature your app. Both of those are random events unless you have a brand name or a big marketing budget.

The bottom line is that publishing an app is essentially playing the lottery.

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#15

Post by baddox »

Oh wait, so it's just like the criticism thrown at Windows Mobile devices by Apple fanatics that "sure there's lots of software [for Windows Mobile] but there's so much of it it's impossible to sort through and determine quality."

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#17

Post by pyre »

axiom wrote: post #14
ajg1977 wrote: post #2

Another developer who fails to grasp the difference between distribution (the App Store) and marketing (the bit you must do to raise awareness of your application).

The problem is that when you're forced to sell your product for $0.99 (actually $0.69) none of the traditional marketing methods are cost effective. So the only way to make money is either getting mainstream press coverage, or having Apple feature your app. Both of those are random events unless you have a brand name or a big marketing budget. The bottom line is that publishing an app is essentially playing the lotte…

You don't necessarily have to have a huge marketing budget to get you app out there. It's possible things like freebies and word of mouth to get you product off the ground.. that is assuming that it's any good.

And if you have a particular niche market/customer base that you are aiming at you should already know what forums/places that they frequent. Just figure out a way to get the message/word of mouth to them. Offer a limited amount of 'free' copies as a 'beta' test round or something. Make sure you have an open dialog if it is a close-knit community. Or consider purchasing some sort of targeted advertising on those particular sites... It's not too hard to come up with a laundry list of things to attempt.

I'm sure that people smarter than I at marketing have book galore to peruse... People complaining because the AppStore isn't doing a good enough job of marketing _for_ them don't gain any sympathy from me.

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#18

Post by pclark »

tienshiao wrote: post #11
wvenable wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the app store is 99% of the marketing for iPhone applications. And their are other issues, like the app store approval process, for example.

I don't see why the developers can't do additional marketing outside of the App Store. If the App Store didn't exist they would need to do their normal indie developer advertising. Why can't they do that now? And just treat random App Store sales as gravy? So the dude becomes an indie Mac developer. He's going to have advertise and promote his new Mac app. Why can't he do the same with the iPhone app?

number of reasons make it much harder to advertise to the app store.

there's so many steps. you go from your marketing iPhone site, to the app store page of you app, and then you have the chance to buy it. thats at least one, if not two more steps. why can't you have a nice big "buy now" button on your website?

it's a black box. you can't see what works, you have no way of knowing if 75% of your tweets convert into a sale, and only 10% via fusionads.net - its not possible to tell.

iTunes or iPhone only. Good luck buying an app if you're at work, or on any computer where you don't have your iPhone set up on. Instantly preventing a) apps over 10MB from being installed, b) the casual news browsing "oh that looks like a cool app" you do whilst at work.

no refunds or trials. it prevents users from downloading ~$5 applications just because - you're not allowed to make apps that "explode" after 30 days. If you give away free trial apps thats fine, but a ton more work for the developer.

and lets ignore the fact you might get your application held up for weeks after you've been told it'll launch 1st August - after you've got all your press ready and such, they might just decide to not release it then. no reason why.

note: we're launching an iPhone app, and i agree with you - its all about the marketing, and thats why I've switched from dev to marketing for the next ~2 months before launch to get our iPhone app rocking.

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#19

Post by vannevar »

ajg1977 wrote: post #7
there wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when your application is only available through that one distribution channel, your marketing ability and effectiveness are pretty limited.

Rubbish. How on earth does a distribution channel limit ones marketing ability? These are completely orthogonal aspects of producing a successful product. Do you think movie studios hope that you'll stumble across their film by looking at the show times of your local theater? Do Authors pray that you'll stumble across their book in the M-R fiction section of a bookstore?

You're right that the App Store distribution channel does not limit a developer's marketing ability. It does, however, limit the pricing. The App Store is structured to directly reward high sales with exposure, creating a feedback loop that drives prices down. As an indie developer, I can support a modest marketing budget that creates modest sales if I can charge $29 for my app, but I can't do it at 99 cents.

Not all distribution channels are created equal, and this particular one is so biased toward high volume/low price that an indie can't get any traction.

Re: Kissing the App Store Goodbye

#20

Post by vannevar »

jsz0 wrote: post #9
there wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when your application is only available through that one distribution channel, your marketing ability and effectiveness are pretty limited.

The distribution channel for SmartPhone software is the Internet. You don't see BlackBerry apps being sold at retail B&M stores in tiny little boxes. Developers sell their apps usually through a web site with their own checkout system that delivers a binary to the user who then must figure out how to install it. With the iTunes store the first part of the model should be the same -- the developer creates a web site a…

As I note in my comment above, the App Store is not merely a neutral distribution conduit, it is also (by far) the primary discovery medium. The vast majority of app shoppers buy from the top lists. And the top lists are systematically structured to promote high volume, which causes devs to lower their price. That's why even the EAs of the world are calling on Apple to at least go by revenue rather than units.

The App Store is 'simply a delivery medium' only in the same sense that Fox News is 'fair and balanced'.

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