How to Promote your iPhone App
With 182 New Apps Created Every Day, Developers Need
to Rise Above the “Digital Dust” and Vigorously Promote Their Apps
By Scott Lorenz
President
Westwind Communications
 There’s no question that creating, developing and selling iPhone apps
is one of the hottest entrepreneurial opportunities out there. By the latest count,
there are 200,000 iPhone applications alone available for sale at Apple’s App Store
since its June 2007 debut. This equates to an astounding pace of 182 new apps a day!
The explosive popularity of iPhone and iPod and iPad will dramatically expand this number
even more in the years to come.
But for every iPhone developer who surges to success, there are thousands
with their apps who do little more than gather ‘digital dust’ on Apple App shelves.
These developers need to rise above the clutter and get noticed. To get an idea of the
depth, width and height of that clutter, just go to the Apple App Store and see all
the apps available there. Pay particular attention to competitor’s apps and take some
time to dig into the options the App Store offers to promote your product.
Some developers rely upon word of mouth to market their apps. Word of
mouth is a great tool but you need PR to fuel up word of mouth. What is really needed
is a PR plan that reaches both the end users – the consumers – and the media who can
reach those buyers.
Developers of technology of any kind tend to speak to other tech people
in their own world. And that makes sense. They trade ideas, swap insight, discuss roadblocks,
and share code. But to market and ultimately sell their iPhone apps, developers must
reach out to the people who talk to their end users. They need to reach non-technical
journalists who can mention an app on a TV newscast, write a newspaper column that reaches
a few hundred thousand readers or a syndicated radio show with 100,000-plus listeners
across the U.S.
A public relations firm or publicist has an extensive list of media
contacts with whom he has developed a professional relationship and history that can
be pitched. The contacts and relationships a PR specialist has are 1000 percent more
apt to gain a radio interview or inclusion in a newspaper column than the technology
developer who cannot be expected to have these kinds of contacts. That’s why an iPhone
app developer needs to invest time and resources with the publicist best equipped to
make the app well enough known in the right places that it will become a popular seller.
iPhone App Reviews
When I work with an app developer, my beginning point is to assess what I think the
media potential is for the app. Would the media even be interested? Is it a niche app
or is it an app that would be of wide consumer interest? Then I’d determine which journalists,
columnists, television, bloggers, and radio and TV producers would be interested in
that app and pitch them. We’ll also go beyond traditional media and include product
reviewers at major media outlets as well as bloggers and those with large followings
on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. We’ll start to create a buzz on the Internet and generate
traffic to the developer’s website or and the iPhone App Store. If appropriate, I’d
get celebrities to use my client’s app and then get a testimonial from the celebrity
to talk about how great the app is and its use.
With one recent iPhone app promotion our YouTube views increased by
13,500 from 11pm to 6am after an interview on Wall Street Journal Radio and a couple
of highly trafficked review sites. Reviews matter. PR matters.
iPhone App Marketing
iPhone app developers should use Google ad words (PPC) to drive people to their website
where users can find a link to an online demo that clearly shows what the app is all
about. Developers also need to have a YouTube video that can capture consumers looking
on YouTube for a new app or who stumble upon it while looking for something else. The
URL to the YouTube video and the URL to the website demo link should then both be used
in all promotional materials to drive sales and traffic.
Speaking of promotional materials, I’d like to share with my readers
a pitch I made for a client that illustrates how you catch the attention of busy columnists
and TV-radio pros. The pitch reads:
“A new prize-winning iPhone App that places power in the hands of the
people is on pace for 25,000 annual downloads. It’s remarkable because it’s a California
ONLY App but could go national. The new App also won second place in the 2009 University
of Southern California Student Innovator Showcase. The press release below has more
information. If you would like to speak to the 25 year old developer
………… please contact
me.”
The release, which early on put forth links to the developer’s website
and to a YouTube video for a demo, It was on a very fast download pace and in fact was
ahead of the Bible for downloads on the iTunes Store.
Going Viral with Your iPhone App
I conducted a similar campaign for a musician/teacher who created educational rap music
to be used in the classroom. Press releases included links to where the music could
be downloaded free, to YouTube videos and to his website,
www.MrDuey.com We created
buzz on YouTube and other Internet hotspots that drove sales and pushed him above all
other videos on TeacherTube (like YouTube but primarily for teachers and students).
At last check we were approaching 1.5 Million Views of his “Fractions” video making
it the most popular video on TeacherTube.
I also used my Internet marketing skills to help Angel Acres make it
to the “Top 10” in a $1 Million shelter makeover contest sponsored by Zootoo.com, a
website for animal and pet lovers. As part of the effort, I enlisted a talented artist,
who along with being an award-winning columnist is an accomplished musician, to write
and record a song to be used in an online video and for public service announcements.
View it on YouTube. I believe it will become the new anthem for horse lovers in their
fight to save homeless horses.
iPhone App Public Relations
These efforts are intended as illustrations of how a public relations professional,
especially one with Internet marketing savvy, can move an App developer high above the
clutter into the niche market arena that will place him in the middle of shoppers, buyers,
and highly curious end users. For more ideas on promoting an iPhone app visit:
www.WestWindCos.Com
About Scott Lorenz and iPhone app promotion
Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a
public relations and marketing
firm that has a special knack for working with individuals and entrepreneurs to help
them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz has handled public relations
and marketing for numerous authors, doctors, lawyers, inventors and entrepreneurs. Check
out Lorenz’s article “52 Ways to Promote Your iPhone App.” Learn more about Westwind
Communications’ iPhone app promotion at
http://www.WestWindCos.Com or contact Lorenz
at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090.
|
