If you think all the hard work is done now that you’ve launched you app, and all you need to do is sit back and count the money as people download your app…you are going to be extremely disappointed. Your app isn’t going to sell itself. Nor will the App Store. The only way you are going to be a success is by getting online reviews and mentions…and I’ve found this can be a very frustrating experience.
First step. Finding places online to get your app mentioned and reviewed! Which you should have already done while you were waiting for your app to be approved. Here as well are three lists of app review sites here, here, and here that will get you started.
Second step: Contacting them!
This is where the fun starts.
I’d suggest you start by reading this blogpost from Ideas To Appster
A lot of great ideas there…and I’ve tried them all in various forms. How successful have they been?
Judging by the contact to response ratio…not so good.
I’ve tried the human element angle…telling my story: A guy with a passion for photography who loves infecting others with it who just wants to be able to teach photography full-time…
I’ve tried to point out how unique my app is…. “Sick of Instagram and the hundreds of apps about filters and effects? Me too. So I created something different!”
Mentioned how awesome I am… “Award winning photographer and educator…”
Tried a bit of “relationship building”….but to be honest… I’m not sure if by following them and making some comments on their posts is really “building a relationship” when the truth is it’s all so they will hopefully review my app. But still something you can do while you are waiting for your app to be reviewed .
Had some referrals from reviewers to others…some panned out, some didn’t.
SO WHAT’S THE SECRET?
Tech writers/bloggers are obviously inundated with emails as there are hundreds of people out there right now just like you trying to get their product/app/whatever out there…so the main reason why they haven’t responded to you is most likely because your email has already fallen off their radar.
From my experience, the saying “The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease” is your mantra. If they haven’t gotten back to you after a few weeks…contact them again.
But don’t STALK them, like the writer of the blogpost above says. If you don’t get a reply after two attempts, they obviously aren’t interested. You want to avoid getting put on a spam list.
Also, I wouldn’t suggest you send them a promo code in your first email. I’ve had tech writers get back to me a month or two after I originally contacted them, and by then the code had expired. Tell them you have promo codes if they need one, and once they respond (fingers crossed) then give it to them.
BUT! If they state on their blog or bio (you did actually READ their page, right?) that they DO NOT ACCEPT promo codes, DON’T OFFER THEM ONE! It shows you are just another robot not worth their time, since you didn’t bother to take the time to actually browse their site.
KEEPING TRACK
You are going to be sending out hundreds of emails and tweets…another way to annoy a tech writer would be to send a first time contact message….after you’ve already contacted them.
You should already have a list of people to contact from while you were waiting for your app to be approved, so make that a spreadsheet. (Oops, didn’t do that? No worries. Go back through your emails, download your tweet archive, go back though facebook to make the list)
I would suggest keeping track of the following:
- how you have contacted them (tweet/email/facebook)
- have they have replied or not? Make sure to mark any negative replies too, so you don’t bother them again.
- have you followed up if they haven’t?
- have they posted/tweeted about the app?
- links to the reviews/mentions
This will also be a great resource for the future if you end up creating another app or push a major update. This way you will already have the contacts, and know which ones are friendlies.
I shouldn’t even be posting this, because this is just sooooooooooooooo stupid…but here goes…
NEWB APP DEVELOPER MISTAKE!!!
Here is how NOT to tweet a tech writer:
@XXXXX I’ve got some unique photo assignments apps, can I send you info for a possible review? noelATnoelchenier.ca http://www.learnphoto.ca/apps
@noelchenier I’m not really a shooter, but I’ll give it a look. I don’t really do app reviews.
@XXXXX thanks XXXX. Pretty much sending the info to any tech writers I can find. Just trying to spread the word about the apps!
@noelchenier well now I’m just flattered.
@XXXXX srry, i didn’t mean that the way it sounded. more fodder for my http://www.learnphoto.ca/newbdeveloper blog. “don’t be stupid & insult tech writers”
@XXXXX i suck at social media. no wonder Australia banned me from sending email to anyone in their country.
@noelchenier well… Yes. but good luck with the app. I do think it’s a good idea.
I’m going to blame this one on tweeting at 2am after a very long day of tweeting/emailing/posting about the apps…
Make sure you take a break every once in a while, and read your tweets/posts/emails before you hit OK/SEND.
This is going to be tough, because from what I’ve experienced…you need to make a BIG SPLASH if you want to be successful at this. You need to spend the next few days doing nothing but email/tweeting/posting to get the word out about the app…then replying/retweeting/reposting to keep it going.
Getting mentioned on sites is a key element of this. Here’s my graph of my first year. The first spike was the launch of my iPad version…that second large spike was from my review on TUAW.
Good luck, I hope these tips help you as you try to get your great app out there!
Noel
ps-if you are a photo app developer contact me and I could provide some contacts.
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