This white paper helps developers gain a better understanding of how to properly lay the groundwork for the creation of a winning mobile app.

1. Dot Com Infoway - Whitepaper/ Mobile Apps Marketing
How to Plan for a
Successful
App Launch?
“Make your Apps Discoverable”
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What’s Inside?
Lay Down the Groundwork
Setting Yourself Apart
The Fundamentals
Generating Hype
Don’t Make these Mistakes
The Number One Key

2. How to Plan for a
Successful App Launch
NUMBER OF APPS AVAILABLE ACROSS
VARIOUS STORES
mobile apps have
been developed in
3 years.
300,000+
585,000
450,000
82,234
DAILY SMARTPHONE
APP CONSUMPTION,
MINUTES PER CATEGORY
24%
27%12%
11%
7%
Games Social Media News
Entertainment Other
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SOURCE : FLURRY ANALYTICS 2012
SOURCE : MOBITHINKING STATISTICS 2012
Everyone and their brothers seem to be
launching new applications. The app market is
booming in concert with widespread smartphone
dissemination.
Statistics on this matter suggest that the
saturation point is still well into the future,and that
the market will continue to be very strong for a
long time.
It’s not surprising that many believe applications
will continue to become increasingly central to
people’s lives, nor is it much of a stretch to agree
with them. Many applications serve very useful
functions,while many others are remarkably – even
impressively – useless.
Everyday, new applications are introduced,
and more and more consumers can’t function
properly without these things that didn’t even exist
a few years back.
Interestingly enough, the degree of an
application’s utility doesn’t really have any
relationship with that same application’s
popularity or pricing. Both the useful and the
silly have the same potential for profit and
notoriety.

3. LAY DOWN THE
GROUNDWORK
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4. LAY DOWN THE
GROUNDWORK
Much of the popularity and success of an application lies in the preparation that
goes into its launch.Many potentially killer apps have fallen by the wayside because
of lack of such preparation.A poor launch will generally translate into poor overall
dissemination,which will end up spelling the death of such a venture.
What can you,as an application developer or marketer,do in order to ensure that
your application launch will be a highly successful one? There are several general
points to consider.We can definitely take a look at scores of examples of successful
launches and glean commonalities from the data.We also need to keep in mind that
ingenuity and creativity shouldn’t stop with the development of the app itself.

5. SETTING
YOURSELF APART
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6. SETTING
YOURSELF APART
With millions of applications in existence, you need something extra-special to
put your own app front and center on the public stage. Launch marketing is more
important than ever for application success, and will continue to be as long as this
market is a moneymaker.
Thousands of the applications in existence nowadays are exceptionally ingenious
dare we say revolutionary – but very few of them are going to make it anywhere
solely on inherent strengths.
The primary key to a successful application launch is good marketing.In this paper we
will be discussing several key aspects of such marketing.
Hopefully after reading this you will have a very clear and well defined idea of the
degree and scope of preparation you need in order to put together the best
application launch you possibly can.

7. THE
FUNDAMENTALS
Maybe you think you’ve got something special with your app, and maybe it
really is. But without a very specific launch strategy it’s not going to be that golden
ticket to fortune and success for which you’ve been praying.The small things are very
important; there are several of them that must be fully considered and executed
before your launch will be feasible.
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Number one, you need a good brand name for your application. “Angry Birds”
probably wouldn’t have taken off the way it did without its evocative and funny title,
so think of something that sums up exactly what it is – but is fun and memorable as
well.
Make it short and sweet, and you’ll probably have a better time of things.You should
come up with a list of five possibilities, and then run them by your colleagues, family,
and anybody else whose opinion you value.
Also invest thought and money into the creation of your logo and icon. You
probably already know from experience – some logos just ask to be clicked,while
others languish in anonymity.
Make yours something fresh, eye-catching, and pertinent to the nature of your
application. You’d probably do well to hire out for creative input on this, but if you
have excellent artists, drafters, or graphic designers in house, then get at it and enjoy
the experience.
BRANDINGBRANDING

9. www.dotcominfoway.com
Competitive Analysis
Figure out what your closest competition is out there, and the best way to compete with
them.You’d think that having a unique application would be the best thing,but honestly it’s
much easier to market and launch an application that serves a familiar function.This being
said,don’t imitate or ape the competing applications.Find a way to set yours apart as
different,better,and innovative when compared to the others.
App Store Submission Tips
As of the writing of this paper, the App Store online is the place to launch applications. If
there happen to be any others by the time you read this, then you should gear your launch
for as many of these other“stores”as possible.The most important part of putting your
application on the App Store is selecting which category to put it into. There are several
subcategories as well. Figure out which one is suitable, as well as which one will best allow
your product to stand out.
Pricing Your App: Factors to Consider
You’ll need to decide on a consumer price for your product. Make sure you put both
market research and basic accounting to work here… don’t just come up with a random
figure.See what other apps in your category are priced,and what those apps offer compared
to yours.Figure out how many people you think will want to purchase your app… take a low
estimate.Then do some math and figure out what the gross profits will be at different price
points. Of course you shouldn’t overprice, but you should be aware that underpricing will
make your product seem insignificant too. Find a happy medium.
FIND YOUR
PERFECT PLACE IN THE MARKET

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It is a big plus if you are able to produce several editions of your application,each one
geared to a specific type of customer.
If it is feasible, make one for different age groups, types of employment, different
language-speakers or ethnicities,etc.
You get the idea… people like customization. In addition, it would be wise to make
“Gold”, “Platinum”, or “Executive” editions with more widgets and features for those
“discriminating types”out there.
Anything to make the customer feel that you have them specifically in mind is a good
thing. Such diversification will also possibly make it easier for you to feature your
application under more than one category in the app store.
SPECIALTY NICHES

11. GENERATING
HYPEGive them More than Words
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12. GENERATING
HYPEThere are some ingenious steps you can take in order to get the online market
buzzing about your product that involve a more “nerdy” approach. Other app
developers and marketers have been using these successfully for themselves. First
of all, you really need to set up a website for your app. Without this step, you can’t
really do much of anything else online. Put it all out there, but don’t get too wordy…
attention spans are at an all-time low – “too long; didn’t read” is a popular critique
these days.
Aside from your impeccably written, terse, majestic and sparkling website, a couple
or a few splash pages wouldn’t be a bad idea as well. A splash page is like a satellite
website that directs traffic to the main site. Splash pages work the best when they
work different angles on the same product.Try to be as creative as you possibly can,
and make sure the writing and design are on point.In addition,try to do some research
into effective, contemporary App Store Optimization in order to generate more hits
and increase visibility.

13. www.dotcominfoway.com
Create Buzz
Your sites should be consistently updated.Not only does this have a positive effect on
Search Engine (Google) rankings, but it gets potential customers excited about the
product.
Word of Mouth
Bloggy blurbs are just fine, but you really ought to give them something more than
just reading material. Buzz is created with experiences, not just compelling literature.
So give them some sneak previews.Screenshots of the application in action are
always good, but don’t give too much away. Put out some kind of video that teases
potential customers, leaving them wanting more. Release promotional games, songs,
stories, etc., as long as it’s not anything too lame. Have a promotional edition of your
application available,and send codes to people who you think might help in
generating word of mouth.These could be friends and colleagues,or it could be a
professional app blogger (one of the thousands out there) with whom you’ve
developed a relationship.
Beta Test
One of the most effective ways to generate buzz is to muster together a squadron
of volunteer beta-testers. Internet nerds love and live for this kind of thing, as it sort
of validates the months and years they’ve spent in front of a computer screen. Get
this group of independent volunteers to systematically test your app,providing them
with a form to fill out and allowing for any other additional feedback.The more they
get into it,the more they’re going to talk about their cool experience with others.
GIVE THEM MORE THAN
WORDS

14. DON’T MAKE THESE
MISTAKES
Be Nitpicky, and Serve your Customers
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15. DON’T MAKE THESE
MISTAKES
Make sure you get everything planned out ahead of time. Things might not go
completely according to this plan, but at least you have some type of template that
will give you some structure. Without a plan, you’re just winging it and are going to
look exceptionally unprofessional. Nobody is going to know what is going on with
your launch, not even within your own firm, and dissension is quite likely to make its
way quickly through the ranks.
No, if you don’t have all your ducks in a row, your application’s launch is going to be a
big mess, so get a very detailed plan together.On top of this, you ought to make sure
that your product is well tested for bugs and glitches.There’s nothing worse than an
application on the market that causes more problems than it solves.
Such a situation is indicative of an app developer who is more concerned with getting
their product to market than with serving customers. Not a good way to be seen by
the public.

16. www.dotcominfoway.com
Customers are the ultimate judges as to whether an application will be successful
or not. Whatever you do, do not let their feedback go unheeded. Make sure that
customers have their own lines of communication, so that you can hear exactly
what they think about your product. And actually listen to what they say! The fact
that they themselves are not the developers is totally irrelevant, and is actually quite
beneficial.
Customer feedback is,quite often,exceptionally detailed and helpful… a good way to
avoid the need for expensive consultations which will tell you the same thing about
your product. A lot of apps these days disappoint their customers.The developer will
tout their new app as the greatest thing since Shazam,and it ends up being just some
bug-ridden and insignificant waste of time and money. Customers don’t like these
types of situations, and will likely avoid anything you put out in the future. Bottom
line: Make sure your app does exactly what you say it is going to do.
Problems with poor delivery and improper testing usually, more than anything else,
have a lot to do with a lack of adequate time for the application’s development. So
make sure that you and your staff give yourselves as much time as is necessary, and
then add a month or two onto that. Be as meticulous and methodical as you can
possibly be,and your chances of reaping the rewards will increase tremendously.
BE NITPICKY AND SERVE
YOUR CUSTOMERS

17. THE NUMBER
ONE KEY
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You’re not going to do much of anything if you don’t get experienced and successful
app developers & launchers on your side!You can do it yourself all you want,but if you
don’t have any experience in this field,your chances for success are slim.
Experience counts in all fields,but especially in new,developing genres of marketing.
If you pay attention to the approach your help takes initially, you may be able to do
much more for yourself whenever the next launch rolls around, but you’d be much
better off with some good help this time around.