Presentation from AnDevCon V in Boston. Basics of marketing for independent app developer. Explains concepts of marketing funnel, conversion, and keyword research. Includes choosing and evaluating an idea and getting the app discovered through the Google Play store.

1. Driving App Success
Part I
Part I
Nathan Mellor
CritterMap Software LLC
Followup at http://eepurl.com/d9tZj
Low

2. Objectives
• About me . . .
• About you
• Understand The Marketing Funnel
• Follow an idea through half of the
marketing funnel

3. • Worked for a major printer
manufacturer for 12 years
• Feb 2009:“routine” meeting with
boss
• Downsizing announced
• New house, new mortgage.
• March 27: Last day at work
• March 28th:Third child born
• April 2009:“Outplacement”
counseling
About me - 2009

4. • Get a new “real” job
• Do contracting
• Consulting
• My true passion:
• “Become a successful online business
owner”.
What should I do?

5. • Reeducation through the Trade ACT
• Enrolled in University of San Francisco’s Internet
Marketing program
• Developing an app on a new operating system called
Android
• First launched to the market June 2010.
• Started at about 5 sales a day; I was aiming for ~56.
• Paid zero taxes AND got a refund.
Nathan in 2010

6. •Top grossing App in
“Travel and Local”
Since 2011

7. • “I heard about some high school kid that
wrote an app in a weekend and is now a
millionaire”
Is this you?

8. Is this you?
(Dilbert.com)

9. Success=Profit
• Profit(app) = Revenue(app)-Cost(app)

10. Example - Is this profit?
• Profit(app) = Revenue(app)-Cost(app)
• Example:
• Revenue(app) = $200 per month
• No expenses since you do everything
yourself
• Spend about 10 hours per month of your
spare time.

11. Internet Marketing
Funnel
How it applies to mobile apps

12. Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
The Internet Marketing Funnel
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
CustomerCustomer
(paid for something)(paid for something)
CustomerCustomer
(paid for something)(paid for something)
Loyal CustomerLoyal Customer
(repeat sales)(repeat sales)
Loyal CustomerLoyal Customer
(repeat sales)(repeat sales)
AdvocateAdvocate
(recommends product)(recommends product)
AdvocateAdvocate
(recommends product)(recommends product)

13. Target Audience = Outdoor Navigation usersTarget Audience = Outdoor Navigation users
1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day
Target Audience = Outdoor Navigation usersTarget Audience = Outdoor Navigation users
1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day
Prospect = see my app listingProspect = see my app listing
????? - figures not available????? - figures not available
Prospect = see my app listingProspect = see my app listing
????? - figures not available????? - figures not available
App Market Funnel + Numbers
Lead = installs demo productLead = installs demo product
500 per day500 per day
Lead = installs demo productLead = installs demo product
500 per day500 per day
Customer- bought paid appCustomer- bought paid app
20% =>100 per day20% =>100 per day
Customer- bought paid appCustomer- bought paid app
20% =>100 per day20% =>100 per day
Loyal Customer= bought an addonLoyal Customer= bought an addon
22 per day22 per day
Loyal Customer= bought an addonLoyal Customer= bought an addon
22 per day22 per day
Advocate= 5 starAdvocate= 5 star
2 per day2 per day
Advocate= 5 starAdvocate= 5 star
2 per day2 per day

14. Your Own Funnel
• Funnel applies to multiple business models
• Free App to Paid App
• Freemium - in app purchase
• Ad supported
• Fractal nature means you can zoom in - and
see more funnels
• Homework: draw your own funnel with
math

15. Term: Conversion
• changing of the end users religion
• User completes a GOAL that you have
set for them: install, buy, register
• Often associated with moving to a new
phase of the marketing funnel
• Conversion Rate is often expressed as a
percentage or number per day

16. Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
Target Audience
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
Focusing your App Idea

17. “Good ideas are common - what's
uncommon are people who'll work
hard enough to bring them about”
Ashleigh Brilliant

18. How “Big” is your app idea be?
app
Faucet App
Everything but the
kitchen sink app
Engineering effort
You wrote it in a
weekend
Several engineering
years
Lines of code 300 70,000
Number of features 1 100
Number of features
requested by users
0 300+
What to do when done Work on another app Never done
Bragging rights “My 400th big hit”
“Still working on the
same app I told you
about last year”

19. Where could you start?
• A 30 day challenge
• Pick an app that someone you hire could
write in a month
• Have it done by August
• Tell me about your experience and I will
report in a followup.

20. Should your idea be ...
• PROFITABLE: One that makes money
• INNOVATION: Unique, original,
unprecedented
• PASSION:Your personal hobby, interest
• SPECIALTY: One where you have special
knowledge or skills
• What is most important?

21. Profit Potential
• Try to find exact dollar value of future app.
• Come up with your ten best ideas.
• Pick the best of them in terms of profit potential.

22. Profit Potential -Based
on field of endeavor
•Look for parallels
•Keyword Research: how often does
someone search for the right keywords
•How often do people buy a book on
the subject (Amazon sales rank)?
•Is there a real world product that
people pay for?

23. Ex: Garmin’s outdoor/fitness division
had sales of $400 million last year
What do they buy
now?

24. Android Market:
Crushing your Dreams.
What if there are seven apps like yours?
Good thing or bad?

25. •If there are existing apps, how are they
doing?
•Top Paid
•Top Grossing
•Top Free
•But what if they are ad supported?
Emulate Successful Apps

26. Google Adwords Placement Tool

27. App Discovery
(knowing a product exists)
(knowing a product exists)
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)

28. How Apps are Found
(Engineer version)
(Engineer version)• Make a list of required and optional features for your
dream app
• Exhaustively search the Market for potential apps. Read
entire description of each.
• Identify three top candidates, by evaluating the strengths
and weaknesses of each
• For each finalist, install the trial or free version
• Read complete user documentation for each
• Try out every feature of the finalists
• Make final decision

29. Finding an App
(real life)
(real life)
• Search or browse the Market
• Pick one from a list or search results
• Look at app listing: Does it look like what
you want?
• Install it
• Try it: does it look like it does what you
want?
• If so, keep it. If not, repeat.

30. The App Finding Process
It doesn’t matter one bit how good your
app is - till you get to the install.
It doesn’t matter one bit how good your
app is - till you get to the install.SearchSearch
MarketMarket
SearchSearch
MarketMarket
BrowseBrowse
MarketMarket
BrowseBrowse
MarketMarket
List ofList of
AppsApps
List ofList of
AppsApps
AppApp
ListingListing
AppApp
ListingListing
SearchSearch
InternetInternet
SearchSearch
InternetInternet
YourYour
WebsiteWebsite
YourYour
WebsiteWebsite
BrowseBrowse
InternetInternet
BrowseBrowse
InternetInternet
SomeSome
OtherOther
WebsiteWebsite
SomeSome
OtherOther
WebsiteWebsite
AdAd
CampaignCampaign
AdAd
CampaignCampaign
InstallInstallInstallInstall
Google PlayGoogle PlayGoogle PlayGoogle Play

31. Lists of App
•FeaturedTop PaidTop FreeTop
GrossingTrendingCategories:FeaturedTop
PaidTop FreeTop GrossingTrending
•FeaturedTop PaidTop FreeTop
GrossingTrending

32. Being in the list:
Ranking factors
Ranking factors• Total number of downloads/sales
• Recent number of downloads/sales
• Active Install Percentage
• Number of ratings
• Average rating
• Number of comments

33. Dominating Keyword
Search
• All the other ranking factors, plus
• Keywords inTitle
• Keywords in description –front
loaded
• Title much stronger than description
• (Suspected) Anchor text of links to
Google Play website.

34. Branded Title vs Keyword Title
Branded Keyword
Examples
Pandora
Amazon
BackCountry Navigator
Music Player
Online Book Store
GPS and Maps
Recognizable Trademark Yes Often not
Word of Mouth and
reputation
Helpful Less helpful
Functional conveyance Maybe Probably
Search term? Only if already familiar Valuable
Can you do both in 20-30 characters?

35. Keyword Research
• Keyword means a search term - often
multiple words
• How relevant is the keyword?
• How often does someone search for a
term?
• How likely are you to appear high in said
search term?

36. Keyword Research
Example

37. Keyword Homework
• Find the most valuable keyword for your
product - ideally just one
• Plan to use it in the title, if possible, and the
first sentence, and throughout the
description
• Find 20 secondary terms
• Use them throughout your description

38. Targetting keywords
Do’s and don’ts
Do’s and don’ts
• Do: review if you are in the top six or so.
• Do: use in a grammatically correct way
• Don’t - violate other trademarks in title
• Don’t keyword stuff - against Market terms
• Do: understand limitations and tradeoffs

39. Success story
• Fall 2010
• Managed to track keywords from
Android Market (even Google
said that was impossible)
• Description was 350 characters
• But I knew exactly which
keywords were making me
money
• Made it to the top of my
category

40. Other Tools to Try
•searchmanseo.com
•appnique.com

41. Getting chosen from
the list

42. Getting chosen from
the list
• What do people see?
• App Icon (follow guidelines)
• Title
• Company
• Star rating (with number of ratings)
• First sentence - should tell them why

43. A Winning First
Sentence
• Why they should install your product - not
feature, but benefit.
• You can’t track this in the Market. :(
• Look at what your most enthusiastic users
say about your product
• Test phrases in ads and measure CTR
• Homework: improve your first sentence

44. Getting an Install
From Prospect to Lead
From Prospect to Lead
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
Target AudienceTarget Audience
(potentially interested)(potentially interested)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
ProspectProspect
(aware product exists)(aware product exists)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)
LeadLead
(has tried product)(has tried product)

45. Market Listing

46. Landing Page
Optimization
• Maximizing the Conversation Rate - the
percent of people who click through to an
install or buy.
• It doesn’t have to change much to change
your bottom line
• Subject of compulsive experimentation
• See Google Website Optimizer

47. Landing Page Elements
• Action Button: size, shape, color, placement
• Images Elements and placement
• Text:The first few lines of description
• Minimize Distractions: Similar Apps
• Call to Action
• Testimonials: Comments

48. Landing Page Elements
• Action Button: size, shape, color, placement
• Images Elements and placement
• Text:The first few lines of description
• Minimize Distractions: Similar Apps
• Call to Action
• Testimonials: Comments

49. What you should
optimize
• Reassure the user
• Promotional Image
• Icon
• Screenshots
• Top part of description
• Comments and ratings (influence, not
control) - see part two.

50. Promotional Image:
Aesthetic Guidelines1024x500px
No white backgrounds
No basic advertisements
No obvious screen shots of the
App in use
Must be eye catching; vivid yet
understated
Text Requirements: Branding,
App Name, Tagline (optional) –
if the promotion is around a
specific holiday or event, that
can be reflected in the imagery
as well

51. YourYouTubeVideo
• Lots of hits from web version of Google Play
• Should not be a how to.
• Should not be a exhaustive feature list
• Think MovieTrailer
• Superb graphics and audio
• A taste that will leave them wanting more
• User must visualize themselves with your app and how their
life will change
• More on video marketing in part two.

52. Description
• Don’t count on them reading the whole
thing - most won’t
• You need to get them to install
• Include call to action “Install today to start
your new life”

53. Screenshots
• Your best looking ones
• Action
• Probably not your preferences dialog
• One idea: 1005 words - add words to tell a
story with the image
• Can you get nice screen shots if your app
doesn’t look nice? No.

54. Influence comments
and ratings
and ratings
• According to AppBrain:
• 64.9% of apps have less than 10 ratings
• 89% of apps have less than 100 ratings

55. How to get more
comments
• Fastest: Release an update to your app that
crashes for everyone
• Second best: add a permission to your app
that sounds scary
• Slower and steadier:
• Release updates that are meaningful
• “Talk up” your updates
• Invite people to comment

56. • A free app will naturally get better ratings and reviews,
because user expectations are lower.
• A good app can reasonably avoid getting negative comments.
• If you make fixes and improvements, users will come back to
update their rating.
• Users can easily see past three recent comments from
people who obviously have an attitude problem.
• Anyone who finds fault with your app must have unrealistic
expectations or a defective world view.
• You can get good comments by getting the “right” people to
comment.
Comment myths and
facts: true or false?

57. • A free app will naturally get better ratings and reviews, because
user expectations are lower. FALSE
• A good app can reasonably avoid getting negative comments.
FALSE
• If you make fixes and improvements, users will come back to
update their rating. FALSE
• Users can easily see past three recent comments from people
who obviously have an attitude problem. FALSE
• Anyone who finds fault with your app must have unrealistic
expectations or a defective world view.TRUE.
• You can get good comments by getting the “right” people to
comment. TRUE
Comment myths and
facts: true or false?

58. How perspective
changes: remember the
target market

59. Getting the “right”
people to comment
• How can you
determine when to
show this dialog?
• Satisfaction curve

60. Summary
• Think about your marketing funnel
• Do some keyword research
• Improve your conversion rates
• Follow up at http://eepurl.com/d9tZj