Explorations in Marketing for Indies

Being an indie doesn’t automatically make you ineffective at marketing. In fact, your success depends on learning this valuable aspect of business.

But how can you market your products effectively with an indie’s limited time and money?

In this course, we will examine techniques for effectively marketing software products. From identifying attractive markets, to creating appropriate products for those markets, to pricing strategies, to finding your audience, all the way to promotion through press coverage and advertising. It's never too early to start marketing your next product; long before you’ve written your first line of code, you should have a detailed plan.

Give your products the chance they deserve to flourish.

The course will include several in-class activities, including practice writing app definition statements, pitching stories to the press, optimizing keywords, and writing web site copy.

Transcript

1. Explorations in Marketing Philadelphia, May 16, 2015
2. Marketing?
3. • Hello. I exist. • This is what I can do for you.
4. Leading people to informed decisions
5. Good Business A transaction in which all participating parties benefit
6. When?
7. Idea Build Test Launch Design Marketing
8. Idea Build Test Launch Design Marketing
9. Product Price Place Promotion
10. Product
12. Interests Hobbies Careers
13. Activity: Brainstorming
14. Evaluating an Idea unique competition underserved market size overserved cost of maintenance domain knowledge outside forces level of effort platform restrictions reachability obvious benefits value sustainability
18. Activity: Evaluation unique competition underserved market size overserved cost of maintenance domain knowledge outside forces level of effort platform restrictions reachability obvious benefits value sustainability
19. A rose by any other name…
20. App Names unique obvious easy to spell searchable short
21. App Definition Statement
22. An app definition statement is a concise, concrete declaration of an app’s main purpose and its intended audience. Create an app definition statement early in your development effort to help you turn an idea and a list of features into a coherent product that people want to own. Throughout development, use the definition statement to decide if potential features and behaviors make sense.
23. Creating the Statement • List All the Features You Think Users Want • Determine Who Your Users Are • Filter the Features Through the Audience • Refer Back to the Statement Constantly
24. Activity: App Definition Statements
25. Product Price Place Promotion
26. Price
27. 1.1 Billion iOS Devices 1.1 Billion Customers ≠
28. u ARPU i x = # of units avg $ per unit total income
29. Units • Potential vs. Actual • Reachability • Cost of Acquisition
30. Average Revenue Per Unit • Apple’s Cut • Other Costs • Average
31. Total Income • Forget Sunk Costs • Taxes • Cost of Living
33. Big $ Hobbyists/ Side Projects struggling indies Successful Indies (not drawn to scale)
34. Apps that have nothing to do with your app Your Competition
35. There is no one magic pricing model
38. Free Free with Ads Paid up Front Freemium Subscription
39. Recurring Revenue Outside App Store Revenue
41. Activity: Pricing Alternatives
42. u ARPU i x = # of units avg $ per unit total income
43. Product Price Place Promotion
44. Place
46. Keywords Don't repeat the app name in your keywords. Use the singular version of a keyword, e.g. bank, not banks. Remove white space between keywords e.g. “bread, milk, cheese“ should be “bread,milk,cheese” Use all of the 100 available characters if possible. IAP names count as keyword phrases e.g. “Photo Filter Pack” Localise keywords for as many of the following languages as possi- ble: German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese & Simplified Chinese. Title Put the most important keywords in your app name, don’t repeat them in the keywords field. Don’t be spammy, use 2-4 keywords that work well together. Downloads Acts as a multiplier bonus for your title and keywords. The more downloads you have the higher up the rankings you’ll appear for your chosen keywords. Rating Overall rating makes a difference, 4 stars and above is ideal. Ask users to review your app, do this at a high point, e.g. Clear.app asks when a user has just cleared a list of completed items. Description I’ve found no evidence that this is actually taken into account. Use this space to convince users to try your app. Keyword Tools You can research and track keyword ranking using one of the many web based tools available. I use MobileDevHQ, but there are others out there, such as: SensorTower, SearchMan,and AppCodes. Copyright © 2013 Dan Counsell Last Updated December 2013 - dancounsell.com/articles/what-is-aso-app-store-optimistation App Store Optimisation Cheat Sheet
47. Keywords • Making the most of them • Avoiding redundancy
48. Activity: Optimizing Keywords
49. Screenshots • More impact than anything else • Design your shots carefully • Use Text to Illustrate Features • Utilize all 5 of them
50. Preview Videos • A Commercial For Your App • Worth The Time And Effort
51. Preview Videos • Use App Definition Statement • Consider Audience
52. What I Need to Know • What the App Does • How it will Improve My Life • What the Distinguishing Characteristics Are
55. Asking for Ratings • In Description • In Settings Area of App • Popups?
56. Relying on Apple • Search is not built to help indies • Rules can change in an instant • Black Magic • Loss of Control
57. Apple’s recent changes to the App Store top paid algorithm has made the data pretty much useless for market research. —David Barnard
58. Lowering Price Needing More Customers Relying on search to find customers Not making enough revenue
59. App Analytics • Beta Started (Finally) • Don’t Ignore This Data • Likely To Get Better Over Time
64. App Store Search vs. Google Search
65. Activity: Web Site Checklist
66. The Pitch • “You” Not “Me” • Every Element Has One Job • Call To Action
67. How Much Text? • Know Your Audience • State Awareness • Requires Some Research
68. The Argument • We Know Your Situation, Needs, And Pain • We Have The Solution To Your Pain • We Are Better Than Other Solutions • You Should Take The Next Step Toward Choosing Our Solution Today
69. Text Flow • Offer Value Proposition • Back Up With Evidence • Close - Move To Action
70. Activity: Web Site Copy
71. Apple Marketing Resources
72. Imagery • Dominant Photo • Make it Count - Hire a Pro if You Can’t Make it Work Yourself
73. Video • Not Restricted as in App Store • App In Motion Sells • People Don’t Read, but they Watch Videos
74. Examples • Clear • Fantastical
75. Other Places to Find Apps • Inside Other Apps • Recommendation Sites • Review Sites
76. Promo Codes
77. Product Price Place Promotion
78. Promotion
81. Why a Mailing List? • Direct Contact of Customers • Email Still Very Common • Present and Future
82. Getting Sign Ups • Never Too Early to Start • Make Signing Up Easy • Compose the Button Carefully
83. Teaser Site • Simple, short copy. • Sign-up for More Information • Example: Obscura
84. Download Try Product X for Free
85. Submit Keep Me Informed Show Me More Ways to Save
86. Activity: Button Naming
88. Blogging • Takes Years To Get An Audience • You Never Know Which Post Will Resonate With People • No Direct Results
89. Blogging • Best To Be True To Yourself • Don’t Try Too Hard • Just Write About What You Like
90. Getting Ready for Launch
91. Timing • Hold for Release • Pick a Good Day • Maximize Attention
92. Beta Testers • Not Just for Crushing Bugs • Future Evangelists
93. App Store • Screenshots • Description • App Preview • Keywords • Affiliate Links
94. Web Site • Copy • Images • Feature Video • Support • Affiliate Links
95. Mailing List • Prepare a Blast • Copy and Images • Drive Subscribers to your Web Site • Timing
96. Press • Publication List • Personal Relationships • Cold Emailing • Research
97. Social • As Many Outlets as Possible • Soft Sell • Engage with People • Product Hunt
98. Product Hunt • Pacific Time Zone • Point people to home page. Don’t ask for upvotes • Engage the Audience
99. Pitching to the Press
100. Press Pitches • Keep it Succinct • Include Details • Links to Find More Info
101. Press Pitches • Send to the Relevant Person • Have a Clear Call to Action • Don’t Expect a Response
102. Activity: Journalist Pitch
103. After Launch (Now What?)
104. Post-Launch Promotion • Continue Social Media Efforts • Listen to Customer Feedback • Reinvest in the App • Blogging and Mailing List
105. Advertising • Facebook and Twitter • Popular Bloggers • Podcasts
106. Advertising
107. Effective Ads • Targeted • Personal
108. Ad Frequency • Many Places • Many Times
109. IRL Promotion
110. Community Building • Meetups • Conferences • Trade Shows
112. Product Price Place Promotion
113. Effort vs. Reward
118. Idea Build Test Launch Design Marketing
119. Side Project Hobby Career
122. Thank You joec@mac.com @jcieplinski bombingbrain.com releasenotes.tv