WIth so many mobile apps being brought to market every day, how do you make sure your app gets found, gets downloaded and builds buzz? This eBook by strategy expert Robbie Kellman Baxter of Peninsula Strategies will provide you with inside tips to have a successful launch AND to continue building buzz long after the first download. How do you make sure your app is featured on the app store's new and noteworthy page? How do you build a profile page that makes people want to download your app? What kind of plumbing do you need to build into your app to ensure communication, upselling and viral growth? Find out in this practical and concise ebook.

1. BEST PRACTICES IN
MARKETING MOBILE APPS

2. 2
This e-book is for you if
Your company is launching a mobile application to strengthen your overall business
You’re launching a new freestanding mobile app, and need to build awareness quickly
You’ve already launched a mobile app but aren’t seeing the kind of growth you had
hoped for.
Whether your mobile app is your primary business or is a small part of a much bigger
strategy, this e-book will dramatically improve discovery, engagement and retention of your
app. And that means a bigger impact to your bottom line.
Best of luck, and let me know how your journey goes!
Sincerely, Robbie Kellman Baxter

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Mobile Apps are the Wild West of Consumer Technology 1
Building Buzz 4
If People Have Stopped Downloading Your App… 6
Things to Remember 7
Peninsula Strategies’ Mobile App Checklist 8
About the Author 10
What People Are Saying About Peninsula Strategies 10

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CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY
One thing to remember about mobile apps is that
many of the people using mobile apps are
downloading apps for the first time. Nearly every
household today has a home computer or laptop,
and tablets are still growing in adoption. Even smart
phones are new to many people. If you live in a
place like Silicon Valley, this fact might be hard to
remember, but the person downloading your app
might have never downloaded an app to a mobile
device before.
The implications of working in
a new space are important to
understand
Consider two key constituencies,
“new to mobile” people who are
just learning how to use a tablet or
smart phone and “bleeding edge”
people who pride themselves on
familiarity with every app in a
particular category.
Make on-boarding users easy,
because new users are likely to be
impatient and easily frustrated, but
also because if you meet their need,
they are unlikely to look for other
apps. If you are a likely “first
downloaded” app, you might want
to invest in relationships with
hardware manufacturers, because
they might be interested in
preloading your app onto their new
devices.

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Be crystal clear about your target. If you want to be on the leading edge, you
have to be cool enough for the leading edge. On the other hand, if your success depends
on being loved by the people who are always current on the latest
technology, you need to invest in winning thought leadership. This means reaching out to
the right bloggers, product reviewers, and industry experts.
Establish your own metrics, and make sure they tie to your objectives. You may
not know what the acquisition cost should be for your app, or how to price your
offering. So you will need to rely more on logic and instinct than standards. Leave room to
change your pricing in the future by offering a special price at launch, and establish your
metrics based on the first things you try—then work toward lowering your costs.
appeals to thought leaders may not work for the mass market, and one may
follow the other very quickly. This means that you need to try a lot of different
approaches, and carefully track the results and demographics.
The market is growing so fast that there are still first-to-market advantages, and the number
one player enjoys a tremendous advantage over number two, but the chaos of a new market
can be daunting and frustrating. New players are entering the
market every day—new app developers, new distribution platforms, and new pundits—so
things will get wilder before order is established.

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Many companies launch their apps with no
positioning, no idea of who they are targeting,
no key messages, no marketing at all—and they
still take off like wildfire. Nearly all of these
companies attribute their success to the Apple
revenue of its nearest competitor, Google
Play. While Google Play is growing much faster
than the Apple App Store in terms of revenue
compared to Apple’s modest 13% growth,
according to Venture Beat), Apple is still the
one to beat.
Apple’s mobile app distribution platform,
known as the App Store, is the primary way
that mobile apps for Apple devices are
purchased. It is also the way that many mobile apps are discovered by users, who explore by
category, by most downloaded app lists, and by selections made by the Apple editorial team.
There are over 600,000 apps available on the App Store, so you need to make sure that your
app can be found. The App Store may be the single most important creation of Apple, and
has been responsible for creating a market for small apps and really changed the way
applications are developed and distributed.
There are two ways to be featured in the App Store. Apple uses algorithms to compile lists
you need a lot of downloads and a lot of positive reviews. In addition, the AppStore curates
their store, meaning that they have editors who evaluate new apps and can choose to feature
some of their favorites. If a mobile app is selected as a favorite by the Apple team, or enjoys a
burst of popularity at launch, which makes it a leader in its category, that app is likely to enjoy
a flurry of downloads. This flurry can lead to a longer run of popularity, increased awareness,
and more downloads. So getting the attention of the Apple editors and getting enough
downloads and reviews in a single week to make the top of your category is critical.
Not every company that ignores marketing is this lucky—you have to have a great product,
and then you have to get Apple’s attention. But even for the lucky ones, Apple can be a
double-edged sword. Here’s what you need to know about Apple and Mobile App Marketing.
Apple can make or break a new mobile app. The mobile app distribution platform is the
primary way your app can be found, and Apple’s App Store is the biggest one. The App
Store is the mobile app equivalent of Wal-mart.

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Apple picks favorites. If you find favor with the editors, you can be selected as a favorite of
the week, and enjoy premium placement in the App Store. No one knows exactly how Apple
chooses, but they tend to like things that are new and different. When your app is submitted
to the App Store for distribution, the Editors review your app. If they like it enough, it will be
highlighted.
Choosing your category carefully
is important. Your app may fit
equally well into multiple
categories—does it fit better in
are highly competitive and highly
trafficked. Others have a smaller
following, but are easier to win.
You might also think about what
business model you want—if your
purchases are within the app
(“in-app purchases”), but the app
itself is free, you go in the free
categories, along with the vast
majority of apps, which are free.
Paid apps are more likely to
rank on their top ten lists, which
might be fine if your app is
business-oriented, but may sink
you if you’re providing some-
thing that is well-represented on
the free lists, like games or news.
A burst of users at launch can really help. When you register with Apple, you need to select a
category. The category matters, because that’s how people browse and search for new apps
to download. It also matters because if you can rank in the top 10 for your category, either
paid or free, you get premium placement. So anything you can do to create buzz at the
moment of launch—articles about your app, happy users downloading the app and writing
positive reviews, links from other websites to the download page—can make a difference.
Beyond the favorites and the most-downloaded lists, you really depend on your profile page
for discovery. The profile page is like the colorful cardboard box that software used to come
in. It’s what gets you noticed. You need great screenshots, a catchy name, great description,
and any awards or rankings you have received. You have less than a second to get
someone’s attention, so it’s really important to create a compelling page, especially since
Apple is likely to be your primary source of new users.

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Even if you are successful, you may not make a lot of money. Apple gets about 30% of any
revenue resulting from their platform distribution system, so while it can be a great source of
users, you might be better off with a smaller base of customers who are completely yours. On
the other hand, if your app is totally free, the App Store may be great for you to build usage.
If you go through the App Store, “your” customers aren’t totally yours. Apple owns the
contact information, and maintains the primary relationship with the user. You might be able
to get them to register from within the app, but registrations can be difficult to obtain if they
aren’t required. It is critically important that you have a means to build a direct line to your
customers, either through registration, or through in-app messaging, or both. If you can’t
communicate with your customers, you are reducing yourself to a commodity.
Bottom line, Apple is a little like the sheriff in the wild west, at least for now. They are
tremendously important in making it safe and profitable to do business, but you need to pay
your taxes and abide by their rules if you want to be welcome in their town.
is one of the two key ways to generate direct revenue from an app, the other
being paying for the app itself. With an in-app purchase, the app can be downloaded for free,
but once using the product, the user is given opportunities to buy content or features.
is a system with an online storefront that is designed to enable
individual mobile app developers to market their apps. Usually owned by the developer of the
particular operating system, these mobile app distribution platforms are the primary means of
selling mobile apps today. Top platforms include Apple’s App Store, Amazon’s App Store, Google
Play, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone Store.
are people who other people turn to for advice on what’s good, cool or smart.
They might be journalists, industry analysts, bloggers, or investors, but when they talk, people listen.
Some mobile app execs are opinion leaders, but more often, they depend on relationships with
opinion leaders to build buzz about their products.
is the page that describes your app on an app distribution platform, usually owned by
one of the major operating systems. It serves the same function as “the box” in traditional packaged
software—attracting the attention of fickle buyers as they shop.
is the idea of incorporating game-like features such as leaderboards, quizzes, and
competitions into traditional content and applications.
10 years because technology has driven incremental costs to zero, making it easy to offer valuable
services at no cost as a means of building awareness, distribution and trial.
is a term used to describe how app usage can grow simply through the process of using
the app. Hotmail, the early email app, “went viral” because each user inadvertently advertised the
service (via a footer ad) when he used the app to send email.

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BUILDING BUZZ
If you have just developed your mobile app, and your whole company is riding on this app,
there are some things you can do to build buzz.
You can actually make a big impact without spending big money. You need to start with a
great product, of course, but you also want to stack the deck so that you launch with a bang,
and people notice. You want to make sure that the thought leaders in your category know
who you are, have a chance to see your app early and have incentives to write about you. This
includes bloggers, tweeters and people who are seen as experts in the space. You also want
to time your launch so that you aren’t competing against other news in the same category.
Building awareness among thought leaders and influencers is a result of outreach more than
spend, but most companies don’t have the discipline and focus to build these relationships
prior to their launch.
If you have money to invest in paid
search, you may want to test some
different options. There is anecdotal
evidence that focused ads can be
effective. Some companies are
getting tremendous results from
advertising on mobile platforms or
gaming platforms. You can try paid
social campaigns, or featured
placement in promotional platforms
If you can invest in building
relationships with hardware
manufacturers, you might be able
to be preloaded onto new devices,
especially in the tablet space. You can
also try to partner with companies in
related industries, trading awareness
for access to the app, or cross
promoting, if appropriate.
Most importantly, you want to test
different tactics and measure results.
There’s no standard marketing plan for mobile app marketing, so creativity and flexibility can
mean the difference between success and failure.

10. 10
THE PRODUCT MATTERS
Before you start spending money on marketing campaigns, catchy slogans or cool logos,
make sure you have the best product you can create. And make sure that the product is
before they’ve even tried the service! Make sure that it’s easy for customers to get value
right away, even before they register. Once they experience value, they’ll be more willing
to register, customize and otherwise invest in your app—but first, show them the value.
value proposition, people might pay when they download, but with so much available for
first step in your process. You need to teach your users to make your app part of their daily
routine.
Are there ways for your users to increase their engagement, through options like
easier to sell additional value to existing users than to provide value to new customers.
5. Do you give your loyal and happy users opportunities and incentives to invite
expensive customers and often those customers have the highest lifetime value of any
segment. Therefore, it is very important to design your app to encourage referrals.
Do you periodically reach out to all of your customers, to tell them what’s
great ideas from your users.

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YOUR APP…
Here’s the scenario. The product launches. Someone notices it at Apple, and it’s picked as a
the AppStore drives usage and lands the app on the list of top apps in the category, which
drives a few more weeks of downloads. Maybe there’s a little PR related to the buzz on the
AppStore, and a few blog entries are written by thought leaders, which leads to some more
downloads…and then…nothing…
At this point, the company is in trouble. It has some users and some revenue (if the app is
sold for a fee, a subscription, or, even better if it has some in-app purchase features) but that’s
about it. The company doesn’t know who’s downloading the app and why, so how can they
worked (being a new featured app, or being a most-downloaded app) aren’t going to work in
There are dozens of mobile apps that were designed and built by a small team of believers,
or even one or two people with an idea, that have caught on like wildfire. Sometimes a good
product is enough. But usually, it isn’t. You need a plan, and that plan needs to go beyond the
launch.
It may not be too late to drive exponential growth of your user base. If you find yourself in this
situation—regroup quickly.
more people like themselves.
Claim #1 status in your category, even if you are creating a new category. Be bold—you have
nothing to lose—and you need to resuscitate your app.
With a quick analysis of the business model, a hard look at the product design and the actual
customer profiles and usage scenarios, and some creative campaigns, you can get your
product off of life support and back to healthy growth.

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J Are you selling your product at the right price, to the right people,
established to have people find out about you, pay increasing amounts to you (or provide value in
J If your mobile app is not your core business, you may be able to leverage
of a series of apps you have created, you may want to cross-market. If you have existing relationships
with thought leaders,
you can talk to them
about your new app.
If you have an existing
customer base, you
may want to let them
know about this app. If
you have great content
from a different source,
you may want to
leverage that content
to build value for the
new app. The options
are endless, but the
more integrated your
plans, the more lever-
aged you can be.
J
have it, the existing signup demographics. But more likely, you’re not going to have direct access to
all of your data because the distribution platforms keep much of that data to themselves. This is why
registrations and in-app messaging elements are so important, because they allow you to connect
to users directly
J This step can be painful for founders and developers, because they are often in
love with their apps. But often, there are features in the app that diminish acquisition, usage,
retention and referrals. You need to take a hard look at things like on-ramping, building of
relationship between user and company, and viral features, and see what you can do to maximize
the marketing strength of the product itself. Built properly, your app can be the best marketing tool
you have!
J Sometimes a product needs a little shot in the arm to get things moving
again. You don’t need a big budget to leverage the power of marketing for your mobile app.
You just need to look at your business model, and your results so far, and make some thoughtful
decisions about where to invest your limited time and money to drive awareness, trial, loyalty and
upsell. Starting with your specific goals, and then delving into tactics and metrics, you can quickly
make changes that will increase revenue and profitability.
Build a great product
Establish buzz to coincide with your launch
Optimize for Apple
Make sure you can communicate with your users
Build a plan for long term growth—think beyond the launch
Building a product for “everyone” that’s optimized for no one
Expecting Apple to do your marketing
Thinking marketing=social (a tactical approach)
No financial model for revenue generation
Being slow to change and grow

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THINGS TO REMEMBER
The reason mobile apps are so popular is because of the low barriers to entry. This means
that if you are launching an app, you will have a lot of competition. While there are hundreds
of thousands of apps currently available for download, about half of the revenue generat-
launch and ongoing life of your app and your business.
Mobile apps are still operating in “the wild west,” which means that rules haven’t been
established yet. Actually, this fact is great for you, because you can try different things, test,
evolve, make mistakes and then correct them. The only way to be an expert is to dive in and
start trying.
You don’t need a direct revenue stream from your mobile app, but you do need to make
a business case—whether it’s about creating a new channel for an existing product, an
ad-driven model for a content play, or even a solid plan with metrics for an acquisition.
Make sure you have a plan, and that your midterm results indicate that your plan is viable.
Keeping control of your app is key to your long-term success. If you’re a flea on the back
gaming company Zynga, have struggled to build value. While it can be slow and tedious
to develop direct relationships with your users, through registration and brand building,
it’s critical.

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PENINSULA STRATEGIES’
MOBILE APP CHECKLIST
J Build a great product.
Understand your target audience before you build
Pay attention to user experience and design
J Integrate marketing hooks into your product
On-ramping must be painless
User must experience immediate value without a big learning curve
Even if you don’t require registration, make it easy and valuable to register
Consider viral components of your product, and enable (even reward) invitations
to new uesrs
Remind users to write recommendations
J Optimize for Apple, but have other channels if you can
Spend time and money making your profile page appealing
Time your launch activities to get a burst of new users during the same week, to get
onto “most popular lists
Special info for Google, Microsoft
J Create big buzz at launch
Consider offering a beta membership for a limited audience
Reach out to bloggers, analysts, and your existing customers
Encourage reviews and ratings
J Integrate your mobile app marketing strategy with any other
businesses you have
send to your customers, on your own blog, and on your employees’ autosig files
Offer special incentives to your existing customers
Consider ways your app can enhance your existing customers’ business, such as
store locators, access to customer files or records and easy ways to contact help
J Communicate with your users
Encourage registration by featuring it prominently and more than once
Make sure there are distinct benefits in exchange for providing contact info
Create mechanism for in-app communications
Provide periodic benefits and educational information to your users, both via in-app
messaging and potentially via email
Consider periodic surveys to get to know your audience better. You might be
surprised at who is actually using your app and why!
J Test and adjust
You will make mistakes and see opportunities for improvement—make sure your
processes are agile enough to allow for changes
Create a test and adjust mindset. This is especially important in larger companies
where launches might require long cycles, and change might be costly and difficult.
With mobile apps, change can be fast and inexpensive, and getting it right is critical

15. 15
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robbie Kellman Baxter brings over 15 years of management
consulting and market-strategy expertise to her clients. She
has worked with start-ups and mid-sized venture-backed
companies as well as industry leaders such as Netflix, Yahoo!,
Oracle and Sun Microsystems.
Robbie is an expert on business models, and has worked
extensively with SaaS, freemium, subscription-based, in-app
purchases and mobile apps on creative ways to build trial and
generate recurring revenue.
A sought-after writer and speaker, Robbie has presented to
business school alumni at Stanford, Wharton and Haas, as well
as chapters of the Product Development and Management Association, the Business
Marketing Round Table and Women in Consulting. She has been quoted on business
issues in the Wall Street Journal, eCommerce Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the
Washington Post, and has been asked to write numerous articles for American
Venture, Marketing Profs and Management Consulting News.
A longtime resident of the Peninsula, Robbie has developed very strong relationships
throughout the Silicon Valley community, with investors, attorneys and business
leaders.
Robbie received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and
graduated with honors from Harvard College. You can reach her at
rbaxter@peninsulastrategies.com.

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT
PENINSULA STRATEGIES
“Certainly, Peninsula Strategies knows the Web 2.0 space very well.
Perhaps more importantly, they know how to quickly identify the key issues
and opportunities, get the right information and synthesize it into a
compelling case. And they are fun to work with.”
Yahoo
“Robbie partnered with our marketing team to evaluate product pricing
and packaging strategies. She was thoughtful, thorough and fast in her
research and recommendations and she provided really valuable
perspective and input into critical marketing decisions for us.”
Survey Monkey
“Robbie has served as a key advisor on our team since the early days of
our company. She helped us to strengthen our business model as we
prepared to raise our first outside round of financing. With Peninsula
Strategies, I felt we got many times the value of what we paid.”
Bling Nation
“Robbie is one of the best marketing strategists I’ve ever worked with.”
PayCycle (now part of Intuit)
“Robbie is fast, very smart, and isn’t afraid to tell you when you’re off
the mark. Peninsula Strategies is a terrific resource when you need a
combination of strategic thinking and confident execution. Their expertise
with SaaS and other subscription-based business models is incredibly
valuable and let them get up to speed quickly and begin adding value
right away.”
CrownPeak, Inc

17. 17
“Peninsula Strategies was instrumental in developing Plus 3 Network
marketing and communications platforms. Robbie corralled our long-range
vision and brought creative objectivity to the process. We would not have
come so far so fast without Peninsula Strategies on our team.”
Plus 3 Network
“Working with Robbie is like having your own personal strategic guru by
your side. She delivers the convergence of superior analytical thinking with
market understanding in such an keen and insightful way, you leave each
meeting with energy and enthusiasm for what needs to happen next.”
PicScout (now part of Getty Images)
“Robbie’s analysis and insights will directly impact our ability to win in a
highly competitive marketplace.”
Riverdeep
“Robbie is an unusually clear and insightful thinker. Perhaps even more
rare is her ability to communicate in such a way as to immediately spark
the “aha moment.” I have enjoyed many “aha moments” in my work with
Robbie. She’s a delight to work with – an amazing asset to any organization
I can think of.”
ReferQuest
“Peninsula Strategies’ thought leadership in subscription and membership-
based business models really helped us plan for the future of our mobile
application. Robbie is more than just a great idea person; she rolled up her
sleeves and applied her expertise on subscription models to our specific
business case and provided tremendous value.”
NewspaperDirect

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PENINSULA STRATEGIES’
“TUNE UP YOUR APP!” PROGRAM
Make your mobile the app the best it can be with our Mobile Tune Up program. The program
who you’re selling it to, and at what price. We look at what other choices potential customers
have to achieve the same goals that you provide. And we show you how to make sure all the
pieces fit together. It’s amazing how often we find that one of the pieces of the puzzle just
doesn’t fit—but no one has ever checked to see if all the pieces made a picture before. We are
quick, but thorough, and often this step alone results in “aha” moments that create significant
new revenue or a big bump in profitability.
Next, we conduct a thorough evaluation of the application itself. We evaluate your effectiveness
in maximizing marketing through your product, by focusing on six key opportunities.
On-ramping
Building Loyalty
Creating Upsell Opportunities
Encouraging Referrals
Communicating Regularly with Users
We will provide you with specific, frame-by-frame recommendations to help you optimize the
product, before you spend a nickel on proactive marketing campaigns.
It is amazing to us that so many companies launch their apps without knowing who they are
targeting. If you already have a user base, we will conduct a survey to determine who has
found your app, why they use it and what they think of it. These insights will help us develop
a marketing plan to make the most of your budget. Before you turn on the megaphone, you
need to know who is in your audience and what they want to hear!
Now you are ready to determine where to invest your time and money to increase revenue
and profitability. Using the data we have collected on your users, your positioning, your
competition and your product, we can develop a prioritized ranking of actions you can take in
order to increase awareness, leads, customers, value-per-customer, referrals, profitability…
all the things that matter.
SIGN ME UP

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www.peninsulastrategies.com
info@peninsulastrategies.com / 650-322-5655