For a successful app launch, it's not just about pressing one button and crossing your fingers that people download it. There is a lot that goes into ensuring an app is successful in market, both pre, during and post launch.
In this presentation, I will take you through the steps you need to take to ensure you have a successful launch once your product is ready for market. From what tools to use, what marketing and communications need to be aware of, social media strategies, and analytics, I will arm you with essentials for any mobile app launch.
6. Mobile Product Manager
Work with many clients, from startups to Fortune
500 companies, to design, build and launch their
mobile products
Launch a new mobile product about every 2-3
months
App Store Featured clients
Big user bases
7. What do I want you to
know?
The essentials on how to successfully launch a
mobile app, and the tools to help you along the
way.
19. Approval Timing *
10 Days (first launch)
iTunes App Store
5 Days (update)
Google Play Minutes!
Windows Phone Store 7 Days
BlackBerry World 10 Days
Mobile Web INSTANTLY!
* Approval timing will vary depending on queue, and connections
20. Free vs. Freemium vs. Paid
Free - what is your revenue model? In-app
advertising? Purchasing of hard goods?
Freemium - in-app purchases has seen growth in
2012, from 53% to 69%. Less barrier to download.
Paid - Games, Business and Navigation apps see
the most success with paid. Customers are willing
to pay higher prices for iPad apps.
Source: http://www.distimo.com/publications/archive/Distimo%20Publication%20-%20Full%20Year%202012.pdf
23. SampleInstalls
User Base and # of
Launch Goals
Sign up 30% of mobile users in first month
Revenue
Drive 5% of total revenue through app
Reviews
Receive 30 positive reviews in first month
Press Coverage
Featured on 2 tech outlets, and 5 App Review Sites
25. During Development
Aside from the actual development of the app, it’s
important to think about the right tools to integrate
into the app to properly measure it’s success.
27. Most Popular for Mobile
Google Analytics (FREE)
Flurry Analytics (FREE)
Omniture ($$$ but powerful)
Pssst... you can also use more than one!
29. Track Everything
What functionality are people not using?
Where are they getting stuck (maybe in a good
way)?
Where are they leaving?
Time in app before they make a purchase?
But most importantly, make sure you are tracking
“conversions” - what is the goal of your app?
Make sure you are tracking all the possible ways
people can get there.
35. Tracking Installs
Beyond the traditional analytics for your app,
there are also App Store analytics, and ways to
track where your app downloads are coming from.
They are not 100% accurate, but it’s important to
track your marketing and advertising efforts.
36. Tracking Installs
Distimo (FREE!)
http://www.distimo.com/
http://yoz.io/ is free and great but.... Beta has
ended, so we have to wait for them to go
primetime!
39. Deep linking is extremely
powerful, but highly
underutilized.
40. What is it?
It’s a custom URL schema that your app, and only
your app, can read.
In other words, it allows you to open up a
particular page within your app.
41. What does it look like?
myapp://articleID
mobile web iPhone app
42. Deep linking
While in development, you need to set your app
up to be able to handle the custom URL schema.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t just work like magic.
43. You are now set up to track your success,
so now all you need to do is press submit
and everyone will download it.
48. I’m not lucky. *
(*A slot machine in Vegas ate my money my first and only time playing.)
(*I was hit in the head with a hockey puck while watching a game.)
(*I have broken my nose a few times.)
52. Internally or Externally
Most popular tool to distribute pre-release builds:
TestFlight
https://testflightapp.com/
(Free!!)
Gather feedback, but use it more as a sanity test
to make sure you didn’t miss anything big
55. Press Release
Key features - highlight what makes your app
unique or differentiating elements
Visuals - choose screenshots that highlight the key
features of your app
Platforms - make sure users know if they can
download it on their phone
Human Quote - from someone on the project or a
customer that saw the pre-release
56. Bonus!
This site has a huge list of App review sites:
http://mytangibles.tumblr.com/
58. App Store Planning
App Name - is yours unique, what currently comes up when
you search for it?
Description - make it compelling, explain your company
before app features
Keywords - these are extremely important, keep them
focused
Category - Where are your competitors?
Screenshots - use the most compelling features of your app
Countries - what regions will your product be available in?
59. Just Launched
Apple just announced “Vanity URLs” to make it
easier for people to find your app
used to be:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/shop-mec/id573282599?
65. Soft Launch
Release the app quietly
Let it sit for at least a few days, test it in the wild
Show to key stakeholders in the organization
For your sanity, but also because bad reviews are
hard to bury
77. Full Screen
Used most often when
there is no mobile web
solution
Always have a link to the full
site, especially if
functionality is missing
Links to iTunes to Install
80. Redirect
You can also skip the banners altogether, detect if
the user has the app installed, and automatically
redirect
Best used when you don’t have a mobile web
optimized site
This can be annoying for users that just want to
read the article quickly and leave
81. Don’t Force It
If you have the functionality on
mobile web, don’t FORCE users to
download the app.
People have their preferred ways
of reading.
87. Tip!
If you have an Android device, you can directly
interact and see your ads live using this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google
88. Drive Happy Users to
Reviews
Make it easy for them to leave a review, but only
when they are at a happy point
After a certain number of uses over a period of
time
If they don’t want to, don’t bug them again
DON’T BE ANNOYING
90. How to get featured?
No one really knows exactly, however, I have seen
a few tricks
Drive the big bulk users to download in one short
time frame, don’t spread it out too thin
Getting to the top in your category increases
downloads and gets you on Apple’s Radar
Build a relationship with Apple, Google if you can
91. Make it easy for users to
contact support
Send a support email right from
the app, and automatically attach
device information
Tap to call customer service,
Tweet
92. Keep Engaging Your Users
Keep talking to them on social networks, respond
to support emails
Ask them what their favourite feature is
Ask them what features they would like to see in
the future
93. Iterate!
You will not get it all right in the first release
Plan at least one update within the first few weeks
of release (and try to incorporate user feedback)
Roadmap, roadmap, roadmap!