Promoting Your App

Newspapers

The best approach is to take a look at your local paper and see which categories would fit for your particular app. Most papers have a technology section, so you at least have one category to focus on. Larger papers will also have other sections that will fit more closely to your particular type of app. You can approach all reporters/ editors in any category that you think might be a fit. Don't worry if you contact the wrong person. They will usually forward your message to the right person or they will respond with a contact for the right person. Table 6.1 shows you certain app categories and how they correspond to sections of your local paper.

These steps will help get the media to review your app:

1. Match your type of app with the right section of your local newspaper.

2. Take note of all the articles written and find the email addresses of the section's editor and some of the writers.

3. Draft an email with a catchy headline about the value of your app. For example, if you have a gardening and houseplant app, you could contact the home and garden editor of your local paper and say something like this in your email:

Subject Line: New iPhone/iPad App Helps Owners Keep Their Gardens Alive!

Dear Editor (use their real name),

We have recently completed this exciting new iPhone/iPad app that allows an iPhone/iPad user to take care of their gardens with clear pictures, descriptions, and tips for many garden varieties across the United States and Canada. Because of your coverage of home and garden topics, we feel this app would be of great interest to you and your readers. We would be happy to provide you with a free copy of this app and give you a demonstration of its benefits. I look forward to hearing your response!

Kind Regards,

Your Name

Your Phone Number

You will find articles written for your local paper on iPhone/iPad apps for most major cities. Simply go to your newspaper's website and type iphone apps into the search box. Typing iphone apps into the search of the Arizona Republic's website (www.azcentral.com) for example, revealed many articles, such as the one shown in Figure 6.5. The creators of this app received free press, and this article was syndicated in other papers across the country as well.

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Figure 6.5 An example of a local app getting coverage in the Arizona Republic.

After an article is published by one newspaper it may be picked up by other papers across the country depending on the interest or importance of the app. Sometimes, even a very large paper like USA Today will pick up a story from another paper. Getting newspaper coverage for your app can help you create the momentum that your app needs to build strong sales.

Radio and TV Advertising

Radio and TV advertising might also be effective in some circumstances. Many entrepreneurs believe that radio and TV advertising are beyond their means. While this may be true for national TV slots and national advertising is usually out of the entrepreneur's price range, appearing on local stations or on smaller cable television stations can sometimes be free. For example, if a local station does a technology show once a week you might be able to get on it to demo or discuss your app. There are also a number of local (city owned) stations that may want to do a story on iPhone/iPad apps targeting a broad base of users or more specifically focusing on a smaller market for the busy sales rep, the stressed commuter, or perhaps a health segment. Again you can reach out to your local station and pitch them on the idea that they do a story around a topic that just happens to match the very app you've written.

The best way to reach a reporter is to go to the station's local website. On most sites you will find a link to the reporters and they are usually listed by categories such as News, Weather, Sports, Entertainment, and so on. When you click on their biographies there is usually an email address where you can contact them. Use the same email approach discussed previously in the newspaper description to reach out to these reporters.

Radio is the last area that you may want to explore. Radio is more difficult because you have to explain your app rather than show your app. Radio is also very broad in its reach, and so part of your listening audience may not own an iPhone or an iPad. Some radio shows have technology segments once a week usually on slower days/times like Saturday mornings. You can do a little digging on a radio station's website to look at their programming schedule to see if there might be an opportunity for you.

The ease with which you're able to get a story written about your app often depends on your app and current events. Don't give up easily. It takes persistence. It's free advertising and it can mean the difference between your app selling okay and selling extremely well.

First, there is a difference between marketing and advertising, and it's important to understand the distinction. The premise of this book is about how to market your iPhone/iPad apps which is a process and includes multiple steps. Part of the marketing process includes a single component known as advertising. Advertising, in the iPhone/iPad sense, is concerned with the placement of ads on the iPhone or iPad itself to either help sell your app or to generate revenue selling other apps or products. A developer can make money selling their app to interested buyers or by selling space on their app to host other ads.

Typically, a developer who wants to make money selling ad space on their app will provide a free app to encourage thousands of downloads. They will carry ads on their app with the hope that the iPhone/iPad user will click on one of their hosted ads. Each click pays the owner of the free app a percentage of the revenue generated for each ad. Therefore, developers of free apps are incented to develop the very best apps possible to achieve huge volumes of downloads, thus increasing the potential that someone will click through on one of their hosted ads.

Continue reading here: Selecting Your Social Media Tools

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