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Infinite Loop / The Apple Ecosystem

App Store Lessons: 6 ways to better promote your application

There are a ton of iPhone apps out there. If you're an iPhone dev, you're …

You have worked hard on your app. Apple has given it the green light. Soon, you'll be selling it through App Store. What's the best way to get the word out and get some Web coverage? You might be tempted to just throw together a quick message with an App Store URL and a promo code and shoot that off to the major tech sites. Speaking as someone whose inbox is regularly flooded with haphazard announcements, let me suggest a few points about crafting that e-mail. Here are six ways you can better promote your application.

Tell us what the product is and what it does.

"I have a new game" or "I just published a new utility" doesn't provide enough details for us to know what you're talking about. Jump right in and start with a product description, one that lets us know right off what this software does: "I'm writing today to tell you about Foobar, which is a new iPhone utility that lets you search through your iPhone contacts and rank them by personality. Sure it's mean, sure it's evil, but I bet you'll have as much fun rating Grandma and that hunky guy down the hallway as we do."

Make us care.

Tell us what's hot about your product and how it compares to the competition. Explain what your product's top features are and why we should be as excited as you are. If you're not excited about your application and you can't convey that excitement, you're going to have a hard time finding an audience for the application, whether it's reviewers or in the store itself.

(Editor's note: You would be surprised by how many people not only e-mail us with total apathy, but some that will flat out tell us that the application is stupid or sucks and therefore they would understand if we didn't look at it. Uh, thanks, but no thanks.)

Provide the facts.

It really helps if you tell us what the product is called, which platforms it runs on, how much it will retail for, and what (if any) specials you're offering on introduction. For example, many vendors introduce new App Store items at a discounted price and then raise it after a week or two. Make sure you state exactly what that policy will be. Also tell us (briefly!) who you are, what your business is, and how to best to contact you for more information.

Make it easy for us.

It helps to give us a screenshot or two and either provide the promo code or (even better) let us know that you'll generate one for us if we want to give the software a spin. That way we won't feel as if we're wasting your code if we don't get around to reviewing it.

Put yourself forward.

The story behind the software can be just as compelling as the software itself. Let us know if there are some interesting development issues that went into the application and whether you're available to chat about the software. If you have written about the development process on your blog, send us a link.

Keep it readable.

Brevity is the soul of wit. Structure your e-mail with the pitch at the top and your contact data at the bottom and keep everything in between to the point. The more effectively you communicate, the better you will hook the reviewer, because in the end, we want to be as excited about your software as you are.

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