What I've learned about marketing your iOS mobile app

Let me be up front here. I'm not an expert in this area.  I've talked to a few, but I myself don't even play one on TV.

I've gotten a lot of ideas from various friends on how to promote MixMeUp.  I've not released yet, but someone asked me to keep the list in the loop on what the plan was, so I figured I'd provide an update on the aspects that might be of interest to other people in the same boat:

 

1. 148apps.biz - This site provides a breakdown on what apps are in what category.  If you're torn between categories, I'd recommend picking a category with as little competition as possible. (Because I have so much experience, you understand. :-/)  You can apparently change categories pretty easily.
2. App Store Downloads - What I hear over and over here is that you need to get a lot of downloads compressed into a small amount of time.  This would seem to argue for making the app cheaper, all else being equal.  For example, I tested how much people would pay for my app, and found very little difference in revenue at $1, vs $2. That of course means twice as many people download my app when it's $1, which presumably carries a placement reward.
3. External Traffic: Everyone seems to agree that you need to find a way to drive traffic externally to your app.
4. Ad supported vs Paid vs InApp purchasing vs Free Version + Paid Version -
  • Ad supported: Means you are expecting people to use your app quite a bit. For something like MixMeUp, which is designed to be helpful quickly, I'm not really expecting that to be the case.  
  • In App purchasing: seems to generate the most revenue for games and magazines. Looking at The Top Grossing apps in the itunes store, those were the only two types of apps I saw in the top 25 that used in app purchases.  
  • Free vs Paid apps: The struggle here presumably is that you have to find a way to promote each app independently. The up side, is that you can show up in both the Free and Paid filters in the app. I don't know which direction to go, but I do know that I've paid for a lot of free apps and then upgraded to paid. That's just 1 data point, but the idea of a 'trial' purchase is hardly new.  That's essentially what you're providing here.
5. Ask for reviews: I have no research to back this up, but I've seen a lot of apps starting to ask for reviews after a few usages.  Presumably, if you use the app more than once, you're provide positive feedback.  Seems reasonable, but I'm not entirely sure how to test it.

If you'd like to keep tabs on our progress, or the app idea interests you, please drop by our launchrock page: MixMeUp or follow us on twitter: @mixmeupapp

I've culled this information from a number of folks, but I'd especially like to call out Daniel Hutchins from Flurry.com, who spent quite a lot of time on the phone walking me through a lot of this information.  He was extremely helpful and gracious with his time.

If you have any other ideas / suggestions, please let me know. Maybe we can help each other out.