tap tap tap reveals secrets of how to succeed in the App Store
tap tap tap, developers of a number of popular iPhone apps, recently posted an entry on their in-house blog about how they made their most recent launch -- Camera+ -- succeed in the App Store. According to the company, the classy photography app launched very successfully, making over $250,000 in the first month of sales.
tap tap tap doesn't advertise their apps anymore, although it was part of their strategy for their early successes. Now they feel that contests (they gave away an "ultimate camera package" worth about $10K, and have also held weekly best photo contests) are a great way to get free publicity through social media channels. The company also placed the app in the App Store at a reasonable $1.99 introductory price, although the price is expected to jump up to $4.99 eventually.
Read on for more tips about how they pulled off a success like this.
Among the other strategies used by tap tap tap to succeed in a very crowded app market are:
Be absolutely meticulous about design, spending "hundreds of hours" just for the design alone.
Add fun touches, such as adding transition animations and the occasional Easter eggs.
Build in social networking to let users share their photos and say good things about the app
Go big on the launch, both with contests and targeted mailings. In this case, tap tap tap had an opt-in mailing list with about 70,000 names on it that was used to target potential buyers.
Don't depend solely on domestic sales. For Camera+, U.S. sales fell off quickly while International sales have stayed relatively steady.
Listen to feedback and keep improving in order to increase the popularity of your app.
As I've found from discussions with many developers, even following these rules can't always guarantee that you'll have a blockbuster product. For this one successful firm that started off by purchasing a proven app, a good reputation and a passion for excellence seem to be paying off.
