Building Your App’s Total Message

1. Building Your App’sTotal Message

2. Some people think marketing your Android app consists of doing a little advertising and a press release. • Actually, marketing your app, especially if you want to see steady and consistent sales on the Android Market, requires that you do a number of things consistently well. • This group of activities creating your app’s “total message,”

4. Most people visiting the Android Market are first attracted to the colorful icons. • It’s simply easier to scan the pages on their phone looking at the graphics to see if one of them is of interest rather than reading every description

7. If the premise of the game is simple and buyers like the graphics, they will be more influenced to buy your app. • They will make a buying decision. If the app is free (or a “lite” version), they will decide whether they want to download it and try it out. • If the app is priced, they will decide whether they want to spend the money to download it

9. Choose an Effective App Name • An effective Android app name can help increase your sales because the buyer does not have to invest as much effort to understand what your app does. • The more you make buyers work to understand what you are selling, the more likely they will go somewhere else to get their “questions” answered faster. • This is not to say that all apps will fail if they don’t have a descriptive name. • However, if your app is a nongame app such as a utility, financial calculator, or weight loss tool, you can improve your results by describing what the app does in the name.

10. You can use several words in your app name to be creative and also describe what the app does. • For example, if you have written a calorie-counting app, you could call it something like Melt-Away Pounds (Calorie Counter)

12. Basic App Naming • First, if you plan to develop a series of apps under a brand name, think of app names that are flexible and will support your overall brand. • If you are developing a series of science apps for high school students, your brand may be called “Science Man” and your apps will start with your brand connected with a dash (for example, Science Man – Chemistry or Science Man – Physics).

13. Make sure your app name is easy to pronounce and spell. • Beware of app names that might mean something else in a foreign language. • Be sure to check on trademarks and other reserved names. • For example, Freeverse, Inc., has the rights to use the name Flick NBA for their basketball app. Although there are other basketball apps for sale on the Android Market, they cannot use “NBA” in their name.

14. Stick to names that don’t offend any group of people • Check for domain availability for your app name.

15. Get Creative • What does your app do? (Calculates net worth, organizes coupons, tabulates investments, and so on.) • What is your app’s benefit to the consumer? (Makes a busy working mom’s life easier, helps students get better grades, teaches teens how to drive safely, and so on.) • What will happen for the buyer? (Feel better, look better, run faster, become smarter, and so on.)

16. What are the key features of your app? (Ten levels of play, zoom and pan functionality, 150 inputs, 3D graphics, enhanced sound, and so on.) • How is your app different from competing apps? (Only app to have a certain functionality, multiplay features, and so on.) • What makes your app unique? (Voted #1 by MyApp magazine.) • Can your app play off a mainstream word or phrase already in use? (If it’s a photo utility, use the word Photo in the app name)

17. Search for Synonyms • If you’ve found a few words that might work for your app name, you can also check for synonyms to see if there are any similar words that might work even better for your app name

18. Use Google to Help • If your app is a game, you can get lots of ideas by simply Googling a particular topic for ideas.

19. Select and Test Your App Names • Once you have selected the three names you like the best, run them by family and friends to see which one gets the highest vote. You’ve got to ask more than one or two people, though. Try to ask at least ten people which name they like the best and why.

20. Android Market Text: Lighten It Up • In this mobile society, people are reading less when it comes to their communications. • Most people will not make the investment in time to read your words unless they have more than a casual interest in your app. • So, you’ve gotten them this far in the process, you need to make the most of your words.

21. The rule of “less is more” works best. Here are ten suggestions for your Android Market text to help you captivate your reader’s attention: • List any promotions, discounts, sales events at the top of the text to meet the demands of any of your impulse buyers. • Post solid magazine, newspaper, or other leading reviews of your app next to the top of the text to reinforce the value of your app from the start.

22. Describe what your app does in a few quick sentences. The reader wants to know right away! • Talk about the benefits of your app towards the top of the page (feel better today, hours of fun, lose weight fast, learn this skill now, improve your health, and so on). • Use short paragraphs to describe your app. Two to three sentences work well. • Use bullets to describe your features. • Include a note to have the buyer look at your other apps as well if you have them up on the Android Market. • Include a “What’s New” section describing the latest updates (if it is an updated app, of course). • List any updates that are coming up in a “What’s Coming” section • Review your text periodically to make sure it’s still reading the way youLike.

24. Make Graphics Your Focal Point • The phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” is well-suited to the Android Market and selling your Android app. • Good graphics help sell your product. • Spend time to ensure that your graphics showcase your app in the best possible way.

26. Build a Simple, Clean Product Website • Your product website should be similar in look and feel to your Android Market product page. • A carryover between the two sites will help build buyer confidence in your app and show that you are serious about your business. • The sole purpose of your site is to make sales, and your web copy should reflect that. Persuasion, clear product descriptions, and rationale for buying will all be important.

27. On the other hand, a website for games may well have short copy that needs to be extremely well written to keep your viewers interested and willing to click around. • Who Is Your Audience?

28. Developing Great Web Copy • Your content should quickly describe your app at the top of the page. • Your web content should be as entertaining as possible. Be sure to have a gallery of pictures showcasing your app. • The website should inform your visitor as to what your app can do. • You must educate your visitors with FAQs and videos. Always have a YouTube video demonstrating your app. • Your website must convince your visitor to buy.

29. Make Your Content User Friendly According to web design experts, most web viewers scan web pages rather than read them word for word. • Use highlighted keywords • Create meaningful subheadings • Use bulleted lists • Write short paragraphs • Use the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion first then going into more detail as the reader progresses through the text.