How to Market and Promote your Games and Apps, Part 2/4

5) Sending Promo Codes

Sending promo codes is a popular marketing technique for app developers, with 69% of respondents sending out promo codes:

How they did this was completely different from each person (or company) to the next. Here are some of the most prominent choices when it comes to sending out promo codes:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• App or Company Newsletter
• Review Sites
• Forums
• On demand (when someone requests a code for a review, for example)
• YouTube App Reviewers
• To Bloggers and popular personal sites
• Local Sites (for your country or your target audience)

All of these are fantastic choices and it all comes down to a few things. Mainly your connections and target audience.

“It’s probably better to use the promo’s as competition prizes to increase your following in most cases but I would hold some back for those review sites that insist on having them provided.” – Chris Wilson

Social networks are the way to go these days. I love how the guys at Crescent Moon Games or Epic Games always give out promo codes a few hours (or days) before release. They also share codes randomly on holidays or special occasions via Twitter and Facebook.

If you have a lot of followers on either one then by all means take advantage of this opportunity. Giving out promo codes doesn’t cost a single thing and, if used properly, can be a great promotion tool.

Keeping your loyal customers happy is very important. Social networks offer a fantastic opportunity for a regular person to get in touch with the people who make the fantastic products the use and love.

Other options are to contact review sites (like Touch Arcade for games) and initiate a conversation, offer to send a promo code and try to begin creating a network of connections. I wouldn’t advise sending promo codes out without being requested directly for one by an app reviewer, since you never know what you’ll get in return. Not having those codes could also hurt you in the future when you need to send some.

Most of the people who said they don’t send out promo codes is because they’ve done so in the past and have never received a review. This is why I suggest you actually contact people at review sites so you make sure they are interested in your product to begin with.

“I used to send promo code but not any longer. I prefer to have websites contact me for a promo code or buy the product.” – David McGraw

Forums and email are also a great way to share codes or run contests. A contest can help generate a lot of buzz when you release a new product and can attract a lot of first time customers as well.

Once again we come to the predicament of diversifying. The use promo codes on their own is most likely not going to yield impressive results unless you have a huge fan base on Twitter, Facebook and the likes. Marketing is all about mixing and exploiting all the tools at your disposal.

6) How To Get Reviews On Popular Sites

We’ve already discussed this subject in great detail in the “App Previews” section in part 1, so we won’t discuss this much further here.

The one thing I will mention is the following:

“Making a good enough app leads to reviews in my honest opinion.” – Ray Wenderlich

As obvious as this survey response may sound, if your product is good enough then you will pick up reviews and exposure without trying. Marketing doesn’t just start when you have a finished product, it starts with your first brainstorming session, first mockups, first prototype, etc.

You not only have to market your app via promo codes and contacting review sites, your app has to market and promote itself! No one is going to want to review something that hasn’t been thought out well, lacks attracting features, uses a generic and clumsy UI, has bugs!

Andres Illiger, maker of the incredibly popular Tiny Wings, never sent a single email or promo code for his app. Heck he didn’t even market his game at all! Despite of this, the product he created was so well thought out, so beautifully crafted, that things just took off on their own. This can happen to your product if you put some thought and effort into it from day one.

When you’re first starting making apps, there’s often a gap between what you can do, and what you wish you could do. Check out this inspirational video by Ira Glass, who explained it really well in an interview.

So don’t worry if you have an initial skill gap and don’t get as many reviews as you’d like for your first app – don’t give up, and keep learning and growing! :] Remember it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery :]

7) Making an App Trailer

Trailers, previews and sneak-peak videos are another great way to get customers excited. This doesn’t apply just for games, there are situations when pictures don’t do an app any justice. You really have to see it in action to believe it!

Shinobi Charts is a good example of a product that makes great use of a video. Their charting API is not an App or Game, it’s a tool for iOS developers to incorporate charts and graphs into their apps.

By watching a video of it in action, you get a preview of how things work, what the end results look like, how far things can be taken and how smooth it all runs on iOS.

Not only does this show the powerful features and capabilities of their API, it allows you to make an informed decision should you decide to purchase their SDK.

Our survey showed close to a 50-50 split when it comes to making videos. Keep in mind that making a video doesn’t just apply to games. It doesn’t even have to be a trailer at all!

Some apps, because of their nature and what they are supposed to do, are rather complex and robust. A how-to video is a great way to ease your customers into using your product and explaining some of the coolest and/or most obscure features available.

Other apps, like Road Inc. or Clear, need to be seen in motion to really appreciate their beauty and unique experience.

“We made HOW TO videos showing professionals how to do various tasks in the apps. A simple step by step video showing how the app accomplishes it’s goal seems to help get the word out, and minimize support emails.” – Survey Respondent

A few months ago when Clear was being previewed in articles at Engadget and TUAW I thought the interface looked very elegant but nothing more. It wasn’t until I saw a video of the app in action that I was left awestruck.

For tips on how to create the video itself, check out the “Creating a Teaser Trailer” section in the first part of the series.

“Whatever video you create, and you really should create something, should be available for viewing on the web page for your game (you DID create a webpage for your game didn’t you?) and I chose to upload mine to Youtube and embed that. It allows for comments, sharing and a broad accessibility with minimal effort on your part.” – Lynn Pye

Finally, as the comment above suggests, be sure to put your video on YouTube, your website or places where it’s easy to find. YouTube is a fantastic choice because it can easily be embedded (as long as you allow this in your video settings) within any website. This could lead to reviewers or bloggers putting your video on their sites!

YouTube also has comments, which allow you to connect with your users, and unlimited bandwidth in case you get 3 million views in a month. This might seem unlikely but trust me, you’ll be thankful that your website didn’t collapse because you exceeded your hosting plan’s monthly bandwidth limit!

Making your video easily available is very important both for getting reviews and user feedback and it can be another great way to showcase your product and increase sales!