So you got a new game coming out and you set it to free for a day on the FAAD app. Being featured on FAAD is one thing, but being put on the first page or at the top slot in that app where your game gets the most visibility is another thing. My question is...how does one make that happen? What do you need to do to make FAAD feature your game at the prime slot? Please feel free to reference another thread if this topic has already been discussed, even if the app is not FAAD. It can be any app that features your app.
Well, I know that it's not free because they do say that they charge you a fee for each download through them, regardless of where your app is featured and located in their FAAD app. So you're saying that I should pay more, on top of the above fee, to push my own app towards the prime slot?
Are you sure they charge you per download? That doesn't sound right because they are using affiliate links and should be getting paid by Apple for helping them make sales.
Faad You can deal with them. They did not convince me . The point is that they tell you they give you exposure but I made my analysis about their marketing channels and I think it's a loss of money. They asked me 4K $ for a couple of days free + a banner and other stuff. Then you have to start climbing the paid chart again. I'm 90% no FAAD and 10% yes FAAD.
Back at the beginning of Free App A Day, you would make your game free for a day or so, and you'd get lots and lots of downloads. When you swapped your game back to paid, the number of downloads you'd had in the last 24 hours would carry over and you'd get a massive boost in the paid chart. That would then give you the visibility to continue to get good paid sales for a few days or weeks afterwards. Apple got wise to that and now when you swap back to paid, your free download numbers don't carry over, so the only additional visibility you get is in FAADs app or on their website, which is a lot less effective in boosting paid sales. I would say that FAAD is worthwhile in a couple of situations: 1. You have a paid for game which also includes in-app purchase items. Going free for a day will get you tens of thousands more users, and if they like the game, you'll sell more in-app items. 2. Your game is free anyway, with ads or in-app items. You pay FAAD a (largish) fee to list your game for the day, and you get a rapidly expanded user base from that which, again, you hope will buy more in-app items and view/click on your ads. This is just my opinion, but these seem to be the scenarios where FAAD can really benefit you. Alison Astraware
Measuring FAAD effectiveness is really straightforward. Nearly all the data is public so you just need to spend some time analyzing the data and making educated guesses. Go to FAAD site and look at all the apps that have gone free for the past 3 months (Including daily doubles which may feature up to 3 apps a day) Cross reference each app with historical charts on AppAnnie.com Check their rankings before and after the free date Possibly cross reference with AppShopper.com to get history on updates and exact dates on price changes. I prefer AppShopper's format. Record average ranking pre and post going free. Compare and analyze Only took me a couple of hours to record about 30 days worth of apps in Excel. I can't imagine indies spending that much money on advertising without doing some sort of analysis like this. Heck, I spend more time researching TVs and it only cost 500 instead of 4000.
I've used FAAD before and completely agree with Astraware. If you use IAP, there is a better chance that you'll make some of your money back. Quality of the game matters a lot. If your game BELONGS in the top 25 paid, then the exposure of being free for a day might propel it up to its natural spot. Much more likely the case, it will drop like a rock once your marketing is shut off . This is pretty much the same for any other negative ROI marketing (Paid Installs, Banner Ads, etc.) Essentially, your game is either gasoline-soaked newspaper or a wet rag. Negative ROI marketing is the match you light it with. Most games are wet rags They are great games, but the app store is a battleground. I have yet to find any consistently positive ROI for any apps or games. Once you find positive ROI marketing, you back up the truck and plow every dime into it because it is a cash machine. Here's a list of the free app apps and sites for iOS.. some are as cheap as a $200 for a feature, but you get less exposure. Once again, there are lots of ways to get exposure... the hard part is continuing to rise to the top once you shut off the marketing. John
