App Store Analysis Ok the purpose of this article is to evaluate how different factors on the App Store effect sales; in order for developers reading this to benefit and hopefully reap the rewards of this research. Lite Versions (500% increase in sales) We were initially reluctant to release a lite version, however as sales began to decrease we decided it was worth a try. The result of the lite release (with a button to buy the full version within it) was a 1000% increase in sales on release, dropping to an average of 500% increase in sales. So its well worth doing. HOWEVER be sure to set the release date of your lite version to far in the future, then once approved change it to the days date; as this will ensure you get on the first page of the new releases section within your specified genre of game. Apple Featuring (400% increase in sales) One of our games was featured by Apple under New and Noteworthy (on iTunes) and Hot New Apps (Under Whats Hot > Hot New Apps on the iPhone). Our expectation was a very large increase in sales. In fact when featured our sales increased to a moderate 400% upon what they were. Note: I would expect a feature slot in the main new or whats hot section would attract significantly more return. Updates (No immediate change, but perhaps increased longevity of sales) We try to be as responsive to our audience as possible and update/ rectify issues very quickly based on user feedback. We had hoped for a sales spike upon release of each update. In fact the sales seldom increased immediately upon release of the updates; although I do believe they are what is allowing us to continue having fairly strong sales now. Advertising on Websites (10% increase maybe) For one of our games we purchased around £600/$1100 of advertising space on various prominent iPhone websites. The game advertised has been our worst selling product and sales have not varied a great deal before, during or after the advertising. This could perhaps be as the game simply did not appeal to the market, however other developers have made similar claims as to the effect advertising had on their sales... Some very prominent developers however seem to buy a great deal of advertising space; my theory is as this is to both build up a good reputation with the websites in question, as well as to increase their brand awareness; resulting in more sales in the long run. Reviews/ Mentions on Prominent Websites (200% increase for a few days) We have noticed a sales spike when our games are mentioned on prominent iPhone websites. When one of our games was mentioned on PocketGamer.co.uk our sales increased 300% (based on that of the previous day), on the date the news story was posted, gradually dropping back to normal over the course of a few days, it averaged out at around a 200% increase over 5 days. A similar effect was seen when slidetoplay.com posted a game play video of one of our games on their site. Anyways, I hope this data is of use to some of you in terms of your release planning. Thanks, Adam Green Managing Director Assyria Game Studio Ltd
Thank you, that was an interesting read. Some of the experiences we have made ourselves, especially regarding the effect of being featured in "New and Noteworthy". We have been wondering about releasing an Ad-Supported Version (maybe a Lite Version?!) for free. has anybody experience with that? Is that a good idea?
I've got some data from a friend at Eidos that basically says ad versions generate a much lower return than paid apps... However at the same time in the thread ; "Buying your way into the App Store’s Top 25" they seem to be having some success with that model, so who knows... I'd be interested in getting some more up-to-date data on the success of these models as the stuff I have was from the early months of the App store...
Yeah, I noticed a couple of your points aren't really relevant anymore the changing of the release date when approved thing, or making regular updates to receive sales bumps. Apple fixed both those things in the App store. The rest is very useful, though it baffles me website advertising seems to be so weak. I think it's difficult to gauge that from anecdotal experience alone as it can depend entirely on how appealing the ad was, and what type of ad it was.
Interesting...are you sure it was due only to the ads on TA? I advertised here too, as well as on Pocket Gamer and one other site and saw absolutely zero change in sales from all three ads. I actually had a DROP in sales the day the Pocket Gamer ad was released oddly enough.
While I'm fairly certain advertising at T.A. is something that has huge potential there are always a few obvious things that might slip some minds: 1. The quality of the add. Does it truly sell the app. 2. The kind of app(s) we are selling might not be appealing to the T.A. audience 3. The quality of the app we are selling might not be good enough for the audience to bother. I think it's also wise to keep in mind that advertising is actually a trade and that while there are a lot of great independent developers here they might not be great advertisers as well...
What was your advertising/ marketing plan please? Did you focus on Reviews, or just get advertising space; if so what websites? What do you think resulted in the success you had with geared ? Thanks Adam
Was that your Flight Deck game? I thought those ads looked pretty appealing, and I would've clicked them if I was a fan of those games. So I'm surprised about that. Another thing I've been wondering is the rise in ad-blocking plugins. I put a poll in the toucharcade lounge to try and gauge this; there's only a dozen votes so far, but they're indicating that up to 50% of TA visitors may be using ad blocking software. This isn't so much a problem if you're paying per click, but if you contact a website about advertising and they claim, "Sure, we get 1000 visitors per day, thus you'll get 1000 impressions per day," they'll often fail to take into account (possibly for deliberate means) how many of those 1000 visitors are ad blocking and won't actually see the ad.
After trying out pretty much everything, including shooting a fun video we hired actors for, I think it's safe for me to say, that there's no master plan to make your app successful ... and there will never be one. Offer a Lite version, offer none - both ways can work. All the promo methods mentioned here are very useful and CAN increase the chances that your app gets noticed, but that's pretty much it. If your game doesn't appeal to the masses out of what reasons whatsoever, all the ads you buy, the reviews you get and so on will not help you. On the other hand: if you don't do everything you can to get the word out, then your game is doomed for sure. Sigh, but then again .... a fellow developer promoted the hell out of his game. Nobody took notice and he got very desperate because he put a lot of money in it. Then, suddenly ... after three months, when he had given up all hope, his game suddenly caught fire and sales went through the roof from one day to another. He has no explanation for that until this day.
I have to agree that there is no magic answer and indeed a bit of luck always helps. For "Hi, How Are You" we invested several K into PR and although the PR campaign was really good (google "iphone hi how are you") the only time our sales took off were when we got mentioned in the New York Times. I remember we sold 2,500 copies that day. Each day after that, sales pretty much halved until they bottomed out. So far the money the game has made, barely pays for the PR. Our game has also been mentioned in a few top 2009 lists, but even this has not changed sales very much. Our game is very well polished and fun, but it always gets the "weird" factor attached to it which maybe what puts the masses off - I just don't know for certain. The one mistake I think we did make was not having much presence/hype build up before the game was released. And these forums a great place to start. Oh - and I forgot to mention - we did release a lite version about 3 weeks after the release of the full version. Again, this didn't make much difference to sales at all.
Ha, thanks for pointing that out. Is is now That's exactly what I meant. Sometimes, you get mentioned in those lists, people start buying your game like crazy. Sometimes it's no use whatsoever. We probably made a major mistake in misreading the market. There are not as much Metal music-loving iPhone users our there after all. Or so it seems
Maybe there is Are you promoting among the large Metal music sites? That would be my first port of call
Yeah, we had postings and ads on several Metal webzines. A smaller one, www.metalpaths.com even is co-sponsor of our game. And we had half a page worth of ad space in Germany's biggest Metal magazine, RockHard.
In regards to updates, even if they don't result in a direct sales spike, or can't be measured in terms of longevity, they *do* provide promo codes which seems to be a great way to potentially generate publicity. If you think of each update in regards to PR and not just sales, they seem more valuable to me. Frequent updates also reflect positively on the developer, I think, so that you know a developer who is regularly maintaining and improving their apps is likely more dedicated than those who don't.
