So within the last few weeks I've been reading numerous articles about promotion/marketing/review possbilities and options and the questions occured, when would one actually submit an app to all these sources and resources out there ? 1) Do you send sort of an unofficial test build to these sites way before an official release date ? 2) Do you announce the existence with a video/screenshots to get in touch with these sites and then let them know when it's in the stores and ask for a review ? 3) Do you contact the sites right the second after the app has been released ? 4) Any other options ? I did a good search for this topic, but couldn't find answers to this question, just tons and tons of general information about how to actually get reviewed, not when the best moment would be. Would love to hear how you guys went down this road with some of your apps
I didn't do this for my first game, my release was rather unorganized, but for my next one this is what i plan to do. Once your final build as been approved by apple, set your release out about 3-4 weeks. you can give out promo codes that allow the game to be downloaded prior to release. Be sure and include the release date and ask if they can publish the review on or after that date (preferably on that date). If you are an unkown, they will probably only publish review close to the date if they really like your game.
OMG, we did the same thing at the same time. I've got a collection of these rescources but dunno how to let those sites review my app. You got any idea? We may exchange a lot.
Thanks, I'm also looking for this kind of info, do you have any experience with review site? I always read that most of the review site is not worth it and only push a minor sales increase. Which site do you think is the best to send the promo code?
Alright, what Kraspy wrote already made much sense, still it'd be cool if others could hop in and share their experiences
I have personally collected a bunch of review sites and their contact information, if anyone like I would share them. But I have no experience of submitting my game to those sites for review, just prepare for future need.
You have to submit the game, give a promo code, send a YouTube video of gameplay to give them a preview of the game to see if they're interested. Really do what you can to sell the game to them, and belive me, they're one tough audience.
Alright, sounds just like the piece of cake, we can choke on Thanks for all your help, guys - see you on the other side !
Here is my experience with releasing our first game: I did like a lot of people and waited till the game was released before I sent out emails to review sites. This was my first mistake. As stated before put your release time a few weeks in the future and contact review sites during that time. Don't just send out promo codes to review sites because that does not guarantee a review. Contact the site first and show them screenshots and information about your game and ask them if they would do a review of your game if you sent along a code. Doing this saved me a lot of promo codes. Once your game is released you will get a lot of emails from sites asking for money for promotion and even some small review sites asking for codes for a review. It is your choice here what you want to do but I suggest doing research into anyone that contacts you about a review on their site. A cool thing to do is to do a contest or promotion on twitter for some promo codes. We got really lucky and fortunate to get Ciji Thornton (aka StarSlay3r) to try and like our game so she volunteered to do a give away of promo codes on her facebook and twitter. Thank you Ciji so much! Please don't contact Ciji about doing this because I'm sure she gets thousands of requests like this a day. We had the good fortune to meet and befriend her at PAX last year. My 150% suggestion is to take your game to conferences and show it off to people. Conferences such as PAX, GDC and even E3 (though E3 has been very corporate as of late) are good conference to make friends and get contacts. There are some others that could work for your game if it is a specific type of genre also. Be active on twitter and befriend other indie developers. This will get your name out there and if you have any questions they are usually more than happy to help. Also, support other indie developers!
Thank you so much, for that precise insight in your experiences so far, VortexGamesInc. Makes sense to call out for reviews before the actual release to sparkle some basic interest in projects. The stuff about keeping tight about promo codes is something I've read elsewhere, too and is quite understandable. Also I heavily have to agree on the "support each other" idea. It really makes a difference. In this short period of time, I've met some great guys, willing to share a lot of great information about how they did things this or that way. All in all it's really worth investing the time in the social aspect, that's for sure. So.. Thanks a ton for sharing these neat information with us
I run a small app blog and have to agree with Sinecure Industries and VortexGamesInc: Contact reviewers before the game is launched. Everyone is working on a tight schedule. The last thing writers need is someone begging for a review for the next day!! Also, prepare a decent video to showcase your game. Gaming/app sites receive loads of requests every single day. All those emails have to be skimmed through quickly and at least a YouTube video gives you 20 seconds of attention. Other things to consider: - Develop genuine relationships with writers over time and treat everyone individually. There's nothing worse than a desperate developer replying to 200 press contacts on twitter with the same message. - If you have never written a press release, simply send an email with your App Store description and links. - Prepare a professional website (or a dedicated site for the game) as an easy point of reference with all the promotional info and a press section and/or updated blog. You can use this site to track which review sites are driving more users too. - Create interesting blog posts and juicy material that can drive interest and easily be quoted and mentioned in the sites you are trying to pitch (developer diaries, video updates, mockups of upcoming games,...) - Provide promo codes and ad-hoc builds only if requested. - Some PR agencies also do a great job helping developers to promote their games, as they already have a relation with major websites. The book App Savvy by Ken Yarmosh stresses the importance of starting your marketing when you start coding. It's a very good read and highlights some smart low-cost techniques to have a good App Store launch.
Great discussion, I'll be hitting this stage of dev soon as we're probably a couple weeks away from submitting to Apple. It looks like the best chance of getting high on the charts is to have a ton of downloads the first day or two, so getting reviewers to all release their reviews on the same day should make a pretty significant difference. Time to start thinking about a trailer haha - Quickdraw
Thanks for your useful info. btw, could you provide us some game-promoting PR agencies? and how is App Savvy by Ken Yarmosh? I'm interested in though rarely read this kinda book.
Here may be what you want: http://playmobo.com/2011/05/06/review-sites-to-review-and-promote-you-games/
I have a marketing document that may help. I've created a marketing document for iphone- best practices, what works, what doesn't, etc. Also, In the document, I have a template you can use that lists websites for reviewers, youtube reviewers and more. It's free- no strings, just trying to help. You just need to email me your Gmail account name, IE: ( [email protected]) because it's in google docs and i've not made it public yet but am trying to help out a few other developers with what i've learned. As for "when" to contact a reviewer, If you are in Beta- and have collected a few screenshots, or have a promo video- this might be a good time to entice them with what you have to offer. Definitely contact them the moment your game is released. Since i have a list of over 100 sites to contact- It will physically take up a chunk of time to write to all of them, because they all have different criteria- and most don't even respond back (because they get a lot of mail) - so it's also important to follow up. I've had to follow up- 5 times before getting a response (in a few cases). After that- I'm going to assume they are not interested or im just hitting their spam box. Mike Creator - My Virtual Girlfriend for iPhone/iPad http://www.myvirtualgirlfriendgame.com [email protected]
Thanks Mike. My problem is our studio is cooperating with a publisher, they don't allow us to reveal any information about our game which is under fixing now. what should I do?
Pre-release exposure I've just started sending our press releases as our game is nearly finished. I'm trying to get some exposure for our screenshots and videos before we release. Learning as I go along. I have a a google doc of iphone game review/news sites along with the contact emails (found on their websites). Am happy to share it with other developers. Just PM me with your email and I'll add you on. If you can add more websites and emails to the doc that would be even better - let me know if you want to and I'll add you as an editor. Shaz
