understanding the appstore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

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Reach the top 25 of the App Store within 24h Case study: How to increase downloads of your iPhone app? Anne-Catherine Goulby Marketing at MagicSolver [email protected]

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Anne Catherine Goulby, MagicSolver for Lotus Conference 8

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Page 1: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Reach the top 25 of the App Store within 24h

Case study: How to increase downloads of your iPhone app?

Anne-Catherine GoulbyMarketing at MagicSolver

[email protected]

Page 2: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

MagicSolver – from indie app developers…to the mobile apps discovery specialists

• We started in spring 2009• Spin out of Cambridge University• Winner of Cambridge University Entrepreneur June 2009• Released 2 first apps in 3 months:

Sudoku Magic FaceShift

• Good technological success (featured by Robert Scoble, MagicSolver augmented reality pioneers…)

• But very hard to be visible on the App Store …only few hundred downloads in 3 months…

Page 3: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

With over 400,000 applications on the App Store, it is harder than ever to get noticed!

600 new apps on the App Store every day – hard to stand out,

even with a very good app…

Page 4: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

PROBLEM: App Store – too many iPhone apps!

How to find good apps?

How to be visible?

How to reach my audience?Global Brands

Users

Developers

Page 5: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

SOLUTION:MagicSolver Daily Surprise applications

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Surprise Users ⇒ Selection of the best apps

Developers

Global Brands

Page 6: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

2009: 300,000 users : top 5 UK & Germany2010: 1.5 million users #1 in UK, Germany, France & 20 countries!

Advent Calendar 2009 & 2010Surprise users … 1 great app every day

1 free app per day 1st to 25th December

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25 developer partners

All reached the top 25 of the App Store

Page 7: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

20/07/2

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09/08/2

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1000000

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3000000

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Cumulative downloads

In 2 years: 7+ million downloads, #1 in 35 countries20+ million downloads for our 100+ partners

Page 8: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

MagicSolver-the mobile apps discovery specialists We help millions of users to discover the best apps for free every day within our apps

Daily selection of paid apps for Free with Free App Magic BBC click 1st October 2011

Special selection for limited edition apps: Advent Calendar for Christmas: 25 best apps Valentine’s Day: 14 apps for your love Football WC 2010, Rugby WC 2011, London 2012 Halloween Countdown: 13 dark surprises

We provide an innovative user acquisition solution for developers seeking to stand out from over 400,000 apps.

Over 20 million downloads for our partners, iOS & AndroidThey reach the top 25 of the App Store across the world every day

Page 9: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Why aiming the Top 25 on the App Storeto boost your downloads?

TOP 25 is the first driver of download:1. Better than been featured by Apple2. Better than newspaper or TV adds: 1 click to

download3. Top 25 = like being in the first page of Google search

Extra visibility from users Extra downloads: x50 to x100 more downloads!

Page 10: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Case Study: impact of the Top 25 in the App Storeto boost your downloads

Case #1, Sudoku Magic Lite: • #6 in the UK • 180,000 downloads in 10 days• A second life for an 2 years-old game

Case #2, Winter Pop: • New launch• #4 in the UK • 220,000 downloads in 10 days

Page 11: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

General tips to increase your downloads

1. Have a great app!– Real benefit for user– Good pricing policy: what value do you bring? Paid vs. free version, in app purchases,

good balance between paid and free content. The freemium model works well.– No bugs, no crashes: importance of multiple testing sessions (and devices)– Should run on iOS 3 & iOS 4. Universal app is a plus (but with a real iPad interface!)– Great user interface: intuitive, well-designed (Apple Guidelines, benchmark good apps)

2. PR: compelling press release, contact of blogs, friends & family, etc.3. Social media to spread the word: Twitter, Facebook, …4. Build a community around your app5. Localisation: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese…6. Cross-marketing with other apps with a similar target audience

But often it is not enough just to reach the App Store’s Top 25 list…

Page 12: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Minimum downloads required to reach the Top 25 in the App Store

• In the UK: • Top 25 of free apps: 10,000 to 100,000 downloads per day• Top 25 of category: 1,000 to 10,000 downloads per day

• In the US: • Top 25 of free apps: 50,000 to 500,000 downloads per day • Top 25 of category: 3,000 to 50,000 downloads per day

• In France: • Top 25 of free apps: 5,000 to 60,000 downloads per day• Top 25 of category: 800 to 8,000 downloads per day

Buzz & Media alone are often not enough reach the Top 25…

Page 13: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

To get noticed, traditional advertising banners are very expensive and not always efficient

Traditional mobile advertising agencies suffer from:1. A low Click Through Rate: 1% to 2%2. An average Cost Per Click of around $0.103. A very low download conversion rate:

• Only 3% to 5% of click to download conversion rate for a free app

• Only 0.5% to 1% of click to download conversion rate for a paid app

4. A moderate impact in daily rankings on the App Store

To get new clients on the App Store, your real cost per download is:

$2 to $3 for a free iPhone app$10 to $20 for a $1 paid iPhone app

Page 14: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Solution: be selected in Free App Magic

1. We surprise users every day with free apps to discover

2. Developers & Publishers get additional downloads and reach the App Store Top 25

Page 15: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

All 25 Partners in the Advent Calendar reached the German Top 25 in December 2010!

German App Store, 4th Dec. 2010: 4 partners in the Top 15

Page 16: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

All 25 Partners in the Advent Calendar reached the French Top 25 in December 2010!

French App Store, 5th Dec. 2010: 5 partners in the Top 15

Page 17: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

All 25 Partners in the Advent Calendar reached the UK Top 25 in December 2010!

UK App Store, 6th Dec. 2010: 6 partners in the Top 16

Page 18: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

• Toca Hair Salon

• Type: Kid Entertainment • Paid-for-free promotion with

Free App Magic• Saturday August 20, 2011 • Result: number 5 in the US, and

stayed there until it was switched back to paid on August 31, 2011.

• Toca Boca used simple cross marketing to promote another, paid app – Toca Doctor (bottom).

• "Free App Magic was a great start to our marketing campaign and jumpstarted us up the charts straight away.” - Björn Jeffery, CEO of Toca Boca

• Toca Hair Salon – United States

• Toca Doctor – United States

Case Study #3: Toca Hair Salon#5 US App Store with Free App Magic

Page 19: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Case Study #4: Videojug#2 UK App Store with Advent Calendar

• France: Number 3 OverallVideojug: Christmas 2010

• Germany: Number 2 Overall

• United Kingdom: Number 2 Overall

The Videojug iPhone app was featured in MagicSolver’s biggest app of the year: the Advent Calendar. It went from out of the overall rankings in the UK to number 2 overall in 48 hoursThe Videojug app is always free.

Snapshot – 6 Dec 2010: 6 MagicSolver partner apps in the UK top 20

Page 20: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Crime City

When it was released in mid-August, Funzio’s amazing app Crime City shot to the top of the charts when it was released, with over 1 million downloads in 5 days. However, its ranking was going down in September. A simultaneous feature in Free App Magic and MagicSolver’s Rugby World Cup app on 10 September 2011 gave a fresh boost to their popularity in many countries, including France (below).

Case Study #5: Crime CityBack to the top 25 with Free App Magic

Page 21: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Over 100 Partners worldwildeWe have a solution for you too

• Gameloft• Pocket Gems• Funzio• z2live• ngmoco:)• Happylatte• CBS Interactive• Playmesh

• Sunstorm

Interactive• Playforge• TinyCo• Social Concepts• Grey Area • Tag Games• Distinctive

Developments• Boostr• UserFans• A Thinking Ape• Lakoo• Mobiles Republic• Carphone

Warehouse• Sixt• Zoopla• Yellow Pages• Century 21

Page 22: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Would you like to increase your downloads and reach the App Store Top 25?

We select every day the 3 best apps on the App Store in Free App Magic http://bit.ly/FreeAppMagic

Paid apps with a 24-hour free promotionFree apps with at least a 3+ star rating iPhone, iPad & Android

Benefits for the apps selected: Massive additional downloads Climb the App Store ranking in 24 hours Affordable: flat fee or pay per download

To get selected:Talk to the MagicSolver team

[email protected]

Page 23: Understanding the AppStore ecosystem and its key mechanisms

Thanks for your attention !Anne-Catherine Goulby

Marketing and Business [email protected]