Mobile app developers use PickFu to optimize app icons, app store screenshots, and in-app UX and creatives, by polling audiences like mobile gamers, iPhone users, and by app store spend.
When designing an ad, app, book cover, or any piece of marketing, it’s important to consider the target audience. Results from a recent PickFu poll show how filtering a target audience down to a particular age group could provide startling results that may impact product sales and downloads.
In this particular poll, a health company wanted to test two different images for its pregnancy app, Ovia.
Developing cross-platform mobile apps not only requires unique coding, but also an awareness of differences between the App Store and Google Play, and how to market those apps for each platform. “The two stores, while similar, differ in their outlook, details they show, and requirements they have to list your app,” said Nikolay Triffonov, who leads digital marketing for VIP Spades. “That’s why we always optimize for the specific store.”
We spoke with mobile app developers to get their take on how the two app stores differ and strategies to take advantage of this knowledge. … Continue reading
Mobile app developers often have more than one app to promote. Marketing to users who are already engaged in one of your apps to download another is an effective method to grow your audience. What methods should app companies use to cross-promote apps? Here are some ideas: … Continue reading
When you’re building a business, it’s easy to get bogged down in minutiae, jargon, and tunnel vision. You start assuming that everyone understands your product or service as well as you and your team members do. Of course, this is rarely the case. When consciously avoiding groupthink, how can you and your colleagues break out of your own bubble and address an old problem with a new perspective? What methods can you rely on to get feedback and understand your customers’ pain points and desires?
I spoke with several entrepreneurs who offered the following advice. … Continue reading
We recently created this new PickFu video specifically for mobile app companies. We’d love to hear what you think.
Here are just a few of the ways leading apps are using PickFu to make intelligent decisions before going live in the App Store: … Continue reading
What are the best ways to promote your app in news outlets and in the App Stores? I spoke with app creators to get their advice.
Philippe Levieux is the creator of infiltr, a photo filter app that has been named an Editors’ Choice, Best New App, and Hot this Week in the iTunes App Store, and featured in over 150 countries. Timing is the key to his advice. “Always release your app on a Thursday,” he says, because Features also change on Thursday. Or more precisely, “We always schedule infltr to be released on Wednesday at 11 pm UK time, so if the feature team wants to feature it, it is perfect timing.” He also recommends “to leverage the new technology (both software and hardware) that Apple releases!” For example, “we were the first app allowing you to filter Live Photos back in iOS 9; we were the first allowing you to capture filtered Live Photos in iOS 10; we were the first to fully use the camera in an iMessage App! We are available on iPhone, iPad, iMessage & Apple Watch.” Being first with new features that Apple releases is an almost surefire way to endear your app to Apple’s editors. For infiltr, Levieux says, “we make extensive use of 3D-touch through the app. We have a Today Widget and a Photo/Video & Live Photos Editing Extension… Apple loves these.” … Continue reading
Along with optimizing your app’s name, writing an app description that sells, and choosing a memorable app icon, mobile apps also need to think about what app store screenshots will best entice users to download. I asked successful app developers for their advice on screenshots, and these common themes emerged.
“The greatest misconception about app store screenshots is that they actually need to be screenshots!,” says Jonathan Kerns, co-founder of Comparakeet. Hugh Kimora of Mobile Action agrees, noting, “the biggest mistake is taking screenshots of random screens or menu screens inside the app and not highlighting a specific benefit.” Instead, he suggests, “Use a text banner to specify the exact benefit of the app that you are trying to highlight in each screenshot.” In addition, Kerns advises, “Take a look at major gaming apps and the types of things that they do for inspiration. Incorporate a mix of imagery from within the app with short marketing messages and calls to action.” One such marketing message, says Adam Davis, CMO of Thingthing, is to “have one screen showcasing any awards or press coverage you’ve had by adding their badges and logos. This can be very powerful as it adds a great deal of credibility to your app.” … Continue reading
User reviews not only influence other users to try your app, but they help boost your app’s visibility in an already crowded marketplace. We spoke with app creators and got their tips on encouraging user reviews.
When you’re first launching an app, introduce it to enthusiasts who read up on new apps. “Early adopters, like those found on Product Hunt, Hacker News, etc. are far more likely to leave reviews because they understand the importance of reviews on your business,” said Brandon Wright, who works in marketing for ThoughtLab. … Continue reading
Exactly who likes your product or design should never be a mystery to you. Knowing your audience means understanding their needs and desires, and knowing how best to address them.
On PickFu, you always know who answers your polls – each result includes a demographic breakdown of gender, age, income, ethnicity, and education level. But you can also target certain demographic groups so that only certain subsets of the population respond to your poll. … Continue reading
When Steve Jobs talked to Fortune in 2000 about the Mac OS X’s Aqua interface, he delivered a classic line:
“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”
Today, an app’s icon needs to meet that standard if it’s going to gain traction with users. We reached out to app creators and UX designers to understand how to think about your app’s icon. Here’s what they shared: … Continue reading