What we’ve learned from the app world in 2009
As I stated in an earlier blog post here is another iPhone related post. This one will focus on what we have learned from being in the App Store in 2009 and what we will and will NOT do in 2010.
Lets start off with this fact, “no one saw these numbers coming”!
Date Available apps Downloads to date:
| Date | Available apps | Downloads to date |
|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2008[17] | 500 | 0 |
| July 14, 2008[14] | 800 | 10,000,000 |
| September 9, 2008[18] | 3,000 | 100,000,000 |
| October 22, 2008[19] | 7,500 | 200,000,000 |
| December 5, 2008[citation needed] | 10,000 | 300,000,000 |
| January 16, 2009[15] | 15,000 | 500,000,000 |
| March 17, 2009[citation needed] | 25,000 | 800,000,000 |
| April 23, 2009[16] | 35,000 | 1,000,000,000 |
| June 8, 2009[20] | 50,000 | 1,000,000,000+ |
| July 11, 2009[citation needed] | 55,000 | 1,000,000,000+ |
| July 14, 2009[21] | 65,000 | 1,500,000,000 |
| September 9, 2009 | 75,000 | 1,800,000,000 |
| September 28, 2009[3][4] | 85,000 | 2,000,000,000+ |
| November 4, 2009[5][6] | 100,000 | 2,000,000,000+ |
| December 16, 2009[22] | 115,000 | 2,000,000,000+ |
In January there were just 15,000 apps out there and now as of the 16th of December there are over 115,000 apps and 2,000,000,000+ downloads! That is a insane growth! Growth that can not even begin to be controlled or profitable! Growth in the App Store is so out of control that no one has public numbers, including Apple, that tell us all we want to know. For example out of the 115,000 apps how many are free? How many are over 4MB? How many downloads has each app gotten in the last 30 days? These numbers would make our lives so much easier and would make being a developer 10 times more effective. As it is ,it is a big guessing game!
So we guess and in guessing we hope. An example ‘guess’ ( a fairly good one at that ) is that the top apps in the App Store’s top 25 get around 50 to 60 thousand downloads a day. This guess was calculated in late August, so you can see based on the numbers above it may be a bit higher now. With this information all developers love to run a fun little equation: “If we can have the number 1 app that is like 50,000 * .99 * 30! Holy cow we will be rich!” The .99 cents come from the lowest app price and the 30 is days at number 1. What does this magical equation equal? $1,485,000.00, yeah that is a good some of money! So who is ready to make a number 1 app with me? Not so fast.
Now this leads me into the lessons we learned in 2009. Though we have learned much I am going to point out 3 do’s and don’ts for 2010. Lets start with the don’ts.
“The Do Nots”
1. NO FREE APPS from developers! Really what is .99 cents to you?
Yes it can add up, but would you pay .99 cents for 5 minutes of peace or fun? Would you pay .99 cents for a 30 minute babysitter or a quite 3 hour car ride? Yes I think we all would. The fact that there are free apps is horrible for the consumers. Why? Simple, if good developers can’t make money on apps then they will leave the App Store thus the consumer is left with junk.
Apple does not offer refunds on apps and thus developers feel that they have to have free apps to build trust, but I counter this with the fact that when a new restaurant opens up on the corner they don’t give you a free meal. There maybe some type of deal you can get, but free won’t be one of them. If you don’t like the fo
od or service you won’t go back and you will tell at least 10 people not to go there, the same will happen in the App Store.
If you download an app from a developer for .99 cents and then you dislike it, I doubt you will ever download one from them again. On the flip side if you do like it and they come out with an app for $2.99 you will be more prone to download it based on a great experience. Even free demo apps need to stop. Again the basic truth to free or demo apps is free doesn’t pay the bills and developers have bills.
2. Change the ADS! The way ads are placed in apps don’t work, they are annoying and money is not being made on them. Apps are not websites. We have learned that people just won’t race around the race track and then click on an ad about Movies. Ads need to change to sponsorships. Now a few apps have started this like the ESPN Sports Center app did. Each time you loaded the app you would see a loading screen with a simple little ‘ad’ and a message that allowed you to view more about the ad while still staying in the app. With this we are simply ‘branding’ inside of these apps and not running ‘ads’. Apps can also receive sponsorship monies and then design these sponsorships into the apps, much like TV shows have done. Product placement will be key. A Pepsi race car or Gator Hawk armor on your fighting character. If ads are more ‘sneakily’ placed in the apps, then developers can sell the app for .99 cents and make additional revenues on the app for free updates in the future and a stronger company for developing even more apps! This is how ads will work or should I say, make money in the apps place in the App Store.
3. Don’t wait to market your app until it is in the the App Store. What? The first thought is to keep your app a secret and then launch it and watch the millions of downloads pour in. This is just not the case. I will compare this to Hollywood and to the launch of any movie. When is the last time that you went to the movie theater and didn’t see a see a preview for movies coming in the next 6 months? Now if you were late that is one thing! Hollywood knows that they need to create a ‘buzz’ about a movie long before it is ever ready to be released. Do you think that they are worried that someone is going to take the movie idea, copy it and release it before they do? Not likely.
That is the number 1 fear of any development company and plainly it just isn’t the case. Your buzz marketing is key, you create the buzz even if they do copy you all they are able to do it look like the ‘copy cat’ and no one likes a copy cat! You have got to get the buzz out about your next app fast and quickly. Now use common sense, just like a movie you can’t get buzz out without some content, some type of preview to show. Even if that preview is just detailed drawings, it may be enough. That is a call you will have to make.
With this said now lets review the do’s for 2010.
“The Do’s”
1. Create a plan. Plan and then plan again. One of the biggest issues with apps is forgetting or not including features that are key to success. One example is an idea I had for a parking app. It was very simple, I got a parking ticket parking in downtown 2 hour parking. I spaced the time and got a ticket. I had my iPhone in my hand and thought why couldn’t you have told me to move my car? Well there you have it, ‘Meter Mate’. I had one of the developers push it out in a few days and we didn’t plan it out at all, launched it in the app store and wham we got thousands of downloads, but we had even more feature requests in within weeks there was an app ‘Meter Maid’ that came out and had all the features we did not. This app hit the top 25 and was featured by Apple. Lesson learned, PLAN YOUR APPS! Take the time to review them, plan them and review them again. Get feedback on your plan by people outside those working on it! This is hands down the #1 rule in any development, but in this new frontier of iPhone Apps it critical to put aside speed and plan.
2. Now we move to features. This plays a little into planning, but is more based on the understanding that your apps don’t need to have everything what they need to have is the potential to grow. Meaning you need apps that you can update and update in a timely manor. When you place your app in the App Store it has only days to stand out and thus not everyone will know about it. Each time you update it you remind those that have the app on their devices to; A. Use it and B. Share it. Your “downloaders” are your best marketers, but they won’t market for you if you aren’t marketing to them. In your planning stage just simply hold back on a few features and then listen to your users feedback on your first app version. Adding a few of their suggestions to your app will make you look like a king and thus they will feel like they are part of your ‘team’. Updates are a great way to show your users that your company is still on it’s feet and when your new app comes out they are more connected with you then ever.
3. Data, data, data. If I could say one perfect helper in the world of marketing it would be ‘raw data’. Gathering data of any type will help you in both your current app and all future apps you plan to develop. I am not just talking about names and emails, but usage data. How many times a day are users using your apps? How long on are they on them? Do they share your apps? What type of device to they use your apps on? This type of data will prove invaluable when planning your next app or updates. With data comes communication with your users. Not only through the app, but finding ways to communicate with them in other medias as well. For example a Facebook page, Twitter or your own website. Even if you only get a few hundred fans those few will speak for the thousands that have your app.
2009 was a fast year in the world of the iPhone and App Store with no sign of slowing down, just changing. Changing in a way that can’t be predicted, but what we can do is learn from the mistakes of others and ourselves.
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