Apps World Blog » Media Partners

Win a bespoke text campaign with Text it at #AppsWorld Europe

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:14:10 +0000

As an official media partner of this year’s Apps World Europe, Text it will be running an exclusive competition for all attendees. Text it will be giving away a bespoke mobile website, as well as a bulk SMS campaign (delivered to 5000 UK directors) to one lucky winner.

Text it help marketing companies harness the power and convenience of mobile to communicate more effectively with potential clients to gain a marketing edge by:

Instantly set up your own mobile promotions with our web based editor.

Delivering your competitions, mobile vouchers, offers and promotions to consumers mobiles.

Text it will have reps at the show who will be collecting business cards from those who wish to be involved in the competition – what could be easier! The lucky winner will be contacted on the 5th December and will have 3 months to use from the draw date.Good luck!

Win a full access pass to #AppsWorld Europe

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:11:10 +0000

This November Apps World will be landing in London and we are giving you the chance to win an access all areas workshop pass and an invitation to the evening networking drinks.

What can you expect from #AppsWorld Europe?
Apps World Europe will be tackling the key issues app developers, telecom operators, hardware manufacturers and branding and marketing professionals face when planning their mobile strategy as well as looking to the future of the industry including IPTV.

With predicted numbers of 4500 + attendees the show continues its successful world tour and brings to London many leading industry speakers including EA Games, Samsung Bada, Mozilla and Rovio (Angry Birds).

Here are the 10 reasons why you need to attend:

1. Two days of action packed engaging content within 25+ sessions, across four tracks covering all aspects of the social media & apps ecosystem.

2. 100+ speakers from top names in the industry including Rovio Mobile (Angry Birds), Orange, BT, Sky TV, Yahoo and T-mobile

3. Unique opportunity to network with 4000+ attendees made up from leading industry representatives

4. Free to attend developers zone with 2 tracks – two day showcase of technical presentations from leading developers, handset operators & apps stores covering a myriad of opportunities and challenges faced when developing apps
5. Operator & handset track – gain insight from leading operators on the app market infrastructure and their app store business models

6. Marketing track – Discover how global brands and corporations are adopting apps and why these tools are the ideal platforms to build you brand

7. One day of TV Apps content find out about the evolution of TV apps, it’s predicted development and the impacts it has for operators, manufacturers and advertisers

8. Free to attend exhibition, with 50+ exhibitor we will be creating a arena of buzz from service & tool providers from across the sectors

9. Hear how developer and operator strategies are shifting in terms of achieving ROI and monetisation

10. A chance to discuss & debate the current industry conditions and the predictions for their future

How can you win a free workshop pass?
To win a free ticket to this year’s event simply email rachel@sixdegs.com using the subject title ‘Apps World Europe Competition’ and tell us what you do and the reason why you deserve to win the free workshop pass. You have from now until Monday 21st Nov at 0530pm. The team at Six Degrees will select the winning entry and that lucky person will be emailed & announced on Twitter.

Re-tweet this and let your friends know! We look forward to reading your comments,
Good Luck!

Monetising Mobile Apps with MACH at #AppsWorld

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:40:18 +0000

By Charles Damen, Vice President, Mobile Billing and Payments

This summer saw the launch of MACH’s Direct Billing Gateway (DBG) on the main mobile networks in Germany, an important step towards seeing the benefits of direct operator billing (DOB) extended across Europe. From our perspective, direct operator billing – and its sister technology, in-app billing – represents the future for mobile content and application payments.

To date the apps market had been dominated by Apple. Critically, individual app developers have been hindered in their efforts by a lack of a solution to help them effectively monetise their apps and thereby offer a workable alternative to Apple’s service. As the market reaches maturity, app stores and content providers need to start looking at how they can maximise their revenue streams if they are to gain market share.

DOB provides the best means of addressing this. To understand why, it is worth reflecting on the evolution of operator billing over the past ten years. The Premium SMS represented the first stage of the operator billing lifecycle: however, this was a promiscuous charging model which was ambiguous by nature in terms of how consumers were being charged and what they were being charged for. In parallel, consumers have relied on a credit card for payments: this is by no means the most efficient way to pay for anything over mobile, as it relies on the subscriber entering their card details, which evidence has shown can lead to a drop in sales conversion.

Fundamental to the value of DOB and more specifically, MACH’s DBG, is the strong return on investments which it provides, beginning with its one-click billing capability. Additional clicks are estimated to lead to drop-off rates of between 30 and 50 per cent and thus a simplified, one step process leads to higher conversion rates. The real-time charging element ensures instant authorisation of a transaction (either confirmation from the operator if successful or a detailed error code identifying cause for failure) which in turn reduces the risk of revenue leakage. Finally, the flexible pricing which it affords also provides the operator with greater merchandising options and similar pricing between payment mechanisms.

Operator billing has already proved itself to be the most popular method for consumers to pay for apps. George Linardos, Nokia’s vice president, product and media, noted at last year’s Nokia World that it has seen the use of operator billing directly drive up downloads from the Ovi Store due to its popularity with end-users. The figure cited by Nokia was that the one-click billing enabled by operator billing leads to 13 times more payments being made than over credit cards, providing tangible proof of the opportunities this payment system affords app stores and content providers. Research from analyst house Strategy Analytics backs this up, demonstrating that nearly 40 per cent of users in Western Europe prefer this payment mechanism to any other. DOB represents the most effective form of operator billing as, through features such as one-click purchase, real time charging, flexible pricing points and direct refund capabilities it is ideally suited for Pay per Download and in-app purchases to the apps ecosystem.

As well as improving the success rate of apps sales, DOB also increases the market size. By removing the requirement for a credit card, a whole new market segment is opened up, while those who have concerns about using payment card details online will have their worries removed as DOB eradicates the need for any sensitive information to be given out.

It is clear that to fully monetise mobile applications and provide a flexible payments infrastructure, there needs to be a sea-change in the approaches used for payments today. In our opinion, DOB is the best means of effecting this change and we expect to see it becoming the main operator billing mechanism over the coming years.

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You can hear more from MACH at this year’s Apps World Europe where Vice President, Mobile Billing and Payments Charles Damen and Guy Reiffer, Vice President Marketing & Strategy will be speaking in the Mobile Money session in the marketing track on day 2. MACH will also be exhibiting, find them on stand 60a. View the floor plan here.

Advanced payments for developers with #AppsWorld exhibitors

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:59:43 +0000

The number of new, free apps are on the rise and are predicted to increase throughout 2012. With about 65% of Android apps and 40% of iPhone apps currently free in the market, in-app advertising becomes more important than ever for publishers to monetize their apps. Most publishers rely on the payment schedule from ad networks & exchanges to grab hold of their revenue and keep app development alive, which usually takes anywhere from 60-90 days after month end. But if you’re a Mobclix developer, all of that is about to change.

At the Velti Mobclix Exchange, we are excited to announce the industry’s first ever, Advanced Payments! In an effort to ensure developers maximize their app monetization potential, “Getting developers money as quickly as possible is what is best for them,” said Mobclix co-founder, Krishna Subramanian, in a recent interview with Read Write Mobile. To quickly summarize, below are the new options for pubs to get paid:

1. Net 15 – Receive revenue earned 15 days after month end

2. Net 30 – Receive revenue earned 30 days after month end

We now won’t have to depend on ad networks to pay us first before paying our developers–if you’re signed up for option 1 or 2, you can assure to receive payment within 15 or 30 days after month end.For any other questions, download our FAQ document. To sign-up, visit www.mobclix.com/payments and start getting the revenue predictability to do what you do best: make great apps!

Mobclix will be exhibiting at Apps World New York next week, come along to stand 6 to meet the team and find out more about advance payments

How to create and distribute awesome apps

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:03:16 +0000

There’s just a couple of days to go until Apps World North America 2011 kicks off in New York, featuring leading brands and developers from across the apps spectrum, brands, businesses and app store operators, all preparing to get together for two days of industry insight, practical advice and top-level networking.
We caught up with two of the show’s speakers, two guys who also happen to be leading app development specialists, to see what advice they could offer for aspiring developers ahead of the apps industry bonanza that is Apps World NY 2011.

Mark Sigal, co-founder and chief product officer at one of the app industry’s most successful developer companies, Unicorn Labs, producers of a number of successful apps and eBooks to the Apple App Store.

Thomas Chung VP, GM at The Playforge, mobile game specialists and makers of the hugely popular ZombieLife and ZombieFarm iOS apps.

The creative process behind developing great apps

Mark and his team at Unicorn take a systematic approach when they first hit the drawing board, getting stuck in right away to the serious analytical work; first of all they look into what kind of app types and user experiences are currently engaging people in the App Store.

“This is a process of looking at rankings, reading reviews both within the app store and across the web and downloading and playing with a bunch of different apps,” he says; which culminates in a ‘de-composition exercise,’ where core building blocks are broken down schematically into container functions, complete with workflows that will serve as ingredients for new application ‘recipes.’

This, in turn, leads to a building up of 3-5 high-level narrative cases of the primary jobs, outcomes and constraints that the target application could address, followed by storyboard and wire-framing of the application screens based on a workflow codification model that the team calls “starting in the middle.”

At The Playforge, Thomas Chung says that their philosophy is based around making games that they would want to play themselves. CEO Vince McDonnell came up with the idea of Zombie Farm by combining two of his favourite games from around 2009.

“If you’ll recall Farmville and Plants versus Zombies were both really popular at the time,” says Chung. “Vince didn’t start out trying to make a smash hit. He was making a game that combined some of the favourite elements of games he was really into at the time and thought would be fun to play.”

At Unicorn, Sigal believes that there’s no substitute for having frequent alpha and beta builds, which everyone, including target users, get to play with. The team also holds recurring alignment meetings with their clients and a operate share project management sandbox. “This ensures that course corrections can be made incrementally, and in real time,” he says. “It’s the single best way to avoid feature creep, missed delivery dates and miscommunication.”

Challenging times for developers: Pricing and discovery

The market can be a tough and unforgiving place for developers to operate in at the minute. The biggest challenge that developers face in terms of the way that the market operates today are two-fold, says Sigal.

“One is that the app store models are fundamentally optimized to drive pricing to 99 cents or less, which is a hard model to build something other than a lifestyle business around
“The second is that there is such a surplus of apps that discovery is a real challenge,” he adds. “And the lifecycle durability of an app, from a revenue generation perspective, is lower than in the days of packaged software.”

Chung is in total agreement here: “With over half a million applications in the App Store today the big question is: How do you get your application discovered?” he says. “I think the destinations or applications that will win out in the end are the ones that focus on a unique value proposition or are differentiated in the quality of content.”

Mark Sigal’s two most obvious approaches to maximizing discovery are:

1) Segmenting your product into full ‘paid’ version and a lite ‘free’ version, so you maximize downloads and can focus on conversion to paid.

2) Creating a storefront around your application, where the user downloads a base application that is free, and via in-app purchase can augment and extend the application via filters, new content or wholly new application capabilities.

“This second approach has the added benefit in that it creates an installed base, aggregates your download counts from a ranking perspective, and provides a better means to touch users with new marketing messages every time you upgrade your apps,” he adds. “Also, don’t underestimate the importance of cultivating strong relationships with the segment specific personnel at Apple, Google and Amazon.”

Neglect marketing and PR at your peril

If you simply build it, they won’t necessarily come. Don’t assume that once you’re in the store that that hard work is done. The biggest shift in developer mindset with regard to app development has been that these are app services now. “With so much disposable content out there today, to be successful in the long term these apps require ongoing support,” says Chung. “That goes for everything from community management, to development to marketing and pr.”

“Find a concentration of users fitting your target market, and get to work,” he adds. “As with the development process, it’s important to have goals, targets, budgets, timeframe, and an approach or methodology.”

But who are your PR targets? Make sure you’ve done your homework on who exactly it is you need to hit from a PR perspective. Who are the influential blogger? Who are the key journalists, review sites, important vertical communities?

“Make sure you know what assets you need to have handy so that when you reach out to prospects, you have already done the hard work for them,” advises Sigal.

This might include a screen capture of your application, a pithy, one paragraph blurb on your app and why it matters and a 45-90 second video trailer that showcases your app in action; and of course, promo codes. Bear in mind that you need your best PR prospects to be able to seamlessly interact with you app and its associated promotional materials.

At Unicorn, Mark Sigal says they always feel it’s important to have a clear social media strategy. “This is inclusive of what nuggets you are sharing, with what frequency and how you plan to leverage the various core services to cast your breadcrumbs efficiently,” he says.

“Candidly, you want this process at least nominally baked before you start building the product, as the product itself can deliver payloads to your target social sites that will enable your user base to do some of the viral uplift work for you,” he adds. “If you can’t think of a compelling PR story on the front-end, you’re likely to have challenges evangelizing your product on the back.

“Good product management anticipates product marketing at the inception stage.”

Mark Sigal and Thomas Chung are both appearing at Apps World North America at the Javits Center in New York on 1-2 November. The event features a free to attend developer workshop, featuring both Mark and Thomas, plus a whole host of industry experts, leading brands, developers and operators.

For more information on how to register, visit: www.apps-world.net/northamerica

5 typical mistakes developers make on app discovery – Appsfire blog

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:07:43 +0000

We track thousands of apps and we’re constantly in touch with many developers to help them grow. We consistently see the same mistakes made when it comes to making your app as visible as possible (what we call app discovery).

Mistake #1: Do not wait for the launch of the app to start marketing it.
Developing a good app takes lots of resources and time. But you don’t have to wait for your app to arrive in the App store or Android Market to start marketing it. An app is a form of media, like movies and music. And distributing media requires momentum and teasing. Start generating interest before your app is live. Many good developers do it. Don’t wait for the launch. Once in the App Store, it’s already too late.
Create a teaser or video trailer informing your existing users (if you already have some). Reach out to bloggers to feed them with material on your upcoming app.

An example here of a nice trailer by the Guys at UsTwo

Bottom line: Don’t wait. Market before you launch.

Mistake#2: Assume that search will help you get found.
Both the App Store and Android Market search engines are underwhelming. Both in the capacities to search and the quality of results. This is a known fact.
But this is not the main problem. Most users do not search, so don’t assume they will search to find your app. They don’t know what to search for, they don’t know what’s even available or even how to spell your app. The most common discovery experience is browsing. People love browsing the store. It is therefore important that the elements present in the browsing experience (app title, icon) are compelling enough to catch their attention.
Bottom line: Care about the first impression.

Mistake#3: Word of mouth does not happen alone. You can help it.
If your users love your app, they will love to talk about it. But you need to help them do that if you really want that effect to happen.
For example, remind them to give you a nice rating in the App Store (this can be done in a single click), remind them to share the love on Twitter/Facebook and integrate sharing by email..
It really seems obvious but so many great apps don’t even do that.
Bottom line: Integrate sharing natively (and if you don’t, talk to us…)

Mistake #4: The US app store in not the only store in the world.
So many developers are obsessed with the US App Store. But the reality is that the US is less than half of the iOS population. By referencing your app only in the US app store you leave behind half of your target audience (graph below by Admob)

Ok. We hear you…your app is not translated. It is not really a problem (although we recommend you do it). Many apps are very successful abroad without being ever translated. Also think about all the influencers, bloggers and journalists that would love to cover your app, but can’t download it because you just listed your app in the US.
Bottom line: Make your app available in all countries.

Mistake#5: Media buying can save you, if you do it right.
There is no way you can consistently get visibility in the App Store if you don’t “buy” your exposure. Whether you use Admob, iAd, Millenial, InMobi (or Appsfire). You need to have some budget allocated to marketing for user acquisition.
Yes there are some exceptions of apps that are consistently visible, either because they are consistently featured, or because they have a massive existing userbase. You can also enjoy a nice boost by organizing a good PR coup. But that won’t last. If you want to be consistently present you need to adress that in a professional manner.
But that’s not enough. Buying downloads won’t get you visibility. Why? Because many great apps are doing it (just look at the top 200 and you’ll have an idea). You need to create momentum. And the only way to do it is by creating a burst effect in your download pattern. Something search, or visual banners just can’t do.
Bottom line: If you buy media, do it but create momentum.

This entry was posted in Discovery.

NYC Social Soiree hosted by Digital Mind State and rapper Fabolous

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:29:02 +0000

We are delighted to announce this year’s NYC social soiree will be hosted by Digital Mind State.

The ”I AM DIGITAL” Reception & Party will be kicking off from 7:30pm, after the first day of Social Media World Forum and Apps World N. America (November 1st) at Studio Twenty One, Chelsea.

The Apps World & SMWF Networking party is a great way to unwind after an action packed day at the show. An evening designed to bring together event delegates for some chilled networking while enjoying a beverage or two.

Studio Twenty One is a brand new lounge located in the heart of Chelsea, designed as a homage to the vintage recording studio. Fantastic street views which by day showcase the charm of the neighbourhood, dramatically illuminate the space in the evening.

Digital Mind State will be bringing along hip hop rapper Fabolous who rose to fame in 2001 with his hit single ‘Can’t Deny It’. During his 14 year career he has worked with artists such as Ne-Yo and Lil’Mo and Jermaine Dupri and we’re very excited to welcome Fabolous to the party.

So get your glad rags on and come along, the party will be free to attend for all sponsors, exhibitors, speakers and paid delegates and will run until late with complimentary drinks on arrive.

Studio Twenty One
59 West 21st Street
New York,
NY 10010
Time: From 7.30pm til late
Dress Code: Smart Casual

5 tips for launching your app with a bang

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:44:07 +0000

Marketing an app is all about building up that initial frenzy when an app is launched and creating a buzz with consumers, bloggers and key press contacts. Those who have a strategy and start marketing the app early create the best buzz and give their app the best chance in a very competitive market.

1) First bird gets the first worm

When the app first becomes available in the app store is a key moment for initial buzz but don’t miss the chance to start your marketing strategy before the app is released to really exploit the buzz you can create. Many developers have begun building splash pages which act as a promotional platform for the app prior to its release and then grow into the full app website post release.

2) Get your app into the right hands before the launch

Make sure your app gets into the hands of the press and key bloggers before your launch. iOS apps which have been accepted by the App Store but not yet released can still be downloaded using promo codes. This means that you can let those in the media have access to your app before its launch and help you create a buzz.

3) Launch big

When you do launch, do it in style – send out a triumphant newsletter and hit all your social media channels, have blog posts on standby and get them out to all your contacts to get your name across the web. You could also think about running a contest or holding a live or online event to officially launch the app. Make sure you maintain the buzz throughout the launch by getting a steady stream of review websites to cover the app and give away promo codes. Remember to keep asking yourself how you can add value, mystery, polish or spin to your product to keep your promotion material fresh.

4) Timing is everything

Try to co-ordinate all your marketing efforts to happen at the same time as lists in app stores are ranked by downloads in the last 24 hours so give yourself the best chance to get on those lists by having your reviews, tweets and newsletters hit the web at the same time.

5) Keep the buzz

After the app launch keep the buzz about your app by creating teasers for upcoming features, incorporate beta testers and keep your bloggers and key contacts aware of any major releases.

Marketing an app is an important part of making sure you see a return on investment and give your app the best chance of success from its initial launch. Alex Kozloff, Mobile Manager at the Internet Advertising Bureau will be discussing how to support your app launch with marketing and promotion on day 1 of the marketing and monetisation workshops at Apps World Europe in London on 29-30th November. To view the full agenda and book your place click here.

Top ten reasons to attend #SMWF and #AppsWorld N.America

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:26:50 +0000

1. Two days of action packed engaging content within 30+ sessions, across three tracks covering all aspects of the social media & apps ecosystem.

2. 100+ speakers from top names in the industry including Twitter, AT+T, Radian6, Google TV, Yahoo and Bing.

3. Unique opportunity to network with 2500+ attendees made up from leading industry representatives.

4. Free to attend developers zone – two day showcase of technical presentations from leading developers, handset operators & apps stores covering a myriad of opportunities and challenges faced when developing apps.

5. Free to attend social media hub – two day showcase from leading social media networks & service providers providing an insight into the basics of successfully adopting SM, practical tips & tricks, budding start-ups & a look into social TV.

6. Free to attend exhibition, with 50+ exhibitors we will be creating an arena of buzz from service & tool providers from across the sectors.

7. One pass provides access to two shows – Apps World & SMWF – proving a rounded insight into these rapidly developing digital sectors.

8. Discover how global brands and corporations are adopting social media & apps and why these tools are the ideal platforms to build you brand.

9. Hear how advertisers and marketers are approaching these tools and their strategies for achieving ROI.

10. A chance to discuss & debate the current industry conditions and the predictions for their future.

Click here to book your pass today!

Developers: Win a free publicity campaign for your app at #AppsWorld Asia

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:14:58 +0000

App developers travelling to Apps World Asia in Singapore this week could be in for much more than an excellent two days of industry insight and networking, they could walk away with hundreds of dollars worth of free PR services from the app marketing and PR specialist Appsynth.

Appsynth’s industry publicity experts will be combing the Apps World show, searching for the best new app to announce to the international apps and technology community. Their winning app will be selected based on what they anticipate will be the most interesting and newsworthy for the global app media.Based between Bangkok and London, Appsynth is leveraging its worldwide contacts and footprint in Asia to position itself as the foremost global launch-pad for apps in the region. The company also offers a host of marketing services in addition to PR, such as App Store optimization and managed ad campaigns.

To be in with a chance of securing this free publicity, send details of your application, what it does, how it’s innovative and why it’s news-worthy to Appsynth before the end of the event. The winner will be announced next week. Appsynth can be reached by email at info@appsynth.net or via Twitter at @Appsynth.

Appsynth also develops its own applications for international clients and so are always on the lookout for new developer talent. Get in touch with them if this is you. If you’d like to speak to Appsynth at the event and discuss the services they offer, the company MD Bob Gallagher will be attending and can be reached at bob@appsynth.net.