This week, the Apps Alliance hosted, participated in, and attended a few events about the app economy and app strategy. On Monday, we hosted a panel about Why Mobile Video Advertising Works to dive into one of the most lucrative advertising mediums to date. The Apps Alliance team in San Francisco joined hundreds of game developers for Casual Connect – a major casual gaming conference for game developers. Last, the Alliance partnered with Vision Mobile for an exclusive webinar surrounding Vision Mobile’s Q3 Developer Economics report.
Here are a few key lessons we learned this week:
SHOW OFF YOUR APP: Make interesting videos and images about your app and grab the attention of a new user. At our Why Mobile Video Advertising Works panel on Monday night, Austin Yuen of Cie Games explained you can show a lot about your app even in just 15 seconds. Showcase cool and unique features, and set yourself apart from similar apps.
You can see video from this session on DEVSBUILD.IT: Why Mobile Video Advertising Works
LEVERAGE DEVELOPER TOOLS: The most successful and experienced developers use a variety of tools. According to Vision Mobile, in an exclusive webinar produced by the Apps Alliance about their Q3 report, developers who do not use any type of tool for monetization, user acquisition, testing, or other needs tend to perform worse overall.
TRUST THE EXPERTS: If you decide to work with a partner to market your app and help you acquire users, make sure it’s somebody you feel comfortable around. At the Science of User Acquisition panel during Casual Connect, James Peng of Storm8 explained that the more information about your app and your users that you share with your partners, of course respecting the privacy of your users, the better they can help drive new users.
FOCUS ON EFFECTIVE CHANNELS: Work with your partners to make sure you’re spending your money in the right places. Andrew Birnbryer of AppLift explained that if you’re spending $1 to acquire a user, make sure that those users are worth more than $1 in the long-run. You’ll want to measure the lifetime value of a user to make the best use of a small budget.
What did you learn this week? What strategies do you use to acquire new users? Let us know in the comments below.