Marketing: iPhone.AppStorm Quick Look

JackBQuick

I browse iPhone.Appstorm frequently to read reviews of products in the App Store. (I liked their 100 Amazing AppStorm Recommended iPhone Games that was published last week.)

They are offering a service for developers called Quick Look. Quick Look is a service which "can get you sales, traffic, a full-length review and valuable feedback on your app, all for $49."

For more information:

Why Quick Look?

I'm going to investigate this further once I finish my update, and I thought that others here might be interested as well.

BarkBarkCo

"At less than the cost of a family dinner"

It's nice that they admit stealing food out of my kid's mouths... ;-)

JackBQuick

Yes, you're right -- it is expensive. However, I posted this for two reasons: (1) every so often, a question gets raised in these forums about how to market apps, and (2) I find AppStorm's claim that its website gets 80,000 views/month very credible.

AppStorm is part of a larger network of websites (Envato). I think their audience is mainly designers and programmers so I'm not sure whether the average iPhone user (if there is such a thing) would stumble onto their site. However, if your app gets noticed by designers and programmers, word tends to spread: they'll tell their friends or write about it on their blogs and then your app sales go through the roof...at least I'm hoping

I'm extremely price sensitive myself. I have a small budget that I allow myself which I won't/can't go over. And, I'm pouring any money I'm making from my app back into further development and marketing. Truth be told, I haven't decided whether to use Quick Look or not. However, if I'm looking into marketing my app, and I'm confident that it'll pass muster with designers and programmers, and I have the $49 -- a lot of if's, I know -- I would certainly give them a try.

jonmulcahy

in my experience, paid reviews are not worth it. hell, even paid advertisements are not worth it. From Jan to April I probably spent close to $500 or $600 in advertising for a few of my games, did I see an increase in sales? Sure, but $500 worth? not a chance.

There are plenty of sites out there that will review your game for free, maybe if you're rolling in the dough it'd be worth it, but odds are you won't see a large return on your investment, you'll probably break even.

That being said, it's only $49, so it can't hurt to try

JackBQuick

Thanks for sharing your experience, mulcahy. I knew that it would be difficult but you're making me rethink even using paid advertisements/reviews at all.

The question still is: how to get noticed? I have a few ideas involving local media (community newspapers, college radio). Maybe I'll try those first before spending any money.

ozboybrian

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

DreamLab

ozboybrian said:
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

but you need to have money to spend it