App operation: the most complete guide to launching APP products!

As an operator , the most basic work is to launch products. Whether it is an App or a game , there is a link of product launch in daily work. After continuous optimization and adjustment, there is now a very standard process for product launch: business negotiation, product access, product launch and operation and maintenance ; the launch of games and applications involves these four steps. Since games have to go through channel payment, they need to connect to the channel SDK, which is slightly different from applications, but the other steps are not much different.

In this article, I will take the launch of a mobile game product that I was previously responsible for as an example to explain to you the various links of the product launch. I hope to give some inspiration to the operations students who are just getting started, so that they can have a general understanding of the product launch and be more targeted and clear in their future product launch work.

Note: The channels mentioned in this article are all Android channels .

Product launch process:

• 1. Business Negotiation
• 2. Product Access
• 3. Product launch
• IV. Operation and Maintenance

The specific process is as follows:

1. Business Negotiation

1.1 Determine the channels for cooperation

1.1.1 The scale of Android channels is already very concentrated, and there are only a handful of channels with volume. According to the channel rankings searched on Baidu , you can negotiate and access them one by one according to their scale. If you have enough energy, you can cover more channels with lower rankings. Even the smallest detail can yield valuable information. In addition: The current mainstream channels include Hardcore, App Store and 360.

1.1.2 The channel official website or developer backend generally has business contact information, mainly email, and some channels will also list business contact information. Other ways to obtain channel business contact information include: peer recommendations, industry exchange QQ groups, etc.

1.2 Business negotiation to confirm cooperation

1.2.1 Product introduction. Communicate with channel business and introduce your company's strength and products. When submitting the evaluation materials, there will be a document template for you to fill in. Includes company information, projects that have been developed, background, etc. The purpose of the channel assessing the CP's background is to confirm the other party's publicity and promotion capabilities. First-tier CPs can provide a budget of tens of millions for promotion , which the channels will naturally like.

1.2.2 Submit the evaluation package. The technology packaged the evaluation package with a dedicated server. The operation must screen out low, medium and high-end accounts based on the evaluation accounts provided by the technology, and submit them to the channel together with the evaluation package. Channel reviewers rate games by experiencing the games themselves. Game ratings are S/A/B/C. The higher the rating, the better the resources provided for the first launch.

2. Product Access

2.1 Register developer backend

2.1.1 Get the developer backend link. Search “channel name + developer background” on Baidu, for example: App Store channel. Search for “App Store Developer Backstage” on Baidu. If some channels cannot be searched, you can change the keywords such as "Developer Center" or "Developer Platform".

2.1.2 Register a developer account. The account registration process is the same as that on ordinary websites. Note: The email address you need to fill in during the registration process must be your company email address. This email address will be used to receive information from the platform, such as application review approval (rejection) notification, news submission review approval notification, statement notification, etc.

2.1.3 After submitting the registration information, you will receive a verification email in the registered email address. Click the link to pass the verification. The developer account registration is completed.

2.1.4 The developer backend accounts and addresses of all channels must be summarized in one document and copied to relevant personnel via email to avoid account loss during personnel turnover.

2.2 Signing of the contract.

2.2.1 Obtain a contract. There are two ways to obtain the contract. One is to have it provided by the business partner, and the other is to download the electronic version from the developer's backend.

2.2.2 Contract review. Generally, after a simple review by the business department, it will be handed over to the legal department for review, which mainly reviews information such as responsibilities, settlement procedures, etc. The bigger the channel, the more powerful it is. The contracts of large channels are almost impossible to modify, so just check the default box.

2.2.3 Sign the contract. The electronic contract provided by the other party's business needs to be printed out, stamped with the company seal and sent to the other party in 2 copies (usually 2 copies, and some channels also require 4 copies to be mailed). After the other party has reviewed and confirmed that there are no errors, they will send back a copy of the contract with their official seal, which we will archive. The electronic contract signed by the developer backend follows the same process as above.

2.3 SDK connection

2.3.1 Developers submit company information in the backend. Log in to the developer backend with the developer account you registered previously and choose to register as an enterprise developer. Enter the information submission page. The information submitted mainly includes a scanned copy of the business license, a scanned copy of the tax registration (provided by the finance department), copyright certificate, and business contact information.

2.3.2 Create a game. The information submitted when creating a game must be accurate. The information displayed after the game goes online is the information submitted here. After the game is created, it will be reviewed by the other party. After the review is passed, obtain the game's APPID and APPKEY, as well as the SDK (generally, the SDK can be obtained before creating the game. Some channels must successfully create the game before obtaining the SDK download link and downloading the SDK).

The application name of mainstream channels must be consistent with the parsed APK package, which is not conducive to search. Some channels can add subtitles to the application name. Operators can add currently popular product names as subtitles when updating to increase the search volume, such as adding the keyword "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds".

2.3.3 Download the SDK. The SDK can be downloaded from the developer background. The SDK download entrances of different channels are completely different. For example, Tencent has many SDK download links. You must ensure that you download the correct and latest SDK (to prevent the SDK from being updated and then re-connected after connection, wasting work).

Note: The SDK of some channels is provided by the other party's business and must be sent by email.

2.3.4 Create a technical docking discussion group. Any problems encountered in the process of connecting technology to the SDK will be raised in the discussion group and answered by the other party. The people in the discussion group mainly include business, operations and technology. Note: Small CPs are weaker, and the channels may not necessarily assign dedicated personnel to connect with them, so you need to be flexible in this regard.

2.3.5 Callback address. During the test environment test, the background callback address must be added as a test address link. After the game is launched, it must be changed to the address of the formal environment.

2.4 Test the client.

2.4.1 Before the official package goes online, there will be dedicated testers to conduct testing. Before submitting for review, operators must conduct a simple test on the official package to test basic functions such as login, registration, payment, and buoys. After confirmation, it can be submitted for review.

3. Product launch

3.1 Submit materials.

Before the game goes online, the channel party will provide a material requirement document (usually found in the SDK package). Operations personnel must prepare corresponding materials according to the material requirements document. Materials include: product information, game screenshots, news, guides, advertising images, etc.

There are two ways to submit materials: one is for the developer to submit basic information, namely name, ICON, and screenshots (the information displayed on the download page is submitted by the developer). Another way is to package the materials and send them to the other party, who will then add them, such as special area guides, news, etc. The following pictures are provided by the operator.

The collection and organization of materials is the most time-consuming. When I was organizing the strategy before, I mobilized all the operations and planning departments to provide materials, and then I organized them. If one person produces all the materials, it will be tiring.

3.2 Online testing.

Online testing is to submit the official installation package (after players download it, they can play the game normally and pay for the client) in the created game to be tested by the other party's testers. After the test is passed, it can be officially launched and available for download.

3.3 Check the download process.

After the game is officially launched, operations staff will actually download and install it to test whether the download process is smooth. The testing phase is the one most prone to errors. When the app is first launched, the operator must ensure that the entire process from user downloading to payment is normal. Otherwise, if there is a problem in one link, it may cause losses of tens of thousands.

IV. Operation and Maintenance

4.1 Updated version.

4.1.1 Update cycle. Different development teams have different update frequencies. My previous mobile game update cycle was one to two times a week, and the maintenance process was to maintain the server in batches. Generally, a small number of servers are maintained first. After confirming that there are no bugs, all remaining servers are maintained the next day.

4.1.2 Submit the update package. After the server maintenance is completed, the technical staff will package the channel package. After packaging, the operation staff will test it and submit the update package. The process of submitting an update package is the same as the process of uploading an installation package for the first time.

4.2 Update SDK.

4.2.1 Business students obtain the other party's SDK update requirements and hand over the new version of SDK to operations students.

4.2.2 The operations staff will summarize the update requirements and submit them. The required information includes: channel name, SDK, update content, and launch time node.

4.3 Data monitoring.

Monitor the data of the channels you are responsible for, and the data must be explained separately. Understand what data can be monitored in the background, what each data represents, and how to extract data to compile weekly and monthly reports.

4.4 Gift pack.

4.4.1 Application Package. Operations staff submit gift package applications based on business needs. The information they need to provide is: channel name, gift package type, and quantity. Demand for gift packages other than the existing gift packages on the gift package platform must be submitted 1 to 3 months in advance.

4.4.2 Submit gift package. There are two ways to submit gift packages. One is to send it to the other party's business, and then the other party's operator will manually put it on the shelves. The other way is to upload it by yourself in the developer background. Choose the gift package submission method based on the actual situation of the channel.

4.4.3 Activation Feedback. The gift package background can view the usage of the distributed gift packages, and the operation can judge the quality of the channel by checking the activation status of the gift packages.

Summary: To launch the product, just follow the developer's backend instructions and submit the corresponding materials. In each link, you may encounter some unexpected problems, such as incomplete qualifications, untimely packaging, missing information , etc. The value of operation is to encounter problems and solve them.

Launching a product is essentially a physical job that does not bring much effective output. However, a qualified operation is first and foremost an operation that can do the basic work well. The time when operations really play a role is after the product is launched and facing real users. How to optimize the product and maintain good users becomes an issue that operations need to consider on a daily basis.