App promotion: 8 unspoken rules of app operation

Before starting my own media business, I worked as an operations director in a company. Before this, I started my own blog on App operation and promotion. Overall, I have been paying attention to the App operation industry for about 2 years. What kind of work should a beginner App operator do? What are the unspoken rules in this industry?

First, let’s deconstruct the position of App Operations. The content of an operation position is very diverse, including channel promotion, data analysis, product packaging, event planning, etc. In fact, in the two years from 2012 to 2013, the core of each company's operations was placed on channels. There were relatively few real operations of products, and they remained on the surface. They did not go deep into product data analysis and user mining, nor did they make any efforts to improve the retention rate of old users. Instead, they focused more on channels and users.

The operations position of most App startups is channel promotion, which is achieved by building relationships with channel vendors such as Android Market, 360 Mobile Assistant, and 91 Assistant or purchasing advertising space. Because the user growth of the App mainly comes from this, if you build good relationships with these channels and strive to obtain free recommendation positions such as the first release, you will be able to achieve a qualitative increase in the number of users. Therefore, the main work of more companies’ operations is to make budgets and then find channels.

There are only three ways to cooperate with these channels. One is paid cooperation, which is very simple, just negotiate the price and pay. The second type is free, which mainly involves the first release, and also means building good relationships with channel operation partners to ask them to help give you a free position, etc. The third type is event prize cooperation. In short, channel merchants will plan some activities during festivals and holidays, which require prize sponsorship and then provide some recommended positions to the sponsoring CP. In addition, Android and Anzhi will organize some forum activities (the conversion rate is not high, so it is not recommended).

In my previous company, I personally dealt with channels for half a year. At that time, I compiled a table myself, dividing each channel into three levels: high, medium and low. Among them, the high-level channels include Google Play, Wandoujia, Xiaomi App Store, Android Market, 360 Mobile Assistant, Tencent App Store, 91 Mobile Assistant, Baidu, etc. The medium ones include China Mobile MM, Huawei Zhihui Cloud, Anzhi Market, Jifeng Market, App Store, Nduo Market, Mumayi, China Unicom Wo Store, China Telecom Tianyi Store, Lenovo Le Store, etc. The low-level ones are channels that had very few users at the time, such as CrossCat.

High-level channels are the key maintenance targets, and the frequency of attention is daily. These channels have a large number of users, so it is necessary to observe the user growth of the channels every day, look at changes in position, etc. These high-level channels are also the main choice for the first release of new product versions. According to my experience, the first release effects of Wandoujia, 360 Mobile Assistant, Tencent App Store and Baidu are the best. Next is Xiaomi, Android Market, etc.

Mid-level channels are secondary maintenance objects and do not require daily attention. You can pay attention to their activities, build good relationships with partners in the channels, and strive for some free recommendation positions, which may bring in some volume. But unless it is absolutely necessary, do not cooperate with them for product launches, as the results will be very unsatisfactory. I remember once I cooperated with Tianyi Store for a product launch, but less than a hundred orders came in a single day, and I almost cried.

For low-level channels, just keep them updated and basically don't spend any energy on them. Because no matter how hard you try, it can't give you users. Because it has no users.

After many trials and tribulations, there are only about ten channels left. And these channels are basically aligned with money. For some wealthy companies, you just need to find the right powerful channels and roll up your sleeves to spend money. But for some loser startups, it is harder than climbing to the sky to increase the number of users by operating an app for free.

Next, Donglou will talk in detail about some unspoken rules of App operations.

1. About the first release:

Wandoujia, 360 Mobile Assistant, Xiaomi, etc. can apply for a free first release opportunity every month. The first point of contact is their operations staff. When talking specifically about the first launch, we must be reasonable, polite and restrained, and consider the market operators appropriately to make things more convenient for everyone. The operations of Wandoujia that I have come into contact with are quite nice, but they are quite busy. They usually just send emails for confirmation. The operations of Android Market and Xiaomi Store are also very good. The operations of 360 Hand Assistant are quite busy. They are all young ladies and can be coaxed with kind words. Baidu's first launch requires filling out a bunch of rules and regulations, and you just need to follow the rules. It is best to make an appointment for the first release a week or earlier in advance, otherwise there may be no schedule.

2. Some free resources available:

For example, Wandoujia can apply for high-quality applications and product design awards. If the application is successful, it can also get a certain recommendation position. 360 Mobile Assistant also organizes activities from time to time, and if you have a good relationship with the operations, you might be able to take advantage of them.

3. Product privilege functions:

The product's function of charging value-added service fees is provided to the market free of charge in exchange for advertising recommendation space in the market. This is a compromise approach in the absence of sufficient budget, which is equivalent to exchanging resources with the market.

4. About packet capture:

Through major Android markets, each other's packets will be captured. If you fail to update a certain market in a timely manner, this market may directly grab the installation package from other channels, which will cause problems with your data. The data from the first-release channel may be inflated, while the data from the captured market will show a downward trend. How to judge the effectiveness of the first release at this time? We need to compare whether the total amount has increased, rather than just looking at the data of the first release channel.

5. About mutual recommendation within the App:

This is what is called exchange volume. In-app recommendations will basically have no effect if the placement is too deep and the other party’s user base is not large. It will only be effective if it is an app with tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of users and a relatively obvious position. Otherwise, it will hardly have any effect, so don't focus your energy on it.

6. About resource exchange:

There is a situation of resource exchange where you can act as an intermediary and take advantage of information asymmetry to direct traffic to each other. For example, you contact two CPs, A and B, and then ask A to recommend B, ask B to recommend you, and then you recommend A. By doing this back and forth trading, you might make some money. To do this job, you need a smart girl who can act cute and clever. If you trade it back and forth, you might be able to make some money.

7. About data analysis

When talking about operations, we cannot talk about data analysis. If there is no data support, talking about operations is nonsense. Only by seeing daily and monthly data can we have a reference and be targeted. Generally speaking, each market needs to be packaged and uploaded separately, but judging from the current store distribution, you can choose important stores to package and upload, and other channels do not need to be packaged separately. Generally speaking, the most commonly used statistical data include daily additions, daily registrations, channel distribution and rankings, device distribution, etc.

8. About inflating traffic and comments

There are now many water armies that can increase your download volume in a certain market, and then improve your ranking to get more exposure. It is better to be careful when trying this. Don’t make it too obvious or it will be taken down, otherwise it will not be worth it. I think it’s okay to brush up the comments appropriately, but don’t overdo it. It’s better to brush them manually and add some good reviews, which can also increase the chance of downloading.