Understand the rules of major app stores and make good products with 0-cost promotion

Get a developer account

If you need to launch a new application, you need to register accounts in major markets one by one. You need to prepare your official mobile phone number, email address, business license, software copyright (submission of which has recently become mandatory), a scanned copy of the operator 's ID card, etc. It is recommended to use an Excel spreadsheet to maintain all accounts.

The mainstream application markets in the current market are: 360, App Store , Xiaomi, Huawei, Wandoujia , 91, Meizu, App Store , Baidu Mobile Assistant , VIVO, OPPO, Lenovo, Anzhi Market , LeTV, PP Assistant , and Mumayi.

There are too many application markets. If the manpower and energy are limited, selective optimization is required. According to the products I have launched myself, the application stores with more volume are: App Store, OPPO, VIVO, Xiaomi, 360, and Baidu Mobile Assistant. With the continuous rise of domestic mobile phone brands in the past two years, the app stores owned by brands have been well developed, and traditional third-party app stores are gradually losing their competitiveness. The once-powerful Wandoujia and 91 traffic are really average.

Special note: You should browse various app stores more often to find out in time if your APP has been stolen.

For example, we initially ignored the app store for LeTV phones. As a result, an unscrupulous developer used our information to embed an advertising vest outside our apk. Finally, we spent a week negotiating with customer service before we successfully claimed it.

Seize the opportunity to start

App stores generally offer the opportunity to launch new products for free. In the initial stage of product promotion, when the cost of promotion is relatively low, it can be used to attract the first batch of seed users . Of course, the resources for free new product launches are at a deeper level. Taking 360 as an example, it is good to have 800 activated users a day. Once the number of users increases, the first release may not be so important. The stores that currently support active application for first release include: Xiaomi, 360, App Store, and Huawei.

The easiest ones to apply for are 360 ​​and App Store. Generally, as long as the first release application is approved, the functions of subsequent versions will be basically ignored. The agreed-upon operators will only pay attention to whether the version number is the latest in the entire network. Here’s a little trick: If you want to release new features every week but don’t have any new features, you can ask the programmer to just change the version number. But don’t do it too frequently, otherwise you’ll be discovered by the app store operators and become a key focus, which will be troublesome.

Before applying for the first release, you need to prepare splash screens and promotional materials. Some app stores may also have special requirements. For example, 360 will force you to use its own encryption service for packaging, and there must be a link to 360's products in the app. It is best to apply on Saturday when traffic is the highest, followed by Sunday, and try to apply in the first half of the holiday season. The retention rate on the last day of the holiday is often the lowest. In addition, you are not the only one to release the first product, so the quality of the cover material becomes the key, and the graphics and colors must be able to attract users' attention.

After the initial application is successful, remember to upload the latest channel package to other app stores. Otherwise, the app store will automatically grab the latest package within 24 hours, affecting the accuracy of background data analysis .

Recommended by our Editor

Some nicer app stores such as VIVO, OPPO, and Xiaomi will regularly select better apps for recommendation on their homepage or community, and the judging criteria are unknown. On July 29, our backend showed that the number of VIVO channel users surged by nearly 3,000 (see the VIVO channel user report below). At first, we thought the data was wrong, but through communicating with users and tracing the source, we found that our app was recommended to the VIVO store homepage, and OPPO and Xiaomi were also recommended one after another, and the number of users surged. This situation is usually an occasional burst of good luck. You can try to win the favor of the store operations editor through product introductions, product function introductions, and bold visual materials.

App Store Events

Like Taobao and JD.com e-commerce platforms, app stores also hold online events regularly, which generally require applicants to provide prizes, which can be physical or virtual points rewards. You can often visit the online developer platform or attend offline salons to learn about the activity rules. New products should participate in as many activities as possible, establish good relationships with stores, and increase their brand exposure and popularity in stores.

Paid Promotion

The profit model of the app store is paid promotion.

Common paid promotion methods include app store message push, column focus picture display, and top ranking display. The fees start at 20,000+/day, and there are endless pitfalls. Most homepage focus picture ads are used for resource exchange or to promote their own products.

A friend who does promotion once said that there are not many rich people who actually pay. Some customers pay for advertising, but the app store simply cannot bring so much traffic to advertisers, so they privately find people to increase the traffic to make up the numbers.

Therefore, the App Store is a bottomless pit of investment, and novice players are advised not to participate directly. If you have sufficient funds for promotion, you can do appropriate CPD (Cost per download) advertising. Major app stores generally require agents to open accounts. Contact them first but don't rush to recharge immediately. There will often be recharge rebate discounts. The agent will contact you actively, and a 20% rebate is possible. As for whether it is appropriate to place CPD ads in the app store, the recommendation is no. Why? Subsequent chapters will analyze from an omni-channel perspective.

App Store Optimization

The strong will always be strong. Everyone likes to buy products with the highest sales and reviews, and the same is true for the app market. The two tool products with the same functions compete on appearance data. The download volume, reviews and ratings of the App Store can be optimized by inflating the volume (which can be found at Jack Ma’s website). Download volume is 30 yuan per 10,000, reviews and ratings are 1 yuan per item, and discounts can be given for large volumes. The lowest discount we have tried is 50%. Larger download volumes, higher ratings and positive reviews from netizens can increase the impulse of real users to download. You can invest appropriately, but be careful not to over-inflate the volume so as to prevent the product from being removed from the store.

When the product's store data is improved, its ranking in the category rankings will continue to move forward. Under stable conditions, the average daily free traffic across all channels will be between 1,000 and 3,000 (BAT applications can be directly ignored~). Tap water users will continue to relay their evaluations (the picture below is a screenshot of real user evaluations). Remember to interact with user comments regularly, record complaints and provide timely feedback for improvements. Occasionally, you may encounter users or competitors who maliciously slander you, and you must actively respond positively.

Make full use of the application introduction section to include business QQ and user QQ group numbers. Various businesses often come to us to seek cooperation. Since QQ groups are limited to 500 people, remember to update the group number in a timely manner. Through this channel, we have attracted real users from 10 groups, through which we can receive the most authentic user feedback, make friends with users, and it is also a pleasant thing to chat about products together.

Manage the app store carefully and understand the rules of the game in each major app store. This is the most important source of natural users, and you can also make a good product without paid promotion. We will continue to serialize the gameplay of other promotion channels in the future.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

This article was compiled and published by @东东酱 ( Qinggua Media ). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!