36. 5. Reviews are REALLY important
Lessons from our first year in the App Store
37. CRAP
ARE YOU KIDDING
ME?! THIS APP IS
CRAP!!!
But people only review if they
want to complain NOPE
GOOD WHEN IT
WORKS, OTHERWISE
CRAP APP
Lessons from our first year in the App Store
38. Get your developer to include
review prompts
Lessons from our first year in the App Store
39. Target active users…
when they are happiest
Lessons from our first year in the App Store
41. 1. Go native
2. Build a sensible API
3. It’s going to break, but that’s ok
4. Build a user retention loop
5. Target active users for positive reviews
Lessons from our first year in the App Store
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Firstly - focus is practical adviceThings to do during and before a buildMake your jobs as marketing professionals easier
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Uk's largest6 million membersWSM worlds largest coupon network - 400MLondon, Berlin, Paris and Austin
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----This is a print-out voucher for ZizziBut also online codes that are used at checkoutCombination of these two channels
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----2 million downloads2 thousand reviews average 4.5And… takes away the need to print
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----What makes this significant isNot made an app before
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----When asked to give this talkI wanted to reflect on practical lessonsOthers could take away an use
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Lesson 1Go native - concerns design and how that can help marketing efforts
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Lesson 2About building a sensible API"Future proofing"Only technical point
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Lesson 3It will break and what marketers should do to plan for this
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Lesson 4 - retaining usersEnsuring your app isn't forgotten as quickly as it's installed
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 12:55) -----Finally lesson 5Tips on how to get not only reviewsgood reviews
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Broadly there are three different design strategiesAll with their advantages
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Brand the user experienceCreate consistencey across all devicesSteeper learning curve for usersMore complicated to design AND buildSummly is a great example of this - will have taken longer it's clearly been worth it
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Porting something from iPhone was common in early Android daysTemptation to do it becuase it's fasterIt's actually slower - I'll explain whyConfusing for users who aren't familiar with the other platformInstagram have been guilty of this
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Use the design patterns native to the OSClearly outlined in theHIGDesign.addroid.comWP 8 UX Patterns
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----We had a working version of the app ready to go liveAnd yet it never made the app storeWe ripped it up and tarted again
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Custom fontsCustom tab barand otner customisations not show in that screenThe build was much slower and the code wasn't as clean
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----Faster to designLoads of research, tools and other content to speed the process alongFor the same reasons it's much easier to develop forUsers will find it easier to useYou're also more likely to get featured----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Native also means no HTML5 wrapper apps
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----For most people there is no magic trickBuild an app that people want to useGet postiive reviewsBuild an app that shows off the OSGoogle and Apple want to show off apps that make their platforms look goodGoing native this makes a lot of sense----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:22) -----Get a lot of downloads
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 13:41) -----While you may----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Want to launch on a specific platform it's important not to focus on thisPut simply don't tell your developer you're making an iPhone appAll the decisions you make should assume a multi-platformSpecifically your API - where you could make some iPh specific decisionsThat make it very hard to undo----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----Use open data standards
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Assumeing your app will break sounds fairly defeatistIt's not - not only is it our experience, but I've heard t from countless developersI've also heard it directly from Google
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Connectivity issues when out-and-aboutFluctations in load on your netowkr are also hard to predict----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----It took us three versions to get our iPhone app stable
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----ASK THE AUDIENCE?In fact we're dealing with this right nowWe soft launched our app last weekWe've already released 3 fixiesCurrently stable, but we know there are more fixes to come----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----Retain agencies or develpers following an app launchMake use of the Blacklist feature to block annoying devices
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----As well as being able to explain the complexitiy of the task to stakeholders in your businesesKEY TAKEAWAYPress releasesEmail marketingEventsPromotionsall should be timed with a stable release and not a launchCreate a test group----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----Once you're live and stable plan features then fix - asssume this cylce will repeat itself
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Do get the feeling I'm being a little negative?Very few brands or tools are so significant in our livesUnless your making an email client, or are working on the next social networkingNot going to get 'home screen' status
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 14:35) -----Combat thisNeed a user retention loopSales paralance - selling to existing customersApp retention loop no different -
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----Straight forwardVisual cues from our Websiteour Emailthat remind users that our appreplaces the need to print a voucherSite = discovery platform
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----Instapaper the news reading appBookmarklet saves content to your appSimilarly wish lists - you can create actions that prompt users to return to the appNotifications are also really importantUse them intelligently - for example words with friends reminds you when you haven't moved for a few daysOver use and you're gonna get deleted
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----More likely to be downloadedFeatured - it's unlikely anything under 4 gets featuredCompared against your competition in the app store
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:56) -----We know this to be trueHad an average of 2 and 1/2 stars----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 16:58) -----We knew we'd had bugsBut the app was stable and we were confident itWe also noted that people like to use crap in reviewsprobably because it rhyms with app
----- Meeting Notes (20/11/2012 21:23) -----Importantly you target active userswhen they are happiestAt VC - users are happiest when they've just used a vouhcersaved money on a meal, day out, clothesAnd rather than doing this the first time, or second we did it the third timeEnsuring the user was activeGames, when recieved an orderIt's a relatively simple idea - but one that grew our +ve reviews significantly