Alternative App Stores and Getting Featured (from apptamin.com)

Alternative App Stores

Meaghan Fitzgerald from 23snaps started her presentation by giving a quick overview of the different mobile App Stores. For them, even though the Windows App Store is a much smaller pool it still generates good downloads.

She emphasized the fact that alternative app stores like the Amazon App Store and the Opera store can good distribution channels to have for your app.

Amazon App Store

We’ve already talked quite a bit about why you should distribute your app on the Amazon App Store and how to market it. Their A/B testing tool lets you test multiple versions of your app at the same time, 1-click downloads for customers with an Amazon account make it frictionless to buy an app and they now have a Game Circle (extended to all Android devices, not just Kindle fire), a game center quite similar to the Apple and Android one.

Opera App Store

Developers shouldn’t neglect Opera neither:

• It generates 2million downloads per day, mostly in emerging markets.
• It “hosts” Android, Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian, Blackberry, HTML 5 and iPhone apps (links to the Apple App Store). It’s worth the effort to upload your Android .apk or link to your iOS app to get additional exposure and increase your distribution.
• Their content-managers are even ready to assist publishing your apps on their store to save you time.

Getting featured

You already know it, getting featured brings big spikes in downloads. Which is good.

However, Meaghan mentioned that retention and engagement of the customers acquired when being featured is often not as good. Some users where just curious and don’t stick around.

Make a good case for your product, and let them know where you want to be featured

That said, it’s still something you want to achieve. Here are a few tips:

      1.Perfect your app. Apple or Google won’t feature you if you don’t have a great app

      2.Get great reviews. Customers need to love your app already. Make sure you do things right and that they have an easy way to give you feedback and rate your app. Especially now that Apple seems to take ratings into their app ranking.

      3.Check & meet requirements. Both the App Store and the Google Play Store have marketing or brand guidelines. For your app to be considered, you want to respect those guidelines as much as possible. Use the right app store badges, and don’t do things like overlapping iPhones or mixing iPhones and Android devices on your website, etc. If you have an app for both iOS and Android, put the iOS platform first if you don’t want to be disqualified.

      4.Make sure you’re a good fit. Don’t ask to be featured everywhere, try to target where it makes the most sense for your app to be featured.

      5.Get in touch with the App Store. If you don’t have the right contacts already, there are a series of different ways to get in touch with the app store staff through the developer console. Make a good case for your product, and let them know where you want to be featured (e.g. Apps for parents)

      6.Wait. 23snapps waited for 3 months.

Here are the slides: