CORONA indie developers UNITE! (join forces to review each other apps!)

General (non-technical) Marketing and Monetization
#1

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/310088005728833/

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Mo,
(LairdGames)

Hello guys,

As you probably all know by now, It it very difficult for indie dev like us to be noticed in the sea of apps in the app store. of course some of us are which is great indeed. But most of the apps I see released have no stars nor reviews to speak off.

But then I see that there are 429 Corona developers online right now!! What IF a percentage of the developers online took few minutes of their time to download and try a fellow developer app, give some good stars and maybe even a nice review! Of course if everybody returns the favor then there is NO reason for a developer not to get at least 5 ratings and maybe couple of reviews on the day of release!

But what about the apps that cost money? Most of them of cost $0.99 and I am sure any of us could help one developer a month by buying their app and leaving a nice review. Actually you may not even need to buy an app anymore to leave a review and rating. I think Apple changed that rule if I recall correctly. The point is even if we have to buy someone app for 99 cents, it is not much to ask I think.

Of course with some many apps that are released every months by this great community, nobody need to “endorse” a crappy app! You just choose one app a month that strike your fancy and support it. When it is your turn to release your own app, then I am pretty sure you would enjoy the favor.

Ok, I am not sure if this idea is even feasible but I thought we could use our community muscle to push our community members apps and help them at least to get noticed in the app store where the number of ratings and reviews is king.

Just my 99 cents.

Mo
ps: Maybe we can start with app that makes it to the “app of the week” but we should not stop there since many great apps need some our love! [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 324220[/import]

#2

I certainly agree with the sentiment here :slight_smile:

I believe using promo codes if you are in the US you can now rate and review apps again, although am not 100% sure on that. (Yet.)

Personally I like to go into the apps made with Corona sub forum and try to download new apps a few times a week and leave a rating, if not a review.

The more community members who try to do this the better and of course people can also tweet about great Corona made apps which is great for getting some extra attention on deserving devs.

TL;DR: +1.

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 97878[/import]

#3

IF we each bought each other’s 99 cent apps, our net loss would be 20 cents per app which really isn’t much and maybe paying 20 cents that would be $20 to get 100 reviews and that might be the cheapest marketing plan out there.

The draw back and why this probably won’t work is that if I buy yours and review it, what guarantee that you’re going to buy mine back? If we had a way to setup a pool and everyone HAS to buy each other’s app, then I would be up for that.
[import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 97964[/import]

#4

idea is great.

my question is how many people rate apps on average ?

If you see 200 ratings for app for 0.99$ this means at least 200 people bought it. But i think not more then 5-10% people rate what they purchase or download. So total number of customers could be about 2000-4000.

So in short, this 20 cents is worth more then 2-4$ on average. But we need more accurate statistical data.

Regards
Tom
[import]uid: 111283 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 97968[/import]

#5

WE would need a “hard-control” about all of this data and it would be the hard part of the “community job”.

Even being a United Community we`re human and so we can fail. :\

By the way, I`d be in since it gets mature.
Cheers,
Rodrigo.

[import]uid: 89165 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98083[/import]

#6

@Peach: Thanks! nice you like it. I was really afraid that I was way off:)

@Robmiracle: Thanks, I like the way you put “the cheapest marketing out there” That’s really the way I look at it.

@Bladko: Thank you too, I like your numbers. I never look at it that way.

@RSCdev: Thanks for your comments.

Yes I agree, it may not be easy to implement and we would unlikely be able to police the system. Still, we should be able to figure out a simple system that do not need much management. Probably the way to do it will be to only deal with free apps and apps where the coder is willing to provide promotions code with the return guaranty that he/she will obtain a rating + review. dealing with buying each other apps will probably will not work as Robmiracle indicated.

The main issue is how to protect those promotion codes so that they can only be use by community members. Putting them on the forum will not work since they could be taken by anybody.

I do not know if AnscaMobile has a special forum for Corona subscriber (which I hope I will be in the next few weeks:) but that could a solution since it will only be available for a sub-set of people in the forum.

I guess this would only work if someone will have a guaranty of 5 reviews at app launch time which I believe is a minimum to get you noticed in the app store. Maybe a higher minimum is warranted I do not know.

My main goal here is to leverage our community size so no apps made with Corona SDK languish with less than 5 reviews/rating at launch time.

I do not if it is feasible but i do know (even so I am still finishing my first app) that having an app in the store is the easy part!

Thanks for all you comments. Keep them coming and maybe we can figure something.

Mo.

[import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98155[/import]

#7

It is my understanding that Apple has gone back to not allowing people who use promo codes to post reviews.

I have lots of promo codes to give away, for anyone who is willing to test this and try and see if they can post a review after using a promo code. I can post the promo codes here or email them to whoever wants them. [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98156[/import]

#8

@elbowroomapps: Thanks for the info. WOW, that was a quick reversal from Apple!

Mo [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98162[/import]

#9

Great initiative! Not easy to implement, but it’s worth doing some brainstorming here…
By the way, I can assure you that currently people are NOT allowed to post reviews on AppStore if they got the apps using promo codes.
Which doesn’t mean that Apple will not change their policy (again) tomorrow! :slight_smile: [import]uid: 80100 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98608[/import]

#10

What you guys need to do is the following

  1. follow us on twitter twitter.com/ansca
  2. follow me on twitter twitter.com/carlosicaza
  3. follow us on facebook.com/ansca

Encourage your fellow users to read the newsletter as the newsletter has the app of the week, and other apps as well mentioned throughout.

When you have a game, add the @ansca #coronaSDK hash tags and or mine tag @carlosicaza so that way our PR person knows and can re-broadcast to our twitter users.

We have a forum here for new apps … and we have the showcase (which is being revamped )

So aside from the usual tell your friend, lets also be proactive and follow each other on twitter to learn about each others apps/progress/etc… …

One thing that can help us (me, and PR) is when you search for your app and the app has broken the 200,100,50,10 and is on a top stop in any of the appstores, take a screenshot and twitter the screenshot. (grey out the other apps) – that way we can twitter that as well…

So follow me @carlosicaza and @ansca

carlos.
[import]uid: 24 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98621[/import]

#11

@elbowroomapps shoot me a promo code and I’ll rate and review the app for you and see if Apple is letting them through.

There is a lot of discussion about them allowing or not allowing it, but I don’t know that we have actual evidence.

rob at omnigkeekmedia dot com
[import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98630[/import]

#12

@robmiracle

I sent the promo code. Look for an email from lionel at elbowroomapps dot com [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98640[/import]

#13

No Joy!

and that’s from clicking your “Rate” button in the installed app! [import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98641[/import]

#14

@nosheet: You are 100% right,not easy to implement now that Apple is not allowing reviews/rating with promo code. Still, I am hoping we can all brainstorm as you said and come up with something that could work.

It seems that it will be difficult to do it for free (promo code) but i think i will be willing to pay my fellow Corona the cost of buying say 10 or 20 of my apps if there is a gentleman understanding that will produce 10 or 20 reviews/ratings. For most apps that will mean $10/20 outlet which i think is a very cheap marketing these days. This would remove the “I will buy and review your app IF you buy my app” issue. Of course the main issue is how to setup the payment of 99 cents per app to the person who accept to buy and review your app?

Again only thinking out loud here!

@Carlos: Thanks for all those great tips. I will make sure I will do them all when my app is ready to be released.
Thanks guys for all the comments.

Mo [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98685[/import]

#15

The majority of apps released these days are fermium anyway, so it would be quite easy for all of us to support those apps with downloads and reviews. The only time i see this plan not working is with paid apps, mainly due to the fact that if we are downloading 4 or 5 a week it could end up being a bit of a drain on our money.

But having said that, I’m more than up for checking out our members apps etc :smiley: I do this already really… But i will do so more often :slight_smile:

There is a twitter thread somewhere on the forums, so if we are all following each other it would be easier to keep track of apps being released.

[import]uid: 69826 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 98687[/import]

#16

I had an epiphany this morning.

We can do this for free actually. Make your app free for a day.

We pick a designated day. We set the app we want promoted for free. Then we all download everyone elses app and set the pay apps back to pay the next day (You should be able actually schedule this through iTunes connect to do it automatically).

If we have 25 people participate and we all rate 25 apps, it shouldn’t take more than about an hour of your time. We probably want to spread it out over several days to make it not look like we are trying to game the system.

And you might even get a sales bump after you set it back to pay. Yes, you will probably give away your app to some people who stumble upon it being free. But that’s the price you’re paying for the advertising.
[import]uid: 19626 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 99519[/import]

#17

I like the idea of making paid apps free for a short time.

Count me in, if we can start something like this. [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 99594[/import]

#18

@robmiracle
I think you had an apple moment there lol. SIMPLE!

Yes, I agree. Free for a day, get a broadcast to go out to all subscribers that want to participate. Set up the day and do it.

I think that would be a good way to get feedback, good or bad. I’m a critical reviewer, but constructive. This is by far the best way (in my opinion of course hehe) to figure out what the REAL story is. Maybe you have a control issue you think is SO GREAT, but other people try it and are put off by it etc.

Robmiracle you hath recieved +100000 hit points!

-ng [import]uid: 61600 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 99605[/import]

#19

I was just looking at this post because I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my app some ratings without pay $1000 min for advertising. I’d be willing to put my game on sale for free if we can get something going. But I’m also willing to wait my turn because I know others are willing to as well who got here first. [import]uid: 59140 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 99613[/import]

#20

WOW! What a great solution Robmiracle! I knew if we get our heads together we could make it work and leverage our great and LARGE community. Maybe using Twitter to spread the word to a restricted number of people who join in? People who have free apps could of course join in in the condition that everybody in the group download and review apps of their fellow developers.

My hope is that no Corona developer would fail because of a lack of reviews/ratings for their apps. We could agree to a minimum of 3 stars and good reviews ( good but constructive) so not all Corona apps gets 5 stars all the time and may become suspect:)

Great job! I think you find the perfect solution to paid apps.

THANKS Rob!

Mo [import]uid: 49236 topic_id: 24220 reply_id: 99614[/import]