I am pleased to announce that, after 3 years of development, Tarzender recently launched our sales application: SIMM. Although I am using this as an announcement, it is not the primary reason for this post.
I just want to clarify, when I mention ‘sale’ in this, I mean ‘download’. I will use the term interchangeably.
Before we launched I took a long, hard look at how we were going to go about marketing and selling our product. As a Business application, we have a slightly different marketing and sales model to most of the products that users of Corona usually create; however we do also have a free version (Go and pick it up at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tarzender.SIMM) that we’re using for customer education and for anybody too small to buy the full version (Lone wolf sales people, for example) Therefore, most of the marketing stuff that is put out by Google and Apple is not 100% relevant for us, but we do want to push the free version as it has in-app purchases (And is just a really useful tool)
Now, I know this will come off as crass, but I’m going to say it anyway: Almost all of the literature, tools and advice is rubbish. Please, before you switch off allow me to explain.
The thing that ticks me off
This is the bit that really gets my goat. I have come to my company from a technical background. I am, at heart, a programmer. I like computers, puzzles and anything that puts them together, so for me, sales is an area that is a little green for me. Knowing this, I did what I always do, I read. I ingested any and all literature I could get my hands on. Now if any of you have read ‘SPIN selling’ the writer, Neil Rackham, details a miserable month spent reading sales literature in all shapes and forms. I can whole-heartedly agree with his statement. There are mountains of total rubbish out there. Whats worse is that, for us especially, our field is brand new. There is almost no statistically based research worth anything published for our field. This makes us extremely susceptible to claims such as those used by marketing companies extolling the number of people they can reach.
They are draining you dry
I am frequently bombarded with emails about “Get $100 of free marketing on the store” which, if anybody has had a look, isn’t even a drop in the ocean in terms of marketing spend. A friend that used to work for a major app player imparted that they would spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to push their app to the top of the “Featured App” list and further informed me that its like an arms race amongst major players. You have to spend X more than your competitor to get to the top of that list. That means that, as individual and small developers, we are drowned out of the market, straight from the off. I have read innumerable posts lamenting the difficulty in penetrating their market and the ineffectiveness of the marketing services currently available, most coming to the conclusion that they are a total waste of money and that they drove no (or very little) downloads.
The problems doesn’t rest solely with the marketing companies. They are simply using their numbers to justify their expense. Their statistics may well be true but, as I said, you need a large capital investment to make it work.
Ok, so you’ve bummed me out, now what?
What is the solution? We’re in such an unconventional market that it becomes very difficult to plot a course through and increase our chances of success, especially when the market can change on a dime. Now, I am not claiming to have found the right course, but I can attest to the need for a coherent plan with a series of achievable goals. Personally I like mine straight forward and in steps (1. Blog every Tuesday 2. Research a industry ect.) Further, I like the idea of having a solid end game, within an achievable time frame) and a view to where this is taking me (A new job, 1000 downloads a day ect.) Then finally I fill in the steps in between. Not only does this
So whats the goal with this?
What I’m attempting to achieve or set in motion, is an area for us all to compare notes. I plan to try to keep you all up to date on how we’re doing, what we’ve tried, whats worked and what hasn’t. I think that, with some work, we can really put together a great knowledge base and help one another. I know that there is a great hole in the help that is published and we can work towards filling it. I’ve included my details, so don’t hesitate to get in touch! I appreciate all feedback either big or small
Follow us on Twitter: @Tarzender678
Visit us at: http://www.tarzender.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Matthew Harrop: Director at Tarzender Publishing
Get in touch at via email: Matthew dot Harrop at tarzender dot com