Social Media

Describe Your App..Before Others Do!

by Mike Vallez on March 27, 2011

The number one location developers have access to to sell their applications is their app’s description in iTunes, the Android Market or another app market. Since iTunes is the largest we will focus on how iPhone and iPad developers can successfully use their app description to convince users to buy their app. Here are four tips on how to better compose your app description to increase your app sales.

1) Don’t be shy: This is where you the developer pull out all the stops and describe every feature of your app. Now, this does not mean be over technical and provide a description that only developers would understand, but think in terms of features. Explain what your app does and how it is going to make the users life either easier or more enjoyable (if a game). Be sure to boast about your app and don’t be shy to talk it up about your app. One key point, don’t make claims about your application that are beyond what your app is capable of doing. You will be called out faster than you can imagine in the user reviews if you make this mistake.

2) Honesty: Transitioning from the last point mentioned above, be brutally honest with your customers about your app whether good or bad news. For example if you become aware of an issue with your application and it is something that will take an update to correct then a good practice is to place a statement top of line in your description notifying customers you are aware of the situation and working to correct it. This does a couple things immediately. First it builds trust with your customer base and second this helps you to manage your customer service efforts better. The first place customers will go when their is a problem with their app is to the description to look for the support or customer service link. While working their way through the description they can see that you are aware of their issue and rest assured your are working to fix it. Here is an example of how to write an issue into your app’s description: “We are aware that the application crashes when trying to use the online co-operative game play mode. We have fixed this problem and have submitted an update to Apple. This issue should be resolved in 4 to 7 days.” This keeps users informed and reduces the number of nasty emails in your customer service inbox. You should also be honest about good news about your application, such as being featured in Apples New & Noteworthy or What’s Hot areas as this mentally helps users to make a purchase of your application because if Apple says your app is good then it must be worth purchasing.

3) Use your description space: All too often I will see an application description that is maybe a hundred words and usually bulleted. These app descriptions are usually confusing to me and I consider myself to be somewhat app savvy. Imagine how a casual app user feels when they go to purchase an application and there are 2 sentences in the description and 5 bulleted features with little clarification as to why users should purchase X app. This is a classic failure to communicate to potential customers what your application is all about. If your app has no features and only can muster 2 sentences worth of description than fine. For most apps this is not the case. Don’t be lazy with your application’s description and be sure to take your time to write a thought out description with the following parts: 1) Intro/teaser- critical information about the application that can stand alone if necessary 2) Body- bulk of description with features, reviews, in depth app history, developer history or any other information that is interesting about your app or that could help sell your app. 3) Links/Customer Service- Be sure to provide links to reviews that have been completed on your application. Include YouTube videos and if you do not have a video of your app in action consider having one made by CrazyMikesapps or another reviewer. Although, links are not hyperlinked in the description they are still relevant and can be cut and pasted from the web browser version of your applications iTunes description. Finally be sure to provide app support and or customer service website links for all of your applications. There is nothing that will hurt an application more than if there is a negative issue with an app and there is no way to inform the developer.

4) Ask for feedback: One of the very best places to get honest information about your application is from your customers. Think of this as your best focus group possible. Why? Because your users have either downloaded your free app or purchased your paid app for whatever reason, most likely because your app either solves a problem or provides enjoyment. Ask your users for tips on how you can make the app better. You will typically get solid feedback, which can help you make future versions of your application better. Additionally, ask users what other features/game play they would like in your application. Sometimes they may provide you with development ideas you may have never considered. Be sure to give your customers credit if they give you a development idea that you use and it makes your app better. Put a shout out in your “Description” and you will win over a customer and show other customers that you listen to customer feedback, which builds trust.

The app description is the #1 place to convince and convert app browsers to become customers. You can do this by providing a thorough explanation of your apps features, game play, provide industry review teasers, customer service promises, links to videos and anything else you can think of that helps to describe your application and what your app does. If your app description is lacking change it today and see if you can convert more app browsers into app purchasers. MV

{ 0 comments }

Why Your App Sucks! 4 Reasons to App Oblivion

by Mike Vallez on March 1, 2011

You have spent either your time or money in the quest to develop the next great iPhone/iPad or Android app to get rich. Your plan is to join the likes of Rovio Mobile or Backflip Studios with a hit iPhone app that will create an almost never ending revenue stream. But hold on a second, your app isn’t selling, in fact, it appears if no one has even heard of your app because your only experiencing a handful of downloads a day at best ( that is one hand, 5 fingers). Does your app suck. Possibly! Here are apps that I would put in the category of “sucks.” Apps that 1) have no purpose 2) are broke and get hung up in endless memory leaks. 3) crash continuously 4) and those that a normal person cannot figure out how to use. Maybe a little harsh, but you have a small window to make someone a happy customer for paying money for your app. After all what is the best marketing method, word of mouth by a satisfied customer. Here are reasons “why your app sucks.”

1) Your App Name Sucks- If you are making an application that is for example involving baseball, perhaps you should include this in your title. The iTunes App Store and most likely but not for certain the Android Market use a search engine algorithm to provide search results to customers. If I search iTunes for “business cards” in iTunes I will be served up several apps that have the word “business” in their title. While this makes sense it does not make sense if you have created a business card application and you name it “The Connection App.” While there may be a deeper meaning for your app name that is full well if your customers knows what that meaning is, but they don’t. The point is do some keyword research in iTunes or the Android Market for your app’s niche. If it is a cooking application, search cooking applications, cooking, baking, recipes, etc to find the keywords you may want to use for your app.

2) Your App Functionality Sucks Because You Rushed Your App To Market- You were so confident your “kick ass” app was going to rock the iTunes App Store or the Android Market that you cut some corners in the development process to push the app out early. Naturally, once the app hit the market you saw little to no return on your time or money. Stunned you tried to figure out what went wrong when all along you knew deep down you were taking a chance by submitting your app without all the bugs fixed. Take your time and fight the urge to submit your app before it is ready. The consequences could harsh by plummeting your app to the bottom of either app store and worse yet you may incur the wrath of the customer by a flurry of negative reviews. Make sure your app is as good as possible with all advertised functionality working, within reason.

3) You Forgot to Create A Website Thus Your App Sucks Because You Have No Marketing Base of Operations- If your selling an application you should, at a minimum have a basic website, blog, or Squidoo page to hock your wares. You need a base of operations to provide customers, bloggers, press, and others a place to find out about your app. This is also the hub of all your marketing efforts. You should have search engine optimization (SEO) set up for this website to pull potential customers in from Google for the keywords that best fits your app. How about a place for feedback from customers, or complaints, which leads to no customer service if you do not have a website. No customer service or poor customer service equals poor reviews on iTunes and the Android Market and lessens the chances of bloggers looking to review your application. Website can be developed and hosted for less than a few hundred dollars self hosted and in most cases you can even getaway with a free website from the many different blog sites or free websites.

4) Zero Competitive Research on Your Part Caused Your App to Suck- Instead of doing a little fact checking, due diligence, or research you skipped all of that and went right into the development process for your app. Once completed you unfortunately found out that there were about 10 apps that did the same as yours, or you were unable to get the app name you wanted because it had already been taken, long before you thought of your app. These kinds of problems can easily be avoided if you research your app genera. You may find that there is a lack of functionality that can be exploited in your app niche or that it does not make sense to make another tip calculator app since there are about 10 or 20 free ones already developed. Do your research, determine if you should create a totally different app than you intended to.

Don’t sell yourself short and let your app SUCK! Take your time, do it right, build a website, do your research, name your app the best possible name you can to give your app a chance at being found in the iTunes App Store and the Android Market. If you have tips on how to market your iPhone/iPad, or Android app please leave a comment below. Also, if willing please share your app horror story and how your app sucked! Thank you. MV

{ 0 comments }

How to Use Self Serve Press Release Services to Launch Your App

by Mike Vallez on February 17, 2011

Every iPhone, iPad, or Android app launch should include a strategic press release campaign distributed to multiple press release services to get the word out about your awesome app! You have worked countless hours on your iPhone, iPad or Android app and you do not want all that work to have been done in vain. Press releases give you the opportunity to tell the world (selfishly) why your app “kicks ass” and why everyone in the world should buy it. That is a little over the top, but not really. This is truly your opportunity to wordsmith your way to the top of iTunes or the Android Market. Now it is not quite that easy and I don’t want to overstate the use of a press release, but don’t underestimate press releases. Take for example this scenario, you submit your press release, decently written and it gets picked up by Wired Magazine. This single pickup of your press release could shed some serious exposure i.e. traffic to your website, iTunes, or the Android Market and increase app sales. But how do you write a press release?

Press releases should not be considered rocket science. You can find free resources by Googling the words “Free Press Release Examples” and you will get several decent examples of how to write a press release, some even provide instruction and explanations as to what goes where. There are also numerous sites such as PR Web and PR Mac that provide low cost do it yourself press release solutions. Each site also has an up sale product where they will write your press release and it is not overly pricey. PR Web has a huge reach to some 250,000 websites and over 30,000 journalists and bloggers. PR Mac’s real value is that press releases distributed by this site go almost strictly to Apple type blog sites and journalists (sorry Android folks) maybe someone should start PR Android press release services (domain taken, but not valid).

A press release must be used for the launch of an app and would also be well used in a pre-launch campaign to build momentum. But beyond pre-launch and launch there are other great opportunities to use press releases such as: 1) App Price Drops 2) App Update 3) Media Pickup of your App 4) Company Milestone and any other news worthy event to get your app out there on the web and on the top of mind of relevant bloggers and journalists. Another understated use of press releases is for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. By this stage of the game you should have a website to market your app. You use the link from your website, your app, and any other link relevant to put into the press release. Be sure to have the press release on your website already and at a minimum you will effortlessly build back links to your website, sorry if this is advanced, but this will help you trust me.

Press releases should not be considered only the area of the full service PR firms, at least not anymore. Use the low cost services of the press release sites and get your message out about your app. Be creative, use your imagination, and craft a press release that gets picked up my a major news website and it may be the best $100 you spent. MV

{ 1 comment }

Mobile Video Usage Explodes in 2010

by Mike Vallez on December 21, 2010

A few weeks ago YouTube posted unbelievable statistics on their blog regarding the massive amount of video uploads that occur on a daily basis. But how are people consuming this massive amount of video content? Apparently, an ever increasing amount of video is begin watched using mobile devices. According to MeFeedia and Nielsen mobile video usage exploded in 2010 and shows no sign of slowing down. According to Nielsen research users using mobile devices to watch video has climbed upwards of 43% compared to the same time last year.

MeFeedia’s research on mobile video consumption targeted the type of device being used to consume mobile video. Not surprisingly the iPhone leads the pack in mobile viewing, Android comes in second and iPad third. The iPhone and iPad account for roughly 52% of devices viewing mobile video. An interesting piece of information from MeFeedia’s research was mobile video engagement was 40% greater than PC/desktop video engagement.

What does all this mean? We are fast becoming a technologically mobile society, which will impact the way people obtain and consume information forever. These statistics are only the beginning and I would gather that in a few short years as mobile device technology increases the video consumption on mobile devices will continue to grow exponentially. Do you watch videos on your mobile device? If so how much, how often?

{ 1 comment }

How To #Fail At Twitter In 4 Easy Steps

by Mike Vallez on August 7, 2010

Update: 08/09/10 - The failure mentioned in this post was from a personal Twitter persona standpoint. This article chronicles how I lost my way Tweeting on my personal Twitter account with friends, associates, and people I meet on a daily basis. From a corporate perspective I see Twitter activity based on scalability and mission. Additionally, the intent of this blog post is to have a follow-up post that chronicles how I successfully regained my positive Twitter persona in 4 Easy Steps, look for this in a day or two. MV

Prior to 02/2009 I never participated in any social networking sites. Then a friend introduced me to WordPress blogging and Twitter. The result was an injection of social networking into my life that I had never experienced before. I became an active Twitter persona Tweeting daily and meeting new people regularly. There was a satisfaction of connecting with people all over the world with like thoughts and sometimes argumentative thoughts. All the same I was having conversations daily with cool people all who I met on Twitter. Then something happened that one would expect would increase a social networkers presence on Twitter.

July of 2009 I was transitioned into a full-time position as “Social Media Strategist.” Initially, I found myself Tweeting as I had prior to assuming this title, but slowly over a period of 6 or 7 months I fell off the Twitter grid. My failure was not due to lack of social networking enjoyment, it was due to scalability. During this time I had created 2 more personal Twitter accounts and 4 corporate Twitter accounts. As most of you know, trying to keep conversations going on 7 different Twitter accounts is impossible, even using TweetDeck, Seesmic, HootSuite, etc.

Here is how I failed in 4 easy steps:

1) Lost my purpose - The purpose of social media/social networking is to build community and community comes first. The minute you take your eye of this purpose in the social realm you may as well close your Twitter account. I took my eye off community in exchange for a larger community. Due to scalability I #Failed at building community and I lost my purpose on Twitter.

2) Too Many Twitter Accounts – The time it takes to cultivate and nurture conversations on a Twitter profile is significant. To continue an authentic conversation requires time and when I became responsible for 7 Twitter accounts I became overwhelmed. Granted 4 were outward facing communication channels, but nonetheless this contributed to my Twitter #Fail.

3) Went On Auto Pilot – Using HootSuite or another Twitter client to schedule Tweets is great, but once I traveled down this path it led me to lessen my non-automated Twitter activity. I let my accounts become robotic and people don’t respond to this type of social networking interaction. Even if your a Twitter celebrity, people are quickly able to discern the difference between an auto tweet and a real tweet. People want authentic conversations and by going automatic I #Failed.

4) Lost Interest – I know what your thinking, you #Failed on Twitter because you just got bored with it? No, I lost interest due to the 3 reasons above. My Twitter conversations dwindled and people lost interest in me plain and simple. I took myself out of the conversations and found myself a little lost trying to get back into the conversation.

People are smart and those on Twitter want to be engaged with other’s or they would not be there. Once you lose purpose, try to manage too many Twitter accounts, go on auto pilot you will loose interest in your Twitter activities. The simple reason is we as people can only focus on so many things and doing the above causes things to go out of focus. I encourage you to avoid the 4 steps I list above and keep your Twitter interest alive and well. MV

{ 123 comments }

What is Privacy? 5 Common Sense Tips While Social Networking….

by Mike Vallez on June 4, 2010

What exactly is considered private when it comes to social media and social networking? Since becoming involved in social media about a year and a half ago I have been a little astonished at what people share about themselves. MySpace has been the social networking website where both men and woman pushed the limits on how much skin is showed in uploaded pic’s. Seems like Facebook has surpassed MySpace with lack of clothing pic’s due to the shear number of users 465,564,340 (via http://www.checkfacebook.com/) and the numerous men and women in their undies, bikinis, or less.

I am not a prude and am not against girl’s in bikinis (not into guys in underwear), but there seems to be a lack of modesty and forethought when it comes to information (pics, videos, crazy status updates) being placed on social networking sites. Once information is placed on the web, you should assume it will live on the web forever, yes forever. People can save any images or text with a simple right click of a mouse and don’t assume because your privacy settings are set on Facebook or other social networking sites that any of your risque information won’t show up on the web (so called friends can share your information).

Another security/privacy issue to be considered while participating in social media/social networking is GPS location services. Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook, and most other social networking sites allow you to provide your GPS location. As a retired police officer I do not think this is the best of ideas for personal security reasons. There are websites like pleaserobme.com that are placing your GPS locations on their website once caught off the web from status updates along with the fact that you are not home encouraging criminal activity or at your residence i.e: burglary because you are most likely not at home.

Below are 5 common sense tips on how to prevent from unwanted privacy intrusions:

1) Don’t share naked pictures of yourself unless you are ready for the consequences – Hmm, what will my parents or kids think?
2) Don’t put anything into a status update you don’t want recirculated on the web – My boss John Doe is a #$%^.
3) Ladies turn off your GPS notifications from all social networking sites so you are not advertising that you are alone at a bar at 2am – There are creepers on the web you know.
4) Don’t always trust a picture of an individual on a social networking site because they are attractive – Things are not always as they appear.
5) Don’t list your cell phone number on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social networking website if you don’t want your privacy invaded – Ladies really, weirdos will call you.

As social media continues to change our culture our definition of privacy seems to also be changing. What was private 5 years ago is now a profile picture on Facebook or a status update on Twitter that potentially millions of people can see. I am not throwing rocks from my glass house as I have violated my own common sense rules a time or two, but consider your privacy current or future when participating in social media and social networking sites. Mike Vallez

{ 12 comments }

US Gov’t Pro Social Media, Law Enforcement Asleep At The Wheel!

by Mike Vallez on March 29, 2010

The US Department of State has jumped into Facebook amid a growing number of federal agencies that are doing the same. Other federal agencies involved in social media are the National Security Agency, US Army, US Navy, US Coast Guard, The White House, and many others. The federal government is clearly becoming a leader in communicating their message through “social networking” sites. But is the federal government setting the standard on how to be involved in “social media?” How about from a national security perspective? There are not a lot of private national security companies for obvious reasons. However, law enforcement is in the business of national security particularly post 09/11. So why is law enforcement so slow to respond to the obvious?

The obvious is that social networking sites offer law enforcement a new way to communicate to their consumers, constituents, and others. The “others” category is a group of people who transcend the the geographical area of a law enforcement agency and consist of web users, the world wide web. Typically law enforcement only communicated to their local citizens by television, news paper, or radio, which was geographically limiting. The web allows for a much broader audience even an international audience. Additionally, it must be assumed that a certain percentage of a law enforcement agencies local constituents are also involved in social networking sites. But, why would a law enforcement agency care to broadcast information to anyone other than their local citizens?

Because prior to the “blow up” of social networking sites in the last few years the web was primarily a reference tool to gather information and was not used as much for “social” online communication. The change in culture that has occurred is epic and is not a fade. People are consuming news from Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and other websites that were not typical news outlets, but are now. We all can agree that how people are accessing information has changed. A quick stat that supports this, “more than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week” on Facebook (Facebook Statistics). It is no wonder the federal government is getting on board with social media. By setting up communication channels on social networking sites they are to reaching out to a growing number of people who are gathering information from places like Facebook and Twitter and not from newspapers or television.

Hopefully law enforcement will see the value in getting their message out through social networking sites. Be it a press release, wanted person information, missing person information, crime prevention information and so on. The US government has invested in communication through social networking sites, specifically from a national security perspective maybe law enforcement will take this cue and get involved as well. Just to be fair, not each and every law enforcement agency is oblivious to using social networking sites. There are some using social networking sites to further their communication, however, in general law enforcement has not overwhelmingly jumped into the conversation just yet. Mike Vallez

{ 10 comments }

ToysRUs Great Customer Service | Social Media Squander

by Mike Vallez on January 29, 2010

During the Christmas shopping season my wife and I had a tremendous customer service experience at ToysRUs in Wesley Chapel, Florida. No offense ToysRUs staff reading this, but we ended up at this stores electronics department after coming up short at Best Buy. We had intended on going to ToysRUs to grab some board games, but never really thought of purchasing any electronics at this store.

After grabbing the board games we needed we headed over to the checkout line, until my wife mentioned something about checking out there electronics. I almost brushed this off, but anytime I can check out electronics anywhere I am game. The breadth of electronics selection obviously is not up to par with Best Buy or hhgregg. But the electronics they do sell are reasonably priced. They had a small selection of digital cameras, a nicer selection of iPod compatible radios (better than Best Buy), and a respectable selection of iPod’s. As we wandered around the counters we almost left, but Trevor a customer service fellow asked if we needed help. That little outward offer by this guy to a couple that had no intention on spending any cash on electronics at ToysRUs was the beginning of a great shopping experience.

Trevor was very knowledgeable of the cameras and he helped us get a 12.1 mega pixel camera for our daughter at a magnificent price, less than $100.00. We were unable to match this at Best Buy (sorry, not trying to pick on Best Buy, just saying). Trevor continued to ask if we needed anything else and we were in the market for an iPod Touch. Really, I had no hope of purchasing an iPod Touch at ToysRUs due to the Apple price controls. But, low and behold ToysRUs offered us a discount, not on the iPod Touch, but off the total price of our purchase and the discount was a ToysRUs gift card. That cemented the deal. Another customer service woman (forgot her name, sorry) helped us find a wonderful iPod Touch radio that also was on sale and she was personally knowledgeable of. My wife and I walked out of ToysRUs spending almost $400 with an iPod Touch, a nice digital camera, and an iPod Touch alarm clock radio, with a $25 gift card as well.

My first thought as a social media nut is to tell the world. As you can see I am a little late at that, but non the less I am telling the story. I did however, reach out to ToysRUs through corporate through an email, but got no response. I then scoured their website for any signs of social media (Facebook, Twitter, you know), but found nothing. A check of Alexa.com for ToysRUs shows their website to be the 310th most popular website in the United States, yet no signs of social media efforts. But hold on, ToysRUs does have a robust Facebook Fan Page with almost half a million fans. Weird that the ToysRUs company website does not have the Facebook icon or any mention of Facebook on their website or in any of the commercials I have seen for this toy store giant.

ToysRUs appears to be a company that gets it! When I mean gets it, they have customer service representatives that go out of their way to help customers, which in this day and age is hard to find. But, the squandered opportunity comes from not advertising their social media involvement, i.e. their Facebook Fan Page. Maybe they would have 1.5 million fans instead and increased revenue. A check of Alexa.com a website rating company showed the ToysRUs website to be the 310th most popular website in the United States, which means this is an extremely busy website, again no signs of social media. By not advertising their social media involvement they are probably missing out on thousands if not hundreds of thousands of customer loyalty followers.

My suggestion for ToysRUs is to clearly identify they are on Facebook and consider providing customer service on Twitter. They have a large customer base in stay at home mothers, work mothers, and stay at home fathers who probably spend hours a day on the web. By meeting their customers on Facebook and Twitter they have a huge opportunity to increase their brand and customer loyalty. I am a fan of ToysRUs and will continue to look for electronics at this store before heading to Best Buy, at least at times. CM

{ 0 comments }

Facebook Fan Page Basics-101!

by Mike Vallez on December 2, 2009

Facebook is the largest social media community in the world! In fact, I am sure most of you have heard that Facebook would be the third most populated country, if it were a country. So if you are a business, law enforcement agency, or anyone selling anything you should have a Faceboo Fan Page. Just to give you one more statistic if you’re not yet buying in. Facebook had just under 130,000,000 million unique visits for October 2009 and 2.5 billion visits overall. That last stat was “billions.” One last reason to set up your Facebook Fan Page is it is FREE, yep other than the time it takes to set it up initially and provide status updates, there is no cost.

First thing you will need to do is set up a Facebook personal profile account. Unfortunately Facebook at this time requires all Fan Pages to be attached to a personal profile. I suggest if you set up an empty or fake profile to attach your Fan Page to. A fake or empty profile is not one anyone will be using other than for your Fan Page. Remember to make the name for the personal account real enough and you will need a valid email address.

Now that you have your Facebook personal profile set up you click on help and search “how to create a Fan Page.”

You will have to go through and make some choices that best fit your company, business, brand, cause, etc. Setting up your Fan Page as a website is one of the easiest ways to create a Fan Page especially if you have a website (guessing most do). But there are plenty of other choices to choose to craft your Fan Page. Be sure to put in as much relevant information in all the areas you can to adequately explain “what” your page is about “what” you offer for services and or “what” your product is about. If you are promoting a cause then be clear with purpose, how people can get involved, and contact information. Be sure to add your website address, pictures of your business, events, activities (off line), and what ever else you want to jazz up your Fan Page. If you want to take your Fan Page to the next level you can also have a customized side bar made by twitterimage.com.

Spread the word! If you have or know anyone with a large Facebook following I suggest you as them to join your Fan Page and have them use their account to send messages to their followers to join your Fan Page. You may also want to consider advertising on Facebook. The advertising on Facebook is very targeted, I mean very targeted. You can target age, male/female, occupation, location, and more. A little inspiration. I have about 2400 friends on my Facebook profile and I have used this following to jump start a Fan Page I manage (Tampa Bay Crusader). By me suggesting followers from my personal account I have grown the Tampa Bay Crusader Facebook Fan Page to 389 followers in just 4 weeks. Not bad and results may vary, but with the information in this article you should be able to get your Facebook Fan Page up and running.

{ 13 comments }