How you promote your Ovi app?

[radeknati]

Hello,
Could you tell me the best way to promote my app? There are so many apps at Ovi Store that potential customers don't want view hundreds of pages with apps...

[jetrix74]

Thanks radeknati for bringing this up. I would also like to know. One popular way seems to be to make your app/game appear over and over again in the "new" listing. My latest game got published 36 hours ago and now it has fallen to page 15 on the "new" list, due to the old games that keeps reappearing on the "new" list.

[radeknati]

Thanks radeknati for bringing this up. I would also like to know. One popular way seems to be to make your app/game appear over and over again in the "new" listing. My latest game got published 36 hours ago and now it has fallen to page 15 on the "new" list, due to the old games that keeps reappearing on the "new" list.

could you tell me how to "refresh" app in the new lising?

I tried promoted my app in youtube, facebook and that's all - aha, and I created blog for my app - but it's not enough

[jetrix74]

I don't know how to do that, and even if I did, I wouldn't do that. I consider it to be a very lame way and it makes justified reappearances drown to the masses (ie. updated version with more levels, etc)

I also have facebook pages for my games..

[Jon Heron]

Good points and questions... I too wonder the best way to promote.
I notice the other app stores I sell my wares on have a rotation for the apps on the front page, that way everybody gets a shot at some exposure... My favorite app store mobiHand has a "deal of the day" promotion where they put up a sale every day on a variety of apps, if your lucky enough to get selected for the deal of the day the sales go through the roof, even though its at a reduced price the volume more than makes up for it. Also the sales seem to be higher at full price for a day or two after, I assume do to word of mouth... My partner and I hit the deal of the day last Saturday and we enjoyed an over 400% increase in sales that day!
Good discussion!
Jon

[radeknati]

Jon Heron, could you tell me more about mobiHand? Should I sign my app at Symbian on my own to sell it on mobiHand? Or they have free signing?

[Jon Heron]

Should I sign my app at Symbian on my own to sell it on mobiHand?

I would if I were you! Mobi doesnt have free signing though, but Handango does...
I used to get more sales on mobiHand and Handango then on Ovi, now that Ovi supports more devices for Qt the sales are abit higher on Ovi.
On the other app stores anyone with a symbian phone can buy your apps too, not just Nokia folks shop at the other stores...
Cheers,
Jon

[proberts]

If you have a free/demo version of your app, post it on Mobile9.com and create a torrent for it on mininova.org (both free)

Make both listings consistent with other listings on the site... i.e. on Mobile9 don't make it too "businessy" or look too much like marketing. Mobile9 community is very friendly, but very informal. For the torrent, make the title and a .nfo/.txt that look a little "warez" like - follow some of the other product descriptions (ascii art).Our torrents have good downloads (a little hard to track - you only know minimum downloads) but it's GREAT for SEO. The torrents get picked up over a few weeks by many different trackers. (We included a couple of extra pieces of content in the torrent version - stuff we weren't planning on selling or releasing through normal channels.)

[OviStewey]

Hi

You can use this link to promote your app

http://promotions.ovi.com/omt

Thank you

[vladest]

Hi Stewey

how to use the promotions?

[radeknati]

Hi
You can use this link to promote your app
http://promotions.ovi.com/omt

I've tried this before but it is to weak to promote the app, unless you have a lot of money to put this banners in online newspapers and other kinds of net-media.

[jetrix74]

I learned a new way to promote your app/game in OVI store. It's actually more like demoting others, lame but very effective since I could immediately see how that reflected to my downloads, when that happened to me. This is what happened in my case; I have a game in OVI that utilizes innerActives ad solution and it presents first ad after second level when playing. The full free game has 100 levels to play and someone did not understand that you can keep playing once you click the "skip" -button that is next to the ad banner. (it takes about 0.01 second to find that huge skip button) Then this person gave my game a review saying that "there is only 2 levels after which you have to buy the full game" which obviously is not true.

The review was in German language and I could immediately see the drop in downloads in Germany.

This info for the peple who are ready go to the dark side

[onedeveloper]

I would if I were you! Mobi doesnt have free signing though, but Handango does...
I used to get more sales on mobiHand and Handango then on Ovi, now that Ovi supports more devices for Qt the sales are abit higher on Ovi.
On the other app stores anyone with a symbian phone can buy your apps too, not just Nokia folks shop at the other stores...
Cheers,
Jon

This is very interesting information. Are you saying that you still get significant revenue portion from other application stores than Nokia Ovi Store?
Sounds like it is better to to submit the application to as many stores as possible, even if Symbian signing costs 200 USD. At the moment we are only on Nokia Ovi Store.

[radeknati]

I am also wondering about sale outside Ovi but first I must wait to earn 200$ in Ovi for Symbian signing

[radeknati]

The review was in German language and I could immediately see the drop in downloads in Germany.

This info for the peple who are ready go to the dark side

Yes, but it's very simple... there is no way out to delete bad reviews - publisher can not do it, of course. There are two points you can do being on dark side:

*** first you mentioned - download competitive app and add bad opinion of it
*** second - tell your friends about your app and ask them to download it, then they have to remember to add the best opinion (five or four stars)

Of course situation is complicated if your app costs something - you should pay your friends to download your app:-)

BUT THIS IS A DARK SIDE. NO ONE SHOULD CHOOSE ANY OF THIS WAYS