Developer group on linkedin

While we're on the subject of collaborative groups for developers, there is of course this one too, the palm sounds group on linkedin.

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Open Music App Collaboration Group

I've given this group lots of mentions on Palm Sounds, but just in case you don't know about it as yet it is really worth taking a look at this google group looking to bring app developers together to get apps working together.

In many ways this isn't about marketing at all, but about collaboration. However, from a marketing perspective, as apps adopt this way of working they'll be more attractive to users as interoperability increases.

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Is it worth having a SoundCloud group

SoundCloud's great, but having your own group is a decision that's worth taking a little time over. Whilst it can be great for users to be able to upload their work to a bespoke group for your app, it can also be isolated from other users who might be thinking about your app, and if no one uses the feature it could be a little demoralising.

If you start a SoundCloud group remember to feature any work that users put up on your blog and on your social media accounts too to show people what can be done, and wherever possible comment on users work with your app.

Remember, SoundCloud is a marketing resource for your app. When users make something and share it on SoundCloud you can make that into a promotional opportunity. This might sound a little bit over-commercial, but if it promotes your users work as well then I can't see anything wrong with it.

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How to we redeem the IAP?

Making money in the mobile music app ecosystem has flaws, there's no doubt about that, but it's a growing market and as such it has possibilities all of which have good examples of making them work.

I've seen developers create one app and make it work in the market by continually updating it and improving it. Of course, existing customers never pay for the upgrades and the only way of generating any new revenue is from new customers, but it's a growing market so that is workable in the main.

I've seen developers continually create new applications and put them in the market, but this is difficult as the code base to maintain continually grows and maintaining these apps is costly in itself.

The third model is to create an app with an in-app purchase store that allows existing users to buy new content and/or functionality for the app on a regular basis. However, this option is the one where I hear the most criticism of developers from users.

So my question today is what can we do to redeem the humble IAP, and more importantly, why does it seem so unpopular?

Establishing a platform within your app has always seemed to me to be a good idea. One of the first apps / developers to do this was RJDJ selling scenes in their app, and strangely I've never heard any complaints about this in app store. However, others have not been so well received. But why, and more importantly, what can we do to turn the situation around?

Of course, I could be wrong, and I could be hearing just the people who don't like the idea. Either way, I'd love to hear views from the developer community and the user community too. Tell me what you think.

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Making 'how to' videos

No matter how complex or simple you think your app is it's still worth making at least one 'how to' video. There are lots of reasons why you should consider this.

Firstly, if it's a complex application then users may need to see it before they commit to buying. Often users will want to gain a better understanding of how the app might work for them and also you can show innovative features.

A quick video can show how an app will fit into existing workflows especially if the app uses MIDI or audiocopy/paste, and help users to appreciate how they could use your app.

If you make a series of videos you can use this to showcase different features in your application and how they fit together.

You should also consider making sure that your video(s) are viewable on a mobile device, as many users will want to be able to have mobile access.

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6 uses for your promo codes

With every release you get 50 promo codes for your app (I believe), but what's the best way to make use of them?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Offer them to friendly bloggers to give your app a spin (if they don't have the app already). Hopefully they'll write about it, but also they'll see every update pop up in iTunes which will serve as a constant reminder of your app
2. Offer them via twitter through 're-tweet to win a code' type contests. This has the added benefit of getting your message out to a wider audience.
3. Offer them to bloggers to run promo code competitions. Many of you will have done this with Palm Sounds, but other blogs are running these types of competition too.
4. Offer codes to users who have complained about other apps you've made. If you have users who have complained, and especially if they are vocal about it then this might be a way to offer them something to help to repair the relationship.
5. Offer them to other developers as swaps for codes for their apps.
6. Give them to your beta testers as a way of saying thank you.

I'm sure that there are probably other ways too, but one thing I should add is that as you only have 50 codes per release you should make the most of all of them and not let them go to waste. They're an important and useful marketing tool.

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Some interesting insights from Retronyms and Korg in the Touchsound podcast

Whilst the podcast is really set up for a user audience there were some interesting issues that came out in the latest episode.

Retronym's John-Paul Walton talked about the launch of their new app Tabletop for iPad, and how they are approaching this as a new 'platform' for use with Partner developers for providing additional modules for the app.

Ian Bradshaw also gave some good insights into how Korg works and what has been driving their innovation.

Take a listen to the podcast here.

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Pricing: When to drop

Pricing is always a difficult subject for developers. What's too much, what's not going to give you enough to make what you need.

Some developers run regular price drops and promotional pricing, but when is the best time? Often it's worth having a reason to drop your price. Making your price drop part of an event of some kind gives it a reason. So perhaps you could think about price drops when your app hits an anniversary, or tie a price drop to an event, like a hack day, or something similar.

There are lots of possibilities, but make your price drop count by publicising it properly and making sure people know how long the price is dropping by and for how long.

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Make audio samples, it's important

SoundCloud is a fantastic tool for sharing audio, and can have a wide series of uses for music app developers. Here are a few to consider:

• Making audio samples available for new apps or for new features that are coming
• Demo songs / tracks to show users how your app can be used
• Featuring users work
• Making an upload to SoundCloud to an easy export option

Of these, possibly the most important is the first as users will very often want to hear what an app can do before  they make a purchase, so ensure that your preview samples are as good as they can be.

I hope that you find this useful. If you have suggestions for future articles or if there's anything in the article you want to discuss further then please email me at ashley@mobilemusicappmarketing.com. If you like this article then please consider sharing it using the buttons below. Tweet