Some people are into bargains. They call themselves bargain hunters. But FREE?!? Isn’t everyone a “free hunter”?
In my last article, I wrote about the 7 things to consider when marketing an iPhone app. Now I want to dig deeper into iPhone app marketing that you can do for FREE.
Here are 3 places to market your apps for free:
- App Review Websites
- iPhone/iPod Touch Bloggers
- YouTube App Reviewers
These folks have LOTS of people approaching them, so you’ve got to be smart about how to contact them. Send them a personal email (or call them if possible) with good reasons why they should review your app.
Make sure to:
- Read their submission instructions carefully
- Include everything they request in your submission
- Explain what is unique/special about your app
- Share why your app is better/different from others like it
- Give them promo codes or something they can give away
- Send a fact sheet if you have one
- Link to a short (30 sec to 1 minute) YouTube demo of your app
- Give them a plate of warm cookies and/or a wad of cash
App Review Websites
Here are 20 App Review Websites to have on your list. I’ve placed them in order by their monthly traffic according to Compete.
| Website | Monthly Visitors |
|---|---|
| www.appshopper.com | 149,421 |
| www.toucharcade.com | 115,083 |
| www.appsafari.com | 75,798 |
| www.iphonehacks.com | 73,201 |
| www.148apps.com | 57,217 |
| www.appscout.com | 49,422 |
| www.appcraver.com | 47,143 |
| www.iphonealley.com/reviews/apps | 41,119 |
| www.apptism.com | 38,054 |
| www.iphoneapplicationlist.com | 32,526 |
| www.appleiphoneschool.com | 28,324 |
| www.appvee.com | 20,301 |
| www.appstoreapps.com | 19,374 |
| www.whatsoniphone.com | 18,667 |
| www.freshapps.com | 15,478 |
| www.iphoneappreviews.net | 14,032 |
| www.iphonefootprint.com | 13,200 |
| wwww.smokingapples.com | 13,092 |
| www.theiphoneappreview.com | 8,977 |
| www.apprater.com | 5,945 |
iPhone/iPod Touch Bloggers
Here are 5 iPhone/iPod Touch Bloggers to have on your list.
| iPhone Blogs | Monthly Visitors |
|---|---|
| TUAW | 685,705 |
| Apple iPhone School | 74,139 |
| Just Another iPhone Blog | 63,610 |
| The iPhone Blog | 10,582 |
| Apple iPhone Apps | 4,904 |
YouTube App Reviewers
Here are 5 YouTubers that review apps and have large followings.
| YouTube App Reviewers | Subscribers |
|---|---|
| iJustine | 629,292 |
| TysiPhoneHelp | 98,399 |
| AppStoreReviewer | 39,454 |
| bbsipodtouchhelp | 38,525 |
| iPhoneHelper786 | 13,470 |
Summary
Good luck in marketing your iPhone app, getting to that top 100 ranking, and making some money for all your hard work!
Questions? Comments?
Need more help? - You’ll find it in my How to Market iPhone Apps eBook
Updates
1/15/09 - thought you might find this post on Emanuele Vulcano’s success in marketing his iPhone app with no marketing budget.
2/19/09 – I stand corrected on App Scout. They are really more of a blog, than a review site. Thanks john888!
7/6/10 – Updated the lists of app review sites based on current traffic and used the WP-Table Reloaded plug in to make the tables!
Photo credit: laffy4k
{ 76 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi we are the makers of –I Water Clock– the new iPhone app that just came out last sunday, thank you for the advice on how to market the app, please email me if you have any qwestions, thanks, Abbo Design Concepts…!!
Peter,
Congrats. Can you share anything interesting you are doing to promote I Water Clock?
Brook
Very very interesting article, thank you…
Your welcome for the article and the link
.
i agree people do bargaining… but never seen people asking it for free.. even if you give it free they wont accept all services, it depends on service..
Hi Brook, No web site yet, sorry! Great work your doing!! Hey, I was just wondering, could you please tell me who to contact. someone that is trusting enough and wont steel my idea when I tell them about my app idea, I really need someone to help me build an app for I-Phone? Also, are there any app builders out there who will work on a % split, like a partner for example? Please advise.
Thanks, Joseph
Hi Joe,
Sorry I don’t know of anyone directly. I’d suggest you join the Google iPhone developers forum and/or some of the iPhone developer LinkedIn groups.
http://groups.google.com/group/iphonesb?hl=en
Go to LinkedIn and typed in “iPhone Developers”.
Cheers,
Brook
thank you! very useful article
WafflePrince,
You bet. Nice name by the way
.
Best,
Brook
Hello Brook,
Thanks for the great info. FYI: two of your links on the App Review Websites are not pointing correctly – #4 and #18.
Regards,
Christa
Christa,
Thanks so much for the heads up! Links are fixed.
Best,
Brook
Hi iPhone friends,
my new “4. Generation Time Management” App is now in the “waiting for review state” at Apple.
Hi there Diethard,
Hope your app gets approved quickly and that some of these tactics help.
Good luck,
Brook
Hi Brook,
thank you very much! I also created a free lite version, which is now in the AppStore: http://itunes.apple.com/de/app/firstthings-lite/id353155453?mt=8
.. and started with some twitter entries: http://twitter.com/ipapps
Diethard
I checked appscout and don’t think Appscout is an iphone app review website. it doesn’t have an iphone app catalog at all. did I miss something?
Thanks, great ideas.
I love the review sites, like World’s Best iPhone Apps
I know they’re also happy to review, and work with good companies, and good apps
Sarah
x
@Sarah
Thanks for the recommendation.
@john888 – hmmm…looks like app scout has gone in a different direction. I’ll add that to an update to the post.
I must say this is very informative. I will check out those sites one by one.
Thanks again for your effort in giving such a good list.
@Mark – you’re very welcome!
Hi Brook,
This is a great article, definitely using it to promote my app. Please check out my app below and let me know your thoughts. If you have any more marketing advice please let me know.
App name: WCSoccer2010
http://itunes.apple.com/za/app/wcsoccer2010/id362278663?mt=8
PROMO CODE: NMY4ARHAY7NR
We’re putting together our media list now for an app we plan to launch in the next month or so (good spirits willing) so this is very helpful – thank you!
Question: do you plan to update this list anytime soon…?
@6th mega – I really DO NEED TO update this list soon, but honestly it may be a while. I’m in the final stages of my eBook so that is taking up my time.
Nice post….
Me too gonna launch an iphone app soon,it has been integrated with a website…
http://www.iphonegamepuzzles.com…..
help me if you can?
@merry – good luck with your upcoming launch! See the hire me tab for more info on more help.
Thanks for sharing!
I’m an italian developer with budget zero and this article is very useful.
If you want you can see my new app: ROMAN RECIPES, i added also english language
AppStore: http://www.sviluppoiphoneitalia.com/en/applicazioni-iphone/ricette-romane-le-ricette-di-roma-e-lazio/
@ Giulio – not sure how to say “you’re welcome” in Italian.
Submit your Hottest Apps: T3 App Chart
When it comes to marketing, you MUST have an app demo website. The best advice is to get WordPress to market it. Here’s a free premium iPhone wordpress theme you can use for your iPhone app:
http://www.rawapps.com/20743/wordpress-theme-for-iphone-app-demo-website-free-download/
@ Tech wiz – good addition, thanks.
I really think you guys need to add FreshApps.com to the list. I think is the best way. It’s free and you can cause your app to rise to the front page very easily just by getting people to comment on it and make it fresh. It may not be as big as some of the other players, but I’ve seen some good traffic for my app.
http://www.freshapps.com
To all of you developers,
We recently launched an iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch review site: http://www.appdiscover.com
We have a few professional reviewers on staff and are actively reviewing apps — about two a day — so I encourage all developers to sign-up to have their app reviewed at:
http://www.appdiscover.com/searchapp/appstore/developers/
You can see the reviews on our blog at http://blog.appdiscover.com
Thanks!
I’ve just released my App into the App store and I’ve used your recommendations on website submission. I will let you know how it goes
It’s only been the first 24hrs!
@Stuart – good luck!
@Michael – thanks for the update.
@J.J. – I’m working on a new list for this post AND FreshApps.com is on it! Thanks!!!
You kick-ass man!
Thanks Brook! Useful hints
Do you think cross-apps advertisement can work?
I wonder, if we could find other developers with the same target audience yet not our direct competitors to cooperate in promoting our products?
We’ve launched this inspirational calendar recently: itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/daily-blessings/id382444092?mt=8
Hi Olga – sorry for the late reply. Been moving. Cross promoting apps does work (of course there is NO guarantee it always works). If you have multiple apps you can cross promote them. If not, yes, look for others to partner with.
@Oded – thank you.
Thanks. Have submitted our Film Fest app to some of these sites. Thanks for putting the list together, appreciated.
@Jonathan – your welcome. Good luck!
Hi Brook,
I released a new app (KaleidoBalls:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kaleidoballs/id385448878?mt=8) on the 8th, and just started the promotion last night using your tips. I’ll keep you posted as to how it goes! Thanks for the great ideas and the “5 iPhone App Marketing Mistakes to Avoid” article (http://148apps.biz/5-iphone-app-marketing-mistakes-to-avoid/). I have a very limited advertising budget and am still not sure how to best spend it, but I’m learning as I go!
@Brent – thanks and best of luck with your launch & promotion!
Hi Brook,
i released a new game: Gatto Matto – Crazy Cat http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/gatto-matto/id375799661?mt=8.
Gatto Matto is a fun game of intelligence suitable for all ages.
In few weeks Gatto Matto is became the most selled italian game. The game is reviewed from Wired.
Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gatto-matto/id375799661?mt=8
@Guilio – congrats on your launch.
Hi Brook,
This info is great and we’re going to get started on it straight away!
Our app for Ignite Records came out last week and is available for FREE on the Apple App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ignite-records-uk/id392656571?mt=8
Features include exclusive music previews of unreleased material, new releases, YouTube, Twitter, Discography, Shows, Biography and many more!
Now following you on Twitter!
Best Wishes
Fionn Patrick
Ignite Records UK
We would love to have our site listed under the review sections http://www.appdictions.com!
@Fionn – congrats. Best of luck on your launch.
@Chris – let me check it out. If I like it, I’ll surely add it. Thanks.
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