Marketing Your Mobile App

Between Apple’s App store and Google Play, there are approximately 1.7 million apps. Of those, very few will achieve popularity and success. The reason? Most app developers aren’t able to combine a great product with a great marketing strategy. The first is obvious, if your app isn’t of high quality, nothing else matters. But even great apps can remain undiscovered if the developers fail to market them effectively. There is the occasional app that goes viral without any type of advertising on the developer’s part. But in most cases, if you want your app to be downloaded, you need to market it. So if you’ve got a great app, but just need to market it, here are a few pointers.

Start With Existing Relationships

Chances are, you’ve already got a base of people you can start with. If you are trying to launch an app to help your small business grow for instance, you’ve already got your customers. Get them excited about your mobile app and they’ll be more likely to download it. If you’re developing game apps, start with players who have downloaded other games you have developed then branch out to players who have downloaded games similar to yours.

Paid Marketing

The most difficult step for most app developers is the paid marketing. After working hard to develop an app you know is great, you may be tempted to think the app will sell itself. This isn’t the case. Almost every app on the top charts got there because the developers invested the money to get it there. To get your app seen you need to purchase ad impressions. Ideally your revenue per customer will exceed your cost per customer.

A Few More Tips

A mistake many app developers make is trying to test too many channels at once. If you try to advertise your app across 50 different platforms, you won’t be able to discern which ones are working and which ones aren’t. If on the other hand you test out a few marketing partners and social media sites at a time, you can separate out which channels are effective and which ones aren’t.

Another mistake developers make is getting too attached to their ads. Sometimes you create a perfect ad that generates a lot of success. It can be hard to move past it but to remain successful, you need to continually develop fresh advertisements.

It’s important to look beyond the cost per install. When considering how much to pay for ad impressions, keep in mind that geography and device type play a huge role. Players in wealthier areas using newer devices are going to spend more on apps that players in poorer areas on cheaper devices.

It’s also important to track where your customers are coming from. While no tracking system is perfect, it’s important to try your best to know how your customers are finding out about your app. If you don’t know how they found it, you can’t know which of your advertising channels is working.

Finally, you need to make sure that your marketing efforts are profitable. In order to know whether your efforts are paying off, you need to pay close attention to your profit margins across all channels.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  venturebeat.com/2013/12/06/a-great-appgame-is-required-but-not-sufficient-for-success-in-mobile-marketing/

New iPhone Concepts From Fans

Apple fans are some of the most crazed ones out there, and they have been working hard coming up with new iPhone designs. It’s pretty convenient for Apple that hasn’t been able to come up with a good redesign since Steve Jobs died. In fact, Apple should probably consider doing some sort of competition to bring in more ideas like this and hopefully bring forth a new phone in the coming years. Here are a few examples of things cooked up by crazed fans for the next generation of Apple products.

Super-Thin iPhone

Apparently, the fans want thinner products. With technology it seems thinner is better with everything. This includes laptops, TVs, phones, and more. I guess that’s why the fans came up with the iPhone Air idea. More or less, according to Value Walk, the phone would be as thin as air. It would be just like the iPad Air but a little bit more extreme. The image of the iPhone concept has no border around the screen with the exception of a small border on the bottom of the phone for the main home button and a small border on top for the camera and ear piece. The edge to edge screen is pretty popular in up and coming smartphone concepts and could be seen very soon.

Curving Your Phone

With curving phones a reality now, since they are already been sold by other phone manufacturers, the Apple fans have come up with an iPhone 6c concept that curves to your face. The phone would still be pretty flat, but the screen would curve just to make talking on the phone easier. It is an interesting concept that wouldn’t make any difference to the hardware in the phone. Really, it would just change the shape of the phone. Many iPhone concepts are like that.

Same Old, Same Old

Have you noticed that Apple hasn’t been able to innovate in quite some time? Oh wait. It came out with the iPad mini, but that wasn’t very innovative. And then there was the iPhone 5c idea, but that was more about marketing and selling more products than innovation. Apple seems to stick with the same old thing with every new product. But is Apple’s same old thing plan any good? Maybe it is.

As a well-known technology company, Apple doesn’t want to just follow the crowd. It wants to be the leader of the crowd. By following the crowd, Apple might be giving up any chance of being the leader again. And many of the new fads in the technology world fade away pretty quickly, so it may not even be worth all the money it would take to get involved. Maybe Apple’s plan to stay out of all the hussle and bussle while coming up with its own new innovations is good afterall. The idea is to stick with what they already know and hopefully come up with something even better. Don’t waste money on new product until you know it is going to work.

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Source: valuewalk.com/2013/12/iphone-air-and-iphone-6c-concepts/

Samsung Note 3 Lite just like iPhone 5c

Samsung has been fighting its way to the top, and is actually doing really well with sales. The fight between Samsung and Apple may be well worth it, for Apple that is, if Samsung keeps up the progress. More and more people are using the Galaxy Note, and that means fewer people are using iPhones. But it seems Samsung might be copying Apple afterall by releasing a cheaper version of the Galaxy Note 3, the Note 3 Lite.

Just Like Apple 5c

Apple released the Apple iPhone 5c recently to offer a less expensive version of the iPhone. It was released at the same time as the iPhone 5s, and was a cheaper version of the iPhone. It didn’t have nearly as many new features and was, more or less, just the iPhone 4 refurbished. The lower price tag made a big difference for a lot of buyers, even if the phone doesn’t have any of the new features in the 5s.

Just like Apple, it seems Samsung Galaxy wants to please everyone. The Galaxy Note 3 has been doing very well with over 10 million units sold in the last 2 months. The price tag is high though, according to the International Business Times. Buying the Galaxy Note 3 without a contract is $700, and even with a contract it is still $300. That’s a price tag that a lot of people just can’t afford. Though there have been reports on the Note 3 Lite price tag, it is expected the price will be significantly lower to reach out to a larger audience.

Features of The Note 3 Lite

The Note 3 Lite will have the same size screen as the regular Note 3, but the screen will probably be LCD. Some of the other features you can expect from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite include a less-powerful camera at only 8 megapixels, a less powerful hard drive, and less room for storage. By lowering all these features just slightly compared with the Note 3, the Lite is able to save a lot of money.

Will It Do well?

If the rumors are true and a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite is really on its way, it won’t actually be revealed until sometime early next year, probably at some sort of worldwide conference. However, if it is true, the phone will probably do just as well or better than the iPhone 5c. Though the 5c brought in more new Apple customers, most people who already owned an iPhone got the 5s. The same will likely apply with the Note 3 Lite. People who already own a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 won’t get the lower model, but it will definitely bring over some new customers. The only real difference is that Samsung’s customer base for the Note 3 is a lot smaller than Apple’s iPhone customer base. That means that there are a lot more people who Samsung could easily convert into new customers with this new phone.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: ibtimes.com/samsung-galaxy-note-3-lite-release-date-coming-low-cost-high-end-galaxy-note-3-variant-reportedly

Samsung and Apple: The Winning Side

Samsung and Apple are at it again in court battles all over the world. With Apple’s claims that Samsung has stolen patented technology and Samsung claiming Apple is lying and has actually stolen some of the Samsung technology, the battles just keep on going. In fact, Samsung has tried to get Apple banned from its home country recently. That may not have gone as well as planned.

Getting Apple Kicked Out of South Korea

South Korea is the home country for Samsung, which is why the cell phone manufacturer though it had a shot trying to get Apple products banned. Samsung thought South Korea would see its side of the argument and recognize Apple stole a bunch of its technology in recent years. And Samsung wasn’t just going after iPhones. It tried to get all products banned that may have infringed on Samsung’s technology, including iPhones, iPads, and iPods. The court wasn’t going to give in that easy though. It turns out Apple will be able to keep selling in South Korea for now. That doesn’t mean Samsung won’t keep trying though.

Samsung Not Happy About It

A spokesperson from Samsung explained that they are very disappointed in this decision, according to PC Magazine. She said, “As Apple has continued to infringe our patented mobile technologies, we will continue to take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights.” It seems Samsung has been losing a lot of court battles with Apple lately and has even had to pay out settlements to Apple in the last year on multiple occasions. Yet, the fight for who should be on top continues.

Will It Ever End?

You might be thinking to yourself that all this fighting in court is getting them nowhere. Apple and Samsung are not any better off after the legal battles. One wins, and the other wins, and they just keep going to court over every little legality. Is it even worth it? Well, the truth is that neither of them will ever stop. If Apple decides to stop, they will just get sued into the ground by Samsung, and vice versa. The only way to really stop fighting over everything like this in court is to have both companies decide to stop at the same time. And we all know that is unlikely.

Meanwhile In The States…

Meanwhile, back here in the states, the people don’t even care about the legal fights anymore. There was a time when people got more involved and were interested, but now it has just become the same old tune. People buying their smartphones can still choose between Samsung and Apple for their devices. And that is exactly what we want. We like being able to choose despite the fight Apple and Samsung are constantly dealing with. And the best part of the options here? We can even get the new Apple iPhone at Walmart without a contract, according to the Huffington Post. You can have your cake and eat it too, and that’s what being American is all about.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428270,00.asp

huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/12/no-contract-iphone-walmar_n_4433304.html?utm_hp_ref=business

Make Your Text Marketing Campaign Better

Small business owners are all about starting marketing techniques that could really bring in the big bucks. But that’s all they can manage to do sometimes. Actually managing all of the new marketing can be much more challenging. How many business Facebook or Twitter accounts have you seen that haven’t been updated in a couple of years? Probably quite a few. The truth is that this is the best time to get back on top of your text marketing, and shine once again.

Polishing Your Shoes

Right now, when the holiday shopping season is in full bloom, getting your text marketing up to speed is more important than ever, or getting text marketing set up for the first time might be what many need to do. Maybe you got it set up but rarely use it or use it but not as effectively as you could. According to The Grio, even if you have already used text marketing effectively, there is still definitely plenty of room to grow and do better. Here are a few ways you can use text marketing better this holiday season:

Target Different Audiences

A text selling Christmas pinatas will be written very differently from one that is selling holiday horror books. Make sure you know your audience. It may even vary based on the kind of product you are currently advertising. Make sure you are not putting anything offensive in the text message, and keep track of how your audience responds to texts sent. It will also help you prepare the next batch of texts.

Getting More Personal

With modern texting programs, you have the ability to communicate with your customers. It is no longer about just blasting them with texts and hoping they respond to one of them. Instead, they can ask questions about current specials or store hours. With open communication instead of just a one-sided conversation, you have the ability to reach more customers on a personal level, and getting personal means getting more repeat business.

Doing What Everyone Else Does

Sometimes, following the crowd isn’t such a bad thing. People respond very well to discoutns. Don’t overdo it, or you could end up losing money every day like JCPenney. Instead, offer special discounts to the people subscribed to texts. This kind of text marketing, done once a week at the very most, lets your customers know you value them and the business they bring to you. On top of that, it feels fairly exclusive. Let’s be honest, all your customers really want is a good deal. It’s nice to have everything else, but a good deal right before Christmas could be what makes the difference between no customers and more sales than you can imagine. Since almost nobody will make the trip all the way to your store and buy only one thing, you can be sure you’ll have more sales.

Getting involved with text marketing is worth your times, especially for those who haven’t even begun. Get started today to bring in much more business.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

thegrio.com/2013/11/22/sms-marketing-why-mobile-sms-marketing-to-drive-holiday-sales-is-smart-for-black-businesses/

CTE Evident In Number Of Football Players

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is an increasingly degenerative disease of the brain, which is found in individuals who have been subjected to repetitive traumatic head injuries, such as concussions. Concussions occur when the head is hit so hard that the brain strikes against the skull, causing trauma to the brain tissue. CTE can occur within a short period from the time of the injury or make take several years before symptoms of memory loss, aggression, confusion, and depression start to appear and can only be fully diagnosed post mortem.

Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist and a forensic pathologist, found evidence of CTE in five former American football players, and since 2008, eleven additional players have been diagnosed with CTE. The 2010 autopsy of Owen Thomas, a 21 year old lineman, made him the youngest amateur football player to be diagnosed with CTE. Last year, Dave Duerson committed suicide and left a note requesting that his brain be tested for CTE and his autopsy confirmed the presence of the disease. The latest casualty of CTE may be Junior Seau, a 20 year veteran of professional football and the most recent alleged suicide among players.

Medical Malpractice Law News Brought To You By www.HaskelLaw.com

Picking A Smartphone: The Best Voice Possible

When you decide which smartphone to buy, there are probably a lot of personal factors that go into it. You have to decide what is right for you based on your current personal needs and personal income. Of all these factors, though, how many of you have considered getting a phone based solely on the help you can get when you talk to it? Well, that’s the next big thing. Everyone needs someone telling them what to do.

Siri Gives iPhone An Advantage

A huge reason why people have been more likely to choose the Apple iPhone over other smartphones is because the iPhone has Siri. When you speak into the iPhone asking for directions or asking it to call someone, “Siri” responds. Siri is just the name of the voice responding. Sometime, the female voice will even give you jokes or respond humorously to the things you ask. It is a great way to keep yourself entertained and get all the information you need while on the go.

Are There Any Other Options?

In the past, there have been other competing programs attached to smartphones, but nothing that could really compete with what the Apple iPhone offered. The good news for smartphone buyers is that Android offers a voice-based search service that rivals Apple. The program has been available on Androids for a while but has just recently gotten much better than ever before. All anyone wants now and days is voice recognition technology to make our lives a little easier every day. That is why Google and Android have been working so hard to improve these technologies.

Improved Ratings From Last Year

A test done by Gene Munster every year is what helps determine how well these voice-recognition programs are really doing. He asks both an Apple iPhone and Google Android 800 questions and then give them a grade based on how well the questions were understood. Android saw a huge increase over last year going from a D- grade to a C+ grade. The Apple iPhone has a C+ grade as well, putting them pretty much on an even playing field. Apple also showed some improvement though going up from a C grade last year, according to USA Today.

Are They Even?

Yes, it is true that Apple and Google are pretty equal when it comes to voice-recognition and maps, but are they same in every other way? No. In fact, Apple’s Siri responds to much more about your life than just navigation. It helps you keep track of your contacts, talks to you, and can even do better online searches than you can. Google’s voice navigation recognition is only good for finding your way around, and sometimes you need a little more than that.

The snag with Siri is that it uses Bing for all searches instead of Google, most of the time, which could be a problem for some people who rely heavily on Google searches. It might not be terrible, though, considering past allegations that Bing just copies Google’s search results anyway.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/12/10/google-voice-apple-siri/3953019/

Switching From Android To iPhone

We’ve heard a lot lately from Google’s Eric Schmidt suggesting everyone who owns an iPhone switch over to an Android. He keeps saying it is the better phone and that everyone needs to switch, and he even created a how-to guide for moving everything over. His wisdom was helpful for those who decided to make the move but seemed a little irritating for Apple lovers. Apple, on the other hand, took a less abrasive approach to stealing customers.

Creation of The iPhone 5c

Everyone has looked at the 5c as a complete failure because way more people are buying the 5s than are buying the 5c. But maybe that wasn’t the point, according to CITE World. In fact, it seems as the iPhone 5c may have been very successful if Apple’s marketing strategy was to get more new customers. The cell phone market has gotten to the point where phone makers are no longer focused on getting new customers but are now much more focused on stealing customers from competitors. Hence Eric Schmidt’s recent attempts to steal iPhone users for Android. the iPhone 5s was very popular among users who already had an iPhone, but people who were switching from Android were much more likely to get the iPhone 5c. Apparently the cheaper price point was worth it for a lot of cell phone buyers.

Many Reasons To Choose The iPhone 5c

There are many reasons to choose the iPhone 5c, but the biggest one is definitely price point. It is really expensive to buy a smartphone let alone pay for the plan every month to get talk, text and data. But for those deciding to make the move to iPhone from Android, the decision may be as easy as the cost is low. Especially for families with teenagers or people who simply cannot afford a $500 phone every time they want or need an upgrade.

Will You Make The Switch?

The question now is whether or not you will switch. Whether you are switching from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android, you will have to decide whether or not it is worth it. For some people, it is just way too much work to switch. If you already have an iPhone with a ton of apps and music on it, then the work to get all set up on a new phone might be way too much. On the other hand, a clean slate might be just what you need to convince yourself to finally clean up your phone. If you are going to switch from Android to iPhone, you will have to give up the ability to do whatever you want with your phone. Apple is very restrictive about the apps that are allowed, the music that is allowed, and wants to have control over everything. Android, on the other hand, lets you do whatever you want. There are definitely bonuses to both brands, so it really just depends on what your priorities are.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: citeworld.com/mobile/22758/apple-iphone-5c-strategy-working

Apple Trading Well After Expansion Plans

Apple is one of the most popular brands out there when it comes to electronics. They pretty much dominate the world of tablet and MP3 technology. The iPad, iPhone, and iPod are on every street corner along with Apple computers. But how is Apple doing on the stock market considering it hasn’t produced a lot of new stuff since the death of Steve Jobs. Maybe it will be doing just fine with new goals of expanding worldwide. Let’s take a look.

Trading Well On Stock Market

USA Today points out that Apple has been reaching all time highs on the stock market recently during trading. This indicates that the company has a strong following of believers who think it will be successful no matter what challenges come. There has been quite a bit of optimism surrounding the company recently because of a few deals it has been making worldwide to cell phone manufacturers everywhere. If you couldn’t get an iPhone on your mobile carrier before, you will probably be able to do so now or can do so very soon. Especially if you live in China.

Japan and China

NTT DoCoMo in Japan is a large network carrier that just recently started carrying iPhones. This brought much more of the world’s phone network to Apple and offered more opportunity to expand. For so long, Apple seemed stuck in the US, but now it can go anywhere. In fact, a new deal with China’s largest wireless network carrier China Mobile is brewing. This potential deal is another reason why stock prices are increasing. If China Mobile starts offering service with the iPhone, Apple will have a huge increase in its number of customers.

If you could only choose one way to expand a company, getting it sold in China is definitely the way to do it. With over a billion people in the country all trying to buy the latest and greatest things, it was definitely a smart move for Apple to start trying to move that way. Apple wants to become a worldwide provider to help boost sales, so that is what it seems to be currently working on.

Even Apple Still Uses SMS

Your business would do well to keep focusing on text marketing and building your business through SMS considering the expansion of smartphones that Apple is trying to achieve. The main goal at Apple is not currently to steal customers from other manufacturers but to gain access to new customers. Mobile advertising may become the most powerful tool you have to reaching your customers throughout the whole world if this trend continues. Whether you are trying to sell globally to places like Japan and China or you are just trying to advertise to the people in your city, it can’t hurt to stay ahead of the trend and use text marketing. Most adults have cell phones, whether they are smartphones or not, and most of them will be happy to see all the offers currently at your store.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/12/03/apple-2013-high-china/3862107/

How Much Did Mobile Marketing Efforts Work?

Many businesses have been focusing their marketing efforts on SMS and mobile. The mobile marketing efforts have taken a lot of time and money, and a lot of focus has been taken from other marketing efforts. The real question, though, is whether or not these mobile marketing efforts actually worked. One good way to test it is to look at how Black Friday was affected by businesses texting instead of using other forms of marketing.

Black Friday: Was It Worth It?

If there is one thing we have noticed, it is that Black Friday was drastically impacted by the text marketing out there. Mobile marketing doesn’t have to be so hard when you have a business texting system in place. It is hard to see how exactly each business benefited from the mobile marketing techniques, but we can easily compare companies that beefed up text marketing compared with those who did no texting at all. For example, according to Mobile Marketing Watch, Best Buy did a huge texting campaign to consumers before Black Friday this year. It all started by simply asking customers to sign up for sale alerts that come when Black Friday deals are hot and throughout the entire holiday season. Best Buy was able to see huge profits from Black Friday because of these efforts.

Not Just A Black Friday Scheme

Chances are, customers that signed up to get Black Friday notifications won’t unsubscribe to the service. They probably want to know what the good deals are all the time. This means that once you get them interested, you will have them hooked. Not only can you communicate sales and events to them, but they can also communicate with you. Asking about store hours, current specials, current promotions, and more is a lot easier when you have an automated text system that can respond to them and give them answers. It is not just something you do to get the word out for Black Friday. In fact, Black Friday may just be the way you get your customers hooked. There is no better time to get people to sign up for your texts than when they are all looking for a good deal. But then you have them, making it a lot easier to advertise to them in the future.

Did It Work For You?

We highly encouraged businesses to get on top of text marketing before Black Friday and to use it throughout the weekend to sell more product. One business explained that they normally didn’t get any more website traffic on Black Friday than normal days but had to be prepared this year with a new texting campaign. After getting customers to sign up and offering a Black Friday sale, the business was able to sell in one night more than twice what they sell on an average day. Were you able to make use of it? And did it help you at all? We would love to hear what you have to say!

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Source: mobilemarketingwatch.com/sms-marketing-made-a-big-impact-on-black-friday-37856/