Writing and Sending Press Release...any recommendation?

raymng · August 2012

Hi, I am looking for a service provider to write and sending out press release for my iPhone app...
If you have some good or bad experiences, please share it here, thanks!!

Hercule · August 2012

A classic: prmac ?

raymng · August 2012

A classic: prmac ?

Yes, I heard this one, any more?

alan@appromoter.com · August 2012

we offer a package that covers all the main press release wires and because we get a discount it tends to cost less. Email me for more information: alan@appromoter.com. Also, it's free to get your app on appromoter and is good for extra exposure so take a look: www.appromoter.com.
Regards, Alan

beginningiosdev · August 2012

prmac seems to get the best reviews

raymng · August 2012

Do I need to submit those press release regularly? How often if I need?
Thanks!

sylvainww · August 2012

Prmac is pretty good. Haven't tried what Alan suggested (yet).

You've probably finished it by now but just in case, here's a blog post with few tips (and a structure) for an app press release http://www.apptamin.com/blog/write-press-release-app-launch/. Hope it helps!

chrismaddern · August 2012

PRMac hits a great price point - it's worth giving it a shot, even if you can't necessarily track any specific ROI.

I played recently with PressKing - it's a self-serve PR database that you can pay-per-contact for. Their App database is a little thin, but it won't cost much either! :)

We've also taken a shot at sharing what we think are the most important pick-up points in writing and distributing a press release. (In case you choose to go-it-alone). I think there's a lot of overlap with @sylvainww's post above, but hopefully there's a few points in there that can be of some help..!

http://applaunch.us/blog/app-pr/how-to-write-app-press-release/

Cheers & good luck,
Chris

raymng · August 2012

Thanks, how often do you re-submit PR usually??

HemiMG · August 2012

PRMac is great, and it is well worth the price for the extended distribution. I also use PRLog. It can generate quite a few clicks, and gives useful statistics. It's also free, which doesn't hurt.
In fact, at the current moment, I'm browsing the forum as a way to procrastinate from writing a release to send to those two services. I was much more productive before the internet came along. ;-)

chrismaddern · August 2012

@raymng - We tend to advise (and do the same for our customers at AppLaunch) about 2 days. Nothing worse than receiving a bump on an email you hadn't even gotten to yet, but you want the news to still feel fresh.

Our press team will always do a little research for the follow-ups (which means that we don't necessarily chase everyone) to find the sites that we think would be a good fit, and tell them why we think they might like to cover the release. That tends to be very effective.

raymng · August 2012

chrismaddern said:
@raymng - We tend to advise (and do the same for our customers at AppLaunch) about 2 days. Nothing worse than receiving a bump on an email you hadn't even gotten to yet, but you want the news to still feel fresh.

Our press team will always do a little research for the follow-ups (which means that we don't necessarily chase everyone) to find the sites that we think would be a good fit, and tell them why we think they might like to cover the release. That tends to be very effective.

So after the first phase, do we need to submit PR regularly? If yes, how often to do?
Thanks!!

Mart · August 2012

Appromoter is great - you can create a decent mini page for your app for free BUT you can see it only if you're logged in - google doesn't list it.
I've tried gamespress.com
It's free! It gives you hints to write a press release. It allows you to add videos and screenshots at any time by just sending an email. Those guys are quick! As in Appromoter, you can reach the info there if you have an account. BUT after submitting my press release to them, it was distributed (for free) to several worthy websites. I don't know if it helped the promotion, but at least my App name became pretty visible in Google search results. My press release was spreading out :)

chrismaddern · August 2012

@raymng - You should absolutely generate press as often as is reasonably possible. 'Reasonably' however, means it must coincide with a new features or a new 'angle' on the App. Reviewers are people too and very quickly get bored of reading 'XYZ app exists' over and over again. Once every 2-4 weeks is reasonable assuming you're moving that fast :)

Our tips on how to write a successful press release may be worth a read: http://applaunch.us/blog/app-pr/how-to-write-app-press-release/

@mart - Agreed - appromoter is interesting and can get your promo codes in the hands of reviewers.

raymng · August 2012

Mart said:
Appromoter is great - you can create a decent mini page for your app for free BUT you can see it only if you're logged in - google doesn't list it.
I've tried gamespress.com
It's free! It gives you hints to write a press release. It allows you to add videos and screenshots at any time by just sending an email. Those guys are quick! As in Appromoter, you can reach the info there if you have an account. BUT after submitting my press release to them, it was distributed (for free) to several worthy websites. I don't know if it helped the promotion, but at least my App name became pretty visible in Google search results. My press release was spreading out :)

Appromoter is free? I checked, it should be paid service..

raymng · August 2012

chrismaddern said:
@raymng - You should absolutely generate press as often as is reasonably possible. 'Reasonably' however, means it must coincide with a new features or a new 'angle' on the App. Reviewers are people too and very quickly get bored of reading 'XYZ app exists' over and over again. Once every 2-4 weeks is reasonable assuming you're moving that fast :)

Our tips on how to write a successful press release may be worth a read: http://applaunch.us/blog/app-pr/how-to-write-app-press-release/

@mart - Agreed - appromoter is interesting and can get your promo codes in the hands of reviewers.

I see, I just afraid reviewers would ban my app if I am sending out PR too often.
If it is normal to send PR for new features, do you think I should stick with one distribution agent or joining a few agents?
Thanks.

Mart · August 2012

raymng said:

Appromoter is free? I checked, it should be paid service..

Yes, it's free for the first 3 months

chrismaddern · August 2012

@raymng - I would try to find what works for you, your App and your user-base. Not all services are equal for different types of Apps. e.g. we at AppLaunch are currently weaker for Education Apps (not many contacts - just a distribution list), but much stronger for Games and Utility Apps with connections at most of the big blogs and review sites.

Once you've found what works for your App, stick with it, but until then, I'd recommend trying different services to compare the affect that your releases have with each.

raymng · August 2012

chrismaddern said:
@raymng - I would try to find what works for you, your App and your user-base. Not all services are equal for different types of Apps. e.g. we at AppLaunch are currently weaker for Education Apps (not many contacts - just a distribution list), but much stronger for Games and Utility Apps with connections at most of the big blogs and review sites.

Once you've found what works for your App, stick with it, but until then, I'd recommend trying different services to compare the affect that your releases have with each.

Thanks a lot! To be honest, I hate tracking sales from different sources, you always can't get a definite answer..

chrismaddern · August 2012

Yeah - it's very difficult (and time-consuming) to objectively monitor the success of campaigns, but you will notice the difference between a successful and not-successful campaign in your search results and hopefully in App sales :)

chrismaddern · August 2012

@soum500 - not a bad idea if what you're looking for is a distribution service that will put your Press Release in loads of decent-PageRank, no user situations. In my experience - that doesn't drive downloads at all, it may help with your domain authority which could help downloads in the long run if you funnel people well from your website to the store.

Most of the best campaigns won't be focussed on spraying the internet with copies of your release, but rather getting it in to the hands of people that actually have an audience of App users to promote it to, where they will write an independent, original review. That is what we've found to drive actual value for developers - getting it to people whose audiences will pay them.

raymng · August 2012

@AppLaunch: Except sending out press release, do I still need to submit my app to other app directories? Thanks.

chrismaddern · August 2012

@raymng Absolutely. That's more where we focus anyway. Direct contact with App reviewers is #1 for getting reviews on those sites. I've always found Press Releases are good for picking up a couple smaller reviews (a lot of big review sites just ignore Press Releases or filter them based on keywords they're interested in). Press Releases do also occasionally pick up something crazy like a TV Show covering it or an interview request for mainstream media (had that happen for a couple clients very recently).

Lars · August 2012

For sending a press release - checkout PRWeb. It will absolutely cost more than PRMac (like 10x as much) - and I'm not going to say if it's 10x worth it or not. A few things that I do like - it's has a huge reach, it hits the major newspapers & tv stations as well as other major publishers. Any links included hit back directly to your website increasing your traffic ranking. I went with them because I found several of the top selling apps use them, so I figured why not follow in the footsteps.

As far as a writing service, I hooked up with odesk.com and hired a professional writer. I was able to see a lot of his work ahead of time and it worked out well.

raymng · August 2012

chrismaddern said:
@raymng Absolutely. That's more where we focus anyway. Direct contact with App reviewers is #1 for getting reviews on those sites. I've always found Press Releases are good for picking up a couple smaller reviews (a lot of big review sites just ignore Press Releases or filter them based on keywords they're interested in). Press Releases do also occasionally pick up something crazy like a TV Show covering it or an interview request for mainstream media (had that happen for a couple clients very recently).

It seems you are providing more human-like pr services, I may join you later.

raymng · August 2012

Lars said:
For sending a press release - checkout PRWeb. It will absolutely cost more than PRMac (like 10x as much) - and I'm not going to say if it's 10x worth it or not. A few things that I do like - it's has a huge reach, it hits the major newspapers & tv stations as well as other major publishers. Any links included hit back directly to your website increasing your traffic ranking. I went with them because I found several of the top selling apps use them, so I figured why not follow in the footsteps.

As far as a writing service, I hooked up with odesk.com and hired a professional writer. I was able to see a lot of his work ahead of time and it worked out well.

Thanks for your information. You said PRWeb hits many important media and publishers, but I think PRMac would also send PR to them, so what is the difference? PRWeb has better relationship to those media?

Could you PM me the contact of the pro writer if possible?

Thanks!!

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