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I'm brand new here, but from my reading this is the place for app developer promotion discussions.
Months ago, I started developing a couple of apps. Researching how best to proceed with the business of app development, I realized there were real issues with existing PR techniques. I started designing a tool to help me with that.
So, of course, you know how it goes, the tool took over and I never got the apps done. But, I did (just) get the tool done, and I wanted to take it public and thought this was the best spot to do so. I think this is on track for a PR discussion, and hope you do as well. If not, please let me know.
Bottom line, I've developed a SAAS web site designed for app developers called Yazbi Home that is targeted at a major PR pain point. It's basically a promo/gift code dispenser on steroids that allows you to offer free copies of your apps for review purposes to anyone and everyone and still control exactly who gets your codes.
It's simple to use, but it has a ton of features. You might think of it as a custom URL shortening service with the URLs leading to landing pages which you can configure to control the dispensing of your codes. Best of all, it doesn't work per product. Instead it allows you to create an unlimited number of promotions per product, with a different landing URL for each, that all lead to the same pool of promo codes. You can send out calls for reviewers by email, Twitter, Facebook, press release and any other channel, service them all (in different ways) with the same pool of promo and/or gift codes and then download reports that describe exactly what worked best for you.
There's even a place to record confirmed reviews you've received so you can see a full life cycle picture from promo code to campaign to distribution to request to review.
So, I hope you guys find it useful and interesting and sign up. I'll check in to this thread for any feedback you might have and you can also contact me via the site.
It's brand new, so I'm still adding features. I'll offer bounties for bugs to early subscribers, and I am also hoping to shape the development of the product based on feedback from early adopters.
From your handle I suspect your reply might be slightly trollish but I take your points and thanks for the feedback.
First, re the trial mode, I've received several other comments in the same vein. So I modified the app, and now trial mode is a 30 day unlimited use Indie subscription that let's you promote up to 3 products at no charge for a month to get a feel for how Yazbi works and what it does.
Second, I'm no designer :-) This was done evenings and weekends and I kept the UI simple and dumb because that's what I am when it comes to graphic design. But the app works.
Third, I tried to put as much info on the page as possible without turning it into a wall of text. The thing is, I think Yazbi addresses a real pain point for app developers and I wasn't sure how to get that across to casual viewers quickly.
From what I've read, there is a gigantic tail of apps that get low revenue and a few that score big. When I was planning my development, I started looking at that, and it seems there are two ways to move up the tail. First, placement at the top of the app store listings. Second, getting mentioned outside the app stores by blogs, social networks and video reviews. The two are of course related, because people talk about what they use and they use what others talk about. So it was obvious that, for a well designed app, PR outside the app store was key to success. After all, they can't see your images, descriptions, ratings and reviews in the store if they never see (or even hear about) your app at all.
Then I started looking at promo and gift codes and ways to create buzz in the greater internet with them. I realized fairly quickly that promo codes, as commonly used now, are next to useless. If you keep them, no good at all. If you wait to establish an agreement and go back and forth with a reviewer about PR for your app before sending a code, too much friction and too hard to follow through and too many opportunities missed. If you just put them out there, bam! they vanish and you have no idea what happened or if they did you any good at all.
Yazbi is an attempt to solve that problem.
It allows you to create a pool of promo codes or gift codes, then send Yazbi links to anybody and everybody who might be able to do you some good. Not just the top 10 review sites, but journalists, bloggers, social networkers, authors, domain specialists that might use your app, other developers, anybody. You can send an unlimited number of Yazbi links to an unlimited number of recipients using an unlimited number of campaigns to classify your communications, all supported by one small pool of actual promo or gift codes.
When any of your recipients clicks on one of your links, they go directly to a page describing the product and code they're about to receive. Depending on your campaign settings, they then either get a code right away or you get to decide whether they get a code based on their identity/URL/description of what they will do with it.
So you get to communicate to hundreds, even thousands of potential reviewers with a tiny pool of actual code assets and you don't use any of them up until and unless a reviewer is interested. And you know who and you know how.
Sorry man but what you offer seems too expensif or me. It's just a PHP script.
You should offer 1 product promotion free, and make people pay to have extra stat (more than 1 product, who claim the promo code and when, review list, twitter/facebook contest etc..)
JimAbel
Posts: 3New Users
Replies
First, re the trial mode, I've received several other comments in the same vein. So I modified the app, and now trial mode is a 30 day unlimited use Indie subscription that let's you promote up to 3 products at no charge for a month to get a feel for how Yazbi works and what it does.
Second, I'm no designer :-) This was done evenings and weekends and I kept the UI simple and dumb because that's what I am when it comes to graphic design. But the app works.
Third, I tried to put as much info on the page as possible without turning it into a wall of text. The thing is, I think Yazbi addresses a real pain point for app developers and I wasn't sure how to get that across to casual viewers quickly.
From what I've read, there is a gigantic tail of apps that get low revenue and a few that score big. When I was planning my development, I started looking at that, and it seems there are two ways to move up the tail. First, placement at the top of the app store listings. Second, getting mentioned outside the app stores by blogs, social networks and video reviews. The two are of course related, because people talk about what they use and they use what others talk about. So it was obvious that, for a well designed app, PR outside the app store was key to success. After all, they can't see your images, descriptions, ratings and reviews in the store if they never see (or even hear about) your app at all.
Then I started looking at promo and gift codes and ways to create buzz in the greater internet with them. I realized fairly quickly that promo codes, as commonly used now, are next to useless. If you keep them, no good at all. If you wait to establish an agreement and go back and forth with a reviewer about PR for your app before sending a code, too much friction and too hard to follow through and too many opportunities missed. If you just put them out there, bam! they vanish and you have no idea what happened or if they did you any good at all.
Yazbi is an attempt to solve that problem.
It allows you to create a pool of promo codes or gift codes, then send Yazbi links to anybody and everybody who might be able to do you some good. Not just the top 10 review sites, but journalists, bloggers, social networkers, authors, domain specialists that might use your app, other developers, anybody. You can send an unlimited number of Yazbi links to an unlimited number of recipients using an unlimited number of campaigns to classify your communications, all supported by one small pool of actual promo or gift codes.
When any of your recipients clicks on one of your links, they go directly to a page describing the product and code they're about to receive. Depending on your campaign settings, they then either get a code right away or you get to decide whether they get a code based on their identity/URL/description of what they will do with it.
So you get to communicate to hundreds, even thousands of potential reviewers with a tiny pool of actual code assets and you don't use any of them up until and unless a reviewer is interested. And you know who and you know how.
That's what Yazbi is designed to do.
But see what I mean about a wall of text :-)
Jim
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0 · Off Topic Insightful Disagree Dislike Like AwesomeIt's just a PHP script.
You should offer 1 product promotion free, and make people pay to have extra stat (more than 1 product, who claim the promo code and when, review list, twitter/facebook contest etc..)
Free service (not tested myself):
Promo URL Generator for the iOS App Store
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