Hey guys,
I'm currently working on my first mobile app and got like thousand questions. Spending 60k $ into it and scared to make a big shoot in the black hole.
It will be in the "usefull" niche, no game and my main problem is currently:
Make it from the beginning 1,99 or 2,99 .... or make it free and try to get it running threw in app purchases (there are some possibilities)
Since one week I'm reading non stop articles about apps promotion and apps creation.
The funny thing is, 50% of the articles say "make it free, this is the only way" the other 50% tells "make it with costs"
So where to go?
If here are some guys outside who are already into that app shit, I would be really happy to have some small talk with you. Hit me up threw PN. I can offer some genious adwords cloaking stuff in exchange.
I have never created apps myself but Stackman has some experience with it.
Here's the thread he wrote and he discusses the free vs paid model too :
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...y-Story-Inside
Hey Chrisx... we reached out via Skype... Lets chat more as we have a couple years experience with the direction you're going.
Really quick answer:
Depends on how you plan on monetizing and if your idea is validated that people will pay for it.
So as an example... if your monetizing method revolves around advertising, or in-app purchases, or building a list to re-market to... then getting as many users as possible is more than likely the best possible solution for you.
But if your idea is validated that people will pay for the solution or entertainment you're offering, then you are able to charge what the market is willing to pay (there are ways to test this). but the key here is validation (similar to AM tests).
What we've also seen make or break apps is the marketing behind it... not just the marketing when it's done but how the app is designed to incorporate general marketing psychology.
As for going free or paid, there's so many factors it depends on.
The easiest factor to decide is ...if your market is small/niche, then it almost needs to be paid. So i'm not sure what the "useful" niche is. BUT if your competitors have only had low to mid xxx,xxx downloads then you need to go paid. Also save some of the $60k budget for marketing!
May I suggest running some market evaluation tests: they can be in form of quizzes as well as split-testing a "dummy sales page" with different price points where you can measure the CTR to the "checkout page" and even ask the user whether he thinks the price is fair for what you're offering.
Pick 1 large quality publisher (this is to eliminate 'traffic quality' variable as much as possible from your test) and run few thousand clicks through a "market evaluation landing page" - you'll have a ton more insights about your potential customers. You can even promise them free version of the app when it comes out in exchange for them answering 5-6 questions. Real data is out there. I'd be scared as fuck launching something without it.
Listen to stackman's advice he's been launching some successful paid and free apps of his own.
Spending $60k on your first app...you need to do a LOT of market research.
IMO you should spend a lot less than that - get a "bare-bones" app up for under $10k and see how it goes first.
A good strategy is to spend more on your marketing than you do on making the app.
I agree with deon. No matter how much you research you are still going to make some mistakes.
Develop a simple bare bones app, and use it as a case study to launch your big idea.
I know stackman was successful with one of his apps by creating a sick sales video, and leveraging app review and tech sites (like techcrunch, lifehacker etc).
Good luck man I am super interested in this myself, would love to here how you go if you follow through with it!
Follow along:
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...659#post131659