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Think You Are an Awesome Mobile Marketer, But Can't Code if Your Life Depended on It? (21)

06-02-2014 06:44 PM #1 cmdeal (Veteran Member)
Think You Are an Awesome Mobile Marketer, But Can't Code if Your Life Depended on It?

I get a version of this question a lot

"I am awesome mobile marketer, but I want to do more than just run other people's offers"

"I'd like to start an app company but I can't code an app for my life"

"I have a good idea for an app, but I don't want to take a chance with paying top money for hired gun mobile developers and wait for weeks or months before the products gets released."


What should you do?

If I were you, I would buy any of the thousands of apps that developers put up for sale after they have given up, and I would try to market them much better.

There is a place where mobile applications go to die (for pennies on the dollar), and its name is Apptopia Inc. http://marketplace.apptopia.com/



What is Apptopia?

This Boston-based startup hosts an online marketplace where apps that attract few users or fail to make much money -- including an animal-hunting game and a program that lets people send drawings to one another -- can try and sell themselves to buyers such as other app makers. In the past month, Apptopia has brokered 350 such deals, a sixfold jump from last year, said Chief Executive Officer Eliran Sapir.

As Apple Inc. (AAPL) kicks off its annual developer conference today, where apps will be front-and-center as the company is anticipated to introduce new software features, the economics of the $23 billion market have become so challenging that apps undertakers are flourishing. Of the more than 1.7 million software programs available in Apple’s and Google Inc.’s online stores, about 600,000 have been downloaded fewer than 100 times in the past 60 days, Sapir said, referring to them as zombie apps. More than 80 percent of all downloads are of the top 500 apps, or less than 1 percent of those available, he added.

“There are roughly 3,000 new apps submitted each week” to the Apple and Google app stores where people can download games and other widgets for their smartphones and tablets, Sapir said. “It’s almost guaranteed that nobody is going to discover your app.”

The result is that the business is increasingly dominated by a small group of publishers, including Supercell Oy and King Digital Entertainment Plc (KING), which can spend heavily on production and expensive promotional campaigns to spur downloads. Many independent publishers can’t afford those expenses, leading to a booming business for Apptopia.

06-02-2014 07:13 PM #2 angry old lady (Member)

fuck dude that is some serious gold

06-02-2014 07:29 PM #3 DaveYount (Member)

Great idea! Thanks for the share.

06-02-2014 08:25 PM #4 doppelganger (Member)

Very cool! I've been thinking about doing an app recently. This could be a great place to buy an app to use as a starting point and tweak it a bit to do what you want.

-Aaron

06-03-2014 02:10 AM #5 Adamw (AMC Alumnus)

damn liking this once was not enough!!

06-03-2014 03:20 AM #6 maynzie (Moderator)

Oh wow man great share you can pick up some great work for cheap!

06-03-2014 05:30 AM #7 _mcr_ (Moderator)

As always, cmdeal delivers.

06-03-2014 05:34 AM #8 h0mp (Member)

Lol.. thanks man!

06-03-2014 05:37 AM #9 zeno (Administrator)

Awesome stuff! What a gold mine...

06-03-2014 05:53 AM #10 nitika (Member)

If I were you, I would buy any of the thousands of apps that developers put up for sale after they have given up, and I would try to market them much better.
Did you try this method?

I have published several mobile games some have over 2 million installs.
Not all games/apps will work easily with this method.
Before you buy any app/game make sure it has good monetizing model.
Most of those apps are monetized by ad revenue.
So basically they make money from app installs that are made from game.
If you buy traffic it's not easy to make it profitable with these kinds of apps/games.
because you pay from installs and earn from installs.

Player value is so low in many games that they use free marketing like App Search Optimizing. which is getting much harder.

I would check that game has good retention rate and that it has In App Purchases.
So make sure that player value is better than what you pay from traffic.

PM me If you want to test this method without buying games.
I have some games that are not popular and you could test this with them for free. :-)

06-03-2014 05:53 AM #11 iAmAttila (Veteran Member)

Some of these apps are being sold so cheap, plus you don't have to be creative They came up with the concept

06-03-2014 10:11 PM #12 bernardk (Member)

Anybody have any thoughts on mobile newbies starting off by investing in one of these apps and promoting that through mobile marketing, rather than starting off with CPA offers? Just a crazy idea maybe - pros and cons anyone?

06-03-2014 10:15 PM #13 highflyer357 (Member)

Great idea! Some of these apps could be some nuggets in the making. Most of these apps die out because of a weak marketing strategy.

06-03-2014 11:39 PM #14 bernardk (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by highflyer357 View Post
Great idea! Some of these apps could be some nuggets in the making. Most of these apps die out because of a weak marketing strategy.
Thank you! It would require more capital, I'd say, and maybe more risk?

06-04-2014 05:03 AM #15 cmdeal (Veteran Member)

Quote Originally Posted by bernardk View Post
Anybody have any thoughts on mobile newbies starting off by investing in one of these apps and promoting that through mobile marketing, rather than starting off with CPA offers? Just a crazy idea maybe - pros and cons anyone?
I would not recommend that at all.

This strategy is designed for people who are already awesome at marketing mobile apps and who are now thinking about or interested in starting an apps company as well.

This strategy is designed as a way to shortcut the process and time required for doing this dramatically while also reducing both the risk and cost of doing so.

It most definitely is NOT for people who do not know how to market mobile apps in the first place.

06-04-2014 08:50 AM #16 bernardk (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by cmdeal View Post
I would not recommend that at all.

This strategy is designed for people who are already awesome at marketing mobile apps and who are now thinking about or interested in starting an apps company as well.

This strategy is designed as a way to shortcut the process and time required for doing this dramatically while also reducing both the risk and cost of doing so.

It most definitely is NOT for people who do not know how to market mobile apps in the first place.
Thank you!

06-04-2014 09:34 AM #17 stackman (Administrator)

Very interesting!

Could try some interesting stuff, buying a game, making it free with in-app-purchases and advertising it with paid traffic. It'd be VERY hard to make money, but with niche targeting you might be able to make it happen.

06-04-2014 11:04 AM #18 deondup (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by nitika View Post
Did you try this method?

I have published several mobile games some have over 2 million installs.
Not all games/apps will work easily with this method.
Before you buy any app/game make sure it has good monetizing model.
Most of those apps are monetized by ad revenue.
So basically they make money from app installs that are made from game.
If you buy traffic it's not easy to make it profitable with these kinds of apps/games.
because you pay from installs and earn from installs.

Player value is so low in many games that they use free marketing like App Search Optimizing. which is getting much harder.

I would check that game has good retention rate and that it has In App Purchases.
So make sure that player value is better than what you pay from traffic.

PM me If you want to test this method without buying games.
I have some games that are not popular and you could test this with them for free. :-)
Absolutely agree with you. A lot of the apps for sale are semi-reskinned garbage. Yes, there are some gems in there but a successful app takes a LOT more than just good marketing. This could work if you see an app with potential but then make the changes necessary to stand a chance in the app store.

06-04-2014 06:15 PM #19 caurmen (Administrator)

@bernardk - Also a lot more varied skills. Product ownership is a different ballgame to affiliate marketing - there are a lot more moving parts.

But if you'd like to run your own products in the future, affiliate marketing is one of the best training programs for the marketing side.

06-05-2014 01:18 AM #20 zeno (Administrator)

For anyone pursuing this, check out App Annie - today they released a new advertising analytics and app store optimization platform that looks like a super slick way to reconcile advertising and app performance:

http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-l...ytics-and-aso/

http://blog.appannie.com/upgrades-ad...ytics-new-api/

06-05-2014 10:27 PM #21 bernardk (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by caurmen View Post
@bernardk - Also a lot more varied skills. Product ownership is a different ballgame to affiliate marketing - there are a lot more moving parts.

But if you'd like to run your own products in the future, affiliate marketing is one of the best training programs for the marketing side.
Great advice - thanks Caurmen!

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