Seeking free Android App Marketing Advice

[iMonga]

Seeking Distribution Advice for free android app

Hey peeps long time no see

I need advice on the best way to market an android app my java developer colleague is creating. The app initially called TRACKIT keeps track of items borrowed to friends by linking each borrowed item to phone contacts. Since it's in development phase I reckon the first step is getting some willing testers out there before putting the app in the android markets. We have created basic blog, facebook page already. I feel that's kind of random since with those tools I cannot identify whether people who go to those pages have android phones.

The app is free though it's got an expiry date of end of October but of course the idea is to eventually make it a paid app. I reckon there's little point in making it a paid app if we do not have feedback whether people will use it on a daily basis and it's something they will be willing to buy at a reasonable price of course. And should it show promise in the test phase then we will port it to other mobile platforms as well.

Ta

 

[Park@82]

I am a new Android user, so use it or don't use it...

How about making a free app with a pain point to motivate users to upgrade to a paid version?
(but the free version needs to be good enough to make people want the full version) This seems like the way to go, it actually got me to pay for apps.

I personally wouldn't have a use for an app like yours.

 

[iMonga]

For us the pain point is the app having an expiry date but I suppose the pain point you are talking about must be felt everytime someone uses the point.

Anyway we are still in the testing phase so for now it's more about finding people who find the app useful, anyway the app page has been started, if you know anyone who might find the app useful direct them to http://mobiletrackit.wordpress.com/.

 

[Park@82]

I just think a lot more people would actually bother trying out a free app. (I would)

The pain points (as I understand it) are usually extra functionality that users almost cant live without.

i.e your app automatically sends a mail to the borrower notifying him that it is time to give the item back...

 

[Park@82]

I can only speak for myself and can tell you what makes me buys apps.

When I look for an application I look at all the apps that seems to do what I want it to do.

I look at the descriptions and then at the comments. I pay more attention to bad comments to try and see if I could run into similar problems.
E.g: "Needs backup/restore to SD so when my phone crashes (again!) and I have to reset an reinstall, I still have my data.Thanks!"
If a free app does what a paid app does and comments are good I opt for the free app.

Go look at your competition. See what they offer, try their apps. See how you can make yours better, use ideas that they have already implemented.
https://market.android.com/search?q=borrow&so=1&c=apps

 

[iMonga]

oh yes we've had a look at similar apps and have noted what they do and we have plenty of features planned but first we want to avoid what i call features bloat. A situation where an app does too many things and eventually annoys the user. As you say the app must do what you want it to do not do everything that's not too relevant to the task. And we reckon then best way to do that is have actual users test it than us theorizing about what could work or not.

and at the moment our app is free or more or less a trial test version.

 

[Park@82]

Perhaps start a thread called "looking for testers for my beta Android app"

And post it during a busy time on this forum. I see this thread has a 100 views so far.

BTW I would not advertise it as a free app, you would be asking for user revolt.

 

[zamedic]

The android market currently does not pay to South African Bank accounts. In order to receive payments you need to be a Google Checkout Seller and the ability to register a South African account is currently unavailable.

 

[iMonga]

park i will do that, first I'll change the content on the blog to ensure people understand it's not a free app but trial/beta, thanks.

 

[Elimentals]

+1 Create a pain Point

Just use dates as the pain point. ie: when you add an item it doesn't ask or store the dates. To use the date feature pay up and get reminders for free as added bonus. Add based revenue on apps only work if your application will reach mass, and judging by your target audience this is not gonna happen.

I would go with the $1 price or 0.99 to make it an insta buy, you dont want people to think about it, it should be cheap enough for someone to just pay up on the moment.

 

[iMonga]

Hey Elimentals, dates seem like too much of a pain point, won't it render the free version almost useless if the dates don't work?we were thinking in terms of putting annoying ads as a user links an item to a contact at a couple of steps. Even when the user is just checking which contact borrowed what items. Am also leaning towards the 99c price as long as the app has basic features.

We were also considering adding a feature of synching the borrowers list to an online database, surely if we add such a feature then we'll consider a higher price. That feature is quite useful should the user lose his phone

 

[iMonga]

version 2 of the app, released, now it can send an sms or email to the borrower, next improvement is the menu.