Our goal is not to overwhelm you with “The 1000 App Resources You Need To Read Right Now.” We rounded up the best ones, and we’ll keep them updated so you and your team can focus on actually getting stuff done. 

Enjoy!

READING

Appville - Monthly iPad magazine with marketing tips for iOS developers

iOS Dev Weekly - Great Weekly email newsletter highlighting coding and marketing news

iOS Biz Weekly - Weekly email of news and resources for iOSpreneurs

APP STORE INTELLIGENCE

AppAnnie.com - App market analysis, how apps rank and their historicals

AppFigures.com - Collects all your iTunesConnect data, making it easy to browse and actionable

Average App Store Review Times for iPhone and Mac

Appcod.es - App Store Optimization

CODING

Ray Wenderlich - Tutorials for iPhone/iOS developers and gamers

NSHipster - Objective-C ramblings

BETA TESTING

TestFlight.com - The easiest way to deploy your app to testers and journalists


DESIGN

25 Free iOS Design Resources - Just what the title says

App Design Vault - UI templates for iOS

MARKETING

Launching

Launch This Year - A step-by-step launch guide to bring your app idea to life

Launch Rock - Create a “Coming Soon” landing page, with email collection to start generating buzz

User-acquisition: attribution and lifetime value

Tapstream.com - Learn where your users come from, how much they cost, and how much they’re worth to you. Once you know where your most valuable users are coming from, focus on those channels and scale your user acquisition.

In-App User Analytics:

Flurry - In-app analytics and optimization

Tapstream.com - we don’t compete with Flurry here. Instead, we connect your users’ in-app behaviour with attribution data to help you learn which of your marketing efforts attract the kind of users you want - the highly active, uber engaged, big-spender types - so you can go get more.

Promo Codes

UseTokens.com - Must have: automates promo code management; free to use with one app

Cross Promotion and Ad Monetization

Tap for Tap - Cost-free ad and tap exchange network

Social Media Tools:

Buffer - The easiest way to share online

HootSuite - One dashboard for all your social networks: listen-in, chat, and post updates to all your profiles

Customer Engagement and Development:

UrbanAirship.com - Think MailChimp for Push notifications

Intercom.io - Customer engagement tool for iOS apps and others with back-end websites

Apptentive - In-app feedback, surveys and better ratings in less than 15 minutes

ADVICE

Clarity.fm - get advice from people who have been successful in your area

UPDATE May 2 2013: Private Beta is finished, Smart Shortlinks are now live!

 
Tapstream shortlinks can now intelligently redirect mobile traffic based on a visitor’s device type.

If you’re not already familiar, Tapstream is an attribution engine for mobile apps and games that helps you get more users, and learn where your highest value users are coming from. 

Taps.io shortlinks are one way we help you fingerprint your inbound traffic so you can see how well it converts into app users. Now, with the ability to redirect inbound visitors by device type you can use a single shortlink to…

send visitors to the correct App Store,

or, send visitors to a device-specific landing page,

and you can still split-test multiple landing pages for a single device.

LTV included

In each case, Tapstream will track install rates and lifetime values for each smart shortlink you create. This allows you to learn which channels - ads, social updates, emails, split tests - are responsible for bringing in new users, and where the highest value users come from.

Setting up smart redirector links for your app

1. You need to setup a custom domain for your shortlinks. This feature is available to all paying customers.
   
   
2. Head to the “Shortlinks” tab in your dashboard, and either create a new shortlink or click the pencil icon beside any existing one to edit it - you’ll see the following “Redirectors” section at the bottom of your screen:
   
   

Note: you must have an “Any” device type option, which acts as a fallback for any devices you haven’t defined redirects for.

A quick example to finish up: If you have 2 Android destinations, 1 iPhone destination, and 1 Any destination, the 2 Android destinations will be split-tested against each other and the rest of the traffic will behave normally.

Have any questions or feedback for us on how we’ve implemented the smart shortlinks? We’d love to hear from you!

Yesterday, Twitter announced keyword targeting for Timelines, allowing advertisers to target Promoted Tweets at users based on keywords in their Tweets, in Tweets they’ve recently engaged with and from queries entered in Twitter search.

This is huge. For the first time we’re seeing the marriage between intent - a Twitter user showing a genuine want or need - and the ability for advertisers to reach them at that exact moment, in context. This is exactly the sort of connection that could make mobile ads more welcomed. Tweeting how you’d love an ice coffee on a hot Summer day? Starbucks might just shoot you a coupon.

What does keyword targeting in Timelines mean for your app?

You can test new user acquisition tactics by sending targeted messages to Twitter users who are chatting about the keywords related to your app or game. Not only that, you can also include geographic location, device and gender filters to refine that laser beam. Google AdWords just got tossed on top of Twitter, and now you can measure results.

Learning which Twitter ad campaigns perform well for your app

Are certain keywords blowing-up your ad spend with clicks, but not driving any app downloads? While most people will be swinging in the dark on this one, you can track how well your keyword targeted ads actually convert into new users (app activations) using Tapstream shortlinks. Let’s check out how.

Creating a keyword-targeted ad for your app and measuring results

1. Use Tapstream’s Taps.io shortlinks in your tweets.

2. Claim your Twitter Ads account.

3. Upgrade to the advanced ads dashboard (free). Click the Switch to advanced link at the top of the first section in your ads dashboard.

 4.  From your ads dashboard: click “Create a new campaign”, choose “Promoted Tweets”, and choose “Target by keywords.”

5. Fill out your campaign details and select the Tweets you’d like to promote - be sure the Tweets you choose include Taps.io shortlinks so you can measure downloads, not just clicks.

And some icing on the cake

You can also:

• Brand your shortlinks using a custom domain
• Redirect traffic to device-specific destinations via a single shortlink
• Automatically use Tapstream shortlinks in HootSuite, to track the conversion rate of every tweet you publish via the dashboard.
  
  

Your Turn

Consumer intent is the piece that makes Google AdWords so wildly successful - showing people ads based on their search queries - and now Twitter has just slapped this layer onto Tweets and Twitter Search.

A new world of advertising is opening up on mobile social networks. The possibilities for roping-in new customers, and building loyalty through promotions and rewards is expanding. Tapstream can help you learn what’s working for your app.

We’re always around to chat - Tweet us!

This is a guest post by Ben Harvell, an online editor turned pro copywriter. More about him at the bottom of this post.

In my previous life as a editor of iCreate Magazine, I used to pass as many press releases as I could to my team. Why? Because the majority of them were so mind-numbingly dull - about as engaging as a seminar on paint drying.

Some of them shared news of incredible new inventions, software and ground-breaking technologies, but they came in the same tan corduroy outfit as all the others. I’d rather have someone else sift through the mud to find the gold.

Every now and then, a press release arrived in the mail. We laughed at the old fashioned delivery but, ultimately, we probably paid more attention to them because they, perhaps unwittingly, did the job they needed to do - be different.

You’re probably thinking “Tell me something I don’t know. My press release needs to stand out, I get it!”, but that’s not the whole story. There’s more than one way to craft a unique release and, in most cases, glitter isn’t the answer…

Crafting Your Message

The key is to hit a few essential buttons and appreciate who it is your release is talking to. Granted, they’re normally geeks, but these are geeks with an agenda, people who understand everything you’re talking about but need to spin it in a way that excites and makes sense to their audience. Unless, that is, you’ve already done most of the job for them…

A catchy headline is a given. “Blah blah Ltd revolutionises the blah blah market with its new blah blah app” is the exact antithesis of revolutionary. I got a release from iPhone Life Magazine recently that bore the title: “Don’t drop your iPhone in the toilet”. I had to read that one.

The headline is the grabber, followed by a brief summary, a location and a date.

At this point, it’s also worth bearing in mind that your release isn’t necessarily hitting the screen of a bona fide journalist either. Bloggers, very keen consumers and weird algorithm-based websites also receive and spit out your copy, so make sure that your original release is as good as the version someone reworks or regurgitates. 

So, how do you make a release stand out, aside from an outrageous headline? I’m so glad you asked…

1) The Pyramid

Following on from your catchy title, using a technique used by most new outlets is your next go to method. Think of the release as a pyramid or triangle. The point of your release appears at the top. Then a little wider detail and then the additional information fills out the bottom. Simple, yes. Effective? Definitely.

A journalist will be able to know all they need about your product by simply reading the headline and first couple of sentences, then jump straight to the bottom of it for availability and pricing where needed. Sometimes that’s all they have room for. Be thankful for the coverage.

2) Finding A Niche

Unless you’re really lucky, your app is bound to be very similar to one or more apps that already exist. The fact is, however, they can’t be identical, which is where you can build your niche. Just as you do when coming up with keywords for app stores, differentiating your app from the others and playing to its strengths is essential. Explaining in your release that your app is “like -insert rival app here - on crack” just reminds everyone that the other app exists. If you don’t know why your app is special, then nobody else will.

3) Think Like A Writer…

As I mentioned before, your release is landing in the crowded inbox of a person who has a lot of stuff to fill. They need to fill their blog or website, fill their column inches, fill their social media feeds - all of their job responsibilities - so they can fill their pockets and their stomachs. Believe me, having been one of them, I know that journalists love it when you make a hole easier to fill, which is why I like to include ABSOLUTELY everything they might need in the release. This doesn’t mean you need to write War and Peace, however, simply think of every conceivable question a reporter might ask if they were sitting opposite you in a Starbucks with a tape recorder on the table, then add in as many of those details as you can. It’s kinda’ fun to do too.

Technical details are fine and dandy, they have to be there, but the more personal aspects matter as well. Why did you decide to make this app? The bigger companies can’t truthfully respond with much more than “we thought it would make us some money”, but you’ve probably got a better reason. The app did something that you always wanted, it stopped your kid messing with your phone, let you pay bills on time, reminded you to put the toilet seat down (or up, depending on your gender). Whatever it is, even if money is your primary goal, work on the “inspiration” behind the idea.

4) Timing Is Everything

When you send out your press release can play a major role in its coverage chances. If it’s a must-have holiday app, make sure you have the release delivered by October at the latest. Round-up and seasonal issues fill up quickly. The same goes for the opposite time of year. If your app is more warm season-focused, get the release out in early spring, if not earlier, for a chance to make the summer editions. In both cases, highlighting the fact that your app is ideal for inclusion in holiday shopping guides or any other type of article doesn’t hurt. Just don’t go overboard.

On a smaller scale, think about your target audience and their time zones when you come to send your release. If need be, split your mailing list into time zones so you can catch everyone during their working day and not risk being mass deleted as part of a swathe of overnight emails - Mail Chimp has this functionality built in. Don’t be tempted to hit the 8AM slot, either. Imagine how little focus you normally have when you’ve just sat at your desk and before you’ve had coffee. Aim for mid-morning or mid-afternoon to play it safe. 

5) ABQ: Always Be Quoting

Adding your own voice to the mix is a bonus. Quotes go a long way to explain why you’re passionate about your product, and they offer added insight to a reader. A journalist, even a good blogger, isn’t going to use your release verbatim, but what they can’t change is your quote. At the end of the day, it’s thirty or so words they can legitimately copy and paste into a story and don’t have to write. Another hole filled.

6) …And Be Social

Consider including a trimmed down version of your whole release for submission to Facebook and the like. A nice, snappy version is just the sort of nugget a writer may need for a blank spot in one of their updates, especially for social media. Yes, that might mean condensing the whole thing down to 140 characters so it can be tweeted. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t include a link to the full release or your website. 

Promotions of any kind are also a good idea, and help websites and magazines promote themselves while promoting your app. Major publications are likely to have more Twitter followers and Facebook Likes than you do, so get your app on their feed if you can. Offer up redeem code giveaways where possible, and even links to exclusive content if it’s good enough.


Tech Focus

Aside from the words, there are technical considerations when it comes to an effective press release. Most of the major pitfalls can be avoided by using a decent mailing service such as MailChimp or Campaigner (my favorite), and if you do intend to take the DIY approach, here are some things to consider:

7) Don’t Get Attached To Attachments

I personally don’t like getting attachments with a release and I don’t like sending releases with attachments either. Attachments appear differently on different computers and devices, they can mess up your layout and, in the worst case, mean your release never makes it to the address you sent it to. If you absolutely feel it necessary to include an image or another attachment type, host it in the cloud and put a link to it in your release.

8) Use An Email Service

Taking a lot of the hassle out of sending a press release, services like Campaign Monitor, help boost efficiency, provide stylish templates and also provide monitoring options to help you understand how well your message was received, or if it was read at all. This can be a major asset when announcing a product but you should make sure you’ve gathered a pretty sizeable mailing list in order to make the most of these services. 

9) Cover Your Tracks - BCC

If you do end up sending out your press release without using a mail service, make sure not to include all of the addresses you’re contacting in the To: field. Use the BCC line in your email client or create a group of contacts so the individual email addresses aren’t shown to everyone that receives your release. I see this happen by accident at least once a month when a good but careless PR person hits Send too quickly. I’ve even received an internal draft of a mailout, complete with questions for a superior on tone and message. Those who are involved in this sort of slip-up tend not to be greatly impressed. That said, there’s no better way to guarantee that someone reads a release than if you send another email retracting it, minutes after sending. That’s a fairly extreme option, however.

Of course, if you have the time, there’s nothing better than personalizing a release for each recipient. If only there was more time…

10) And Finally, Be Honest, Be Different, Be Heard

With all of the above in place, alongside an incredibly rigorous spelling and grammar check, the biggest key is content. Honesty, sincerity and a little bit of humour go a long way toward engaging the reader. If you can make your release as enjoyable to read as possible, people will be less inclined to skim. 

If there are limitations to your app, don’t focus on them but by all means mention them if you feel it’s important. Reporters, journalists and bloggers like nothing more than hunting down holes in a product, after all that is part of their job. If you have been upfront from the outset and perhaps mention that a future update will remedy or improve the experience, those reading your release will feel more invested in the experience rather than think they’ve caught you out.

Putting It All Together

To help you get a sense of what all of this looks like, here’s a press release I wrote for a client of mine:

Press Release Sample

Courtesy of The Toddler Lock app - www.thetoddlerapp.com

About the author: Ben Harvell is a freelance copywriter, former editor of iCreate magazine and founder of Pocket Copy, a professional copywriting service for mobile app developers. Catch him on Twitter through @benharvell or @p0cketc0py.

Creating a well performing app is tough, especially when you’re a one-man squad. That’s why we’ve rounded up some pros to offer Michael Patzer advice on improving his Hawaiian Words app. 

Michael is a mobile SDK Engineer for Millennial Media and Founder of Orange Group Apps, where he’s designed and developed over 20 apps for iPhone and iPad. 

In his own words:

“With about 1,000 downloads a day from 3-4 main apps, I feel I’m very solidly in the middle of the road as far as App Store success and I’m hoping to redesign some of my more popular apps, and come out with new ones, in order to take my business from good to great” - exactly why Michael wanted us to take a look at Hawaiian Words.

“Hawaiian Words gets a solid 100 - 200 downloads per day, and generates about $20/day in revenue, but I haven’t updated the UI since I released it 2 years ago. I know it could be so much more, but I’m not really sure where to start on re-designing, adding new features, or taking a different approach to marketing.”

Here’s what the experts have to say about Hawaiian Words:



SYLVAIN GAUCHET, APPTAMIN

Overall I think it’s a good app for anyone curious about the Hawaiian language. I believe there is room for improvement regarding the user experience, which is a bit confusing compared to the simplicity of the app’s concept. 

UI improvements

Right now the buttons for the different actions on the Translate screens have really different styles and positions. It might be better to give them all a similar feel, and make the Translate button really visible (currently the Pineapple).

I was kinda confused with the Pronunciation tab, where I was expecting to only find information (and sounds) on the Hawaiian language and not descriptions of the in-app purchases (which could be somewhere else). 

If the app is for people going to Hawaii, then it would be nice to add simple and useful phrases. Or have another app just for that. I like being able to know the swear words too, but I’m not sure how Apple feels about that.

Cross-promotion / Inbound Marketing

I like the cross-promotion to your other apps: within the app, on the app store page and on your Orange Group Apps website. 

Not all of your apps are related to travel or Hawaii, but for the 3 apps about Hawaii, it might be worth it trying to organically get users from the web (not only the App Store) by publishing a few articles on the subject. I feel that going Hawaii-specific (including on social media - or at least Twitter) could bring you more users. 

Audience

I like the « Word of the Day » notification and the email (below) I promptly received following my request for translation. Good job on suggesting to share the app, rate it and try the other Hawaii related apps or sign up for the newsletter.

My question to you: is your app more used for fun (Hawaiianize) or actually trying to get by with some Hawaiian basics (Translate, Pronunciation). It could help you focus the UI on your key audience and most successful features.

Monetization

There is no price in the in-app purchase popup, which makes it hard to take a purchase decision and had me hit the cancel button. You might be missing on some sales here.

Another monetization option (or cross-promotion option) could be to insert affiliate links for Hawaiian language learning books or even Hawaii in general. 

- Sylvain


ROBIN CAMPBELL, TAPSTREAM

What I like:

I dig the ukulele melodies in the background. It transports me to my Hawaiian vacation, ahead of my actual departure date, and that’s exciting. The Hawaiianize feature is also a nice touch, allowing you to turn any non-Hawaiian word into something seemingly Hawaiian. It’s fun, can actually work with locals, and is great for creating new slang.

What I would try:

New Backgrounds - you could offer beautiful Hawaiian images for the app’s background, sold as an in-app purchase - or even offer them as wallpapers for the phone itself. Don’t underestimate the power of an image to take someone where they really want to be! I see you have a Hawaiian Postcard app already - this could be the link.

As a free community-building alternative, users could submit their photos and be featured inside the app. I bet they’d share that.

Hold the user’s hand through starting the language - I always want to know the most common phrases for day-to-day living when I visit a new place - think hacking Hawaiian. What would be the most practical stuff for a visitor to learn to have fun on their trip?

Grouping words and phrases into situational categories, or even lessons, would be a great way to improve the user experience. Also, The “word of the day” appeared in my notifications, so I clicked it and then had no way to view it once inside the app. It would be nice to have a way to see the words I’ve been learning, and practice them.

Sharing to Twitter or Facebook - I noticed that you don’t include a download link for your app in the default share messages. Add one in, using a Tapstream shortlink, to see if you get a lift in sign-ups through social referrals. (FYI: I recommend Tapstream here because Michael is already a customer).

SEO improvements (by far your biggest hole) - Hawaiian Words has no web page of it’s own and very little content or links driving traffic towards it. Even a small improvement can make a BIG difference in an uncompetitive space - Google “Hawaiian Translation” or “Learning Hawaiian” and you’ll see the lack of quality results.

Build a landing page, create a Hawaiian Words Twitter handle - so you’re not conversing from @orangegroupapps - and then see what content makes sense to create once you’ve got to this point - let your users drive the content you create (FAQs are a good place to start).

Advertising - It looks like keywords around Hawaiian translation on Google are quite low on competition, but decent on search volume. I suspect that’s why you’ve told me your AdWords campaigns are doing quite well (based on the data Tapstream’s been providing you). Now I’m curious to see you try an ad on a Hawaiian tourism site, and see how that performs.

The little known gem Tweet Adder is an incredible alternative to advertising through Twitter’s promoted tweets or promoted accounts. The followers I’ve gained through Twitter ads are often fake, and from the Middle East.

1. Read this article to get a run-down, purchase a single license for a one-time fee of $55.

2. Create your “to-follow” list by finding Twitter accounts with followers who might like Hawaiian Words (i.e. Hawaii related accounts), then follow their followers.

3. Set the process (almost) on auto-pilot. 

This seemed slimy to me at first, but, if you think about it, it’s an almost free alternative to advertising. The key part is that it uses natural actions, like ‘following’, instead of something that takes away from the user’s experience - an ad. 

You don’t have hours to spend researching and following new people who might be interested in your app, so Tweet Adder does it for you. It’s worked for me and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the high quality followers you gain.

More ratings - I’m pretty sure I was asked to rate the app the second time I ran it. Give users more time to enjoy it, then ask, and see if you start getting more ratings. 

- Robin


ROBI GANGULY, APPTENTIVE

App store presence - The app store description is helpful, simple and highlights why other people would want to download the app. It’s a great way of connecting with the potential audience and understands that marketing is more about your audience than yourself. This app is new, so it could use some more ratings & reviews, but it looks like it’s making some headway there.

App execution - It’s a simple approach to design and while functional, the app could benefit from more polish. It ends up feeling like the design was made for something on paper as opposed to an interactive app.

More attention to the readability of the text involved in the app (and it’s fairly text-heavy, so this is important) could help improve the ability for the consumer to take in the information.

Also, the music by default is really overbearing. Perhaps a strategy of introducing the music and then deferring to silence would be a way to maintain some personality while not assuming that every consumer is ready to be overwhelmed with music. 

External/Inbound Marketing - The company behind the app is clearly working on a web presence and creating a series of apps, you can see the potential of their approach. Again, it looks like they’re early here but they appear to be headed in the right direction, even including social sharing options on the site.

Their emphasis on using customer input and feedback within the app as well as highlighting it on their site is important and should pay dividends. I would continue to emphasize this approach as they grow. 

Sense of your audience - I think that this is a nice initial pass, the question I have is this: who uses this app on a regular basis? Is it someone visiting Hawaii or someone who lives there? Is it a novelty app or a long-time utility? It’s a little tough to tell from this app what the standard successful use case is like. 

Monetization - I think that there are some interesting approaches to monetization in this app, like the ability to use in-app purchase to turn off ads. However, they have hidden these options deeper in the app and don’t seem to expose them at more relevant or appropriate times. I would work to experiment with the presentation of these options to see what drives upgrades and when.
 

- Robi

TOPE ABAYOMI, APP DESIGN VAULT

Marketing - I like the App Store description. It makes good use of social proof by inserting 5* reviews that have been left by users. There is also enough whitespace between paragraphs so it is easy to scan through the description.

Design - I like the natural look and feel of the app. The flowers and fruit is not something I would personally use in any of my own apps but I can understand why it has been done in this case. 

Please get rid of the sound that plays when opening the app the first time. This goes against all laws of usability. 

Also, it is not obvious that the pineapple in the middle is the translate button. It took me a while to figure that out.

- Tope


JASON SHAH, HEATDATA

App Store Presence - Simple, straightforward name must do well in search. With 4.5 star ratings, there’s obvious social proof. Most people probably don’t even notice the ½ star it’s lacking.

The screenshot is pretty good because it gets the concept across by displaying the two versions of a word (English and Hawaiian). But the ‘Translate’ action is very difficult to see, so a user may not perceive quite how powerful the app is. They may be led to believe it just shows random words in a flashcard style. Other screenshots bolster the case for how useful the app is by showing lists of words and how one can toggle between English to Hawaiian and vice versa.

App Execution -  The music is annoying. Maybe the typical user of the app likes it, but I’d prefer the sound to be off by default and think you’d have less users close the app immediately if you did this.

Also, why not pre-fill a word and have an easy X in the ‘Enter a word’ box? Without a word there by default, there’s friction for a user. It also lacks an element of user education on what goes where.

There is a ‘Search’ section but I was looking for a ‘Browse’ section. That’s lighter for a user. The default Translate page is basically search, so I would diversify to perceived utility by renaming Search to Browse (doesn’t require any specific word to have in mind).

Monetization - Besides the banner ad, the paid features are hidden. One of your 5 tabs should be just for those upgrades. Alternatively, you could limit users to say, 10 words. So, the people who download it will still do so, and light users still get value, but if someone is using it heavily and it’s delivering value, why not charge them for the additional help? It may hurt ratings and overall downloads, but it may drive more revenue.

- Jason

IAN SEFFERMAN, MOBILEDEVHQ

Summary - It’s a clever app that I could see being useful and fun for travelers to Hawaii. It’s also nice to see it’s pretty single-purpose, as I’m a big fan of single-purpose apps that do one or two things really, really well. There’s a lot that could be improved (always) around polish and presence, however.

App Store Presence (title, description) - The title and description of Hawaiian Words in the app store is beginning to head in the right direction, but could still use some improvement. For instance, rather than just “Hawaiian Words” (which it shows up first in search, by the way), perhaps it could be improved to, “Hawaiian Words - Translation and Dictionary.” This simple change could improve the discoverability from users searching for “Hawaiian dictionary” or “Hawaiian translation,” both likely important search terms. The publisher could do research on app store search volumes to find out what terms users search for frequently and use those to guide keyword choices.

The description could be improved to include more information and make it more attractive for users to understand exactly what features the app has. Adding authoritative, cited reviews always adds an element of social proof to descriptions as well.

Using the What’s New field for more effect is another great way to get more content in front of the user quickly. The What’s New field is displayed prominently on a device in the app store, allowing the publisher yet another opportunity to “sell the dream.”

App Store Screenshots - Screenshots are such a crucial part of your app store experience. It’s often useful to think of Screenshots not as “Screenshots,” but instead as “Promotional Graphics.” You have just a few opportunities in the App Store to display promotional graphics to potential users, so take advantage of them. Rather than boring screenshots which portray a static screen, why not make a promotional graphic explaining what your app does in a visual way? This is even more important with the card layout that began with iOS 6, where the first “Screenshot” is shown in search results.

***

Common themes:

• What is the primary use-case for most of your users?
• In-app purchases seem to be hidden, and more could be added
• Non-uniform button styles in the Translation tab cause confusion
• Consider developing common phrases and the UX around this
• Not sure about the music (what do users think?)

There you have it. A tear-down of Hawaiian Words and how the pros think it could be improved. 

If you were Michael, what would you do to enhance Hawaiian Words? Join the discussion on Hacker News!

Regardless of if you’re an indie developer looking for a simple attribution solution or a savvy mobile marketer who wants to split-test content and landing pages, Tapstream can help you measure the data you need to calculate the true ROI of your user acquisition efforts. In this post you’ll learn all about:

• Measuring the performance of single status update vs. an entire Facebook campaign
• Creating Tapstream links on the fly
• Split-testing Facebook updates
• Split-testing landing pages for your Facebook promotion or contest

If you’re just starting to measure your Facebook activities with Tapstream, check out How to Measure Your App’s Facebook ROI with Tapstream. Ready to refine how you measure your Facebook app marketing? Let’s do it.


Measuring the success of a single update vs. an entire Facebook campaign for your app

What you end up measuring with a shortlink all comes down to how you use it:

• If you want to measure the results of just one Facebook post or link, use a single unique shortlink as explained here.

• If you want to measure the results of a Facebook campaign as a whole, use the same shortlink in every status update and link that is apart of your campaign. Your Tapstream dashboard will then show you the aggregate performance of your campaign’s shortlink.

Tip: create Tapstream links on the fly without touching your dashboard (for Pro and Corporate customers)

Savvy marketers who are hungry to measure results love the ability to love this. Use your own custom domain to create links on the fly without ever touching your dashboard:

1) Create a CNAME that points to Tapstream - something like: app.yourdomain.com

2) Crank out URLs on the fly with this format:
http://app.example.com/unique-slug

Add a descriptive slug to your custom domain name so you can remember what the link is being used for.

As soon as your link is clicked for the first time, it will be registered in your dashboard and begin recording data. Collecting valuable attribution data has never been so easy.


Split-testing Facebook status updates

One of the most useful ways to put Tapstream to work is to test two or more alternatives to find out which is performing better. Do some of your Facebook posts seem to drive user growth better than others?

Understanding the results of how your money and time are being spent is imperative to keeping your bank account healthy and your user acquisition strong.

1) Use a Taps.io shortlink for each status update you want to measure. You can do this over time, there’s no rush.

2) Publish your updates to begin collecting data instantly

3) Log in to your dashboard to view results. Head to the “Shortlinks” tab to view the data coming in for each of your shortlinks. Compare their performance and deduct what’s working in one instance versus the others.

4) Use your findings to learn what resonates with your audience. Continue tweaking the content and tone of your updates to encourage more of your Facebook fans to use your app. If you’ve setup the key events you want to measure for your app, then you’ll be able to see if Facebook is truly a driver of high value users for you.

Split-testing landing pages for a Facebook promotion or contest

When you use a shortlink on your Facebook page or in a status update you can tell that shortlink to redirect traffic to multiple landing pages, assigning a weight for each destination.

1) Go to the Shortlinks tab in your dashboard.

2) Click the pencil icon beside the shortlink you want to add more destinations for.

3) Scroll down to the “Redirectors” section and add a new destination, filling in each field with the appropriate information. “Weight” refers to the proportion of traffic you want to send to a given landing page. Remember to save your changes.



4) Return to the “Shortlinks” tab in your dashboard to view the conversion rate results for each of your landing pages.

Your Turn

As you can see, shortlinks are powerful stuff. They are the key to digging deep and measuring the specific traffic sources you’re interested in.

Toss some shortlinks into your Facebook routine and begin seeing how and if your fans start interacting with your app.

Facebook may be a great driver of user growth and engagement for one app, but completely fall flat for another. It all depends how you use the network, and how you speak to your audience. Tapstream can help you get the data you need to answer the big questions that come up along the way.

Have any questions? Shoot them our way and we’ll get back to you quickly.

 

After many months of hard work, Tapstream 2.0 finally went live last week.

We’re really proud of the huge step forward our team has taken in bringing you a platform that can truly measure the key marketing and in-app metrics you need to make your app a success. Let’s take a look!

The biggest changes you’ll notice:

1. A much more intuitive tabbed interface, including a summary of your overall marketing performance.

2. View daily active users vs. attributed users (unique users per day)

3. Measure customer lifetime value (LTV) by assigning dollar values to app events that generate revenue. Every where you turn you’ll see measures of your earnings.

Shall we take a walk through your new dashboard?

DASHBOARD TAB 

Your Overall Marketing Performance

The opening graph showcases unique app users per day: total users versus tracked attributed users

Note: A non-attributed user is anyone who did not pass through your Taps.io shortlinks, AND did not touch one of your web pages that included the web widget (JavaScript snippet).

Below the graph you’ll see some summary stats - your “bottom line” for the chosen date range.

Avg. daily users - average number of users that used your app, per day

Attributed users - total number of users attributed to your shortlinks and website

All hits - the total number of clicks on your shortlinks and visits on your website

Conversion rate - the percentage of hits that resulted in an attributed user (Attributed Users / All Hits)

Total Earnings - the total value of all events triggered by users of your app (downloads, in-app purchases etc.)

WEBSITE TAB

Page-by-Page Performance and Top Referrers

The website graph is a day by day breakdown of how many hits your website received and how many users were attributed to those hits.

Off to the right of the graph you’ll also see:

• Page hits - total hits on your site
• Users - total app users attributed to your site 
• Earnings - the value of all app events generated by app users who are attributed to your site
• Your top three referrers
  
  

Below the main graph and stats box you’ll see:

Your website’s page-by-page performance - a breakdown of how well each of your site’s pages is at converting visitors into app users - including conversion rates and total earnings.

Referring website performance - a breakdown of all referring sites, including hits, conversions, conversion rate, and total earnings.

SHORTLINKS TAB

The shortlink performance graph shows you a daily breakdown of shortlink hits versus converting hits - when someone clicks a shortlink and then generates an event in your app.

Similar to the Website tab, you’ll see totals for hits, attributed users, and total earnings related to your shortlinks.

And below the graph, you’ll see a more detailed performance breakdown for each one of your shortlinks: total hits, total attributed users, conversion rates and total earnings.

APP EVENTS TAB

Create events, view performance and inject your dashboard with earnings

App events is one of the most unique areas of Tapstream, and one of our most exciting additions.

Here you’ll see a list of all the events you’ve setup, how many times each event has been triggered and our most exciting addition: your earnings per event. Click the pencil icon beside any event to edit it’s name, slug or value.

By assigning a dollar value to an event that generates revenue, you can now begin measuring customer lifetime value for your app.

Upon creating or editing an event you’ll see an option to assign a dollar value to it. Once you’ve assigned a value to your event, you’ll see the earnings metrics throughout your dashboard come to life, allowing you to measure:

• earnings per event (App events tab)
• earnings per shortlink (Shortlinks tab)
• earnings per webpage (Website tab)
• earnings by campaign (add results for all shortlinks and web pages used in the same campaign)
• and overall earnings (Dashboard tab)
  
  

REVIEW BAR TAB

Review bar is a simple way to get more 5 star reviews by prompting your app users to review your app when they visit your website. Now all reviews and comments made through Review Bar will have a home right in your Tapstream dashboard.

What do you think?

There you have it, your first peek at the new daily active user and LTV infused Tapstream dashboard.

We’d love to hear what you think, what you really like and what you want to see improved, so we can continue making Tapstream even better.

If you’re loving Tapstream and think it could help your friends or colleagues with their app, we’d love it if you spread the word. We have a completely free tier and on-boarding support to make getting started absolutely painless.

Mobile growth is surging and won’t be stopping anytime soon. Phones are the new personal computers and apps are shaping the future of how we connect with our external environment. As this new mobile system grows and integrates further into our daily lives, the need to measure it becomes paramount.

Lucky for you, the quality of metrics services is increasing and mobile marketing is becoming measurable.

As an app maker and mobile marketer you should pay particular attention to the connection between your user acquisition strategy and in-app user behaviour. By understanding where users come from and then following what they do in your app, you can attribute desirable behaviours, like in-app purchases, to the original channel that brought them in.

In-app events you should be measuring

TL;DR
Activations
Registration
Profile customization
Social account connections
Re-engagement
In-app purchase
Content engagement
Social sharing
Ad engagement

Activations - the first time your app is run.

This is the most barebones, yet key, integration to get started learning more about your users. It serves as the starting point to track a user’s journey through your app so you can improve their overall experience.

Even if activations are as far as you go with user tracking, at the very least you can discover what source referred the user - i.e. drove that person - to activate your app - a very important detail that will help your marketing team lower the cost of customer acquisition and increase user growth.

Registration and profile customization

New users are extremely sensitive, so when they complete a registration barrier it’s a big deal. If you ask me for something I don’t expect, create a UI flow that annoys me or simply don’t answer a question I’m unsure of, I’m gone. It means nothing to me to uninstall your app at this point. There is no emotional connection whatsoever, and that’s exactly what you want to build.

To do that you need to get the me past registration, to begin experiencing your app. The best way to do this is to measure the occurrence of key registration, setup, or profile customization events. Understanding what is blocking people from moving forward will help you tear down the fence so more can make it to the other side. Do this and you’ll get the chance to impress people, potentially creating a bond between user and app.

Social account connections

When I link one of my social profiles to your app, I’m ready to jive. I want to create a deeper level of interaction with your app, experience it with other people and potentially share it with my friends. Build-in social functions that actually enrich your app’s use or entertainment factor and you’ll have a much better chance of users enjoying it and sharing.

Learn how to increase social profile connections and you’ll not only have the chance to make your app more engaging, but you’ll increase your user growth -  assuming you actually deliver the value you say you will.

Re-engagement - the second through N’th run of your app

Retention is an incredibly critical piece to your success. In other words, how can you reduce the number of users dropping out from using your app - your churn rate? This is exactly what measuring re-engagement can help you learn.

Did I return to your app after I signed-up? Once? Twice? Five times? Is this number increasing or decreasing with each of your releases? Being able to see where you’re losing users is vital to tweaking their experience so that they stick around. You can’t monetize the users that don’t come back now can you?

This brings us to the holy grail for many apps…

In-app purchases

Users play, customers pay. Are you able to turn your free users into paying customers with upgrades and add-ons? For a large number of apps this is the ultimate goal: monetizing users and profiting from all your hard work.

Keep a strong hold on your engagement metrics to ensure users stick around long enough that you can entice them to upgrade to a premium experience. Tapstream helps you learn where these paying customers come from so you can get more of them.

Content engagement - thinking about stuff like the news stories in Trending

Am I using the features that you thought I would use? How does this change throughout the time I spend with your app - i.e. do I start using certain features in your app later on? Maybe it’s because the feature is for power users or maybe it’s too hidden away. You can figure out the “why” part, but first you need the data to understand what’s happening.

Social Shares - when a user shares content out of your app

Whether social aspects are the fibre of your app or just there for sharing, you want to get people blabbing about your app. And to do that, you need to find out which parts of the user experience people like blabbing about.

I might enjoy sharing when I beat my friend in a game of Draw Something, or when I make a new personal record for something fitness related. Is it competition that drives sharing? Is it achievements? It might be something else. You should probably find out what that is. Get people talking.

Ad engagement - when a user interacts with an ad unit (clicks, installs an app, watches a video)

If you’re showing ads, knowing which ads people respond to is critical to improve how you use them to achieve your goals. Is a user who came from Twitter more likely to click an ad than a user that came from Facebook?

You make money every time a person clicks or installs an app from your ad, so you owe it to yourself to figure out where these ad-clicking app-installing users come from.

Your Turn

Are you keeping track of how your users are behaving in your app? If not, start tracking a couple of the key events above - whichever are the most important to you. Activations and in-app purchases are a solid place to start, but maybe you’re more concerned about your viral loop. In that case, social sharing and referrals will be key for you.

Tracking in-app events is great and all, but once you see some user behaviour you like, the trick is to figure out where those users came from. That’s where Tapstream’s attribution engine comes in. If users coming in from Twitter are social-sharing machines, or if that blog sponsorship you did brought in load of users who upgraded, that’s information you really should know.

The last few months have been busy, as we prepared a major update to Tapstream platform. It was deployed over this past weekend for all to enjoy.

There are many changes and improvements throughout, including a faster, more accurate and more efficient attribution engine that powers it all.

When it comes to stuff you can see and use, the biggest changes include:

New tabbed interface: easier to use, with embedded metrics for each tab that dynamically follow the date picker

New home screen: the main dashboard screen is now clearer and easier to digest, with key numbers highlighted underneath the graph

New metrics: you will now see Daily Active Users versus Attributed Users shown front and centre, to help you visualize your overall user acquisition

LTV: Lifetime Values are now pervasive throughout Tapstream; you will see the appropriate $ values for a given date range in most screens. You can define LTV for each event under App Events.

Do you like it or do you love it? It’s here for you, so let us know what you think!