Late last year I participated in a survey of app reviewers-well the results are out. I definitely recommend this to all app developers and promoters. From the press release:
PR and marketing agency Big Ideas Machine have released the results from the first-ever survey of journalists that review mobile apps – and for anyone planning to launch a new app, the report makes for uncomfortable reading. With so many apps being launched every day, journalists are being inundated with pitches from PRs and developers who are trying to get their apps written about. The result? Fewer than a third of apps send to app reviewers will be covered.
The report found that that whilst journalists continued to find great new apps to write about, most were frustrated by the quality of the information and pitches they received on a daily basis. Often, pitches were poorly written, and were for apps that were not relevant to the target publication, or in some cases, were for platforms that the journalist didn’t even cover.
Some key insights include:
- 75% of the journalists who took part in the survey said they receive as many as 20 pitches per day; 8% said they received over 50 requests a day – a staggering 13,000 requests a year!
- When evaluating a review pitch, relevance for the publication audience was the most important factor.
- Not enough developers and PRs are considering this issue of relevance when approaching the media, with too many using a scattergun approach in the hope of getting something to stick, which ultimately is not actually working.
2015 app reviewer survey is free to download from the Big Ideas Machine site.
I think this survey is dead-on and definitely I highly recommend this read to all app developer and PR agencies. I am going to bookmark this survey on the site and I look forward to seeing how responses change over the years.
Since this is a good time, I want to formally put in my two cents. So all app submitters here at AppReviewCentral, please take note:
- Read and familiarize yourself with the review site and follow their directions:
I get so many folks submitting apps for review via my contact form and not my submission form. Fail! - Manual submissions are best
I get way too many submissions that are clearly via some online form or process, because they are all the same format and again do not follow the guidelines I request. - Do not submit every app you have
I get too many developers who submit every app they own. Pick one of two of your best apps and then see where those go. I get too many requests to come them all. - Personal contact
Someone who writes a personal email, provides press material, and promo code/apk file options in a professional matter gets more of my attention. - Money
I know every developer does not have any money but you need to set aside some money to help promote your app.
I want to thank Big Idea Machines for a great survey, that I hope helps app developers succeed.
