Promotion of the Radar application for Windows Phone 7

I constantly communicate with developers in terms of preparing information campaigns to promote their applications in the media, and lately I have noticed an increasing interest in Windows Phone 7 and methods of promotion of applications created for this platform. Therefore, today I will tell the story of the promotion of the program for WP7 Mango, how and where I promoted it, and what came of it.

It all started in May. Let me remind you that this month Microsoft and Softkey entered into an agreement according to which the well-known software supermarket began to provide domestic developers with the opportunity to place their applications in the Windows Phone Marketplace (details here ) in a simplified scheme, and in September the first Windows Phone 7 smartphones began Russia. In October, developers started to contact me who wanted to talk about their product in the West and in Russia. One of the first was the Novosibirsk startup Sibity , which developed the Radar program for Windows Phone 7.
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What is Radar?

Radar is an application for Windows Phone 7 smartphones that allows you to quickly find your way back to any saved location. This feature is useful when you need to find your car in a large parking lot, return to a hotel in an unfamiliar city, or get out of the forest if you get lost. To find the way back, it is enough to set the coordinates of your current location using the built-in GPS-receiver and then you can go. When you need to go back, you need to open the application and proceed in the direction indicated on the radar screen. Additionally, you can find out the distance to the selected point and the time that the user was on the road.



Unlike similar solutions, Radar uses a compass to indicate the direction, and if the device does not have a hardware compass, the application uses GPS emulation. This feature allows users to find their way back even where there is no Internet connection and Google Maps service is not available, for example, in the Siberian taiga.

Task

The Radar developers have set me the task of telling the program to Windows Phone 7 users in the United States, the United Kingdom, and also to announce the program in Russia.

Method and process of preparation

For the announcement of the application, I chose a reliable and proven method - sending out press releases to specialized media and blogs that write about Windows Phone 7. Before that, I had already tried my hand at promoting programs for Android and iPhone. So, by the time I started preparing the info campaign for Radar, I already had experience and working relationships with the editors.

At first, I made a list of specialized portals and blogs to which I intended to send a press release. Below is the top of the list of English-language publications on Windows Phone 7:

WMPoweruser.com
WPCentral.com
1800pocketpc.com
Winrumors.com
Winsupersite.com
WindowsPhonePros.com
MSN.com
WindowsPhoneThoughts.com
WindowsPhoneGeek.com
Windows8beta.com
WindowsPhoneSecrets.com
and etc.

As the study of the Internet has shown, now the number of portals and “review” sites for Windows Phone 7 are significantly inferior to the number of specialized sites on the iPhone and Android. Therefore, I decided to add to the list also publications that write about phones on different platforms.

Pocketpicks.co.uk
Pocketnow.com
Pocket-lint.com
Gizmodo.com
Mobilesyrup.com
Mobilemag.com
Chipchick.com
Techradar.com
T3.com
Engadget.com
Electricpig.co.uk
and etc.

After compiling a list of publications, I wrote a press release in English and a pitch letter for bloggers asking them to review the application (I already talked about such letters in this article ).

The text of the press release can be found by downloading this PDF-file (340 KB).

Announcement in foreign media

The release was scheduled for 10 am Washington time, October 17, 2011 . First, I delivered a press release to the relevant American publications on Windows Phone 7, and then to all the others.

The first results appeared after 4-5 hours. I list the portals in the order of appearance of publications (the link leads to the corresponding portal page where the news is published):

Technomodo - posted the news 4 hours after the newsletter. News published as is.

WindowsPhoneGeek - posted the news the next day. Published a press release without any edits.

WMPoweruser.com - the largest Windows Phone profile portal published a press release the next day without any edits. At first, I was embarrassed by the fact that the editors published the news with screenshots of the Russian version, which they took from the Sibity website. However, then I thought it was actually quite good, because catches the eye. The news was rejected 76 times - this was my first time.

WindowsPhoneThoughts is a news portal about devices based on Windows Phone 7. The editor joke that the program is very suitable for women, and the guys don't really need it :)

WPCentral.com - Windows Phone 7 profile portal published the news two days later. Moreover, the portal editor himself bought the application and prepared a video review . When I sent out a press release, there was a version without trial period on the market. However, the editor got interested and bought.

ChipChick.com , a popular blog for female geeks, published a review of Radar 6 days after its release. And the news was entitled - "Application of the week for Windows Phone 7".

Announcement in the Russian media

We also decided to talk about Radar and domestic users, for which I prepared a press release in Russian and delivered the news to the editorial boards of portals and blogs about mobile gadgets. Taking this opportunity, I want to thank all the editors who responded to our news and kindly agreed to talk about Radar: w3bsit3-dns.com, iXBT, Nomobile, Hard'N'Soft, Handy, Personal money and SoftMeil.ru.

Some interesting observations and conclusions.

1. Press releases work. The graph below clearly shows the result of news distribution in the media, and it clearly shows the beginning of the information campaign - October 17. The green line on the graph shows the number of downloads per day, and the red line shows the number of total downloads.



A press release has been and remains an effective tool for disseminating information. Once in the media, interesting news can draw attention to your product to a significant audience.

2. Trial-period. First, having a free evaluation period is important for preparing reviews. If your application has a trial period, then it will be easier for you to get reviews, because The editor does not need to spend his own money to buy the program. Unfortunately, the first version of Radar did not have an evaluation period. I believe that it would be possible to collect more reviews. Secondly, it turned out that at a price of 0.99 USD, the availability of a trial period does not affect the number of downloads. Some time after the announcement, the media released an update with a free evaluation period. After that, the new version was downloaded in the same way as before, and the majority of users still bought the program right away.

3. Chinese factor. On the day of the publication of the news on WMPoweruser, the first Chinese download appeared. Immediately after that, xap Radar appeared on several Chinese resources, localized in Chinese, for example, here . And on this site there is a link to the Windows Phone Marketplace and a translated copy. On others there is only a copy. It seems that the Chinese are in the order of things. Everything was translated except the names of the authors. Only the name of the main developer was replaced by something like - "The one who posted the application on the forum." The Radar developers downloaded the proposed xap and extracted the localization. Now in the Chinese market, Radar is presented in their own language. However, the Chinese download is still one.

4. Rating and comments. Observations showed that foreign buyers have a habit of returning to the market and changing the rating if the rating of the application has changed in one direction or another. They also write more detailed reviews. Russians almost never return to change their assessment, and often go to extremes. For example, an application can have 20 ratings, of which half is 5 stars, and the other half is 1 star. Our users can also leave a negative feedback like “crap” just because they do not need the application or they do not understand what its benefits are.

5. Response from users. In the American market, buyers often use the feedback form and report errors. They write on the case and understandable. Russian users do not write anything. For all the time, the Radar developers have received only one “trace trace” error letter.

In conclusion, I would like to suggest that you familiarize yourself with one of the results of the promotion, the video review of the Radar program prepared by the WPCentral editors. In addition, if you want to familiarize yourself with the functionality of the application yourself, you can download Radar for Windows Phone 7 .



Good luck to you!