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tap tap tap reveals secrets of how to succeed in the App Store

by Steven Sande Jul 13th 2010 at 5:00PM


tap tap tap, developers of a number of popular iPhone apps, recently posted an entry on their in-house blog about how they made their most recent launch -- Camera+ -- succeed in the App Store. According to the company, the classy photography app launched very successfully, making over $250,000 in the first month of sales.

tap tap tap doesn't advertise their apps anymore, although it was part of their strategy for their early successes. Now they feel that contests (they gave away an "ultimate camera package" worth about $10K, and have also held weekly best photo contests) are a great way to get free publicity through social media channels. The company also placed the app in the App Store at a reasonable $1.99 introductory price, although the price is expected to jump up to $4.99 eventually.

Read on for more tips about how they pulled off a success like this.



Among the other strategies used by tap tap tap to succeed in a very crowded app market are:
  • Be absolutely meticulous about design, spending "hundreds of hours" just for the design alone.
  • Add fun touches, such as adding transition animations and the occasional Easter eggs.
  • Build in social networking to let users share their photos and say good things about the app
  • Go big on the launch, both with contests and targeted mailings. In this case, tap tap tap had an opt-in mailing list with about 70,000 names on it that was used to target potential buyers.
  • Don't depend solely on domestic sales. For Camera+, U.S. sales fell off quickly while International sales have stayed relatively steady.
  • Listen to feedback and keep improving in order to increase the popularity of your app.
As I've found from discussions with many developers, even following these rules can't always guarantee that you'll have a blockbuster product. For this one successful firm that started off by purchasing a proven app, a good reputation and a passion for excellence seem to be paying off.

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Jason

They also have the MacHeist email list which would help sales a lot in the beginning. That is, the email list people did not opt out of when doing MacHeist. That has to be a few hundred thousand people at least.

July 13 2010 at 11:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jason's comment
Jason

Sorry, didn't see the part that mentioned the 70k name list. That has to be a great start on getting the word out. Especially when people on the list may be bloggers at TUAW and other places.

People would pay a lot of money for that list.

July 13 2010 at 11:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alexander

They also did a beta test for the app to hook people and then didn't give it out for free. When iOS 4.0 came out the beta app no longer worked so it was either buy or not have it. I was too disappointed in tap tap tap that they didn't give it beta testers to go ahead and buy the Camera app.

July 13 2010 at 8:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Noah

Here's another tip to reach $250,000 in sales.

Be chosen as the "App of the Week" by Apple.

July 13 2010 at 5:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Noah's comment
James Norton

Why didn't I think of that! Oh, well, there's always the next app! :)

July 13 2010 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KeynoteKen

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? If you have all that going for you, I'd guess getting chosen as the "App of the Week" becomes a lot more likely.

It's good to read a developer going methodically planning how to gain sales instead of creating the app, placing it out there with no plan, then blogging that the app store is unfair because their virtual pencil sharpening app isn't selling.

July 14 2010 at 10:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason

I bought Camera+, and I've been very happy with it, although for certain reasons, it isn't the replacement for the OS Camera app that I was hoping it would be. I have to admit, though, that the main reason I looked into it was because of an internet celebrity that helped them develop it. Professional Photographer, blogger, and all-around hottie, Lisa Bettany, mentioned it on MacBreak Weekly just after it launched. I wouldn't have heard of it otherwise, and her endorsement prompted me to look into it. I respect her work and thought that a product she helped design would probably be pretty slick. I was right. I'm surprised they didn't mention her association in their analysis. I doubt I'm the only one for whom that was a factor.

July 13 2010 at 5:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jason's comment
Gerald

Same reason I went to it. I was looking at getting a camera app, and her recommendation made me start with camera+.

July 13 2010 at 6:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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