I wrote this a while back:
My top tips for marketing your iOS App on the cheap
Granted some of these are obvious but youd be amazed how many people release an app and then just hope for the best.
- Make sure your category is right, some get more attention that others, if you think you can stretch your say music app over to say the entertainment category youll get a lot more attention and Apple wont always penalise depending on what the app is (forget secondary categories they do sod all in my experience.)
- Set up a Facebook page and invite everyone you know and share the hell out of posts (try and get enough likes to get a dedicated page name, makes it easier to put the URL on marketing materials).
- Twitter is hit or miss but theres some mileage in it if you can amass enough followers.
- Screenshots on Instagram with the right hashtags and links seems to do well for me at the moment although I cannot really confirm the source of sale.
- Find somewhere in the real world where your target audience may reside and get posters/merchandise made. Reward the store owners with branded T-shirts etc, printed media costs very little from places like Snapfish or CafePress and people really like tangible items. I recently took some to my local comic book/game stores for my most recent app. Remember it only takes around 10-15 downloads a day to maintain a position in the category charts (games being the exception) if you can get that from foot traffic its a good way to build a fan base.
- Find forums or blogs that relate to your app and link drop. Dont just roll in, spam and then disappear, engage with the users. On forums stick a clickable banner in your signature where possible.
- Give out promo codes if the app is paid for. They dont affect app rankings but ask for reviews in return, even if its friends and family members.
- Gift the app to a handful of people you know (again if paid) youll recuperate the cost minus 30%
- Write to blogs/sites asking for coverage if you believe theres interest and its good enough quality to be featured. Many wont reply due to the fact that theyre all sponsorship driven these days but if you dont ask you dont get.
- If you have other apps out there, cross promote, just an extra screen with some icons and links can work wonders. If you have updates ready for an existing app, use the update as an opportunity to advertise a new app just be sensible with it so it doesnt feel like spam and always give people the opportunity to dismiss the advert or pop up for good. Never update an app solely for the purposes of advertising another. Trust me this really p*sses people off.
- Run a development blog with screenshots and videos detailing how you built your app, what you found difficult, what neat tricks you discovered, also offer downloadable snippets of useful code. Although sites such as stackoverflow, iPhoneDevSDK and MacRumours offer a wealth of knowledge on coding techniques, youd be amazed how much help some devs have had from tiny little blogs in the back end of beyond. Remember to link your app in the blog too but dont be spammy with it.