Using Flurry's App Circle to Get More App Downloads and Drive Revenue
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They say a good recommendation carries a lot of weight and can persuade people to make a decision about a product or service. It's a selling technique as old as the hills and it's now working in the world of mobile apps. Every developer is concerned about how they are going to get more downloads of their app. It's a real struggle to get your app noticed with over 350,000 apps on the iTunes App Store. That's where Flurry comes in.
Flurry has introduced a solution called AppCircle, which recommends your app for download to other users in the Flurry network also known as AppCircle.
The power of this technology is that it is very targeted to the type of user who would most likely download your app. For example, if you have developed an action game using tanks, when using AppCircle your app would be recommended to other users (within the AppCircle network) who are playing similar action games. You are charged by Flurry only when a user downloads your app, not when they see an impression or click on it.
That's a good selling model for a developer who shouldn't incur costs until someone actually downloads the app. You set your own acquisition price for these users who download your app. You can go with the Flurry–recommended bid price or you can set your own. I recommend that you start out by setting your bid price. You can set daily maximums that you wish to stay under and you can target your app by geography, age, maturity rating, and more.
Keep in mind your overall app price (less Apple's 30% cut) when calculating how much you want to pay for each iPhone or iPod user to download your app.
Flurry divides users (developers) of their product into promoters and publishers. A promoter is an app developer who wants to have his or her app shown (recommended) to users who are using similar apps. Through the use of Flurry Analytics and their recommendation engine, your app is targeted to their database of over 40,000 apps. This targeted approach is very powerful because their engine identifies the most likely users to install or purchase your app. It eliminates the shotgun approach to advertising your app.
A publisher is a developer who incorporates the app recommendations into their app. For example, you might have a popular racing app. Within your app you can include a menu option that says "Recommended Apps" or a tab that says "Other apps people are using…". AppCircle displays only apps that are relevant for your user audience rather than random ads that may or may not interest the iPhone or iPod user. The service allows several integration options including adding links to your app's menu pages, settings pages or serving banner impressions.
A publisher earns 60% of the price promoters pay for each app download. If you act as a publisher and a promoter, you can earn revenue and downloads at the same time. If you join as a promoter and a publisher you receive a 25% credit for every earned publisher dollar, which is applied to your own promoter expense to help you achieve even more downloads.
Another benefit of the system is the concept of virtual currency. This means that you can reward users for downloading an app by giving them extra points, or "currency," that can be used in many ways.
For example, you may have a game app that you have made available on the App Store and you have signed up as a publisher. This means that within your app you have agreed to showcase other apps within AppCircle's network. While users are playing your game, you can offer them "extra credit" points for downloading another app that you have showcased. You may post a message that says, "Get 10 free extra credit points each time you download and try a recommended application listed here." The user benefits from the extra virtual points that can be used to buy more ammo for your game or to purchase goods that you may offer. You as the publisher of other apps that get downloaded receive 60% of the price the promoter paid to display their app.
As time rolls along the industry is learning how to better monetize apps through the power of targeted advertising and cross selling techniques that benefit everyone involved. Since the free model for apps seems to be the trend, I recommend you take a close look at this opportunity to monetize your app in new powerful ways. This still means you have write a great app, however.