As smartphone and tablet penetration continues to grow at pace, there seems no end to the tidal wave of native apps being released onto Android, iOS and other platforms app stores. Indeed, this deluge is worn as a badge of pride by Google and Apple, and is a key component in deeming whether you have a successful mobile ecosystem (just ask BlackBerry and Microsoft). But while app developers undoubtedly benefit from the burgeoning market, they’re simultaneously suffering at the mercy of platform owners, as native app stores effectively monopolise distribution and – in the eyes of many devs – do a poor job of making apps discoverable.
From mobile ad networks, incentivised networks, ASO, non-native app stores and App Reviews, a silver bullet for app discovery has yet to be found. However, a number of companies have been tackling the discovery matter head-on, by creating apps that aim to supplement the app stores themselves. The rise of App Discovery Apps and Services is a key theme in the mobile advertising and app promotion industry right now and it seems like this is becoming a major new distribution channel. Whilst App Gratis in particular has generated a lot of publicity with its huge success and a $14m funding round App Discovery Apps are becoming a category in their own right with a range of other major players in this space.
In this guide we’re going to take a detailed look at app discovery apps, explaining what they are and, as usual, talking to developers and the platforms themselves. We’ve also got a pretty compehensive list of all the app discovery platforms we could find at the bottom of the article. You can help spread the word about this major new mobile marketing channel or join the conversation by tweeting below:
Tweetable:“App Discovery Apps – Should you make your app free for a day?”>>Tweet This>>
We’ve covered app promotionnumerous times on mobyaffiliates, but one aspect we’ve not yet focused on is how to leverage app review websites to generate publicity. While internal app store reviews get the most attention these days from developers, external sites can lend an authoritative stamp of approval on your app and should not be discounted as part of the promotional mix. Furthermore, app review sites can go beyond simple reviews and encompass features, interviews, previews and other promotional activities that help advertise your application and boost its credibility. But app review sites have diverged wildly from their videogame, movie and music-based cousins. Many are still positioned as simply providers of unbiased opinion, while others have become multi-layered promotional platforms, which have no qualms about charging money for reviews.
In this guide wetake a closer look at the app review site ecosystem. We will explain the difference between paid reviews and free reviews, give you top tips on how to get noticed by editors, interview a number of app review site owners, and provide an directory of app review sites for you to check out.
Find the best IOS and Android Mobile App Developers in India
It’s no secret that India’s app developer industry is booming. According to Forrester Research the country has the third fastest growing app market in the world and is predicted to generate $5.6 billion in revenue by 2015. Last year the industry grew by 22.6% and according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India there’s whopping 9,000 app development companies in the country.
One of the reasons India’s app development community has exploded so quickly is the huge influx in foreign money, with western SMEs looking to take advantage of India’s ability to offer app development at a fraction of the prices charged in Silicon Valley or London.
Hourly rates can be as little as $20 in India, compared to the $50 to $100 charged by US developers. While there may still be problems related to offshore development, Indian developers have a great deal of experience working with western companies and these issues are beginning to be addressed, with big companies like Yahoo and Facebook tapping into the country’s pool of talent.
Despite the boom in smartphones and mobile internet, SMS remains one of the most effective methods of mobile marketing. In this guide we’ll take a closer look at SMS marketing services and providers, delving into why the method still very relevant, how to best choose a provider/gateway, how to start a campaign and how to best leverage SMS to achieve your marketing goals. We’ve also got interviews with some of the biggest movers and shakers in the SMS marketing world and a directory of the top SMS marketing agencies and platforms.
You can download this guide for your Kindle, iPad, Tablet or to read on screen
In 2011 MMS messages decreased 7% since 2010 in the US.
Ever since the rapid rise of the smartphone, the humble text message has been somewhat overlooked by advertisers. It’s understandable, given how many exciting new marketing doors smartphone technology has burst open. But there’s still plenty of value in communication to customers via SMS. In fact, if used correctly, it can be one of the most powerful forms of digital lead generation and advertising available to marketers.
Back in 2007, just before the launch of the first iPhone, few people could have predicted the huge impact smartphones and tablets would have on the videogame industry. Back then the PS3 and Xbox 360 had recently launched and – apart from Nintendo’s success with the DS – videogaming was still considered a living room activity, dominated by big budget ‘Triple A’ console titles and a demographic heavily skewed toward young males. But now – just a few years later – the traditional console market is struggling to maintain revenue growth and many believe the future of gaming lies in the massive (and growing) smartphone and tablet market.
While consoles will always have a place, the writing is on the wall. The most compelling reason why developers are clamouring to get onto mobile is scale. Smartphone penetration is increasing at an amazing rate, while the growth of the console market is stagnating. Just take a look at Microsoft’s recently leaked road map, where it says it hopes to sell 100 million units of its next Xbox console over a 10 year life span. Compare that to the Android platform, which has seen more than 500 million device activations over the last five years alone and is predicted to hit 1.1 billion units shipped by the end of 2013. With mobile devices rapidly increasing in power, and with exciting new technologies such as videogame streaming beginning to gain a foothold, the industry’s gravitation toward smartphones and tablets will only accelerate.
This explosion in mobile gaming is backed-up by some impressive revenue figures. Mobile games dominate the top 10 paid app charts on the App Store, as well as the top grossing apps, with the larger mobile game studios like Funzio raking in over $5 million per month. At the same time smaller games developers are carving out niches within the mobile app market that can be extremely lucrative. With the power of social distribution and viral game play, mobile games developers can quickly reach huge customer bases very rapidly.
There are plenty of resources out there to help mobile game newbies get started, as well as helping more advanced developers hone their skills. In this guide we’ve rounded up over 100 useful tools, services, platforms and tutorials covering the development of mobile games. Below you’ll find links to the best mobile game creation tools and engines, mobile game development tutorials, advice on how to sell your game, promotional networks that can help get your game noticed, and communities where you can ask questions and get support. If you think we’ve missed something feel free to get in touch and let us know. For more about the mobile games industry check out our Guide to the Mobile Social Games Market.
There is vast potential in the huge new mobile advertising channels that are opening up. But while expectations for mobile continually rises we’re constantly told that advertiser confidence, and ad spend, always seems to be two steps behind. We’ve discussed the problems facing mobile advertising numerous times before – there’s an oversupply of ad inventory created by an ever rising number of apps and mobile sites, while advertisers are cautious about spending due to problems with measuring mobile ad campaigns (tracking), which in turn has raised doubts over their effectiveness.
While these problems persist, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming increasingly brighter, and that light appears to be coming from mobile demand side platforms (DSPs) and mobile real time bidding (RTB). From small developers looking to gain loyal app users, to bigger brands wanting to increase awareness, mobile DSPs – like their desktop counterparts before them – are offering advertisers greater control and transparency over campaigns, by leveraging precise user data to target and increase the effectiveness of ads. DSPs may not be solving the tracking issue directly, but they do introduce a hefty dose of predictability and reliability into mobile marketing.
Last week we took a look at mobile supply side platforms (SSPs) and ad servers, which sit at the publisher end of the RTB eco-system. In this blog we’re going to look at advertiser end of the deal, and talk to some of the bigger players in the market, explaining what DSPs do and how they can help you get the most .
If you run a mobile DSP and think you should be covered here then get in touch and dont forget to check out our mobile ad exchange for more Mobile DSPs
As the mobile ad market matures, developers and publishers are faced with an ever increasing variety of ways to monetise their inventory. In the last couple of years numerous platforms have sprung-up that go beyond the functionality offered by typical ad-networks and expand into solutions where publishers can mediate ads from multiple networks, sell their inventory directly to advertisers, and take advantage of new sources of mobile advertising revenue from RTB or real-time-bidding.
In this article we’re going to take closer look at mobile ad servers and supply side platforms, as well as the companies behind them, to get a better idea of how they can help your mobile business and generate revenue.
Mobile affiliate marketing has really started to take off over the last 12 months. But luckily we’re still in a period where competition is not overwhelming, so there’s still lots of opportunities out there and plenty of money to be made. Sure, there’s also a fair few problems when it comes to mobile advertising and the tracking of mobile marketing campaigns, but new tools, solutions and networks are springing up all the time as the space rapidly matures. If you’re new to mobile affiliate marketing, and you’re looking for a shove in the right direction, then you’ve come to the right place. Below we’ve rounded-up all the best mobile affiliate networks, some handy tracking and analytic solutions, as well as a selection of mobile affiliate resources to help you maximise your revenues. If anyone wants to suggests additions to this list, be they networks or resources, then feel free to get in touch and let us know. You can download the guide from dropbox or get it on slideshare or scribd to read on your iPad, Kindle, on-screen or print out.
Below is a list of all the top mobile affiliate networks and mobile CPA networks. Obviously, when picking a network you need to think carefully about their offers, what verticals they focus on and of course what regions they cover. For more information on mobile affiliate networks take a look at our mobile affiliate network section.
Impact Mobi – Global mobile affiliate network that uses the latest in mobile ad technology to deliver transparent campaigns
MobPartner - Premium mobile affiliate network that works with CPA, CPS, CPL and CPI models. Great technology platform and range of offers.
AppLift - The first mobile affiliate network that deals exclusively with mobile games, allowing mobile affiliates and media buyers promote game-based offers. Based in Berlin.
Matomy - a mobile performance network with over 1500 international offers
YeahMobi- Leading performance-based mobile affiliate network that offers its own tracking and optimisation tool, the ‘YeahMobi optimiser’. Offers weekly payouts.
Unicume – A new mobile CPA network which offers a range of mobile affiliate and tracking services
KissMyAds- Mobile marketing company based in Germany that offers a range of CPA and CPS campaigns for affiliates and advertisers.
SponsorMob- Mobile ad network that offers affiliates unique in house tracking, a range of offers and a referral program.
KissMyAds Mobile Affiliate Network
MobileLeads – CPL and CPA mobile affiliate network that focuses on education, environment, housing, finance and healthcare verticals.
Linking Mobile – Claims to be the UK’s first global mobile affiliate network. Offers its proprietary LinkMAX tracking technology to get realtime data.
Affil4you – Award-winning mobile affiliate network that focuses on the French and other European markets, as well as on adult-targeted content.
Mobile Cactus – Claims to be the biggest performance based affiliate network globally, offering CPA, CPL and Pay-Per-Call campaigns to affiliates. Based in Los Angeles.
Admobix – Performance based mobile network for advertisers, publishers and affiliates. Claims to have some of the industry’s highest payouts and offers robust reporting.
Neverblue Mobile – Performance-based CPA mobile marketing company that helps optimise campaigns for online advertisers and provides affiliates with premium offers.
Moolah Media - Mobile CPA network that claims to have the highest converting app and text message offers available. Uses inbound calls, web forms and interactive SMS.
OfferMobi – Claims to be the first affiliate network to focus on the mobile web. Claims to have a wide range of offers for affiliates, including big brand names and exclusive campaigns.
Liquid Wireless – Mobile affiliate network that offers CPL and Cost Per Inquiry models. Focuses on the US market.
Apprupt – Performance marketing network that focuses on mobile apps. Says it aims to bring transparency to the mobile app affiliate market.
PlayFon- Affiliate network with over 5000 partners worldwide. Focuses on mobile websites and offers revenue share of up to 70% for affiliates.
RevForceCPA – CPA affiliate network that features mobile offers. Based in Canada.
AdPuppies – Mobile CPA network that provides access to mobile offers across a variety of verticals, such as dating, EDU, ringtones, financial and apps.
EWA – Private affiliate network that also has a number of mobile offers. Owned by Eagle Web Assets.
MundoMedia – Affiliate CPA network that also provides a large selection of mobile affiliate offers. Based in Toronto, Canada.
Wister - French/Global mobile affiliate network that gives affiliates a range of campaigns tailored to their site’s profile. Offers CPA and CPL models. Based in Paris.
MobAff - Mobile CPA network that operates as Private Affiliate Network Collective, giving partners access to shared legal expertise, training and affiliate tools. Based in Florida.
Mobilda - Mobile affiliate network owned by MarsMediaGroup. Provides a wide-range of campaigns and a fraud detection solution. Based in Israel.
MobXperience - Mobile and online performance network with inventory across online, mobile and tablets. Offers couponning, tagging and IVR.
Mobile landing page builders
A decent landing page and mobile website builder is essential for mobile affiliates. There are absolutely loads of easy-to-use mobile site builders out there and many of them are very similar when it comes to features and the user interface. Below we’ve rounded-up a small selection of landing page and site builders that are more geared toward mobile marketers, offering features such as a/b testing, forms and device targeting. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive list of mobile site builders then look no further than our directory of the best mobile site and app builders.
Fiddlefly mobile site builder tutorial
Wapple –Landing page and mobile website generator that has a focus on mobile marketing. Other mobile solutions offered, include custom design, mobile marketing and mobile strategy consultation.
Fiddlefly –Lets you create both landing pages and full mobile websites. Fiddlefly is built specifically for professional designers, marketing specialists, SEO managers and site managers.
PiJnz-Creates landing pages and mobile sites from scratch. Comes with a number of marketing-focused features. Also lets you create branded mobile directories.
MobDis – Platform that lets advertisers and designers create full mobile sites and landing pages. Clients include Media Corp, Crisp and Native Signal.
Atmio- Easy to use tool that lets you create landing pages and sites. Atmio features a number of marketing features such as web forms, click to call, and a/b split testing.
Google Mobile Landing Page Builder –Google’s mobile landing page builder is completely free to use and boasts Google Analytics integration, though it’s not the most feature-packed solution out there.
Jaemobi - Focuses on marketing landing pages and campaigns, as well as multi–page mobile websites, Features an easy-to-use drag and drop interface.
LiveBall – Useful landing page creation tool that creates app-style pages for mobile. Also boasts device detection and the ability to deliver different pages to a variety of mobile device types.
Landr– Focuses purely on mobile page creation, and integrates a variety of different marketing features, such as QR codes and SMS.
Mobile affiliate tracking and analytics tools
If you want to make money from mobile then you’ll need to employ effective tracking and analytics. This is one area where mobile has lagged somewhat and has faced a particular set-backs, especially when it comes to tracking app conversions following Apple’s banning of UDIDs. Nevertheless, there’s a number of third party proprietary tracking solutions out there, as analytics companies scramble to take advantage over the lack of dominant standard. Below are some of the key tracking and analytic solutions that are useful for mobile affiliates. For a more comprehensive list of mobile analytic platforms take a look at our mobile analytics guide.
MobAffTracker- Tracking tool that lets marketers, affiliates and developers measure and track details of their mobile campaigns across all partners. Also boasts advanced analytics.
iMobiTracking- Allows affiliates and brands to effectively track referrers, IPs, OS, device types and manufacturers for campaigns that target tablets and smartphones.
MyRT- Mobile site analytics tool that allows you to track unique visitors, devices, OS brand and model data, and carrier data. Completely free to use.
iMetrix – Offers its proprietary iMetrix Mobile Analytics solution for mobile affiliates. advertisers and developers. The iMetrix platform provides data and tracking for device types, keywords and referrers, conversions of mobile transaction and more.
ClickTale – Tracking and analytics outfit that began life on desktop. ClickTale is currently offering a beta version of its new mobile tracking solution for developers, marketers and advertisers.
CoreMetrics- Marketing analytics suite from IBM. Lets you measure and optimise your marketing campaigns across both desktop websites and mobile channels.
ClickTale mobile analytics
Mobile affiliate resources
It’s always important to equip yourself with as much knowledge and know how as possible before you start trying to make money from any kind of mobile affiliate program. While there’s a lot of money to made in mobile advertising, it can take some trial and error, especially given how rapidly mobile is evolving. That’s why it’s always a good idea to learn from others who have more experience with mobile affiliate marketing. Below are a few forums and resources that are real fountains of knowledge and should be thoroughly explored before you jump in.
StackThatMoney - Private forum that features resources on mobile affiliate marketing, including the MobAff 14 day guide to mobile affiliate marketing.
IM Grind - Internet marketing site with a strong private forum containing plenty of discussion around mobile affiliate marketing.
Affiliates4U - Leading industry news site for the affiliate industry with the occasional article about mobile affiliates.
Human Demand - Offers a number of free tools for mobile affiliates and marketers, including website testers, device testers and a QR code generator.
HasOffers Infographics - Insightful infographic from HasOffers, explaining mobile affiliate marketing.
Effective analytics are essential for anyone looking to make money from mobile apps or websites – some may say even more so than the desktop online space. The mobile market is fragmented, with a multitude of platforms and device types, which can have a significant impact on how users experience a mobile offering, as well as which users engage. The more insight you have into who is using your app and how, the more effectively you can optimise your current offering, and the more targeted you can make your future apps.
You can grab a downloadable version of this guide here to read on your iPAD, on-screen or print out from dropbox or on slideshare and scribd (also embedded below).
Knowing your userbase
Who is using your app? The difference between a user experience on a 10 inch iPad and a 3.5 inch iPhone is enormous. The difference between a quad-core Android phone such as the Galaxy S3, and a budget Android device like the LG’s Optimus One, can be equally so when it comes to graphic intensive apps. Not to mention issues that may arise depending on what version of Android, or BlackBerry OS or Windows Phone a user is running. While it’s important to capture such data in real time, helping you optimise once you’ve rolled your app out, it’s also important to do some market research before you start developing. For instance, what are the demographics like for iPad users vs Android smartphone users, and does your app’s intended audience fall into any of those demographics?
Advertising and usage
If your revenue model is ad-based then counting app downloads isn’t going to do you much good. In order to maximise revenue from ads you need to know how people are using your app. Is your app keeping their attention? Where are they dropping off? What type of ads provide the high levels of engagement? Is your app more likely to be used in certain contexts that may affect ad engagement? Understanding usage is vital if you want to make money from ads. The same is true for mobile sites seeking to drive conversions. You need to know which pages are effective if you want to iterate and improve your revenues.
Insight on promotion
App promotion is fast becoming essential if you want to get your app onto smartphones. You can read how to promote your app in our extensive guide. However, how will you know which app promotion techniques are working and which to focus on? Again, you’ll need to get insight from mobile analytics.
Apps and mobile sites are fast becoming as essential to businesses as regular websites. While there’s a thriving industry of developers and full service agencies that can take your mobile strategy from conception to execution, there’s an equally thriving industry of DIY tools that let you get your hands dirty and develop your mobile presence, across app stores and the mobile web, in a slightly more cost-effective manner.
Whether you just want a mobile optimised landing page for your campaign, a full mobile site for your business, or an iPhone app for your band, there’s tool out there for most projects and you don’t need to write a single line of code to use them. Sure, most of these tools work on templates and are probably not suitable for very ambitious app ideas or mobile strategies. But for small and medium sized businesses looking for a mobile presence, or relatively simple mobile marketing campaigns, using a DIY platform can deliver exactly what you want for a fraction of the fee charged by a developer or agency.
If you are looking for an app developer then head over to our massive list of the best app developers. If you want an mobile agency then check out our ad agency list here. For everyone else, check out the below. Think we’ve missed out a great mobile tool? Let us know.
You can grab a version of this guide to download onto your iPAD, to print out or read on screen here from dropbox or on slideshare or scribd (also embedded below)
