How I Do It: Don’t Expect Your App to Sell Itself
Understanding your customer is one of the most important parts of marketing your iPhone app, and it is an advantage that Mark Johnson is banking on as he sells his financial iPhone app.
Even though the stock market can be a roller coaster, prospects for the app Wall Street 
are looking up because of the work Johnson is doing to promote his app. Learn how he came up with the idea, his advice for submitting your app to review sites, and how to get App Store shoppers to hit “buy”.
Marketing Your App: What is your app and what have you done so far to promote it?
Mark Johnson: The name of my app is Wall Street. Wall Street lets users research financial markets when they’re on-the-go.
Users can make their own stock portfolios, look at historical charts, apply analysis tools to the charts, look up company and global news, get price quotes on currencies and commodities, and more.
So far, to market my app, I’ve started to use Google AdWords, word-of-mouth, made a promotional website, and posted on just about every iPhone app website that exists.
MYA: Who is your audience for this app and how did you choose this audience to serve?
MJ: I’m gearing this app towards young professionals who would like market information when they may not always be sitting at a computer. I started writing Wall Street when there was really only Apple’s Stocks app, and I just wanted something better.
At the time, I needed a way to maybe look at stock charts, get commodity quotes, and even take a quick look at currencies. Generally, I think this app can be useful to anyone who could use mobile market data.
MYA: Based on your experience, would you have any advice for developers submitting their apps to review sites?
MJ: Make your app as clean and bug-free as possible. Of course, there will always be some unavoidable bugs. Still, it’s never a good feeling when you want to show someone your app, and it crashes right when you open it.
On another note, if you can’t think of any new ways to market your app, then buy other people’s apps and visit other developers’ websites. Developers are smart people, and they are always finding new ways to get their apps sold and onto iPhones. Take a look and see what other developers are doing, and maybe spark some ideas of your own.
MYA: Do you have any other advice for app developers who are selling their apps?
MJ: The one tip that I would give other iPhone developers is that they should not expect their apps to sell themselves. Customers like to feel comfortable when they buy something. Customers do not like to feel like they’re taking a risk on an app that might just have a good screenshot. Marketing is the best thing an iPhone developer can do to sell their apps.
Wall Street is available in the App Store by clicking on this link
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