Proper marketing strategies are the key to App Store success and there are now a number of excellent resources available to help seasoned or first-time developers achieve App Store success. Here are my personal favorite app marketing books—ones that should be on any developer's bookshelf! (Note: All are available at Amazon.com and other sources. )
Get Rich with Apps! Your Guide to Reaching More Customers and Making Money Now
List price: $19.95, Kindle price: $9.95, author: Jesse Feiler
This book is a general overview on how to make money with iPhone, iPad and Facebook apps. This is a great book if you're thinking about getting into the app business but want a better understanding of the basics and how everything works. It's very easy read; more of an introduction to the app world at large. Seasoned developers might pass on this one, unless they're thinking about creating a Facebook version of your iPhone or iPad app. (Beginner)
Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies
List: $24.99, Kindle: $14.84, authors: Aaron Nicholson, Joel Elad, and Damien Stolarz
The three authors integrate their varied expertise into one concise book, covering every facet of app business and marketing in digestible chunks. The book helps you understand the iPhone platform, come up with a home-run app idea, staff your app creation team, price and market your app, and provides a host of other relevant business and marketing strategies and resources. You can think of this as a complete iPhone App Business manual. (Beginner/Intermediate/Expert)
The Business of iPhone App Development: Making and Marketing Apps that Succeed
List: $29.99, Kindle: $16.49, authors: Dave Wooldridge and Michael Schneider
This book brings together the authors' complimentary skills and knowledge to provide a wealth of useful information. In addition to layout and organization, the main difference between this title and the Dummies book is that this one provides many invaluable examples of code. (Make sure you pass this on to your development team.) The book covers a wide variety of topics, including how to set up in-app user reviews and how to create a sniffer inside your html code that points your user to your app's main website or its mobile version. In addition, the information in this book will help you analyze the competition, protect your intellectual property, explain the free-versus-paid app argument, test and insure the usability of your app, create buzz for your app, market your app once it is approved by Apple, and much more. I was very impressed with this title.
(Beginner/Intermediate/Expert)
iPhone and iPad Apps Marketing: Secrets to Selling Your iPhone and iPad Apps
List: $24.99, Kindle: $9.99, author: Jeffrey F. Hughes
This book focuses entirely on marketing strategies for your app(s). The author, a marketing guru, breaks down the marketing process and provides multiple examples on key topics, including how to make a best-selling app, the four questions you need to ask to determine your app's unique value, how to craft and deliver your app's total message, how to craft your marketing plan, how to create electronic buzz for your app, pricing strategies, and multiple marketing strategies. I loved the section on how to get into the coveted App Store's Top 100 and his list of the top 25 essential iPhone/iPad marketing activities that every app needs in order to be successful. This is a very accessible book—you don't need an MBA to understand his ideas and strategies. (Intermediate/Expert)
Required reading!
I'd like to thank the publishers for providing me with review copies of these excellent books. Think of them as your required reading list for your "Intro to Starting an App Development Business" and "App Marketing Strategies" classes. If you want to pick one book to start with, I'd suggest The Business of iPhone App Development:… But remember—one book alone is not going to cover everything. If you're on a budget, start with at least two from this list.
These books will give you a solid foundation of knowledge, but you'll need to apply that foundation to your projects and business to gain practical wisdom. Remember that marketing your app is an ongoing process—it's a marathon, not a sprint! So good luck—believe in your app(s) and in yourself!
