The Art of the App Store: The Business of Apple Development

MAINTENANCE ISN'T JUST FIXING, IT'S MARKETING

Each time you update your app, users are notified on their home screen above the App Store icon. In this sense, it is almost as good as a push notification, because when users go to the update section, your app and its update description will show up and remain there until they tap it. Users may only see a few lines for each app, so be sure to optimize the first few lines of update descriptions to be your most important, as shown in Figure 11-3.

Frequent updates lend some credibility to you as a developer, especially when these updates are things users have asked for. And the best platform for them to communicate with you is directly, not through iTunes (as useful as reviews can be).

Customer Support Is Key

It is critical to establish a strong brand relationship with your customer. Support is one of the best ways to do this, because when all other things are equal, good support will undoubtedly push your app over the top via word of mouth.

FIGURE 11-3: Users see only a few lines for each update, so make them count

All you need to do is take a look at Newegg.com (the premier online retailer for computer hardware and electronics), and Nordstrom's department stores (whose customer service standards of being able to return anything, even without a receipt, are legendary). Word-of-mouth marketing is powerful, and your brand can certainly ...