Laith Clark is MD of TapMob, a design agency based out of Neon Plays Cirencester office. Hes been surprised by the success of his first big app...
In December 2011, we created and launched a game for Dominic Byrne from BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show.
With 8 million listeners everyday and Dom's popularity, we thought a good quality app would generate some downloads and revenue for us - not a complex business plan, we're aware.
Dom's App [link] was a 99c game at its core with the theme and other content built around what Dom is known for having a distinctive voice and ... being bald. Again, not exactly subtle.
As the BBC does not allow on air promotion of commercial ventures, our main channel of promotion was always going to be Twitter. All of the Breakfast show team, including Dom has who has just over 300,000 followers, have a large following - between them it totals just over 2 million followers.
The big breakfast
What happened on launch day was nothing short of amazing. During the Breakfast show, Dom tweeted the link once. Just once.
The app hit the top 25 on the UK App Store. Instantly.
After the show, Chris Moyles, who hosts the show, retweeted Dom's tweet. Chris has over 1.5 million followers.
The app jumped to No 1. in the Entertainment channel.
More astoundingly, we toppled Angry Birds, achieving No 6 in the overall UK chart. Good for a first day - who says old media is dead?
The post-prandial haze
Over the following days each tweet or re-tweet yielded more downloads, with the app acting like a yo-yo in the UK charts, especially over the busy Christmas period. Although we never again hit the highs of day one, each tweet motivated more people to download the app.
We're not the first to recognise this, but in the battle to stand out from the mass of new apps, it's clear that social media is a powerful tool.
In the long run, with the right following, its a tool that is more cost effective than any other media. That said, building a big following may cost significant amounts to achieve.
The acid reflux
The downside is that too much traffic and a commercial focus can alienate your audience. Dom has seen some of his Twitter followers stop following him due to too much tweeting about his app.
On the plus side, those who are socially engaged with you are also more likely to share your apps with their friends.
Doms App is testament to this with 30 percent of players sharing on both Twitter and Facebook, completing the circle and promoting the app again to a new audience.
For more about TapMob, check out its website.
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