How can I promote my iPhone app?

Should I promote an iPhone app before or after it launches on the App Store?

• If I promote my app before launching on the app store, I can generate buzz for high sales on launch day. However is it better to promote the app after launch so that everyone can buy it at the time.

• Answer:

  Both. As an iPad and iPhone app reviewer, I'd offer these tips: --Focus a lot of your efforts around the app's launch date. Hit up app review sites and influencers with pre-release copies of the app, video trailers, screenshots, and whatever good, compelling details you can share. -- Unless you're already a massive or massively-anticipated title, don't start promoting way before the app is going to hit the App Store. I think a lot of us don't have long enough attention spans to keep 'momentum' or buzz for your app too far in advance - again, unless it's an already established brand or something really special or unique. -- Offering it at a discount price at launch - for a limited time - can help to draw a little extra attention. -- Use social networks as much and as well as you can. As in, don't be a terrible spammer, but find creative and fun ways to share news about your app - before and after launch - via Twitter, Facebook, relevant forums, and wherever else you are 'social'. -- Your ultimate goal is to get into one of the Featured sections of the App Store - that has been shown to have more impact on the success and bottom line of an app than any other factor. Getting a lot of attention at review sites, on Twitter, and similar can help gain Apple's attention. -- Unless you have a super-cool back story (e.g a great educational app developed by parents with a disabled child) dont throw tons of background info at review sites. Keep your approach short and sweet and focused on your app. I get tons of approaches that ramble on for paragraph after paragraph about the history of the dev outfit, where they're based, how they formed, what their favorite colors are, and a whole bunch of dross I could care less about. Just tell me what's interesting, unique, and good about your app. -- Hopefully you will be producing regular updates for your app. Fixing bugs, enhancing and adding features, and so on. When you do, those are obviously great moments to get a little more attention for your app. The same can be said for price adjustments - though both of these can be over-used to try to game the system as well. -- Follow every mention of your app everywhere that you can. Respond to Twitter questions / comments / criticisms. Look for users' feature requests. Talk to them on iPhone forums. -- Think about promo code giveaways when you can - contests via review sites or Twitter / Facebook / wherever works for you. Giving away 5 codes to new users who can potentially become evangelists for your app is obviously well worthwhile. There's lots more to consider of course, but that's some quick things that spring to mind.