Some of the best-selling and profitable apps for the iPhone are games, which makes sense: People are often looking to kill time, and a fun and addictive iPhone game is a great way to do it. That’s why Angry Birds is one of the most profitable apps of all time.
Many companies are looking to develop games for iPhone and Android phones. But obviously, not every game is going to be a sensation. If you just develop the game and release it into the wild, there is no guarantee that it will become a big seller. That’s why we want to share with you the top five industry secrets that can help your iPhone game become a big seller.
Secret #1: Offer a couple of levels of your game for free before people make a purchase. People want to try games before they buy to make sure they are fun. Also, if your game is good and they enjoy it, they will get addicted and want to buy the app so they can play all the levels.
Secret #2: Find ways to build a following for your game outside of your app. Take the case of Angry Birds: they market stuffed animals based on the birds. They let people play certain levels of the game on their laptop and then direct them to the iTunes App Store to purchase all the levels for their iPhone. They have created hilarious Angry Birds YouTube videos. All of this creates excitement and momentum that drive sales.
Secret #3: Reward your customers for promoting your app. People trust the opinions of their friends. If their friends recommend a game to them, they are very likely to buy it. So give your existing customers incentives to share your game with other people. Let them unlock secret levels if a certain number of their friends download the game. Give them access to better features for referrals. Make it worth doing your marketing for you.
Secret #4: Make sure your game is unique and not a scam. People are not going to want to buy Nuisance Dogs or Nuisance Kittens. They will also feel taken advantage of if you don’t have enough levels and it’s too easy to win the game.
Secret #5: Make sure your app has outstanding graphics. Graphics are very important to gamers. Your game app has to look beautiful, or people won’t want to buy or play it no matter how good the game is. Cutting-edge graphics creation will cost you a little more money, but it will pay big dividends down the road.