Brands & App Strategies

This September will mark two years into the age of the iPhone app. Doesn't it seem so much longer than that? I want to share some lessons I've learned in the process:

1. People will pay for value. Examples are my personal favorite, the $9.99 Pantone app along with national examples like the $9.99 MLB At Bat app and Kraft's $.99 cent app. Zagat's iPhone app is the 77th top-growing app in the Apps Store out of 58,000.

2. Apps must be real-time. Don't make an app that is your website--people's expectations with apps are much higher than that.

3. Figuring out the price. That's the million dollar question isn't it? Just remember, it's easier to drop the price than to increase it.

4. Don't be scared of feedback. People will point out flaws in your app on the web. That feedback is a free focus group people! Adjust your app accordingly and send through an update. Consumers want to know people are listening to them and you will earn their respect by listening.

5. Free apps do work. If you have a product or service, a free app is a great tool to drive sales. An example is Benjamin Moore's Ben Color Capture app, built to build brand awareness for its subbrand Ben, as well as drive traffic to stores. The app lets users snap a photo of something in the world that matches colors in the photo to pain shades in the brand's library. That often leads to paint purchases, and the app uses GPS to direct users to their nearest retailer. Genius!

6. Apps shouldn't be one-off projects--they should be part of integrated campaigns.

7. Engagement is better than downloads. You should be happier to have 100 engaged consumers than 1000 downloads.

8. Guerilla marketing is key: people find apps through other people. Get into the blogs, the forums and inexpensively market your app.