At the risk of sounding redundant, the major app stores—Google Play and iOS—are significantly overcrowded. As I write this, there are more than 2.5 million apps in the iOS App Store and 3 million in Google Play. Between the two, an average of 4,000 are added per day.
And it’s not like the popular apps earn their rank by merit alone. Sure, there’s the occasional exception to the rule, but established publishers dictate such control over the industry, Comcast is scribbling down notes. Just think of Ketchapp, the company that’s been admonished for gaming the app stores and for years has published such mainstays like 2048, Stack, and Ketchapp Basketball. I doubt they struggle to chart every new app in the same way novice developers do.
What I’m getting at is there is a huge chasm between what many new and inexperienced developers believe the App Store to still be—a redux of the 90’s dotcom boom where anyone with some ingenuity and little bit of luck could strike it rich —and the plutocratic imbroglio it is now. And it’s that disconnect that leaves many scratching their heads when they don’t experience much in the way of downloads.
However, by keeping the following in mind, many developers or publishers can greatly increase their chances at success.
Your Expectations Are Misaligned
It’s easy to assume that downloads are consistent across categories, but what constitutes a decent volume in one category does not always translate to another. As such, it’s so important to know exactly what your most prominent competitors are raking in to better calibrate your own expectations.
Look no further than last week's Top Apps of the Week winners Hoverboard Simulator and Turbo Cleaner. Both of them were selected by Apptopia as the biggest movers of the last week, but the disparity in the increase in downloads was huge. Hoverboard, a niche iOS game, saw downloads jump from 5k to nearly 15k. Turbo Cleaner, a tool, broached the 200k mark for the first time. We defined both as successes.
You’re Competing in the Wrong Category
Categories, and to a greater degree subcategories, wax and wane in popularity with relative frequency. Predicting those patterns, and subsequently investing in development or deployment in them, can make the difference between runaway success and obscurity.
And this isn’t just a strategy for ‘underdog’ apps. Every smart publisher carefully selects the category most likely to breed success. For more, take a look at the Apptopia category guide.
You’re Wasting Time in the Wrong Market
There is a huge variance in performance in apps and categories across the globe. Knowing which markets afford an opportunity and which are saturated is pivotal.
For example, let’s say you have a limited budget for a user acquisition (UA) campaign, and you know that you need X number of downloads to reach a certain chart rank. In some markets, reaching a ‘goal’ position on the charts might not be doable with limited money, and in the end, you’ll just be throwing your cash away.
However, if that same resources are allocated to UA in another market with a better chance to rank, you stand to increase organic downloads, usage, and the possibility of virality, which, in turn, can lead to better opportunities in other markets.
