App Masters · Oct 28The Shortcut to Scale: The Distribution First Mindset
One of the two sites where a free lifetime promo ran for two days. It drove the downloads and ratings that kicked off ASO.
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Company · News & Media
AppAdvice
An app discovery and news site that features app deals and promotions.
What was said about AppAdvice
Organic, content and creators12
- Give a new app a free lifetime plan to reach 100 ratings▶ 5:10A June 2023 campaign drove 10,000 downloads and 150 new ratings on a brand new app.App Masters · How to 3X Your App Store Ratings
- Run the free lifetime offer for just two days▶ 24:24One app got 106,000 downloads in a couple of days from the lifetime offer.App Masters · The Greatest App Growth Hack in the World 🚀
- Promote your free lifetime offer on App Advice first▶ 4:45App Masters · The Greatest App Growth Hack in the World 🚀
- Make a lifetime in-app purchase free for two days via AppAdvice▶ 6:28One app got 106,000 downloads and 800 new ratings (200 US, 600 worldwide) and made $7,000 in the first month, and grew from a few hundred dollars a month to over $90,000 in 2024 with almost no paid spend.App Masters · 7 Favorite App Growth Case Studies of 2024 (And What You Can Learn From Them)
- Build karma by posting other people's paid apps that went free▶ 6:45Steve's own posts kept getting removed because his clients' apps were all free, until he started posting paid apps going free.App Masters · Reddit Marketing: How We Drove 1,200+ App Signups
- Run a free promotional campaign and pitch AppAdvice to get downloads without ad spend▶ 1:27The campaign drove close to 6,000 downloads without any marketing spend.App Masters · Attribution for Mobile App Tracking for iOS and Google Play
- Pitch App Advice and BGR when you go free▶ 3:03Press on App Advice has driven tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of downloads in past campaigns.App Masters · The Easiest Way to Drive Downloads & Revenue for a Paid App
- Run a paid to free campaign by pitching AppAdvice and BGR▶ 5:52Typical results are 5,000 to 20,000 downloads, and it has hit 100,000 twice for different clients. One app got 12,000 downloads from a single AppAdvice mention.App Masters · App Marketing Strategies: The Most Effective Campaigns
- Do not rely on Product Hunt for downloads▶ 13:22For one client, Product Hunt drove about 1,000 downloads while paid to free via one writer drove 12,000.App Masters · App Marketing Strategies: The Most Effective Campaigns
- Remove ads or other friction if a press site demands it▶ 4:24Making remove ads free as well secured the App Advice coverage, with little cost since only 14% claimed in-app purchases.App Masters · Case Study: 14.5K Downloads with a Paid-to-Free Campaign
- Pitch BGR and App Advice with a prepared email script▶ 10:36Paintball Rush got BGR coverage on August 2 and App Advice coverage on August 3.App Masters · Case Study: 14.5K Downloads with a Paid-to-Free Campaign
- Promote a free-for-a-few-days offer through press and Reddit▶ 2:20Paid-to-free can drive thousands to hundreds of thousands of downloads within a couple of days.App Masters · 5 Growth Hacking Strategies to Increase Your App Downloads
Paid acquisition5
- Run a paid-to-free campaign to drive downloads and press▶ 8:40The campaign drove about 30,000 downloads, and the day after returning to paid it brought an additional $1,000 in revenue.App Masters · How to Market a Paid Niche App & 10X Revenues
- Run a pay-to-free campaign to spike downloads and lift keyword rankings▶ 4:37A free game made one in-app purchase free for a couple of days and drove over 70,000 downloads. Typical pay-to-free results are around 8 to 20,000. Keywords moved from 17 to 2, 12 to 7, and 19 to 5.App Masters · How App Downloads Impact Keyword Rankings for ASO
- Run a paid to free promotion with press coverage▶ 22:51A client's $12 paid app got over 33,000 downloads in a day and an additional one thousand dollars in revenue.App Masters · ASO Beginner's Guide
- Remove ads and use non-consumable items for the free promotion▶ 10:36The author has also run it on virtual goods like characters and weapons that normally need gems to buy.App Masters · 3 Growth Hacking Strategies to Revive a Dying App
- Expect most of the downloads in the first two days▶ 2:36Press hit on August 2 (BGR) and August 3 (App Advice), with the biggest volume in those first days and a drop after.App Masters · Case Study: 14.5K Downloads with a Paid-to-Free Campaign
Monetization models3
- Offer lifetime free even on AI apps with per-use costs▶ 6:06A 100,000-download campaign through Indie App Santa and App Advice saw only 10 to 15% redeem the offer, about 10,000 people.App Masters · How to 3X Your App Store Ratings
- Make the lifetime offer a free non-consumable in-app purchase on iOS▶ 12:37App Masters · App Marketing On A Budget: My Proven $0 To $10k Strategy (2025)
- Follow a free AppAdvice promo with a $9.99 lifetime price drop on Indie App Santa▶ 16:16One client made $11,000 from a price drop to about $10, and another went from $4,000 to $7,000 a month.App Masters · 7 Favorite App Growth Case Studies of 2024 (And What You Can Learn From Them)
Virality and referrals2
- Promote a free lifetime offer on deal sites to jump-start an app▶ 20:19One app got 106,000 downloads, 800 new ratings (200 US, 600 worldwide) and $7,000 in the first month, then $90,000 in its first year.App Masters · The Shortcut to Scale: The Distribution First Mindset
- Run a lifetime free offer to get fast downloads and ratings▶ 9:11One app got 106,000 downloads in a couple of days and 800 new ratings (200 US, 600 worldwide), then grew from a few hundred dollars to $90,000 in its first year.App Masters · App Marketing On A Budget: My Proven $0 To $10k Strategy (2025)
Product strategy and PMF2
- Run repeated promos and iterate between them instead of a single launch▶ 7:07Monthly sales reached about $4,000 by the time of recording, before August had ended, with 100,000 downloads achieved twice.App Masters · 100K Downloads TWICE & $4K Revenue in 2 Months (Indie App Growth Case Study)
- Run the free lifetime promo for ratings, keyword indexing and product market fit signals▶ 8:17Some users emailed asking to extend the free offer after missing it.App Masters · 7 Favorite App Growth Case Studies of 2024 (And What You Can Learn From Them)
Onboarding and activation1
Experimentation and analytics1
App Masters · Oct 28App Masters · Sep 16100K Downloads TWICE & $4K Revenue in 2 Months (Indie App Growth Case Study)
An App Advice promo followed the Indie App Santa run on June 24 as part of spreading promos across several sites.
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App Masters · Sep 9How to 3X Your App Store Ratings
It features apps for free but needs at least 5 ratings first and allows one promotion every 6 months.
Tips
- Give a new app a free lifetime plan to reach 100 ratings▶ 5:10A June 2023 campaign drove 10,000 downloads and 150 new ratings on a brand new app.
- Offer lifetime free even on AI apps with per-use costs▶ 6:06A 100,000-download campaign through Indie App Santa and App Advice saw only 10 to 15% redeem the offer, about 10,000 people.
App Masters · Aug 19App Marketing On A Budget: My Proven $0 To $10k Strategy (2025)
It is free to run but only accepts lifetime free offers, and you can't post there too often. It is run by friends Jen and Tyler since 2014, and the $90,000 app ran its promo there.
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- Run a lifetime free offer to get fast downloads and ratings▶ 9:11One app got 106,000 downloads in a couple of days and 800 new ratings (200 US, 600 worldwide), then grew from a few hundred dollars to $90,000 in its first year.
- Finish ASO, onboarding and paywall work before launching a lifetime free offer▶ 9:36On the $90,000 app, ASO and paywall and onboarding optimization were done before the promo ran on App Advice, and sales held up after the promo ended.
- Make the lifetime offer a free non-consumable in-app purchase on iOS▶ 12:37
App Masters · Jun 24The Greatest App Growth Hack in the World 🚀
It is a free place to promote a free lifetime offer, and most downloads come from its Apps Gone Free app. The first two days bring the biggest boost, and one promo drew 106,000 downloads.
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App Masters · Jan 287 Favorite App Growth Case Studies of 2024 (And What You Can Learn From Them)
A two-day free lifetime unlock listed on AppAdvice brought one client 106,000 downloads, 800 new ratings and about $7,000 in the first month. The client went from a few hundred dollars a month to over $90,000 in 2024.
Tips
- Make a lifetime in-app purchase free for two days via AppAdvice▶ 6:28One app got 106,000 downloads and 800 new ratings (200 US, 600 worldwide) and made $7,000 in the first month, and grew from a few hundred dollars a month to over $90,000 in 2024 with almost no paid spend.
- Run the free lifetime promo for ratings, keyword indexing and product market fit signals▶ 8:17Some users emailed asking to extend the free offer after missing it.
- Follow a free AppAdvice promo with a $9.99 lifetime price drop on Indie App Santa▶ 16:16One client made $11,000 from a price drop to about $10, and another went from $4,000 to $7,000 a month.
App Masters · Jun 8Reddit Marketing: How We Drove 1,200+ App Signups
Steve uses it to find paid apps that went free to post for karma. He checks trending apps to see which fit the audience, such as a $7.99 kids app that may not fit.
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App Masters · May 4Attribution for Mobile App Tracking for iOS and Google Play
Steve tells app makers to pitch it. A client's free promo through its Apps Gone Free app drove about 3,500 downloads on day one and 1,700 on day two, but it refuses unique tracking links unless you pay.
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App Masters · Oct 5How to Market a Paid Niche App & 10X Revenues
Covered the voice translator's one-day free promotion and cares about the app's average review rating before featuring it.
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App Masters · Sep 4How App Downloads Impact Keyword Rankings for ASO
Press coverage on AppAdvice supported the pay-to-free campaign that made an in-app purchase free for a couple of days and drove over 70,000 downloads.
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App Masters · Aug 30ASO Beginner's Guide
Coverage from AppAdvice drives the download spike in a one-day paid-to-free promotion. It helped a $12 app reach over 33,000 downloads in a day.
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App Masters · Aug 28The Easiest Way to Drive Downloads & Revenue for a Paid App
One of the two biggest sites for paid-to-free coverage and the one that drives more downloads. Its writer Tyler covers these campaigns seven days a week, and a single post can scale past 30,000 downloads, even to hundreds of thousands.
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App Masters · Jun 27App Marketing Strategies: The Most Effective Campaigns
One mention drove 12,000 downloads for a client, and a good relationship with its writers gets coverage. It is one of the biggest sites for paid to free campaigns.
Tips
- Run a paid to free campaign by pitching AppAdvice and BGR▶ 5:52Typical results are 5,000 to 20,000 downloads, and it has hit 100,000 twice for different clients. One app got 12,000 downloads from a single AppAdvice mention.
- Do not rely on Product Hunt for downloads▶ 13:22For one client, Product Hunt drove about 1,000 downloads while paid to free via one writer drove 12,000.
App Masters · Aug 253 Growth Hacking Strategies to Revive a Dying App
It will still cover a paid-to-free promotion for an app with ads if the remove-ads purchase is made free.
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App Masters · Aug 19Case Study: 14.5K Downloads with a Paid-to-Free Campaign
It covered the campaign on August 3, a day after BGR, creating a residual effect on day four. Its editor refused to cover an app with ads, so the remove-ads purchase was made free too.
Tips
- Expect most of the downloads in the first two days▶ 2:36Press hit on August 2 (BGR) and August 3 (App Advice), with the biggest volume in those first days and a drop after.
- Remove ads or other friction if a press site demands it▶ 4:24Making remove ads free as well secured the App Advice coverage, with little cost since only 14% claimed in-app purchases.
- Pitch BGR and App Advice with a prepared email script▶ 10:36Paintball Rush got BGR coverage on August 2 and App Advice coverage on August 3.
App Masters · May 205 Growth Hacking Strategies to Increase Your App Downloads
Young pitches AppAdvice, which he views as one of the two biggest sites, to cover free-for-a-few-days promotions for clients.
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