Paintball Rush

App Masters · Jun 13

Apple Feature Request Form

Featured by Apple in China in 2016, it served as the worked example for the form. Its pitch story cited the developer's apps from 2011, 2013 and 2016 and 400 podcast episodes of learning.

Tips

• Lead your pitch story with social proof about your track record▶ 8:36Other featured clients pitched an ex-Microsoft developer background and millions of downloads from earlier reskin apps.

App Masters · Aug 25

3 Growth Hacking Strategies to Revive a Dying App

Its paid-to-free campaign hit 14,500 downloads and affected ASO. It also lifted sales of his paid apps and in-app purchases in free apps.

Tips

• Run a paid to free campaign to get downloads fast▶ 8:55A previous campaign on the Paintball Rush app generated 14.5 thousand downloads, with an effect on ASO.
• Check for a sales lift after paid to free promotions▶ 9:45Increased sales for paid apps and increased in-app purchases for free apps after the campaign.

App Masters · Aug 19

Case Study: 14.5K Downloads with a Paid-to-Free Campaign

A paid-to-free campaign with BGR and App Advice coverage drove about 14,500 downloads in a week, mostly in the first two days. It reached number two for 'paintball', kept about 400 downloads a day on day five, then slipped to about number 11. Apple's China-only feature in May brought about 30,000 downloads.

Tips

• Run a paid-to-free campaign to drive thousands of downloads cheaply▶ 9:45Paintball Rush did about 14.5K downloads within a week, and an earlier camera app, OSnap, did about 30,000 downloads in a couple of days.
• Make a free app's in-app purchase free to run the campaign▶ 4:56Only 14% of the roughly 15,000 downloaders claimed the free in-app purchase, so the real cost was maybe $2,000 to $3,000 of potential revenue on $1 to $2 items.
• 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.
• Use the download spike to climb keyword rankings▶ 8:18Paintball Rush reached number two for 'paintball' and kept getting 400+ downloads a day after the press faded, about 1,000 plus organic downloads overall.
• Treat a keyword rank as a measurable source of organic downloads▶ 5:04About 400 downloads a day at number two for 'paintball'; rank later dipped to about number 11.
• 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.
• Do not expect lasting gains without a rank effect▶ 6:58OSnap was back near zero by the fourth day, while Paintball Rush kept 400+ downloads a day.
• Compare an app's featured spike with a paid-to-free campaign▶ 2:03Apple's May feature in China drove about 30,000 downloads.

App Masters · Aug 15

Success Report: July 2016 (Another Apple Feature)

Steve ran a paid to free campaign for it and calls the tactic the best growth hack. He has a written case study, and a friend who got the same campaign called it amazing.

Tips

• Run a paid to free campaign as a growth tactic▶ 6:51A friend he ran it for the week before said it was amazing, and Steve has a case study from his own app.

App Masters · Jul 24

How to find low competition keywords for app store optimization

Featured in China in May, it has low traffic and a middling Sensor Tower difficulty of 3.8. It was run through both tools alongside the terms Brick Arrow and Paintball.

App Masters · Jun 20

How to Check an App's Apple App Store Feature History

Featured in China in May 2016 and earned about $30,000. As of the June 2017 recording it was no longer featured, so App Annie showed nothing live.

App Masters · Jun 12

Can press releases help with Google Play ASO?

Apple featured it in China after a direct pitch with a filled-out spreadsheet to the US App Store manager, bringing about 30,000 downloads in a week. A worldwide feature was the goal, so it was logged as a loss for the month.

Tips

• Pitch Apple's App Store editors with a filled-out spreadsheet▶ 2:07Paintball Rush was featured by Apple in China and got about 30,000 downloads that week.