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How to Slide Into an Influencer's Direct Message (DM)

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App Masters11:28Open on YouTube
Chapters show their main points

The bottom line

A simple, polished, well-tested app earns an Apple feature, and acting fast afterward turns that feature into users. Short, personal DMs, ideally video, then get influencers to respond and extend the growth.

Key takeaways

  • Apple features go to apps that are beautiful, simple, unique and fun. 0:29
    • A rogue developer held the source code to ransom when the app was 85% built, which cost about a year and a half.
    • The forced redesign made the app more refined, and Leo doubts it would have been featured if it had launched first.
  • Heavy testing and polite review notes help the app stand out. 2:13
    • A testing company checked every possible fault, because an app that crashes in the App Store is the last thing anyone wants.
    • Friendly notes to reviewers, such as I hope you have a great day, may mark you as a personable developer.
  • Once featured, make marketing materials and run a sale right away. 5:07
    • Leo made a simple "Featured by Apple" Instagram post and put about $20 behind it on Instagram and Facebook within a day or so.
    • He also cut the price by half in a summer sale, on advice from Ryan at Gummicube, to drive users in while impressions were high.
  • Watch where the feature appears and serve those users. 7:23
    • The app was featured in China, so Leo ran targeted marketing in the Guangdong region.
    • He then fully localized the app into simplified Mandarin.
  • A short, personal DM wins influencers, and video works best. 9:01
    • Keep it to about three sentences, use their name, mention something real from their feed and link a one-page overview.
    • Video messages suit younger audiences, who communicate in video, and you can invite a video or voice note back.

People haven't got time to be reading anymore, they just want to see you and your personality and your passion.

Leo J Barnett

Chapter summaries

0:00 What it takes to earn a feature

A feature can't be bought with favors, so a refined, crash-free product is the only lever.

  • Courting reviewers doesn't work, so the product has to carry the case. 0:12
    • A feature isn't something that happens too easily.
    • Some developers take Apple reviewers out for dinner and still get nothing.
    • Leo hadn't known that was even possible.
    • His own answer comes first: make it beautiful, simple, unique and fun.
  • Early builds of Reelshot crashed all the time, and testing fixed that. 2:41
    • The testing contact, Alexander, runs a Ukraine-based team that Leo calls efficient.
    • Leo says the app is bulletproof for what it does, which is simple.
    • The team may be rebranding, but Leo still recommends it.

3:14 Goodwill, other routes and the first day

Timing and manners may help, and the real work starts the day the feature lands.

  • Timing and a friendly tone may tip the odds. 3:16
    • Because Reelshot is a video app, timing matters. Sometimes the app gods just look at you.
    • Leo wrote friendly lines in the What's New notes.
    • His guess is that a reviewer mentioned the nice developer at lunch with the editorial team.
    • Leo admits he doesn't know how Apple really picks.
  • Cold outreach is another route to a feature. 4:32
    • Steve Young mentions cold emailing an App Store manager and the promote form.
    • His agency has had 29 clients featured this way.
  • Impressions rise like a wave, so act at once. 5:03
    • The feature landed on Leo's mom's birthday.
    • He asked his senior network of app people what to do.
    • He felt he had to be proactive to make the most of the wave.

5:44 Turning the feature into users fast

The feature's attention fades, so marketing materials and a sale should go out within days.

  • Speed matters because the impressions are already there. 5:47
    • Impressions had reached about a million.
    • Ryan at Gummicube told Leo to make marketing materials at once.
    • Being a designer, Leo made the post very quickly.
    • The promotion ran a day or so after he learned of the feature.
  • The sale tells buyers that Apple loves the app. 10:44
    • The half price gave people a reason to try it now.
    • Early on, the aim is grow, grow, grow as much as possible.
    • Leo calls it the perfect approach, and many people signed up.

8:02 Sliding into influencer DMs

A personal, brief message works, and video makes it stronger.

  • Social proof and a real comment open the door. 8:31
    • Leo jokes that he opens with it's me from The Crown and a photo.
    • He comments on their recent images.
    • Don't go back to a 2013 Mexico holiday.
    • The joke is that real specifics beat flattery.
  • Video messages are the next step. 9:50
    • Leo's sample DM praises a new scooter, then asks for thoughts on a one-pager, it would mean the world to me.
    • He will test video heavily the following week.
    • Tell them the content isn't going anywhere.
    • Let them reply by video or voice note, whichever is easiest.
Oops, I made an error in the timestamp for the sale point. Corrected version of that point:
  • The sale tells buyers that Apple loves the app. 6:42

    • In the growth library

    Leo J Barnett, Entrepreneur, designer and actor, creator of the Reelshot video editor app. Covers how a polished, well-tested app earned an Apple feature, what to do in the first days after it lands, and how to write short, personal DMs to influencers. After the feature Reelshot's App Store impressions reached about a million, and the follow-up marketing, sale and localization were built to use that wave.

    More from App Masters · The whole library, and ask it anything

    Transcript279 lines
    0:00

    all right leo any insights that you can give the listeners on how to get an Apple feature and then what to do next right after that I mean getting an Apple feature isn't something that happens too easily and so I've heard about people you know taking an Apple reviewers and ladders out for dinner and it's still not happening I don't even know that was a possible thing you know and I think the number one thing is creating something that's beautiful simple unique and fun okay so that's that's what I did but other things I think might have led up to it so the app was actually it was designed I'm gonna cut this story very long story very short but like yeah it was actually designed and ready to go on the market for about a year and a half go but I was working with a developer who went rogue and actually ended up holding my source code to ransom and we're about 85% of the way finished this is a reality so I

    1:04

    think it's quite important that you share things like this to happen sadly yeah this guy I'd put my savings into this app and had because I really believed in it and yeah this guy's sort of built it and got about 85% the way there and then just went off the radar and that's a quite a stressful period of trying to find out what happened how to get my source code and eventually you know it was held to ransom and I moved on when I moved on it made me really think about the products and how it could be made better more simple and more beautiful and that's what I did I went back to the drawing board and eventually created this thing that was really really refined and I think in a way I don't think we would have got this feature if it was launched in that first case it gave me a so much thinking time so really do think about the app that you're about to put in I really think is it the you know as simple and as good as

    2:02

    it possibly can be at the same time do you get out there but but yeah we we love something that was very simple very innovative unique and yeah did tested it through the roof actually tested everything inside out using an amazing testing company I work with that I work with hopefully for many many years to come but they tested every single possibility of there being a fault and you know like a the last thing you ever want I'm putting anything to the AppStore is a food co-op that's going to get tons of crashes it needs to be absolutely bulletproof and yeah real shot is bulletproof for what it does I mean it is simple but you you know when we were first testing out my god it was crashing all the time but now and yeah absolutely like minimal testing company they could soft industry but a lovely chap called Alexander I use and they might be going for a rebrand at the moment but Alexander's my main guy

    3:01

    and yeah happy to recommend them sad see anyone based in and Ukraine and be a really really brilliant very efficient and just do such a good job so so yeah as well as that I mean like what else could lead up to it I think well this is a video app you have to look at timing for these things I think sometimes the app gods just look at you and they say yes this is your moment to shine and we're gonna give you a future but during the review phase and you know when you're sending a test flights and your apps be reviewed just being really polite and writing like notes in the App Store - and the testers and being sort of grateful for their time I don't know if that sort of highlight you as being like a you know a personable person I was always very so personable in my and my messages to Apple yeah what do you do that like when you're submitting for waiting for review you can put notes in there is that what you talking about

    3:56

    would be like what's new in this update and then you'd you'd write this is new that's need I hope you have a great day yeah you know hablen just sort of like whacking your your next update in and expecting them to find it just you know this thing's out really nicely and I think the little things like that can happen you know you never know there might be one of these reviewers might have gone for lunch with one of the editing team and they saw this cool app could real shot this really nice guy called Leo Jay Barnet and you know one thing led to another but I don't know how it works oh you've got any idea how it works how they they get the features I mean I know of some sneaky ways right like cold emailing an app store manager filling out that store.com slash promote we've gotten 29 different clients feature and so there are ways to get around it that we've shared in the past but I'm just always

    4:47

    curious to see because every story is different right Leo so like I'm curious to see what how it happened so let's talk about what happens afterwards like you were talking before we hit record you got some amazing impressions some amazing results with a download side of things like what what happened afterward and how do you think about well you know like what do I do next yeah so I was like what do I do now so when I got the future it was my mom's birthday so yeah happy birthday mom that day I was a cool little you know surprise of the day and as I have you have to be proactive like surely like someone can tell me what to do like because impressions are going up and it's like this wave is just there and you're on and you're like okay you have to make the most out of it so I am I immediately speak into my network my senior network of people in the app game was like okay guys I can sorry disturb you please accept five

    5:44

    minutes your time like that my house has been featuring the app store impressions at you know they're like a million now is there any any advice you could just really really quickly give me and you know looking the people on LinkedIn and things like that in companies and and Ryan from gummi cube who was amazing big shout out to Ryan and who was just advising things like make sure you just create some marketing materials immediately so being a designer luckily I could do this super quick so I created a little Instagram friendly post which was like perhaps we love featured by Apple very very simple and then put down Instagram put on Facebook put like like $20 behind it and then just so I promoted out like that that was like a day or so after I know that I've been featured then immediately went into the App Store and organize a summer sale so was Chris tree away he like reducer cost my half and was just like let's just

    6:44

    drive users in them know that first of all you know we're an app that Apple love we've been featured and that now there's this opportunity right here to come yeah try the app out for a discount price and I think the early stages of you know launching an app or anything is its grow your users grow grow grow grow grow as much as you can and so yeah that was my general strategy and I think it was sort of the perfect approach a lot of people started signing up and getting involved so yeah just create your marketing materials like ASAP and then yeah do a sale and but as well as that just keep monitoring where it's being featured as well obviously so I notice it was owned in China so started doing some targeted marketing towards China especially in Guangdong region and so have now actually fully localized the apps you simplified Mandarin Thanks and so yeah make those sort of user super happy and

    7:46

    and included in it you know so yeah it's just about looking at exactly where it's going but yeah my advice is like crack on with your marketing materials immediately put on Instagram Facebook put a little bit of money behind it and undo a sale all right make sure I want to ask you this too when you're talking about influencers and like getting people's feedback on like the one pager that you create kind of going back to the way you talked about and like how do you slide into somebody's DM and to my wife out there I'm not doing this for any sneaky reason I'm just wondering how to connect with the influencer so how'd you slide into some people at the end and say like hey I need your feedback on an app that I'm creating I mean it is really I mean you just simply go in hey it's me from the crown I need you to be back up something that's how I do it there's a little picture of me yeah get that social proof out there comment on

    8:43

    their you know their vacation to Mexico from 2013 say they look like good trip no don't go that far back into their feet or posts but you know do you have a look at some of their images and thing like oh hey look like a nice time in too easy or whatever but no I think the most important thing when you're citing to DM is keep it very brief like keep it super simple to the point like hey la be like hey Steve like I love the look of that new like scooter you just bought last week and you know like you'd be perfect for checking out my scooter app please like if you just like take a look at this one page below it would mean the world to me to hear your thoughts peace out and indeed some emoticons and so yeah like no more than probably like three sentences obviously address and by the name and and and and go for it like do something purse to know and then to the point is my one pager but now what

    9:50

    everyone should be doing is videos video messages to people mm-hmm you know especially if you're targeting that younger audience or well influences a particular that's how they communicate a lot of time it's all like video some snappy like people haven't got a time to be reading anymore they just want to like see you and your personality and your passion you know there's only so much passion you can get across to someone about using emoticons and like a couple of like killer sentences or whatever now we have this opportunity you can fire a video message to two people to get their thoughts and so I found that to be fairly effective at the moment but there's something so next week I'm actually going to go really really heavy on that and and test out and as well as an encourage them to get back with possibly like a video message letting them know that you know the contents not going to go anywhere unless

    10:43

    they wanted to but also yeah voice notes of encouragement to get back with video notes or voice notes whatever is easiest for them you know make their life easy but yeah sliding into the DMS keep it personal works on most phones in there and do a video if you're feeling feeling sassy everything that we talked about sliding in the to the DMS on a business podcast you know I mean I love it man that's a great idea I love the video idea I love that you