22 App Marketing Resources Worth Knowing

I know what you’re thinking: why would I need to read anything else than the Apptamin App Marketing Blog ? Seriously though, even if we do our best to provide you with thorough and useful posts we can’t cover everything and we’re certainly not experts in all domains. So here is a nice list of resources dealing with how to market your app. We actually follow others than these, but most of what we share on our Facebook page, twitter account and Scoop.it app marketing curation comes from there.

This list is meant to evolve, as some resources become more relevant and others become less pertinent. This post doesn’t cover the resources that deal with “Mobile News”, as these are pretty easy to find.

Blogs

Let’s start with the blogs. We started out the Apptamin App Marketing Blog back in April 2012  because we couldn’t really find blogs with useful and practical posts. Since then, we’ve discovered a few ones that we really like and are updated frequently. My favorite way to keep up with these? RSS Reader.

AppClover - Marketing and Making Money with Apps

What AppClover has been doing over the last few months is pretty impressive. It seems that they realized the same thing than us (the lack of useful resources) and they’ve been gathering and teaming up with many expert contributors from the mobile industry and app marketing to offer some really great content.

The articles already published (and there are many more to come) cover various topic already: app design, app development, monetization, marketing, promo videos…I could say I’m biased since I contribute, but seriously it’s worth checking out.

Gamasutra – The Art & Business of Making Games

Gamasutra covers game creation and business in general, and their smartphone/tablet section give some great insights to app developers about game development, marketing and crowdfunding. They have TONS of post and it can be a little overwhelming but it’s good stuff (if you follow us on twitter, you probably saw we shared several posts from Gamasutra).

Tapstream blog

The Tapstream blog is not as prolific as the 2 mentioned above, but it’s a nice mix of app reviews and tips/resources for app marketing. Some cool apps, some good advices, and an easy read.

The MobileDevHQ Blog

The MobileDevHQ team has been posting some good articles since January 2011. Even though they took a few breaks (hey, it’s hard work to keep those posts coming) there are some excellent advices, and these guys are experts at App Store Optimization.

Beginning iPhone App Development

I like reading app developers’ interviews. In fact, that’s one of the things I wish we were doing more on our blog. Fortunately, there are several interesting ones (as well as some case studies) on the ‘Beginning iPhone App Development‘ blog. Some good insights.

W3i

Blog posts on the W3i Blog are a little more “high-level” and less practical, but they still make you think and that can’t hurt

Some Extras

Here and there I see some nice posts from indie devs/teams, and right now I can think of Flow studio and Jamo Games.

Books/eBooks

Since the “gold rush” of app development started, a lot of books have been written. That includes a lot of crappy ones. Here are a few that are really good reads.

App Savvy - Ken Yarmosh

Of all the books on the subject I’ve read, App Savvy is my favorite. I think I really like it because the concept of Marketing Crescendo that Ken talks about really speaks to me. Ken had the good idea to include some interviews along the chapters.

The Business of iPhone and iPad App Development - Dave Wooldridge

This book is actually the first one that I’ve read and it deals with both how to develop and market your app. It’s pretty thorough and definitely a good read if you’re starting in the iOS development business.

Pitch Perfect - Practical Advice From Professional Bloggers

Pitching is an art, and a lot of developers and teams do it wrong. Even if you’ve been doing it for a while, it’s highly probable that you will learn a thing or two about how to pitch from Steven Sande and Erica Sadun (TUAW). The book is actually not only about pitching, but also about what makes a great app.

Guide to the Parallel Universe

This free e-book covers different marketing-related topics from product planning to raising money. And it has funky drawings of little creatures from space.

The App Store Playbook

Like I said, I like interviews. This book by Shane Lee (also author of the Beginning iPhone App Development blog mentioned above) provides 10 mobile game developers interviews, giving you great insights into how they work and key points on how you can improve your chances for success. A must read if you develop games for iOS.

Podcasts/Videos

The nice thing about podcasts and audio in general is that you don’t need to be in front of a screen. You learn about app marketing while jogging, driving or kicking it on the beach.

Appetite-PR Marketing Podcast

Jeff from Appetite-PR has been doing these interview podcasts with app developers and people in the mobile industry in general since the beginning of 2012. It’s always interesting to listen to them talking about how they got where they are, and what are the things that seemed to have worked for them.

AppClover Appreneur Appcast

In the AppCast episodes Mathew and Len from AppClover interview an expert on app marketing or someone from the app community. Questions are relevant, and most of the time you gain some knowledge or tips that definitely make it worth it to watch.

Tap for Tap’s “Tap Your App” Podcast/Videos

Eric from Tap for Tap (mobile ad network for free exchange of app promotion) interviews app developers and marketers. A good way to know more about the birth of some games and learn some useful stuff.

Newsstand Apps

Newsstand apps are a fast-growing sector of the mobile industry and it’s therefore no surprise to see some newsstand apps dedicated to app development and app marketing.

Appreneur Magazine

The Appreneur Magazine newsstand app is made by AppClover. I really like their blog content – even my own posts , and for their magazine they use some exclusive content and interviews. If you have an iPad, you have to check it out (1st month is free if I recall correctly).

Make App

David Janner is putting together this really good Make App magazine. What I liked in the first edition is that the tone is not “make billions instantly with apps” and that it shows the struggle and how hard it can be to make a business out of it. Same thing, 1st month is free so make sure you download it.

App Ville

The first issue of the App Ville newsstand app was released recently and looks pretty promising. It’s app marketing content put together by Tope from the App Design Vault, whether its own or from different experts.

Forums & Facebook Groups

iPhoneDevSDK Promotion techniques

The Promotion Techniques section of the iPhoneDevSDK forum is not the most popular and sometimes suffer from a little too much auto-promotion (I’m guilty too, although most of us do it to add value) but it’s a great place to exchange some thoughts and techniques between indie developers. Some interesting debates and insights from time to time. If you develop games, you might prefer TouchArcade Forums.

Indy App & Game Developers Facebook Group

This Facebook group is “A place for Indy Developers to discuss and share ideas on App Development, Marketing & Promotion”. Some developers ask for feedback on their apps or marketing assets, and some good posts are shared.

App Entrepreneurs and Marketers Facebook Group

This Facebook group is pretty new but some really interesting articles were already shared. A little more “business-oriented” than the one above.

Some Extras

Quora is a great place to find relevant information. LinkedIn has some interesting groups (the ones with no spam) and of course following the right persons on Twitter (following us ) can help you discover great content. Scoop.it can also be a good way to receive quality articles and resources straight in your inbox.

Newsletters

iOS Biz Weekly

I’m subscribed to all kind of newsletters to stay updated with some internet/mobile industry or specific startup news, but I actually only know iOS Biz Weekly when it comes to receiving a list of useful links in my inbox.

Webinars

Fiksu Webinars

Same thing here, I haven’t heard of many good webinars on app marketing. Even though it’s clear that there is a sales approach to the subjects treated (but one’s gotta live, right?) the Fiksu webinars are interesting, and it’s always nice to be able to ask questions at the end.

Here you are, several great resources about app marketing. If you’re not following us on twitter yet, now is a good time to start and discover the posts and resources we share everyday.

Do you know of some kind of incredible app marketing resource we’re not aware of? Please share it in the comments!