8 unspoken rules of mobile app operation

The author of the original text is Li Dongsheng, who used to be the director of operations. He has been concerned about the field of app operations for 2 years. In this article, he summarizes his experience in app operation and promotion and the unspoken rules that exist in this field. Hope App developers and operators can get something useful from the following.

Below is an excerpt from the original text.

First, let’s deconstruct the position of app operation. The content of such a job is very complicated, including channel promotion, data analysis, product packaging, event planning, and so on. In the two years from 2012 to 2013, in fact, the core of each company's operation was placed on the channel, and the actual operation of the product was relatively small, and it stayed on the surface, without in-depth product data analysis and users. In terms of mining, it does not make a fuss about the retention rate of old users, but more about being a channel and a user.

Most of the operating positions of app startups are channel promotion, that is, through relationships with channel providers such as Android Market, 360 Mobile Assistant, and 91 Assistant, or buying advertising space. Because the user growth of the app mainly comes from this, if you have a good relationship with these channels, and strive for free recommendation positions such as the first launch, it will be able to qualitatively increase the number of users. Therefore, the main work of more companies' operations is to make budgets and then find channels.

There are three ways to cooperate with these channels. One is paid cooperation, which is very simple. Negotiate the price and pay. The second is free, mainly for the first launch, and to establish a good relationship with the channel's operating partners to help give a free position, etc. The third is the cooperation of event prizes. In short, the channel chamber of commerce plans some activities during the New Year and festivals. It needs the sponsorship of prizes and then provides some recommendation positions to the sponsoring CP. Also, the original Android and Anzhi will organize some forum activities ( The conversion rate is not high, it is not recommended).

In the last company, I had dealt with the channel for half a year. At that time, I organized a table by myself and divided each channel into three levels, namely high, medium and low. Among them, high-level channels include Google Play, Wandoujia, Xiaomi App Store, Android Market, 360 Mobile Assistant, Tencent Application Treasure, 91 Mobile Assistant, Baidu, etc. The medium ones include Mobile MM, Huawei Zhihui Cloud, Anzhi Market, Jifeng Market, Apphui, N Multimarket, Muant, Unicom Wo Store, Telecom Tianyi Store, Lenovo Music Store, etc. The low-level ones are channels that already had a small number of users at that time, such as cross cats.

For high-level channels, it is the key maintenance object, and the frequency of attention is daily. The number of users of these channels is relatively large, so it is necessary to observe the user growth of the channel every day, and watch the change of location, etc. These high-level channels are also the main choices for the launch of new product versions. According to my experience, Wandoujia and 360 mobile phone assistant, as well as Tencent's application treasure and Baidu, these channels have the best starting effect. Followed by Xiaomi, Android Market, etc.

For medium-level channels, they are secondary maintenance objects. You don’t need to pay attention every day. You can pay attention to their activities and so on. Make a good relationship with the channel partners and strive for some free referral positions, which may bring some volume. But unless it’s a last resort, don’t cooperate with them for the first launch of the product, the effect will be very unsatisfactory. I remember one time when I cooperated with the Tianyi store for the first launch, less than 100 products came in a day, and I almost cried.

For low-level channels, you can basically keep updating, and you basically don't need to spend energy on it. Because no matter how hard you try, it can't give you users. Because it doesn't use users by itself.

The big waves wash the sand, and now there are only a dozen or so channels. And these channels are basically in line with money. For some local tycoon companies, you should find a powerful channel to throw up your sleeves and spend money, and for some diaosi startups, it is really more difficult to run an app and want to get users for free than to reach the sky.

Next, the East Building will talk about some unspoken rules of App operation.

1. About the starter

Wandoujia, 360 Mobile Assistant, Xiaomi, etc. can apply for a free launch opportunity once a month. The starting point of contact is their operations staff. When talking about the first release in detail, it must be reasonable and courteous, and think appropriately for the operators of the market, so that everyone can do things more conveniently. At present, the operation of Peadoujia is relatively nice, but it is relatively busy. Generally, it is to send an email to confirm. The operation of the Android market and Xiaomi store is also very good, and the operation of 360 Assistant is relatively busy. coax. Baidu's first launch needs to fill in a bunch of rules and regulations, just fill in according to the rules. Also, it is best to make an appointment a week in advance or a little earlier for the starter, otherwise it is very likely that there will be no schedule.

2. Some free and available resources

such as pea pods can apply for high-quality applications and product design awards. If the application is successful, you can also get a certain recommendation position. The 360 ​​mobile assistant will also often engage in some activities, and it may be good to have a good relationship with the operation.

3. Product privilege function

The charging value-added service fees for products is provided to the market for free in exchange for advertising recommendation positions in the market. This is a compromise approach without sufficient budget, which is equivalent to exchanging resources with the market.

4. About capturing packets

Through the major Android markets, they will capture packets from each other. If you do not update a market in time, the market may directly grab the installation packages from other channels, which will cause problems with your data. The data of this channel may be inflated for the first time, and the data of the packet capture market will show a downward trend. At this time, how to judge whether the effect of the first launch is good or not? It is necessary to compare whether the total volume has improved, rather than looking at the data of the first release channel alone.

5. About mutual recommendation within the app,

that is, the so-called exchange volume. In-app recommendation, if the location is relatively deep, and the number of users of the other party is not large, it will basically not be effective. Unless it is an app with a user scale of over 10 million or even over 100 million and the location is relatively obvious, it may be effective, otherwise it will hardly be effective, so don’t focus on this.

6. About resource exchange

There is a situation in which resources are exchanged. As an intermediary, you can use information asymmetry to guide each other. For example, you contact two CPs, A and B, and then ask A to recommend B, let B recommend you, and you recommend A. With these back-and-forths, you may earn a spread. Doing this thing requires a good brain, a little girl who can sell cute and clever. Back and forth, maybe you can make a fortune.

7. About data analysis When

it comes to operations, you can't talk about data analysis. If there is no data support, it is nonsense to talk about operations. Only by being able to see the daily data and monthly data can there be a reference and a target. Generally speaking, each market needs to be packaged and uploaded separately, but in terms of the current store distribution, you can choose important stores to package and upload, and other channels do not need to be packaged separately. Generally speaking, the most commonly used statistical data are daily new additions, daily registrations, channel distribution and ranking, and equipment distribution.

8. About brushing and commenting There are

now a lot of navigators with brushing, who can brush up your downloads in a certain market, and then improve your ranking to get more exposure. For this kind of thing, try carefully, don't brush too obviously and be removed from the shelves, it will not be worth the loss. I feel that I can brush the comments properly, but don't go too far. It is best to brush them manually. Brushing some praise can also increase the chance of downloading.