So you’re trying to get your game noticed by tons of people and be downloaded. But you don’t exactly have a big budget for marketing or you have no budget… What’s an app developer like you to do?

First and foremost, take a deep breath! App developers like you have been running across this problem for years and a few have figured out that niche bloggers can be a big help in helping them get the first 10k-100k installs with little to no cost.

How did they do this and how can you? The first step is to make a list of small and medium sized blogs that cover the type of app that you are creating before you’ve pushed it live (this last part is key!). Once you’ve done that, you should reach out to them via email and twitter and follow their twitter handles. Take the time to explain the app you’re building and ask them if they would like to review it as soon as it’s released. Some bloggers will also be willing to provide you feedback before the app release. This might be a good idea as these bloggers review many apps every week and they have significant market knowledge. Be sure to provide them with a date when they can push their reviews live (an embargo date).Also, if you prefer to target a specific region of the world, there are specific bloggers that cover those regions. For example, there are bloggers in San Francisco that cover Android apps for the Middle Eastern market. It would also be good to maintain these relationships for subsequent releases that you’ll have.

 

In summary then, the steps are:

1. Make a list of small and medium sized blogs and bloggers before pushing your app live

2. Reach out to the bloggers via email and/or Twitter to start a relationship

3. Ask them to take a look at your app and review it once you’ve pushed it live

4. They might ask for a pre-release version of the app and some screenshots before it’s live. If they do, please provide it to them.

5. Please provide them with an embargo date (a date when they can push their reviews live, this should line up with your release date)

6. Incorporate any feedback they might have before the release

7. Release the app

8. Watch as you get free downloads

9. Thank them and maintain that relationship so that your subsequent releases will have at least the same amount of coverage.