welcome. January 2015

2015 APP REVIEWER SURVEY Insights from app reviewers and what they really want

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The  explosive  growth  of  apps  shows  no  sign  of  aba4ng,  and  that  means  there’s  a  rising  number  of  developers  trying  to  get  their  apps  no4ced  by  journalists.  There’s  one  small  problem:  how  can  a  finite  number  of  media  outlets  possibly  write  about  the  millions  of  apps  already  out  there  -­‐  with  hundreds  more  launching  every  week?    

This  online  survey  was  conducted  in  late  2014.  Of  the  app  review  media  that  were  approached  to  take  part,  69  responded,  including  journalists  from  high  traffic  sites  such  as  The  Guardian,  148  apps,  Gizmodo,  IGN,  Pocketgamer  and  Slide  To  Play.  

We  invited  responses  from  blogs  and  sites  around  the  world  but  the  majority  came  from  the  US  -­‐  s4ll  the  biggest  app  market,  and  

therefore  the  country  with  the  highest  concentra4on  of  media  covering  apps.  Despite  the  journalists  who  responded  mostly  focusing  on  mobile  games  there  was  a  spread  of  other  types  of  app  being  reviewed  by  them  too  -­‐  including  kids/family  and  educa4onal  apps.    

Throughout  this  report,  you’ll  see  quotes  from  real  journalists  who  kindly  shared  their  opinions  with  us.  We’ve  included  as  many  as  we  can  -­‐  but  have  leW  them  unaXributed  as  many  wished  to  remain  anonymous.  

“how can a finite number of media outlets possibly write about the millions of apps already out there?”

The  focus  on  reviewing  games  over  and  above  all  other  types  of  apps  reflects  the  reality  that  games  make  up  the  majority  of  all  apps  on  all  the  app  stores.  Whilst  we  all  have  plenty  of  social  and  produc4vity  apps  that  we  use  regularly,  no  other  category  of  apps  has  the  same  popularity  or  the  same  volume  of  new  app  launches  as  games  -­‐  leading  to  a  much  higher  propor4on  of  column  inches.    

Aside  from  games,  journalists  covering  new  app  launches  in  other  categories  are  clearly  looking  for  products  that  catch  their  aXen4on  regardless  of  what  kind  of  app  they  are.  But  with  with  so  much  of  the  media’s  focus  being  on  games,  it  means  that  other  kinds  of  apps  need  to  be  really  special  to  get  coverage.    

When it comes to app review media, games receive more than twice the attention of any other category.

Respondents  were  also  asked  what  opera4ng  systems  they  covered.  Over  90%  covered  iOS  whilst  just  over  60%  covered  Android.  The  volume  of  media  that  covers  other  formats  such  as  Windows  and  Blackberry  is  rela4vely  small  as  would  be  expected.  The  small  percentage  of  ‘other’  included  outlets  that  covered  Mac  and  handheld  gaming  such  as  3DS  and  PS  Vita.    

On average, how many review requests do you receive a day?

Around  75%  of  the  journalists  who  took  part  in  the  survey  said  that  they  receive  fewer  than  20  requests  a  day.  Although  this  may  sound  small,  that’s  equal  to  100  a  week,  more  than  400  a  month,  and  close  to  5,000  a  year.  And  this  is  at  the  lower  end  of  the  scale;  at  the  other  extreme,  almost  8%  said  they  received  over  50  requests  a  day,  which  is  a  staggering  13,000  requests  a  year.    

“almost 8% said they received over 50 requests a day, which is a staggering 13,000 requests a year.”

Unsurprisingly,  the  most  important  considera4on  for  any  app  reviewer  was  whether  the  app  in  ques4on  was  a  good  fit  for  the  site  or  magazine’s  reader;  in  a  nutshell,  is  it  relevant?  As  we’ll  see  in  a  later  ques4on,  it  seems  that  not  enough  developers  and  PRs  are  considering  this  issue  of  relevance  when  approaching  the  media,  with  too  many  using  a  scaXergun  approach  in  the  hope  of  geeng  something  to  s4ck,  which  ul4mately  is  not  actually  working.    

The  second  most  important  factor  is  what  the  app  looks  like  based  on  its  screenshots.  Firstly,  screenshots  show  the  graphical  quality  of  an  app,  which  is  a  good  indicator  of  overall  quality,  and  secondly,  it’s  easy  to  see  from  a  screenshot  whether  the  descrip4on  of  the  app  in  the  pitch  

or  on  the  app  store  is  accurate.  So  as  well  as  showcasing  the  app,  screenshots  are  a  litmus  test  of  whether  the  app  lives  up  to  the  hype  or  not.    

Interes4ngly,  the  least  important  factor  was  whether  the  app  is  based  on  a  known  brand  or  license  -­‐  perhaps  indica4ng  that,  when  it  comes  to  apps,  big  brands  don’t  automa4cally  mean  high  quality.    

The  biggest  lesson  here  is  relevance;  sending  a  pitch  about  an  app  that’s  not  relevant  to  readers  was  cited  by  58%  of  the  journalists  surveyed.  Beyond  that,  major  reasons  for  not  considering  an  app  for  review  were  related  to  not  sending  through  the  right  informa4on,  or  pueng  together  a  pitch  that  was  poorly  wriXen  or  structured.    

When  you  have  at  best  a  couple  of  minutes  to  go  through  an  email  pitch,  the  posi4ves  need  to  be  clear  and  concise,  otherwise  nine  4mes  out  of  ten  that  email  won’t  make  it  further  than  the  trash.    

Sending  out  promo  codes  from  the  App  Store  was  by  far  the  most  popular  way  to  test  and  review  apps,  and  Android  reviewers  are  mostly  happy  to  receive  app  files  directly.  Half  of  the  journalists  surveyed  were  also  happy  to  use  Teshlight  -­‐  perhaps  an  indicator  of  what  propor4on  of  reviewers  are  happy  to  look  at  pre-­‐release  game  builds  and  work  in  progress.    

Contrary  to  the  view  that  app  reviewers  sit  aloof  on  their  thrones  in  an  ivory  tower  (a  view  we  would  never  profess  to  sharing  ourselves),  our  survey  shows  that  journalists  like  to  use  social  media  to  interact  directly  with  developers.  First  and  foremost  though,  our  respondents  like  to  use  social  media  as  a  discovery  and  news  tool,  to  keep  them  up  to  date  with  all  the  latest  releases  and  announcements.    

As  well  as  being  open  to  conversa4ons  with  known  developers  and  industry  contacts,  some  of  the  journalists  use  social  media  as  a  way  to  contact  specific  developers  and  companies  directly  -­‐  we’ve  seen  this  with  games  like  last  year’s  sensa4on  ‘Flappy  Birds’,  where  the  game  became  a  media  talking  point  without  any  PR  or  marke4ng  at  all.  So  for  anyone  planning  on  marke4ng  an  app,  it  clearly  makes  sense  to  have  some  form  of  social  media  profile  in  case  a  journalist  finds  it  and  wants  to  get  in  touch.    

Please select ONE of the following statements that best applies to you

When  it  comes  to  the  best  way  of  pitching  an  app,  social  media  appears  to  have  the  same  appeal  as  thrones  in  ivory  towers,  with  no  media  preferring  to  be  contacted  via  Facebook  or  TwiXer.  Despite  the  fact  that  many  journalists  use  TwiXer  as  part  of  their  work,  only  a  small  percentage  (8.5%)  were  happy  to  use  it  as  a  means  of  receiving  pitches  about  apps.    

Instead,  journalists  clearly  like  to  keep  it  tradi4onal,  with  88%  wan4ng  to  get  an  email,  and  handful  preferring  to  be  reached  via  a  web  form  on  their  site.    

How  likely  is  it  that  a  pitch  will  turn  into  a  review?  Not  very,  judging  by  the  responses  we  had  to  this  ques4on.  Over  40%  of  respondents  said  that  fewer  than  one  in  ten  of  the  pitches  they  receive  end  up  geeng  reviewed.    

Taking  an  average  from  these  figures  we  can  see  that  70%  of  journalists  who  responded,  publish  reviews  on  less  than  30%  -­‐  giving  the  average  app  a  less  than  one-­‐in-­‐three  chance  of  geeng  coverage.    

Do you use any newswires as a source of information?

It  can  oWen  be  a  difficult  choice  for  developers  and  PRs,  as  to  whether  using  a  newswire  service  actually  helps  get  trac4on  with  the  press.    

However,  it’s  preXy  close  to  an  even  split  between  journalists  that  do  use  them  to  discover  apps  to  write  about,  and  those  that  don’t.    

Looking  at  the  different  services  cited,  Games  Press  was  clearly  the  favourite  -­‐  likely  due  to  the  much  higher  concentra4on  of  game  reviewers  than  any  other  kind.  Aside  from  Games  Press,  the  most  read  wires  were  the  long-­‐established  services  PRNewswire  and  Businesswire,  followed  by  PRWeb  and  Marketwire.  But  even  these  were  only  read  by  fewer  than  one  in  four  journalists  -­‐  with  several  other  well-­‐known  wires  geeng  even  less  recogni4on.  

The  results  of  this  survey  -­‐  and  the  overwhelming  sen4ment  received  from  the  journalists  who  made  the  4me  to  take  part  -­‐  reflects  what  many  PR  professionals  have  known  for  years,  namely  that  a  well-­‐wriXen,  personalised  pitch  stands  a  much  beXer  chance  of  geeng  read  than  something  poorly  worded,  impersonal  and  blasted  out  willy-­‐nilly.  And  whilst  marke4ng  professionals  and  PR  people  do  offer  a  valuable  service  in  helping  developers  reach  reviewers,  it’s  by  no  means  a  certainty  that  coverage  will  result;  as  we’ve  seen,  at  best,  you  have  a  one  in  three  chance  of  making  it  from  a  pitch  into  an  actual  review.    

One  of  the  key  factors  in  all  this  is  quality  and    

originality.  An  app  that  looks  and  sounds  original  will  spark  a  journalist’s  interest,  and  it’s  these  apps  which  tend  to  dominate  the  media  coverage  given  to  mobile  apps.  Even  a  great  pitch,  fantas4c  screenshots  and  a  relevant  app  for  the  readers  will  fail  in  comparison  to  an  app  which  has  a  genuine  X-­‐factor.    

With  so  few  app  reviewers  expected  to  cover  so  many  apps,  it’s  only  logical  that  the  reviewers  will  focus  on  the  1%  that  either  really  stand  out,  or  capture  the  zeitgeist.  The  downside  of  this  is  that  it  leaves  many,  many  disappointed  developers  whose  apps  simply  don’t  get  the  coverage  that  they  might  deserve.    

in summary…

Whilst you can’t guarantee success, you can ensure failure. We hope that the insights contained in this - the first ever survey of mobile app reviewers - help developers, marketers and even journalists themselves focus more on what works, and in that way make everyone’s job that bit easier and more successful.

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