上周苹果App Store应用数量突破30万款，其中游戏占了6万5千款，这对乔布斯来说可能是个好消息，但开发商就未必乐得起来了，而且还要犯愁，究竟如何使自己的游戏在众多竞争对手的吆喝中脱颖而出？

在美国旧金山举办的第二届Dsicovery Beat大会上，不少业界主要发言人各抒己见，表达了解决这一难题的诸多看法，以下是笔者据此总结出来的10点让应用成功“抛头露面”的建议：

apps

1.重视用户反应

对待用户就要像对上帝一样尊敬和信任，必须他们觉得自己受到重视；要为最忠实的用户提供一些奖励，因为只有用户说好，应用才是真的好。

2.谨慎出击

测试，测试再测试，在产品推出前尽可能获取更多的应用反馈，游戏理念、艺术美感、玩法、甚至名称都要反复斟酌，千万不能掉以轻心。（如果游戏名称念起来拗口又不容易记忆，就没有人会提到这个名字，不利于推广。）

3.添加营收渠道

在游戏正式上市前就要植入营收转化系统，可以是广告赞助、虚拟商品和虚拟货币，或者其他选项，总之事前就要有所规划，不要自欺欺人，认为可以事后再考虑这一问题。

4.病毒式推广

要让应用以病毒扩散方式推广，这一点非常关键，如果不这么做，应用就很难被大众知晓。要以积极的态度，尽可能多向身边的人推荐自己的应用。

5.留住用户

用户留存率不容忽视，具有无限价值。要以服务客户的态度不断更新游戏，留住玩家。如果用户一周才玩一次游戏，那么游戏下载量再多也是枉然，所以要与用户保持长期联系。

6.定期跟踪

要了解用户对这款游戏的喜欢、讨厌、需求以及行动等各种第一反应，最好每月、每天甚至每小时都做一次跟踪统计，了解用户对游戏的感受。

7.应用排行榜

花点钱在相关应用排行榜占个座，因为80%的应用销售都是由排行榜拉动的，但前提是得保证你赚到的不光是用户点击率，而是下载量。

8.正确的推广平台

必须在恰当的平台跟用户打交道，非手机平台的广告活动（比如说通过Facebook、Twitter等社交网站的推广）并不是促销手机应用的良策，你很难让用户登陆Facebook后再拿起手机玩游戏。

9.多种营销策略

广布局，多设点，放宽市场营销手段的选择范围。最好要在多个平台占有一席之地，利用多个渠道创造一个保险可靠的销售网络。多用几种市场营销手段，筛选出有效选择，排除无效方法，不要把鸡蛋放在同一个篮子里。

10.创造丰富体验

注意逗用户开心，不要在他们有所需求时摇头说无能为力，要创造多种有趣的游戏体验，这样他们才会愿意与人分享这款游戏。如果游戏设计时就考虑到了这一点，那么你成功也就不远了。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译）

The ten rules of app discovery we learnt from Discovery Beat 2010

Last week’s announcement that the App Store offers over 300,000 apps and 65,000 games may be exciting news for Steve Jobs.

But for the developer community, it raises monumental concerns about the ability to break through the noise and get noticed.

With a focus on indie developers, the second annual Discovery Beat conference in San Francisco provided solid and valuable insight in terms of application discovery and monetisation.

An impressive list of speakers and panels provided a range of examples and advice for handling the competition and making your app successful. Here’s a list of gems.

1. The user’s always right

Treat users with respect and trust. Let them know they are valued and are being listened to. Offer custom rewards to recognise your most loyal users. Remember, an app isn’t good until users say it is.

2. Say what?

Test, test, and retest. Get feedback on everything you can before you start pushing the app – concept, art, gameplay, even the name. (If the name can’t be pronounced on the playground, no one will say it.)

3. Buy now

Build monetisation into the game at the get-go. Whether it’s paid advertising, virtual goods and currencies, or affiliates, plan ahead. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll add it later.

4. Be passionate, flu-like

Turn your app into an infectious disease. Virality is critical for success. If your app doesn’t have it, it won’t work. Tap into real life passions. Create an app you love enough to tell your friends about.

5. Little, often

Retention has unlimited value. Update constantly and manage like a service instead of an app. Downloads don’t mean anything if users only play for a week. Focus on the long-term user relationship.

6. Knowledge is power

Make the metrics work for you. Know what your users love/hate/want and act on it in an instant. Track monthly, daily, and even hourly ratios to understand when users are interacting with your app.

7. Buy downloads

Hit the charts. It may be worthwhile to pay for an iTunes chart position as 80 percent of app sales are via the chart. Just make sure you’re getting a real user not a click through.

8. One-click

Reach users through the platform. Non-mobile advertising (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) has not proven effective for driving sales of mobile apps. It’s tough to convince users to log off Facebook to pick up a phone.

9. Go wide

Keep your options open with multiple strategies. Gain scale through multiple platforms. Create a safety net by using multiple distribution channels. Test multiple marketing concepts to find what works and get rid of what doesn’t. Don’t rely on one thing.

10. Smile

Make it fun. Nothing sucks the fun out of an experience more than telling a user what they can’t do. Give them tons of choices and make them want to share the experience. If you design for fun, success will follow. （source：pocketgamer）