The App Reviews Formula

What if I told you there was an easy formula for pitching your app to bloggers and reviewers?

And if that formula would give you a running start far beyond most apps?

Why it Matters

You want your app to sell – to get downloads. You might have the best idea, but if people don’t hear about it, the app will flop and soon be forgotten. One of the most effective ways to reach your target audiences is through blog reviews. It is your chance to get wide exposure to a lot of people at once.

Think about it.

You possibly have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers reading blogs every single day.

Bloggers have direct influence over the buying habits of their readers. They’ve done the hard work of building their audience. They know what readers want.

All you need to do is write an effective pitch that catches their interest and interests them into review your app.

With this formula, it’s not that hard.

First Things, First

When working out your pitch, remember that bloggers are people just like you. They are often very busy. Your goal here is to write a pitch that catches their interest and greases the path between you and fame. Make your pitch stand out from the rest. Be friendly. Be concise.

Think of this pitch as your one and only shot to communicate with this blogger. Likely it will be. You need to provide enough information to be compelling and informative, yet short and to the point. The more work you can do for the reviewer, the more likely they are to review your app.

The Pieces

These are the parts you will need to nail the pitch.

1. A motivating subject line
2. The name of the app
3. Price
4. App description
5. Feature List
6. Links to your product page and iTunes App Store or Google Play product pages
7. A link to a short promo video
8. Promo Codes
9. Contact information
10. One or two screenshots

Pretty Straightforward, right? Most of those can be completed in just a few minutes.

Let’s take this one-by-one.

The Subject Line

First impressions count.

Make the subject line interesting and make it short. Include the app name, what it does, and a benefit of using it. You are telling the reviewer why they should care. Hook them. Do this in 60-80 characters.

Here’s an example, “Photo app BlinkFree for iPhone makes sure all eyes are wide open in group photos”

The Email Body

Remember, bloggers are busy. They have deadlines and lots of things to keep track of. Likely their attention span is short.

You want to keep the email short and concise.

2. Name: Provide the app name as you want it to appear in a review. Make sure it’s spelled correctly. Check capitalization. Seriously.

3. Price: Most reviews include the price of the app.

4. App Description: This is where you really sell your app. In one concise paragraph. Like the subject line, make it motivating, but provide more detail. These are some key points you should cover:

• What does it do better than competitors?
• What is new in this version?
• Why did you make it (what is the purpose of the app)?
• A good elevator pitch to make it memorable

5. Feature List: What makes your app outshine others? List no more than 5-7 bullet points. You are selling the features and making the reviewer’s job easier.

Include links to the iTunes App Store or Google Play product page. This is how they will direct readers to your app. You want people to buy your app.

7. Promo Video: Create a short video between 30 seconds and one minute long that shows how your app works. Don’t worry about quality. You need to show how the app works. If a reviewer can’t figure out how to use it, your chances of review are low. Upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo and provide the link in the email.

8. Promo Codes: They cost you nothing and you get 50 for every version you release. Include a promo code. Remember, you are making it as easy as you can for the blogger to review your app.

9. Contact information: Include your name, company, and a valid email address. It may seem redundant, but do it anyway.

10. Screenshots: Choose one or two screenshots that tell the story and demonstrate how the app works.

A Sample

Here’s a sample pitch from a non-existant app.

Subject: Photo app BlinkFree for iPhone makes sure all eyes are wide open in group photos

Tired of always having somebody blinking in group photos, despite multiple attempts? BlinkFree makes sure everybody’s eyes are wide open so you don’t have to be disappointed… again. This app captures your group photo and finds the blinking eyes. Next, it takes automatically takes a second photo so it can stitch their open eyes over their blinks. In one short step you can have a photo of everybody blink-free. BlinkFree lets you:

• Take photos using simple camera controls
• Set a timer with audible countdown so everyone can be in the shot
• Use automatic blink detection and replacement, or manual controls
• Email the final photo, share via social networks, or print on your AirPrint compatible printer.

BlinkFree ($price) is available for sale now in the iTunes App Store [link to iTunes], and you can read more about it on our website [link to website]. You can see a video of it in action [link to video], and screenshots are below (there are more on the website).

Here is a promo code you can use if you would like to try it for yourself: [Promo code]. My contact information is below if you have any further questions. Thank you in advance for considering BlinkFree for review.

[Contact Info]

[Screenshots Attached]

I can’t guarantee following this formula will get you reviewed everywhere you pitch, but it will give you a good shot at it. Also remember, your app should be polished and ready by the time these requests are sent.

You will likely have only one chance, so make the best effort to put your best foot forward. If you don’t hear back, take that as a subtle hint that your request has been declined (sad, I know, but it happens to all of us).

Now, your turn. Try writing a pitch for your app using the above formula. If it’s already in the App Store or Google Play, It’s OK to add a short paragraph about what is new since the last version.

When you are done, try it out!

Finally, if you got reviewed using this formula, please tell me! I’d love to hear about your experience.