I've watched and read heaps of AppStore marketing and monetization reports and guides and each and every time I can't help but feel like I've witnessed something icky. I always get the impression that marketing gurus always consider every customer to be a mindless sheep or even a cashed up sheep which doesn't understand what they want and must be told or convinced.
I don't like the way software marketers, monetisers think.
My process for marketing is simple, find a deficiency is the software market, research that deficiency to find out why it hasn't been filled. If it makes sense to make a product then start work, talk to your target audience and see what they think of your idea. Work closely with a few individuals in the field, get their feedback and ideas regularly and make a great product.
When it comes to marketing and monetization, I come up with a pricing model that seems fair, covering expenses and ongoing costs. The very thought of jamming the app full of advertising and dummy in-app purchases in order to induce a decoy effect upon my customers just makes me feel ill.
As developers, we need to make money, we need to get paid. I'd much rather treat every client and customer like an intelligent person who wants an intuitive product with no annoyance or cash grabbing.
The underlying issue i have is respect. As a consumer I'd hope the company I have engaged with respects me enough not to shove annoying pop-ups and marketing propaganda in front of me and instead just tells me the raw facts. I'd also hope they respect me enough not to try and fool me or take advantage of me.
It gets especially frustrating when you receive a marketing call and the person on the phone is almost angry at you because you were unconvinced by their marketing ploy or you just didn't want their product. I'm sure they have to meet a quota of sheep they've managed to manipulate in to their flock but that's not my problem.
What would I love to see?
More companies like the creators of hover.com, domain management has been a playground for bad companies for years and hover have elegantly brought out a website with no horrible upselling on additional features, they just include them at no charge.
If your company is built on honesty and respect, you won't need to do marketing, your product and service will do that for you.
If you feed seagulls, they will always come back looking for food.
The above quote is the downside, you can have great products, you can have an honorable and respectable business that respect their customers but in the end people will still spend good money on software developed by people who just want to make money any way possible with no remorse.
So do the world a favor, share great products, ignore the rest. It's a small movement but many small movements can be more powerful than any big one.