Building an application and finding good distribution channels are the first steps to making money with your products. Another way to improve your odds is to make your offering relevant to specific operators. Operators are looking for solutions that fit with their existing business strategy. Your solution might not be right for all operators, but it's likely to appeal to some - and doing that homework is your job if you want to be successful. And Openwave can help.
I met with Geoff McGrath, from the Openwave Developer team, who's spent a lot of time talking to the operators about what they need and how they screen submissions. Here's what he had to say (okay, he cleverly calls these the Six 'P's of Mobile Marketing).
Product: Which categories of content and applications are most sought after?
The best-selling applications deliver personalization. Content related to ring tones, ring-back tones, screen savers and wallpapers are as popular as they are diverse. Games are a close second. The availability of content for these areas is enormous -- and continues to grow -- as media companies focus more on mobile. What's needed is content that uses xHTML, multiplayer games and next-generation services like video content (download and streaming). Delivering content for these categories will greatly improve your odds of getting the attention of operators.
Price: How is price determined?
The most popular business model for content distribution is revenue sharing. The developer and operator share a pre-determined percentage of the price for content submitted for distribution. The operator knows their market best and will adjust prices up or down as required, say for promotional purposes, but you should be able to suggest a fair price for your content based on your own experience.
Placement: How can I ensure optimum placement in the storefront?
Recognizable brands and topical content clearly get pride of place over generic or "evergreen" content. That said, innovative content or new versions of popular applications featured in the "What's New" or equivalent section gives your application maximum exposure and an opportunity to prove its popularity and earn deck placement. However, the most meaningful way to ensure optimum deck placement is to provide business intelligence to the operator to prove the correlation between revenue generation from your content and the discovery path in their portal.
Promotion: How can I help drive users to my content?
Operators value the promotion of their content as much as you do. The more ideas you have about creating awareness and promoting your content in an operator's portal, the greater your chance of getting attention. Promotions in newspapers, magazines and billboards are common. Broadcast promotions are also growing including radio and interactive television.
People: What is my target subscriber profile?
Content listings should combine both global brands and local content to be truly successful. You should know what segments the operator is targeting for data services.
Phones: What are the devices that I need to serve?
Each operator has a unique handset portfolio that fits the requirements of their subscribers. Effectively delivering services to these operators requires synchronizing the handset and services roadmap for each individual operator.
In addition to Geoff 6 P's, he advises making sure your app gets the best rating possible by using our submission guidelines and tips. Selected five-star rated applications are featured in the Application Showcase, which gives you maximum exposure. The bottom line: the combination of your content knowledge and Openwave's global customer and market knowledge, should gives you an edge in creating content that will generate real interest.
Roxanne has been working as an application developer for over 10 years. Her goal is to successfully write this column without having to join the marketing team or sit on the top floor with the execs. Roxy recently sold her vintage Motorola brick phone on eBay for $15. If you have a general question you'd like answered or just want us to know what's on your mind, let her know. Or, for more detailed or specific technical support questions, please visit ODN Developer Support.
