A wonderful post showed up on toucharcade.com forum discussion about marketing that basically confirms everything myself and everyone on IRC has been speculating about or trying to prove.
Little White Bear Studios
( http://www.littlewhitebearstudios.com )Says…
Okay, in the interest of providing some real data for this discussion, here’s what I know from being on the App Store for 3.5 months:
1. Lite versions work, but only if you have a decent app in the first place. More eyeballs, no matter what. But it only translates into sales if they like it. Every single time I’ve updated my Lite version, I see 100-200 more paid downloads per day, for the duration the Lite version is visible.
2. There are more paid downloads happening now than three months ago. The number of downloads you get at #30 today is approximately the same as what you got at #15 back then.
3. No surprise to anyone, lower prices mean more sales. But only if you are visible in the first place.
4. You can make a good chunk of change if you stay in the top 100 games list, no matter what your price is.
5. You will make a lot more if you are in the top 100 apps list.
6. You make considerably more if you are in the top 50 apps list.
7. Weekend sales are a lot bigger than weekday sales, by about 30-40%, if you’re in a list.
8. This month, the #50 app sells around 400-500 copies per day, in the U.S.
9. Eyeballs are directly related to sales, and are worth more than any sort of advertising, reviews, etc.
10. Being featured is like being handed a sack of gold. People will automatically love you, for about a week. After that, it’s your job to spread the love.
