Clumsy Ninja Makes History With App Store Video.
Last week, Apple introduced the first ever app store video with the game app, Clumsy Ninja. The video offers a one minute preview of the game’s best features. The video premiered first on the UK App Store, but is now available to preview in the US. To view the video, visit the US App Store in iTunes and you’ll see Clumsy Ninja featured on the homepage slideshow.
App Store demos and videos have been on the wish list of mobile app developers (and customers!) for quite a while now. Due to iOS 7’s concentration on motion and animation, Apple is finally making this a reality. It couldn’t be a better time to introduce trailer videos, since the app market is becoming highly competitive. This small improvement to the App Store could potentially be beneficial for marketing and sales purposes. App Store videos may help increase sales by promoting apps beyond screenshots.
5 Benefits of App Store Videos vs App Store Screenshots:
1. Screenshots are bad at communicating today’s apps. Interactivity, animation, seamless video, and a gameplay loop that gives the shivers can’t be captured in an image.
2. Downloads are boring. App Store Video marketing allows potential app customers to view the experience in 2 seconds versus 10 seconds. Less time equals a greater chance of alluring customers.
3. External video is too far removed from the store. App developers often create trailer videos to promote apps and post these on YouTube. With YouTube’s design a link out to the app can be hard to find. In App Store videos remove this unnecessary step and provide instant access to the download.
4. Clever marketing is good buzz. Apps including a video trailer will have an advantage over related apps containing only screenshots. Want proof? Just look at how Clumsy Ninja is making waves by being the first app to use this functionality.
5. Mobile friendly, right out of the box. How often have you ever tried to load a mobile video and waited while it loaded the high res version? App Store preview videos are mobile friendly, giving you the right video for your device. Less waiting to buffer, more consuming unique content.
If you’re building an app we recommend thinking about what the ideal video demo might be to communicate your app’s experience. While video previews are super new, and everyone is still learning the specifications, the potential to creatively market apps just exploded. If you’re preview is cool enough to share a purchase is only a click away.
So, what do you think? Do you believe video trailers will become a significant factor on why users download apps in the future? Be sure to leave a comment below.
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About the Author: Shannon Callarman is the Marketing Coordinator at Cubicle Ninjas. She’s the tiny ninja behind the CN Twitter. You can also follow her on Google+.