Appency

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of a startup app game company that has just launched a trivia app called Triviappolis Treasures. The app is a rapid-fire game with trivia organized by city so that players can learn about a particular area through fun quizzing.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appency?

As a startup in the app world, we did not know much about app launch marketing, especially about app store optimization. We knew we could find and use some likely keywords, write a decent description, and grab some screenshots ourselves, but we knew that a professional in the space could do it better.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to optimize our app store listings.

How did you select this vendor?

We searched online review sites like and including Clutch, looking for vendors comfortable and experienced with working with apps, game apps, and small startups. Appency made a shortlist based on Clutch's data and instilled confidence and comfort in a phone screening.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope focused on app store optimization - keywords, app descriptions, and screenshots, for both iOS and Android. It also included a recommendation for attribution tools to integrate into our build.

What was the team composition?

I have worked most closely with Appency's President and have a little interaction with the design staff.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app has only just launched, and we are pushing hard for acquisition growth. Appency has been a partner throughout, advising strategies in which it is not directly involved and recently developing a plan for our first advertising foray.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Appency is responsive and personable. A startup CEO can be demanding, and Appency has delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Appency is finding creative ways to work with a startup that are different than how a service provider would work with an established brand. Our app isn't moving the needle on Appency's revenue, but we get the attention and creativity that we need anyway.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Probably, but I can't think of any right now.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the project lead for the development of a Motley Fool-branded mobile game to entertain existing members and reach new audiences.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appency?

We are new to the mobile arena and needed someone with expertise in this channel and amenable to the ad-hoc nature of our needs.

What were your goals for this project?

Launch a game on solid footing and have a running paid-marketing strategy that we could build off of.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several potential firms.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We primarily focused on:

• positioning our app for app store search optimization to increase discovery 
• create compelling copy for our app store pages in both Goole Play and the App store.
• Develop a suite of ads we could run in different channels
• Configure and administer campaigns in multiple channels (Facebook, Google, Unity ads, etc...)

What was the team composition?

We worked with the owner of the company (Aaron) and his operations lead (Styles). We planned/communicated with weekly check-ins.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

So far, Appency has been a big factor in:

• Selecting the name of the app
• Choosing keywords/categories/descriptions
• Set up integrations with marketing platforms
• Focused on driving low Cost per Installs with test campaigns
• Adjusting to some of our needs (cost per loyal install)

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Appency worked well with our informal, outcome-driven culture. The right mix of professionalism and going-with-the-flow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a deep knowledge of how to position apps and also great connections.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We may have engaged a bit too early as our app was still very much in development. Probably best to loop in towards the end of the development cycle (but pre-release).

JobFLEX is the cutting-edge software firm behind the industry's easiest to use mobile quoting and sales app. The JobFLEX team strives to provide contracting, sales, service, and distribution professionals with a simple tool that empowers contractors to save time, reach more customers, write more quotes, close more sales, and make more money. The goal of the JobFLEX team is to take the complexity out of sales software to make implementation and ease of use the first priority. We focus on introducing easy to use mobile software to small and medium-sized business.

I'm the president and CEO of JobFLEX. I have more than 25 years of experience as a CEO in the testing, engineering, and systems certification industries.

JobFLEX was launching a new mobile app on the Google Play store focused on improving the sales and estimating process for small and medium businesses.  As a startup with limited resources, Appency was instrumental in the launch of the product and providing resources for marketing and development.

We interviewed and obtained proposals from multiple mobile marketing firms.  Appency provided the most comprehensive services and was priced competitively. The major factor that influenced our decision at the quote stage was their willingness to communicate and help us define an acceptable scope of work. We used Appency for product launch and are still using them as a resource for ongoing projects.

Appency's performance and responsiveness has been excellent. We would highly recommend using Appency. 

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

When I first engaged with Appency, I was working for a leading publisher of promotional books. I was president of the cooking division. However, I am no longer with the company.

What was your goal for working with Appency?

We developed a highly acclaimed award-winning app. We had a monthly retainer with Appency to do the PR [public relations] and marketing for the app. 

Please describe the scope of their work.

Appency specialized in developing the contacts and relationships with the people at newspapers, radio stations, and television networks. Appency also had many contacts with writers of popular Web blogs that reviewed apps, talked about apps, and promoted apps. Appency knew what to do and where to go to get our app promoted.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The project was a monthly retainer, and it was in the $1,000 to $10,000 range a month.

When was the work completed?

This was a past relationship, not a current relationship, as I am no longer with the company that hired Appency for the project. I don’t know if the company still has a relationship with Appency, but the ongoing relationship when I was there was more than a year.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Aaron [Watkins], the founder of Appency, and his team work very hard to make customers happy and ensure their success. We were really happy with the work they provided. I was always happy to refer them.

Is there anything unique or special about Appency that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

At the time, Appency was the only app marketing agency. They were highly focused on media that talks promoted apps whether it be TV, print, or on the Web. They had specific knowledge of various apps and promotion techniques, so we never felt like there was a learning curve with them. 

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I think every company has areas to improve and to grow, but nothing specifically related to Appency. 

Please describe your company. What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m a co-founder and president of Kamino Labs Inc. We’re a website mobile app that allows people to take curated walking tours created by our users. We have people go to the website to research and save tours that they would be interested in taking when they get to their travel destination. Once they get there, they open up the app, and there’s a GPS map, recommendations, and directions. It’s like having a local friend show you around. 

What was your goal for working with Appency?

We started working with Appency when we were launching the app. In the run up to the public release, we needed to get our arms around the channels for user acquisition and reviews. Appency did a great job in terms of both preparing us for what was coming up, and also asking the right questions to users to be able to tease out the things that differentiated our product.

Please describe the scope of their work.

The Appency team was instrumental in creating an opportunity for us to participate at Macworld. They shepherded us through that entire process, put together the entire plan in terms of what we needed to prepare and have ready. They arranged for interviews, introductions, and they directed press to us during the event. Appency really went out of their way to support us at the event and augmented our team there. 

In addition, Appency created a custom treasure hunt, which was a walking tour they developed for our benefit. They connected with the vendors and merchants that were part of it, to set up the experience. They helped us design the messaging for that as well as the messaging for the event as a whole. They’ve assisted on the PR [public relations] side as well as helped us run a campaign for user acquisition and things like that. 

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

Their support for the Macworld project alone was between $5,000 and $10,000. We have an ongoing partnership with Appency, which costs somewhere less than $10,000 a month. 

Do you have any statistics, metrics, or feedback from the project?

We were lucky enough to walk away with a “Best of Show Award” at the Macworld conference, and a large part of that success is attributable to their efforts. 

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

Appency is an amazing partner. I can’t say enough great stuff about them. The team on an individual basis, all the folks that we’ve worked with have gone above and beyond. It feels like they take personal ownership of the projects they work on. I’ve gotten emails and follow up items from them at all hours of the day and night. As a startup and an entrepreneur, it’s great to work with an agency that has the same sense of urgency that you do when dealing with things as important as marketing and user growth. It feels good, and it gives you confidence in their dedication to the project and to your overall success.  

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

We haven’t had anything that has gone sideways. One of the things that we, collectively, have been very good at is managing expectations and being very clear about what we expect to accomplish in a particular time frame or within a particular budget. Because of that approach, we haven’t had an instance where things fell drastically short of where we expected them to be.