how to grow shopify app

please welcome to the stage CEO at the,wide company Matt D'Souza,hey everyone,um I'm so happy to be here today,a lot of people uh so I'm a bit nervous,but I'll make it alright so today we're,gonna see how to grow a successful,Shopify app,so first of all who am I my name is,maddu Sousa I'm 25 years old and I,started to build Shopify apps five years,ago in 2017.,the thing is uh when I started the,community wasn't as big as that and we,didn't have a lot of documentation to,create a Shopify app,so I've I created my first Shopify app,and I failed,um I wasn't able to get users I wasn't,even making money in and everything,so I tried again I created a second app,one year letter,and it didn't work then I created the,third one and it didn't work,so to be honest like I wanted to quits,and so for a shoot time I just started,to create something else outside the,Shopify community and then what happens,is that in 2020 as uh I was studying,engineering like in Paris,and I had to do an internship,uh the final internship before starting,like a job in a company and something,like that but I didn't want to so what I,did instead is that I checked with my,school if instead of doing the,internship I could just like build a,company create a company build Shopify,apps and they accept it so I created,white bundle in May 2020 and it grew so,fast like I think the three first app,that I that I had created helped me,created a successful Shopify app today I,have two Shopify apps with 2 600 users,it's paying users,we have more free free users but it's,paying users,and uh yeah I have my Twitter right here,because today what I want to do is I,just want to be the guy I wanted to meet,when I started so if you're not,following me on Twitter you can follow,me here and I share all my processes how,I created the apps how are you the,people that are working for me and how,you can do the same so just for me to,know can you raise your hand just if you,already knew me from Twitter,okay okay good okay thank you thank you,all right,so uh the first thing I want to say is,that a Shopify app is not classic size,so I will talk more about it but the,thing is there are things that you can,do and things that you can do and there,are tools that you can use and tools,that you can't,what I mean by that is that you are,creating an app in an ecosystem like the,Shopify ecosystem which is Amazing by,the way,and the problem is that since you are,creating something inside an ecosystem,you're not building your app like you,would build like another classic size,for example you're not using stripe,right when you have a Shopify app you,need to use the Shopify Billing System,you know using stripe and the problem,with that is that many tools built by,other entrepreneurs are built for stripe,for example and since you're not using,it you can choose these tools,and,because of that you have to do things,differently,but no matter what happens I want you to,think about that the Shopify App Store,will be your best friend,all right so um can you just raise your,hand if you already built a Shopify app,like even if it's public private okay,cool amazing all right so today I'm,going to share with you six Secrets uh,six points I don't know how you want to,call it but six things you absolutely,have to do if you want to grow a,successful Shopify app so let's start,with the first one the first one is the,reviews are very important on the,Shopify App Store like reviews is number,one so the App Store ranking when you're,on the App Store and you want to rank,your app like you have to you you need,you want to have like a good ranking and,everything you need to build your app,around the reviews there are many other,things that you have to do but I'll,start with the review first okay so um,to get a lot of reviews the best way and,this is the best way that many people so,when they started on the Shopify app,store is to provide great customer,support when I mean great great customer,support I mean that you need to reply,fast to your users you need to offer,custom support so what I mean by custom,support is for example if they're asking,you for something that you don't have on,your app right now or that you don't,want to do but that you can do in less,than two minutes or three minutes then,do it because the more custom you have,the more customer your support is and,the more reviews you will get so try to,like be in your user's business try to,understand them try to like fix up,problems try to do it like as fast as,possible,and there is something that you don't,have to forget,is that you need to ask for reviews,but don't don't ask for five star,reviews otherwise you know like you're,in Shopify you'll you'll get your app,like removed,um fast so please as for reviews but not,positive one so what I mean by ask for,reviews is that I remember sometime,someone told me that it was providing,excellent support like it was helping a,lot of people he had many users and the,problem is that he didn't have a lot of,reviews and he asked me how do you get,so much review like so many reviews,and I asked him like do you ask for,riches like do you ask your users to,leave a review on the App Store and he,told me that he didn't do it that he,didn't want to like bother the the users,that he didn't want to ask them that,that they didn't like he didn't know if,they would accept it and I want to say,something like if you are helping the,people if you are helping the users they,will want to help you back and the best,way for you for them to help you is by,living excellent excellent reviews on,the Shopify app store and the thing is,the more reviews you will have and the,better your ranking will be on the,Shopify App Store,and it was something more important than,the number of reviews that you have on,the App Store,it's how fast you can get your reviews,let's take an example,you have an app that is two years old,with 100 reviews but they received the,100 reviews over the year like over the,two years or something like that,and you have another app,that has only 50 reviews but they,received the 50 reviews in the last,month,in the last 30 days they will have a,better ranking better first app not,because they have more reviews but,because they receive the reviews faster,and the thing is I remember someone who,told me that he already had many users,because he already had an app not a,Shopify one but he already had an app,and it created the Shopify app and he,started to put all his users,um on this Shopify app and he told me,yeah I'm asking for reviews but only one,review per week so that I can get many,reviews over time and I told him like,why are you doing that like you're just,killing your ranking here just try to,get as many reviews as you can like as,possible like as fast as possible and,you will start to get like a better,ranking this is how I did it for my app,I didn't give the name of my app if you,want to check it it's wide bundle so for,white bundle this is exactly how I did,it the thing is I'm French I know some,French communities so I've been able to,get like early users and with these,early users I've been able to get many,reviews and thanks to that I've been,able to reach the first page for the the,keyword bundle for the the best keywords,because I had many reviews,the second point that I want to see with,you the second secret is that you don't,have to use only the store,someone like sometimes people uh told me,that they want to build a Shopify app,that they will just leave it on the,Shopify App Store that it will grow and,that they will do nothing,but it's a mistake,okay you can grow a business like you,can grow your Shopify app only with the,App Store but I don't recommend it,because even if it's not a classic size,it's still a SAS you can still you have,many ways to build your business your,Shopify app you've you have many ways,some of the channels that work great for,white bundle and for the other apps are,the ad Partnerships,so you go find other apps that your,users are currently using and you make,Partnerships integration so your app can,integrate with another app and then you,can do co-marketing activities so that,more users will see your app and the,more partnership that you will have,the more trust you will get from,merchants,the second one is a Blog I think I don't,have to explain why a Blog is important,SEO like you can build like a reputation,on Google you can have many users coming,from from Google and so that's super,important the next thing is social media,this is the same thing like try to post,Twitter Facebook YouTube you can have a,YouTube channel I met people who like,who grew a Shopify app only with YouTube,like you grew a YouTube in a specific,Niche a YouTube channel and it started,to grow his app that way you can do ads,and you can do influence marketing,influence marketing is something that,we've been that we've done and it's,working very well so you conduct,influencers people who already have a,community of merchants can be Twitter,influencers Instagram influencers people,with a Blog with a newsletter,just contact as many people as you can,because the more into the more influence,you have and the more traffic you will,get to the App Store the second the,third thing sorry that I want to say is,you need to have a good app listing if,you don't know on the Shopify app store,you can build a listing,for your app so that when people want to,want to find an app or want to to find,something they will see your listing and,this is the first thing you will they,will see so if you want to get a lot of,traffic and a lot of installation you,will need to have a good app listing the,first thing that I see uh like the,problem I see often is that people are,not talking about benefits but but they,are talking about features you want to,talk about benefits because when a,merchant is coming to your app listing,they don't want to see that you have X,feature or that you can do that or that,you can do this they want to see what,your your app can do for them for their,problem what are the benefits so when,you're talking about a feature so for,example my app can do I don't know like,my app can put picture on your website,just don't just put that put you my app,can put some images and pictures on your,website to increase your connections,because they want to see what your app,can do for their business they don't,want to see what your app does it,doesn't matter for them,show a preview of your app I see too,many apps on the app store without even,an image without even like screenshots,or like screenshots that don't that,where we don't see the app try to show a,preview of your ad because they want to,see how your app will look like on their,on their store so even show a demo store,you can add a button with a demo store,show a demo store with your app show,them like how they will be able to use,your app how how it will look like on,the on the store,and then the next thing I want to say is,add Google Analytics,this is something amazing on the App,Store you can add Google analytics and,you can see what people typed to find,your app like what is your commission,rate like how many people clicked on the,boot and get the app so please add,Google analytics because without data,you don't know what you have to improve,if you add Google Google analytics you,will see for example that 20 percent of,the people who clicked on your app,listing will actually convert so if you,want to improve that if you want to like,improve your listing how would you know,if we improved it if you don't have,Google analytics like maybe you will,change something and it will like you,will have a lower conversion rate so add,Google analytics the the fourth point I,don't know how to say that in English,try to data so I talked about it just,like before,the thing is we can't use tools like,stripe as I said and many data tools are,built on top of that so if you want to,understand what is happening on your,Shopify app use tools like mixpanel or,unpleasure to track your own events this,is what we do for our apps it means that,for example when someone is installing,the app they will like we will receive,an event this person installed the app,when they will click on a button on our,dashboard when they will use a feature,we will receive everything we will even,receive an event when they will start,the trial when they will convert to,paying users and that way you can take,like you can make better decisions for,your business because if you want to,change something and it doesn't improve,your app why would you want to do it,right so use it for all your decisions,the fifth point that I want to talk,about is the onboarding optimization,Notions are busy many apps exist on the,Shopify App Store like sometimes 15 apps,for the same thing so why would I choose,your app you have to show them that your,app is the app that they have to use so,for that you need,to improve the first minute that I will,spend on your app this is so important,it means that you you need to show an,onboarding like perfect onboarding and,some apps are doing an amazing job so,just install some apps see how others,are doing the the onboarding and yeah,try to do it yourself and the goal is to,take them to the a moment as fast as,possible right here and if you know what,is the AAA moment,okay so I'll talk about the a moments,the aha moment is the exact moments the,merchants will see the value in your app,so that they will see exactly that the,app is for them and the problem is each,the a moment is coming like at 10 or 15,minutes after they install the app the,problem is that they'll maybe Union,style yeah because they didn't see the,value in it,so try to understand what is the a,moment for your app what is the exact,moment they see the value in it and take,them to this moment as fast as possible,you can track it once you know what it,is you can track it and you can improve,it all the time and finally the sixth,point is have fun this is the best thing,and I like that because you can grow if,you don't like what you do so please uh,just have fun,go with a partner go with someone chill,and do it and you'll make it,thank you for your attention and if you,have any question I'm here,hi yeah thanks very much for the talk,that was amazing quick question on the,reviews you mentioned it's good to get,them as quickly as possible but there's,obviously a new Shopify feature where,you can see how quickly Merchant left to,review after installing your app which,you don't think it looks bad if they've,done it after an hour and haven't really,like use the tool yeah I mean when you,when I say get reviews as quick as,possible I'm not saying like the moment,they install the app like you have to,ask them for a review I mean that for,example if they've been using your app,for two days or three days you don't,have to wait like to say oh I will wait,for them to use the app for a month and,then I will see or like I don't want to,bother them or something like that or if,I'm taking the example of the person who,already had a lot of users on the app,and he said no I will wait I will first,ask the first person to leave a review,then the second one then the first third,one then the fourth one no you need to,get as much review as possible but it,doesn't mean that the moment the user,like install the app that you have to,ask for review of course they have to,see the value in your app they have to,use it they have to see that it brings,value to to the to the store and that,they can use it,thank you,another question,yeah,you great talk by the way a lot of,energy uh good insights you probably,have a product roadmap right in your,mind like how are you prioritizing the,next feature are you talking to your,users are you getting feedback,can you talk about that a little bit,yeah this is an interest interesting,question so yeah we are talking to our,users this is the best thing to like,trying to find new features and I always,say that you don't have to come with,features yourself like you are not,choosing your tool,if you're a merchant you are but you are,not choosing your tools so the merchants,know better what they want so what I do,for that is I use like customer support,and I try to understand what are the,pain and what are people asking for so,if I see for example 10 people and I,usually see that like 10 people asking,for the same feature then I know that,this is probably the feature I better,like build as fast as possible so this,is how we do it but I don't prioritize,like the same way I,um for all users for example if you have,free users and you have paying users and,like many free users are asking for a,feature but the paying users are not,this is probably not a good feature,because you want paying users obviously,you're building a business but yeah,um this is about like talking to,customers to to the user trying to,understand what they want and when they,ask something that don't say okay I'll,build it just try to understand like,jeeper why they want it uh what is,exactly that they want and sometimes you,will find that they don't really want,what they ask for like they have a,problem that you you find another,solution,that is better that you can use and that,you can build and it will be better for,them but that's the way to do it,thanks Matt it was a great talk thanks,for putting up your age as well it,reminded me to uh the clock is ticking,so um but what I wanted to ask you was I,work for an agency and we recommend a,lot of apps to our customers,but we get the email from the app,developer then saying you know thanks,for installing the applicant this is,usually after a support query so we,would be asking a question on behalf of,the merchant and then when the problem,is fixed we get asked to leave the,review yes and it's usually us that's,actually using the app so all we can do,is forward that request on to the,merchant but to be honest we tend not to,do that all of the time because they're,busy and so we find ourselves in the,middle I don't understand why Shopify,don't let agencies leave reviews on apps,you have to be the store owner do you,have any thoughts on that,yeah I mean that's sometimes the problem,that we're facing and uh for the moment,there is nothing we can do,um honestly and yeah maybe Shopify in,the future will change something about,it uh but yeah that's why you know you,need to ask like we need to ask as many,reviews as you as we can because,sometimes we're not getting them uh for,many problems like sometimes we we see,like Merchants with a message saying,that they can't leave the review,sometimes it's because,um it's not the owner of the store and,so yeah there is nothing we can do about,it right now and uh it's a bit you know,um frustrating but we have to do it that,way,foreign,right here,uh hey Matt hey great talk uh we are,connected from long time on Twitter and,uh we follow you on Twitter so you,already share a lot of lots of things,there so my question is that like uh,when someone uninstalls the app so there,is a problem that we don't know the,reason so many times most most of the,time we don't know the reason so what,you do to know the reason why someone,uninstalled the app okay yeah so we are,using,um clavio we send emails to the to the,merchant like to everyone you need,installing the app and we have like a,little form where they can click on,buttons to understand the reason they,installed the app like the uni install,the app so uh we can say like for,example it's too expensive or uh I,didn't like this feature or I didn't,understand this thing and so we send,that to them and uh we're waiting for,like replies the problem is that we are,not getting that many replies I don't,know if you have the same problem since,you have an app we don't have like that,many replies so we're trying to like the,best way is to get people before their,Union installing so you can see some,patterns they are not coming back to the,app they're not using it and you try to,get them like before the union installed,and that's something I've been asking uh,to Shopify is if it was possible to,change for example One Union style the,merchant receive,a simple like form with some information,about like why you need install the app,but this form is created by Shopify and,we can change the the answers we can we,can change the responses and so,we don't have a lot of things that we,can do about it uh we're trying our best,and we'll see if Shopify improves that,in the future,thank you thank you,another question someone,all right,thank you for your attention have a,great day

Congratulation! You bave finally finished reading how to grow shopify app and believe you bave enougb understending how to grow shopify app

Come on and read the rest of the article!