The Bump
So, I updated my AppViz software when I got home today and surprisingly, I saw a big bump in my ShakeItPhoto sales on Christmas day. This got me thinking about what would cause such a spike. What would cause my sales to practically double going into Christmas?

First, I thought that ShakeItPhoto was reviewed or featured in an article online or in a magazine. I looked around online and checked my google alerts and didn’t see any reviews or articles that came out. Nothing there. Second, I checked twitter to see if I could find any info about what was causing such a big jump in sales. There were the usual tweets of people showing off their favorite photos, but nothing that would cause such a jump.

So, that got me thinking. With internet use during christmas being as low as it is, and without an article or an ad to promote my product, what was doing all the selling? People! People were selling ShakeItPhoto by showing their friends during the holidays. The holidays are all about people getting together, talking about their year and, of course, showing off their toys. My theory goes… As a family member pulls out their iPhone during Christmas, they want to show off the device to their nephew, aunt, mom, whatever. They will open some of their favorite apps (hopefully ShakeItPhoto) and show others what their new phone does. This works well too when someone receives an iPhone as a gift. People pull out their phone and show the new iPhone owner what apps they should buy. This happens all the time when I’m around family. “Have you seen this” or “Check this out” is a common phrase as somebody loads up a new piece of software or app. So why does this sell so many apps? Word of mouth SELLS!

The Power of Word Of Mouth
Of course, everybody knows how powerful word of mouth is when it comes to selling a product. People trust their friends WAY more than they trust an ad or even a review. But what makes Christmas so different when it comes to word of mouth? Quantity. While the year may bring a few parties, there is nothing like the holidays to bring a HUGE amount of people into one room. All these people are also taking photos! It’s a match made in heaven for my app. People take a photo with ShakeItPhoto and show off the shaking feature and the final product to their whole family in one twist of the phone. If I did my job right, they like the result and want to buy it themselves.

Christmas Year Round
So, how do YOU promote word of mouth in your app? What makes people turn the phone around to show their friends.