When it comes to app submissions, several review sites say marketing strategy has nothing to do with passing the prescreen and moving into review consideration. I say rubbish! Of course review sites won’t publish reviews for junk games, however, to say marketing strategy plays no part is just not true. An app submission is like any other marketing material: if executed correctly, it will turn heads, if not, it will die without a shot. Here are four marketing tips to help your app submission make it past the prescreen for review consideration. (After that, it’s on the quality of your game.)

4 Tips to Get Your App Submission Past the Prescreen

1. Write for Your Audience 

   As with any piece of marketing, be sure to gear your app submission toward your target audience: the review staff. Remember, you aren’t trying to score downloads or win fans. You’re trying to stand out from the gazillion of other app submissions the review team receives daily. For best results, make sure your app submission is:

• Engaging: captivate the review staff with an attention grabbing and well-written description of your game.  
• Unique: clearly communicate why your game is different from the rest within your description. 
• Relevant: keep your app submission’s focus on your game’s description, not on you or your/your company’s story. 
• Brief: don’t overwhelm the review staff with pages of text. Provide a one- to two-paragraph summary with supporting bullets. 
2. Make Your Submission Easy to Review

   With so many app submissions to go through, the review team won’t review yours if it’s too hard to do so. Help the review team easily find and play your game by making all necessary information accessible in your app submission. At a minimum, your submission should include:

• App’s title
• Link to download and/or play app
• App’s promo code (if applicable)
• Company’s name
• Your contact information 
• Link to trailer video
• Screenshots
3. Include Eye Candy
   While your game’s description is a vital part of your submission, it can only do so much. To clearly communicate the art style, graphic quality and other visual aspects of your game, include a trailer video and screenshots. These assets strengthen your app submission by making the review team’s job easier, i.e., they allow a sneak peak without having to download the game and make for some excellent copy and paste-able material should you get a review.
4. Look Professional 
   To be taken seriously by the review team, you need to take the review team seriously by submitting professional work. This means submitting videos and screenshots with excellent production quality and a well-written description free of grammatical and spelling errors. As a rule of thumb, always ask someone you know to read over your submission, look at your screenshots or watch your video to catch any mistakes you may have missed. 

Above feature image was taken by johnnyberg.