Slide 1: Marketing Your AppExchange App
As part of the process of publishing your app on the AppExchange, you’ll create a set of text, images, and collateral to support your listing and your efforts to market it. This document covers the basic requirements for the marketing text and branding graphics that appear in your app, as well as the collateral and listing descriptions that will appear on the AppExchange site. We recommend publishing your app on the AppExchange with an About tab, About tab splash page, multimedia presentation, data sheet, and customization & enhancement guide as described in the sections below. When you’re ready to create the elements described here, you’ll find helpful tools in the Publisher’s Toolkit on the AppExchange site at http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/publishersToolkit.jsp. The toolkit contains datasheet templates, About tab and splash page HTML templates, logo files, and usage guides. The quickest and most efficient way to put together the content and documents that support an app is to repurpose much of the content you create for your AppExchange listing. Using this approach, you would: 1. Build your app, making sure that you include the correct product logo and appropriate About Tab (as described in this document). 2. Log in to the AppExchange and go to the Manage My Apps tab to fill in the listing information that accompanies the app. 3. Create and upload a datasheet, multimedia presentation, and additional collateral via the AppExchange. 4. Build a test drive of your app and populate it with data that will give the user a meaningful experience when they try it out. The table below will help you make sure that you brand all your collateral correctly and consistently.
Elements That Should Be Branded Consistently
Screenshot App Test Drive About Tab App Detail Page (contains descriptions and related links) Datasheet Presentation Customization & Enhancement Guide App Title Content Logo Drop-down Menu
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Slide 2: App Naming and Usage Conventions
First, a word about your app’s name. You’ll notice that the names of apps featured on the AppExchange directory reflect a healthy diversity. That’s because partners and developers are free to choose the names for their own AppExchange apps— within reason, of course. NOTE: To avoid confusion with the salesforce.com brand, we ask that you not: • Use the term “force” at the end of your app name • Mimic the look and feel of our logos with yours The full names of many AppExchange apps—those created by salesforce.com as well as those developed by partners—follow this convention: <productname> for AppExchange You can include your company’s name as part of the name of your AppExchange app if you choose (for example, ExpertMail Maillauncher for AppExchange). However, app names that include this information can prove unwieldy. We encourage you to create a name that is descriptive and unique. Please note that to avoid confusion, no two apps can have exactly the same name. Once a name has been claimed and is in use, it is no longer available for use by another party. For additional information on AppExchange logo usage and app naming conventions, see the AppExchange Logo Guidelines in the Publisher’s Toolkit on the AppExchange.
The App and Test Drive
Your app and your test drive or demo incorporate marketing elements. The product logo and the About tab (described in the section that follows), with its accompanying splash page, provide key identifiers and information for users. As a fully functional read-only version of your app, the test drive gives system administrators their first experience with your app and helps them decide whether to install it. It’s worth taking time to get the branding and content right in the test drive. Creating a useful test drive may not be possible for some composite applications, client applications, and hardware appliances listed on the AppExchange. For example, some composite applications require subscriptions to external services that the user must download for the application to work. In such cases, you may fulfill the test drive requirement by providing a demo. Multimedia presentations, Flash demos, or a set of captioned screenshots detailing what the app offers are all acceptable demo formats.
The About Tab
An About tab, labeled About <Your Product Name>, is highly recommended for every app published on the AppExchange. In the main body of the tab you’ll insert concise text that provides administrators, potential customers, and end users with the
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Slide 3: description of your app as well as training and support information. The right side of the tab includes space for a general description of your company and what it offers. Organizations often repurpose from their company boilerplate to fill this space. (See Figure 1.) Most administrators that install your app will want to customize it before deploying it to their users. If you want to include customization instructions for administrators who install your app, we recommend putting this information in a splash page for the About tab that only administrators will see. Administrators that install your app can dismiss the splash page before deploying the app to their users. Include installation and configuration details about topics such as: • Adding custom fields and custom links to standard objects • Requesting or executing an end user license agreement • Provisioning the external service of a composite app Since most apps are installed by a Salesforce administrator, most users will not be aware of the app until it is deployed. Once your app is deployed, the About tab provides users with a description of your app as well as information on where to go for help, support, and training. Note that the level of familiarity these users have with the Salesforce user interface may vary widely. Some users may be very familiar with Salesforce functionality, while others may be using Salesforce, or an on-demand app, for the first time. Take this into consideration when describing your app and communicating where people should go for additional assistance.
Figure 1. The About Tab for the Doc Notes app
The Datasheet
When you submit your app for publication on the AppExchange, you may also want to submit a datasheet that provides a quick two-page summary of key information about your app. The datasheet template is designed as a two-page “baseball card” that provides highlights of your app on the first page and a colorful snapshot of it on the second.
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Slide 4: Much of the text that appears in the datasheet can be repurposed from the text that you create for your app’s detail page on the AppExchange. You’ll find a template for the datasheet, as shown in Figure 2, in the Publisher’s Toolkit on the AppExchange site.
Figure 2. The datasheet for the Doc Notes app
The Presentation
Providing a five-minute presentation for visitors who are interested in your app is a good way to encourage them to try it. (You must have a means to host your presentation.) Making an Acrobat Connect Professional, Flash, or other online presentation available with your app is optional, but is strongly recommended. (Acrobat Connect Professional is a Macromedia technology that can be used to quickly create a PowerPoint presentation with voiceover narration that is stored on a central server.) Presentations typically include a quick demo that highlights the app’s functions and features. By clicking on an icon on the AppExchange, visitors can view the presentation you’ve created to describe your app.
The Customization & Enhancement Guide
You can also create a customization and enhancement guide that documents nonmandatory customizations and enhancements that can be made to your app by an administrator. This guide may include “tips and tricks” for intermediate and advanced administrators, as well as information on best practices. You should use simple and straightforward language for the guide so that administrators of all experience levels can understand your instructions. If your app can’t be enhanced with customizations, there is no need to include this guide with your listing.
Additional Resources
For step-by-step instructions on publishing on the AppExchange, see http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/publishingGuide.jsp.
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Slide 5: Marketing Materials Checklist
We’ve created this marketing materials checklist to help you put together text and images that convey the value your app offers. Use it along with the elements provided in the Publisher’s Toolkit available on the AppExchange site to create marketing tools that support your offering.
Collateral Datasheet Section Abstract Description Content Description 1-2 sentences that highlight the value of your app 2-3 short paragraphs describing the main purpose and core functionality of your app List of the app’s custom objects and Web tabs Text description of 3 key features of the app’s benefits. Please do not list more than 3 key features. List of your app’s most powerful reports or dashboards with descriptions Parameters Max 255 characters* Max 1200 characters* Ideally 3-4 highlights 10-15 words each Completed
Highlights Features
Key Reports & Dashboards
Write “N/A” in this section if your app does not make use of any reports or dashboards.
Requirements
Specifications
Screenshot
Customization & Enhancement Guide Presentation
Entire Document
List of system requirements (For example, Enterprise Edition, MyApp external service, Internet Explorer 6.0+) Publisher = MyCompanyName Type = Composite. Native, or Hybrid App Salesforce certification status Pricing Full-size screen image to be displayed on page 2 of your datasheet, and from within your AppExchange listing Guide to potential customizations and enhancements to increase functionality. Brief pitch for your app; the audience is the end user (customer), not salesforce.com. Use the presentation to demonstrate the app's functionality Full-size image of the homepage or part of the homepage of your app.
.JPG or .GIF** No wider than 800 No taller than 650 72 dpi resolution .DOC format
Entire Presentation
Images
Screenshot
Thumbnail Listing and Search Results Logo Product Logo
EPS Product Logo
Thumbnail image of your screenshot Square product logo that appears in search results listings, My Saved Apps boxes, and on app detail pages Logo that will appear in the upperleft corner of the test drive—upload it to the Documents tab in your app High-resolution product logo; for use in print, signage, and elsewhere
Duration should be 5 minutes and about 5-8 slides. NOTE: Salesforce.com does not host presentations. .JPG or .GIF** No wider than 850 No taller than 600 72 dpi resolution .JPG or .GIF** 165 by 115 .JPG, .GIF or PNG in two sizes: 60 by 60 and 24 by 24 .JPG or .GIF** 110 by 70; 72 dpi .EPS
*Including spaces **JPG is preferred for print; GIF is better for Web use 5
