A recent infographic by App Promo, which claims that strong marketing is “the truth behind success with mobile apps,” has been taken as something of a warning or resignation: not every mobile app is a runaway hit, and the crucial factor in developers’ eventual profits is app marketing.

It’s important to look at the source of this data, though, and App Promo proudly notes that this is their “very first infographic,” based on their “First Annual Developer Survey” — which, they note, only included around a hundred respondents. The data groups iOS and Android together, too, which offers somewhat of a complication — the two platforms offer very different revenue structures to developers.

iOS vs. Android

A March survey by app marketing company Flurry found that Android apps generated just 23 percent of what iOS apps did, for the same number of users per platform. A December survey found developers consistently telling Flurry that “they make more money on iOS, about three to four times as much.”

There’s a fairly significant divide, then, that might be important to note in the data App Promo provides — namely, that 59 percent of apps don’t generate enough revenue to break even on development costs. (Note, too, that the survey included not only iOS and Android developers, but those for BlackBerry, Windows, and Symbian.)

The infographic acts as a call-to-action to download their whitepaper, “The Necessity of Mobile App Marketing” — something we certainly believe is important, too. This whitepaper details App Promo’s findings that the top 12 percent of earners among developers have a minimum $30,000 dedicated marketing budget.

App Promo does list a few useful suggestions for general mobile app marketing, though — for instance, developing an online and mobile landing page; conducting media outreach to bloggers and journalists; and promoting on social-media networks.

Mobile-App Marketing: Again, All About Content

We think this infographic from Mashable, though, gives a bit more direct advice. They suggest making a teaser video — Fueled has some great explainer videos for apps we’ve created, and we think video is a great format for introducing a product to new audiences. Videos are concrete, original content to spread on those social networks everyone knows — without often going into just why — are essential to creating conversations around your mobile app. We believe creating genuinely interesting content is a far more effective way to spread the word about an app than traditional direct-marketing efforts: the goal is to create, engage, and support a community.

Have you checked out Fueled’s explainer videos? What kind of content catches your eye? Let us know!