Understand the marketing validation requirements
In these guidelines, you'll find an outline of the requirements for marketing validation as well as examples of best practices, which you can use as inspiration, while developing the storefront details of your offer, your sales landing page, and video materials.
The storefront details on AppSource is the first impression that prospects get regarding your offer. First impressions last, so make sure to invest some time in developing the content on the storefront, so it gives a good impression from the beginning. Failing to do so will jeopardize the hard work you put in developing your offer, likely leaving the prospect confused, or looking elsewhere. Accordingly, we recommend you put in the time, effort and due diligence when developing this content. Follow the marketing validation checklist and get your app passed on the first submission.
The marketing validation is in place to make sure that the customer journey on AppSource is a uniform experience, where customers quickly and easily can get an overview of your offer's functionality, why they can benefit from using it, while also enticing them to learn more, and take the necessary actions to start using your offer.
Accordingly, to ensure that your listing establishes a good first impression, we carry out a marketing validation of all Business Central apps that are being published on AppSource. This also goes for apps that already are live, if some of the content in their storefront details needs to be edited. In this case, they need to be resubmitted for marketing validation as well. Consequently, to be published on AppSource, all listings need to pass the required elements within the marketing validation process.
To ease your experience with developing the storefront details of your listing, we have numerated the core elements, as they appear when you upload your content in the Storefront Details tab on the Partner Center.
Enter offering information for apps
The image below is an example of what an offering looks like on AppSource, when the storefront details are completed according to best practices. We highly recommend that you review these guidelines. Select any of the links under Guidance/Examples to gain more insight on that section or item within the marketing validation process.
0.A - 0.C
Your app can be in any language. If it's not in English, a document with English translation is required. Remember to use the product branding guidelines properly.
General Best Practices including Language and Branding
0.D
Must be the same as the manifest. Your offer name for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
1
Max. 25 words or 100 characters, value proposition.
2 - 2.G
Use the Rich Text Editor, 3000 characters See link for best practices on formatting the content.
2.F
Supported Editions: Premium, Essential, or both.
2.G
State only the Dynamics 365 Business Central supported countries that apply.
Supported countries or regions
2.H
State the languages that your app is available in.
3-4
Choose the industries your offer is best aligned to. (max 2) Categories that your offer caters to (max 3).
5
Add-on App - free or trial, Connect App - Contact me
6
Your Help Link can't be the same as your Support Link. Your Help Link should be a landing page on your website where someone can find help resources, such as documentation, FAQs, step-by-step guides, webinars, and so on.
7 - 8
Listed under Description, and Language & Branding.
Supported Countries and Languages
9-10-11
Enter the latest version number. Enter the date (dd/mm/yyyy) when you expect your app to be released.
App Version, App Release Date and Supported Products
12
Although it's not required, it's strongly recommended that you use keywords to optimize the searchability of your app. Maximum of 3 words.
13
Enter a secret key that you use to preview your offer on AppSource before going live.
14
You're required to provide two logos on AppSource. 48x48 pixel resolution (for your app's search page), and 216x216 resolution (for your app's details page). Both in a (.png) format.
15
We recommend that you add one or two videos that would act as a demo or a quick 3-minute sales pitch about your app.
16
Minimum of 1 document, (max of 3) permitted.
17
Please double check the resolution, it needs to be 1280 x 720 and only in (.png) format. It's required to have a minimum of 3, but you can have up to 5.
18
Landing page where prospects can find information on how you handle their data.
19
You need to provide a URL for a distinct page with your license agreement where prospects can find the information on your terms of use. You're also able to just put the license agreement into the designated field.
20
It's a requirement that you provide different (more than two) contact options on your app landing page.
Special rules for localization, connect, and consulting services apps
Add-On Apps with some unique requirements.
Add-On Apps with some unique requirements.
Add-On Apps with some unique requirements.
Creating an effective sales landing page and compelling videos for your app
Microsoft will drive qualified traffic to AppSource. Once a prospect becomes aware of your app, it's your job to guide them through to a successful buying transaction. Deliberately mapping and architecting the buying journey is critical to ensure a high level of engagement and conversion. Only presenting your app's features and functionality, or just providing a free trial, won't ensure prospects will become buyers. For this, you need to have a good landing page that is built to help you capture attention, accelerate your customer acquisition process, and drive buying behavior.
The recommendations on the Guideline on creating an effective sales landing page for your app page can help you do this. It's well worth investing time and resources to create marketing videos for your app if it's to be taken seriously in a business environment.
Recommendations about how to make compelling videos are available on the How to make compelling videos page.