Ishant Sharma launches his personal app
What's the news?
Ishant Sharma announced on Twitter about the launch of his new app “Ishant Sharma Official App” powered by Escapex. It is a personalised app for the pace bowler via which he aims at connecting with all his fans on a personal level. The app is free on major online stores and contains in-app purchases for the premium services.
Ishant Sharma was really excited to welcome his fans on the app. “This is where you and I will be spending a lot of time together. Exclusive Videos, Pics, Live Chats, Exciting Contest, Announcements, Behind The scenes and lots more. You will find everything bout me first on this app. You now have a direct access to me. Let's stay connected with each other on this App. So stay tuned as very exciting stuff is coming up for you and you only on this app!” read his first post.
In case you didn't know...
Ishant Sharma is not the first cricketer who launched his own app. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers et al. have their own apps which they use to connect personally with their fans. They have huge number of people who are active on their apps and they frequently indulge in personal interactions with them.
Details
The app enables the users to create a profile which in turn allows them to participate in the contests. Users are awarded stars based upon the active usage of the app including the likes, views and comments. The more stars a fan has, the higher will be his/her chances of meeting Ishant Sharma. One can also boost his comment by clicking on their profile picture. The stars that are earned determines the rank of the fans.
He also announced the first competition today in which the fans were asked to share one of their best memories of having watched Ishant Sharma play and why it is important to them. The post says that the three best entries will get a chance to meet and interact with Ishant.
Apart from these, there are also direct links to all the official social media handles of Sharma including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
What's next?
The “Ishant Sharma Official App” is currently rated at 4.6/5. However, it has relatively less number of downloads so far. It has been only a day since the app was launched and the numbers are expected to rise soon.
Author's take
It is a good move for Ishant Sharma as it will bring his fans closer to him. He can interact with his fans which will allow him to know what is the most loved and hated things about him which should work constructively for him. He will also be easily accessible which may enable normal people to seek his advice in order to build their career in this sport. This step has worked brilliantly for few other cricketers and is expected to do the same for Sharma.