I was asked for “3 tips” on game growth at a meet-up organized by AppNext shortly before PocketGamer Connects in Helsinki. The event evolved into a crazy networking rush jam-packed with industry experts such as Oscar Clark (Unity), Chris James (Steel Media) and Tommy Palm (ex-King.com, now Resolution Games). So, when the mic refused to cooperate with organizers, we decided to share our thoughts later in a newsletter. Here’s a copy of my part and feel free to check other marketing wizards.
Focus on high quality users
Define 3-5 “soft” KPIs such as a finished tutorial, reaching level 5 or boosting a weapon which will help you to evaluate players’ behavior in the first 2-3 days. Next, use “hard” KPIs such as a paying conversion, number of payers or ARPU. Combine these to understand which campaigns should be stopped, which have high potential and which are clearly attracting great users and should be boosted with a larger budget.
Get more from existing users by segmentation
Analyze data from your existing user base to understand what spenders have in common, who your whales are and what’s the typical behavior of churned users shortly before they leave for good. Use these insights to segment users and define personalized communication or pricing. You can double your revenue with an existing users base!
Indie tip for premium games
There are limited number of ways on to promote a paid game. This hack worked fantastically for our game (Octagon): create a desktop version of your game and publish it in the Mac App Store, Steam, Kongregate and other browser based portals for FREE. Cross-promote your desktop game to your PAID mobile game using big store buttons on the desktop game’s main screen. If you add progress synchronization across devices, people will love it and eventually buy the mobile version to play wherever they go.
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