Upsight's Monetization Playbook for Mobile Games

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THE MONETIZATION PLAYBOOK For Mobile Games

Transcript of Upsight's Monetization Playbook for Mobile Games

Page 1: Upsight's Monetization Playbook for Mobile Games

THE MONETIZATIONPLAYBOOK

For Mobile Games

Page 2: Upsight's Monetization Playbook for Mobile Games

By definition, a playbook is a set of strategically chosen actions and best practices that lays out clear objectives in order to achieve a goal. In game development, a playbook can be employed to achieve various goals—one of the most sought out being driving monetization. However, since no mobile game is the same, how do you develop your personalized playbook?

To start, you need a sophisticated and flexible analytics platform that has the capability to understand your players at the user-level as well as the distinctiveness of your game, and be able to take action. As players are becoming increasingly sophisticated and expectations are evolving, you need to be able to deliver the right offer, to the right player, at the right time. Upsight’s Mobile Monetization Playbook will reveal the tools necessary to achieve this, as well as how to make your players happy, and ultimately, increase monetization.

WHAT IS A PLAYBOOK?

What is a Playbook? | 2

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WHEN TO THINK ABOUT MONETIZATIONThe answer is, at every single stage! These strategies can be employed at every stage of development. Right from the start there is plenty to think about in terms of monetization, but if you’re already live it’s still not too late. There is plenty to do with a live product.

Thinking about how your game is going to monetize is beneficial at every step of the development process, and how developers think about monetization is unique at each step including these four:

1. Pre-Production2. Production3. First 48 Hours4. Live-Optimization

When to Think About Monetization | 3

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WHEN TO THINK ABOUT MONETIZATION

When to Think About Monetization | 4

In pre-production, the game is still malleable and the sky’s the limit. All the more reason to begin thinking about how your game will monetize. You may not know every item or price point at this stage of the game, but thinking about monetization now can help you build a strong foundation and help you in answering how your game will monetize early on.

From a game loop perspective, it’s important to think about how player progress will affect what players will want to purchase. Does offering an item later in the game make sense if players could use it sooner? What will players want to invest in each time they play the game? Knowing this, you can begin to ask yourself how you imagine segmenting your players based on their investment strategies, and ultimately how you will get players to understand the benefits of your offers.

From an inventory perspective, it’s important to know how much you really have to offer. A simple exercise is to imagine what a user would do if given a large amount of premium currency for free. What would they spend it on? How much fun would it bring to the experience? If given the same amount again, would a player be able to spend it effectively? Understanding the limits of your economy around what players can purchase, and how often a purchase can meaningfully impact the fun factor of your game is crucial to understanding what is worth offering down the road and ultimately how your game will monetize.

1. Monetization During Pre-Production

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2. Monetization During Production

When to Think About Monetization | 5

• Make sure the shop provides enough details about purchases

• Celebrate user purchases with a thank you screen

Everyone is in full swing making the game. Now is a good time to:

Ask yourself;

How long are your game sessions? Where are the lulls in the action where ads make sense? What screens are players browsing when they’re in a state of shopping?

WHEN TO THINK ABOUT MONETIZATION

Ensure that the shopping experience is not left until the very end

Stay on top of integrations of ad networks and dynamic offer systems

Implement the right data points to track and qualify users

Develop outstanding and creative offers and ads

Determine the best places for ad and offer placements that don’t interrupt the flow of the game

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WHEN TO THINK ABOUT MONETIZATION

When to Think About Monetization | 6

The game is live and users are pouring in. There’s a lot to do within the first 48 hours.

3. Monetization in the First 48 Hours

Review critical early metrics such as the first time user experience (FTUE)funnel and the initial offer/ starter bundle conversion

Check with regularity your user-level data reporting and ensure you’re capturing relevant KPIs

Listen to early player feedback and respond appropriately

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WHEN TO THINK ABOUT MONETIZATION

When to Think About Monetization | 7

4. Monetization During Live-Optimization

With the lifecycle of mobile games, it is now just as important to focus on post-development activities as it is on the game development itself.

Games require critical analysis of its player base to understand how and why players are spending. Reviewing how each of your player segments are performing can lead to improving offers and an overall increase in monetization.

Optimizations can continuously be made to the content of offers as well as the creatives that are used. Ads also benefit from optimizing both their placement and performance. Ensuring the best paying IAP offers and ads are in the most beneficial places is one of the best ways of improving monetization.

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Players are savvy shoppers, and as free-to-play matures, so do the strategies you use to close a sale. Free-to-play sales may happen virtually, but the rules for closing players on a sale haven’t changed.

In order for players to make a purchase, they must love and trust your product. Without a sales person to build a rapport, it can be difficult for players to make a decision to purchase.

It is up to your game, and ultimately the strategies you’ve employed, to persuade players by helping them understand which of your products are a right fit for their needs, and ultimately giving them a clear picture of how your product will improve their gaming experience.

Simply put, these strategies help you sell your product better.

WHY DO I NEED IT?

Why Do I Need It? | 8

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A WORD (OR TWO) ON ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS Since every game is unique, the metrics you track should be too. Although many analytics providers supply a standard set of core metrics, it’s critical you have full flexibility in creating personalized metrics. You need access to your raw player data in order to create visualizations that are uniquely tailored to your game.

You should look for three things in an analytics provider:

1. Flexibility2. Scalability3. Actionability

A Word (or two) on Analytics Solutions | 9

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1. Flexibility

2. Scalability

3. Actionability

A Word (or two) on Analytics Solutions | 10

Flexibility comes in a few different flavors: flexible ingestion, flexible analysis and flexible visualizations.

• Flexible ingestion is the ability to take in many types of data while still being able to process it efficiently and properly handle your use cases. This helps ensure downstream processing is efficient and still fits your business needs.

• Flexible analysis means that you have access to the right type of data for your required task. For example, if you are a Data Scientist investigating a hypothesis about your soft-launched game, you might want access to event level data to make a decision. Compare that to a Monetization Manager who needs to run a campaign on a targeted segment of their user base, they might need access to user-level aggregate statistics like lifetime revenue. Both these use cases are very different from an analyst who needs to make custom reports for internal stakeholders by playing with aggregated metrics broken down by important dimensions.

• The metrics you track should be as unique as the game you developed. Although there are loads of basic analytics packages on the market, it’s critical you have flexible visualizations for creating reports that are personalized to your needs.

Scalability is critical to a successful analytics platform. It’s important to track as much pertinent information on your users as possible. Your need for a scalable system will grow with the success of your games.

Actionability means that you can easily leverage your data to affect your users through a marketing campaign, an alteration to the user’s experience or a targeted ad. Being able to generate aggregate dimensions on each user is key to extracting value from the data you are collecting.

A WORD (OR TWO) ON ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS

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THE ERA OF PERSONALIZATION

The Era of Personalization | 11

A vast majority of free-to-play games have shops, but rarely are they treated like a store. It is important to remember that every player who enters your shop is unique - a fact that brick and mortar stores know very well. Not every customer who visits is in the market for evertyhing you’re offering. And those that aren’t necessarily interested in your top end price points is totally fine, there should be something for everyone in your store.

Virtual shops lack one key ingredient - the sales person. It is a salesperson’s job to connect personally with customers, which allows them to qualify them and direct them to a product that fits their needs and budget. Even more importantly, they help customers by allowing them to imagine what life would be like if they were to purchase the product, which is a crucial aspect to making the sale.

Right now, it is the player who is their own salesman. Players are doing their own research on items, understanding what they do, comparing prices, and sifting through all the options. Unfortunately there are many players who won’t go through the trouble of selling themselves on your product, and they shouldn’t have to.

We can fix the problem by becoming better sales people, optimizing the store experience and letting our players just be customers.

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CLICK TO LEARN MORE “Mobile Marketing Automation”

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Large Scale Segmentation | 12

LARGE SCALESEGMENTATION

Everyone has heard of minnows, dolphins, whales, and of course, the non-payers. Casinos have become wildly profitable by serving their customer segments based on spending behvaior. These same segments in mobile games have helped developers understand and build profiles on their players, but not every player is the same.

To truly target users with relevant and effective personalized offers, you must be able to analyze behavior at the user-level and segment users even further. For example, not every whale exhibits the same player behavior. Breaking whales into further segments allows you to put the right offer in their hands at the right time, during game play. Ultimately, this leads to deeper engagement and higher spending.

Whales

Inactive for 3 weeks

Re-engagement Bonus Offer

Just died to the Fire Dragon

One-time special offer on Fire Resist gear

Trouble beating the Undead

Dungeon

Offer Sword of the Paladin at

25% off

Has spent >$20 on items to customize the

look of their gear

Offer Halloween themed costume

items at no discount

Has collected 50% of available

mounts

15% off the Tiger mount they

haven’t purchased

CLICK TO LEARN MORE “Player Segmentation”

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Player Graduation | 13

PLAYER GRADUATIONIt’s one thing to identify and qualify users, but the true power is in the ability to graduate them to more lucrative segments. This segmentation process requires a technology that will gather and analyze your players data at the user-level, with a high degree of flexibilty without being stuck having to write queries over and over.

With the power of user-level data in hand, offers can be tailored to users’ needs and buying power, increasing chances of conversion. This means being able to focus more time and energy on maximizing users who have more potential, therefore leading to higher revenue and happier more engaged players.

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Improving Your Virtual Sales Force | 14

IMPROVING YOUR VIRTUAL SALES FORCE

MAKE A CUSTOMER, NOT A SALE.KATHERINE BARCHETTI

Traditional sales lessons state that in order for a customer to close on any sale, they must love and trust the product, and the entity selling it. This translates directly to games in that players must love and trust in what your purchases will do for their experience in the game, as well as loving and trusting the game and the company behind it.

Salespeople would traditionally help facilitate this, so in order to bridge this gap, games must be able to qualify users without intruding on their experience with the product. This is where segmenting users based on user-level data comes into play. By segmenting and qualifying your users quickly and flexibly, you can be ready to propose the right offer at the right time.

Silently prospecting collected data allows for fast and accurate qualification of massive amounts of players, each of which is given an offer tailored to their specific needs using a script that is executed perfectly each time. This is the strength of a virtual sales force.

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SAMPLE PLAYBOOK

Sample Playbook | 15

Early WhaleSpecial vip offers

Early Minnowupsell

Early DolphinBundle offer

New PlayerConversion offer

[ starter kit ]

Mid WhaleSpecial vip offers

Mid MinnowDiscounted upsell

Mid DolphinBonus offers

Possible SpenderDiscount Conversion offer

Rewarded video

Late WhaleSpecial vip offers

Late MinnowDeep discount upsell

Late DolphinDiscounted bonus offers

Non-SpenderRewarded videoInterstitial ads

PLA

YER

VALU

E

PLAYER PROGRESSION

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CELEBRATE THE BEHAVIOR

Celebrate the Behavior | 16

Every time a player makes an investment in your game, they should be rewarded and thanked. Make them feel appreciated! The science behind this shows that rewarding good behavior creates habits. Conveying the feeling of celebration using cheering sounds, fireworks, even confetti, solidifies the value of that purchase. When all else fails, Just remember, a simple thank you will do.

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Your Tool Box | 17

YOUR TOOL BOX(THE TOOLS YOU NEED)

Think of your tool box as the foundation of your monetization strategy. By implementing the following criteria, it will allow you to effectively monetize on your strengths.

By implementing these tools, it will allow you to take advantage of sophisticated monetization techniques.

Track, analyze and segment users

Strategically position offers and ads

Design a dynamic offer program

Monitor and adjust in real-timeCLICK TO LEARN MORE “Mobile Monetization in Four Simple Steps”

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1 TRACK, ANALYZE AND SEGMENT USERS

Identify and Segment Users | 18

It’s important to track, analyze and store unique values about your players such as spending behaviour, progress, levels completed, number of virtual good items purchased, and time spent in the game - just to name a few. By collecting segmentation data as early as possible, you’ll equip yourself with a strong foundation of data that can be leveraged in later initiatives. Tracking and analyzing player behavior at the user-level is paramount to delivering an optimal game experience that drives engagement and revenue.

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Integrated Dynamic Offer System | 19

INTEGRATED DYNAMIC OFFER SYSTEM

By paying close attention to your users’ behaviors and tracking them in the Upsight dashboard, you will be able to craft personalized offers that they find relevant and valuable. For instance, if your users haven’t converted yet, it doesn’t make sense to offer them the most expensive product pack. Instead, you can target this group with an entry-level offer that contains items necessary for game progression. As users evolve in the game, you will find opportunities to increase the price of packs in order to increase your ARPPU.

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3 STRATEGIC AD-VANTAGE

Strategic Ad-Vantage | 20

Ads are a great way of monetizing users who flat out refuse to make a purchase. But just because a user made a small purchase a long time ago doesn’t necessarily mean that they should never see an ad again. With rewarded videos, players can make that choice for themselves, and if implemented effectively, they will make that choice over and over again.

With a choice between rewarded and non-rewarded videos, knowing when to show ads is just as important as knowing what kind of ad to use. Generally, the 3 best places are at the start of a session, when a player is unable to make forward progress due to lack of energy, and when a player leaves the IAP store without making a purchase. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of multiple placements throughout the gameplay in order to increase visibility. Monitor and experiment with your placements to find the right fit.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE “The 3 Best Places to Show an Ad”

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MONITOR & ADJUST INREAL-TIME

No game is the same, and sometimes the first strategy you implement will not be as successful as anticipated. In order to stay ahead of the game, you need to monitor and make adjustments in real-time. For example, if users are starting to leave your app earlier than planned, adjust your offer strategy to be time-sensitive and more aggressive with your offers. Making real-time adjustments like this will ensure you are taking every opportunity to present your users with relevant offers and continue to iterate on your monetization strategy.4

Monitor & Adjust in Real-Time | 21

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Every game is different. Some games are sticky but don’t convert well. Others have smaller but dedicated spenders. No matter what your game’s strengths are, or whether you have one strength or many, there are ways to use these tools to improve your games’ monetization.

WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 22

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WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 23

“I have a large volume of players”

Great! Identify your users based on progression and make sure new players are sticking around

Leverage your volume and help players understand the value of your currencies through rewarded video

Develop a solid strategy for converting users early

Monitor and adjust early game offers for maximum effect

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WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 24

“I have players who are big spenders”

Awesome!Identify your players based on spending tiers and spending patterns

Offer varied discounts, taking into account spending tier

Develop low to no bonus offers targeted at the highest spenders and more generous offers for the lower tiers

Employ an ad strategy for non-spenders

Monitor high tier purchases and adjust your content pipeline accordingly

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WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 25

“I have a great conversion rate”

Fantastic! Segment users based on what purchases were most effective in converting them, and by the items they’ve purchased so far

Target new users with offers on your most effective conversion purchases

Target minnows and dolphins with items they’ve yet to purchase

Just because a user converts doesn’t mean they never need to see an ad again. Employ a rewarded video solution available to all users

Monitor the conversion rate around rewarded videos and the economy, and adjust payouts accordingly

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WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 26

“My players are highly engaged”

Terrific!Segment users based on engagement cycles and time played

Employ non-rewarded videos to maximize monetization on each session

Target IAP offers and specific items personally adapted to a player’s progression state

Monitor the effect that your ad placements have on player engagement and retention and adjust if needed

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Connect with us:

marketing @fusepowered.com

www.upsight.com|Request a demo

Build your monetization strategy and take action with Upsight’s comprehensive user lifecycle management platform. With features

like targeted push notifications, virtual good promotions, and announcements, tied in with user level data and real-time segmentation,

you have the power to build your personalized playbook.