Analyst Trevor McCalmont wrote an article about what common mistakes in user acquisition should be avoided. We share the translation.
Image source – website http://mobiledevmemo.com
It is difficult to increase the visibility of the game.
There are 1.5 million apps in the App Store and Google Play, so you’ll have to work hard to stand out from the crowd. In order to succeed, most developers in this situation will have to spend part of the marketing budget on acquiring users. Here are the seven deadly sins of UA and how to avoid them.
1. The first sin is to neglect softlonch
The acquisition of users begins with the preparation for it. The trial run as a whole is more of a game design issue, but it needs to be done before you start buying installations. No developer wants to spend a lot of money to eventually attract players to an unfinished game. Investments in marketing will not pay off if the project is not tested on users. The trial run is usually carried out in a small country where the market is similar to the market of the target region. The softlonch is needed in order to get indicative data on monetization, user retention and other indicators. More importantly, it helps game designers understand what users like and don’t like. As soon as you see what exactly attracts users, you can improve monetization. And a high level of monetization will provide you with flexibility when you start attracting users.
2. The second sin is not to set goals
Obviously, the main purpose of acquiring mobile users is to earn money and increase revenue. However, the process consists of small elements. And each of them needs to be measured accordingly.
You have reached A/B testing. Excellent. Is your goal to increase CTR or increase conversion? Or here, after the campaign, you compare two different sources. What do you pay more attention to – will you track users with a high retention rate or those who are better monetized? If you set specific goals at each stage of the process, it will be easier for you to manage it.
3. The third sin is not to know ARPU
Starting a campaign to acquire users, anyone asks the question: “How much can I spend at all if I don’t want to go into negative territory?”. A common mistake in mobile marketing is not knowing what revenue users are able to provide to the project.
It doesn’t matter if you use ARPU, LTV or another metric to denote the “value” of the user. In any case, these figures are an important criterion for how much it makes sense to spend. For example, it’s stupid to pay $2 per user if the average player leaves only $1 in your game.
4. The fourth sin is to rely on only one advertising network
In mobile, there are many advertising grids and platforms designed to acquire users. If you put all the eggs (or installations) in one basket (grid), it is unlikely that you will be able to promote the campaign in full.
Firstly, the more grids you use, the lower the installation cost (CPI). In addition, if the campaign runs for a long time in the same grid, there is a risk that this grid will work itself out. Saturation of the advertising network is a process in which users see your application, but the conversion rate is constantly decreasing.
Let’s take a closer look at the process of saturation of the grid. Let’s say Game A has an excellent conversion rate of 10%. If 10 users see it, then one will definitely install it. While this one user is playing, the other nine will be shown ads for the game over and over again. The probability that they will install it is reduced compared to the first impressions of the ad. As a result, the conversion rate drops.
To avoid this, you need to launch a campaign in several networks at once. You’ll have to work hard to set everything up properly – but the result is worth it.
5. The fifth sin is to overestimate the importance of organic matter
Don’t be naive – don’t expect your users to find the app themselves and tell all their friends about it. Such a happy ending will most likely be prevented by a couple of hundred thousand other applications.
Only getting into the top 10 free apps will help to increase organics. However, for most developers, this is not the right goal, since the costs for this may be unaffordable. TradeMob has infographics on such campaigns. In February of this year, it was necessary to spend $ 100 thousand to get into the American top 10.
Subcategories for the most part will not provide the right amount of organic matter – that is, the game is not worth the candle. It’s easier to find a grid that will provide the game with good performance than to fight for a place in the chart.
A feature is an excellent source of organic matter. But this method has its pitfalls. It is extremely difficult to achieve a feature from either Apple or Google. And although you will get excellent visibility as a result, for the most part, those applications that use new OS features, for example, will feature. Yes, some apps feature because they are cool and beautiful. But for the most part, Apple and Google promote those games in which they themselves are interested.
Thematic sites can sometimes affect the number of downloads, but we must understand that dozens of applications are sent to such resources per day. If the developer does not have an established relationship with the resource, do not expect that the review of the game will definitely be published.
Despite all of the above, the “infusion” of traffic can sometimes be a very effective measure if everything is done correctly. Just do not expect that a winning position in the chart by itself can greatly change the number of downloads.
6. The sixth sin is to rely on motivated installations
“Purchased” users help to take a place in the chart. That’s all. Most of these users download the application or perform some other actions only in order to receive a reward in the game in which the advertisement appeared. They have little, if any, interest in your particular project. Therefore, their ARPU/LTV and retention rates will be much lower than those of unmotivated users. Yes, the CPI will be lower, and the number of users will be higher, but motivated installations rarely pay off, because “purchased” users have very low monetization rates.
For Google Play, motivated installations are not a panacea at all. Ranking algorithms there are more sensitive to reviews, ratings, engagement indicators and other metrics. In this case, it makes sense to buy traffic only to get your profit from advertising.
Buying users works if your game and the game in which your ads are being played have similar demographics.
7. The seventh sin is not to segment users
Even the most successful user acquisition campaign will usually have its vulnerabilities. It is necessary to measure data for each user in order to understand which sources and tactics are bearing fruit.
The easiest way is to segment users by indicators such as the type of advertising, the type of device and geography. Depending on which platform you are working with, you will be able to get more detailed information, for example, the genre of the application in which your ad was shown, or the source of this application.
Segmenting users and analyzing the level of their monetization and engagement will help determine exactly how you manage to attract paying players.
Results
So, avoid the seven deadly sins of UA.
- Don’t neglect a trial run in a suitable market.
- Set goals at every step of the way.
- Know what ARPU/LTV your application has and determine how much you can afford to spend on the user.
- Use several advertising grids.
- Don’t expect organic to solve all your problems.
- Track the quality of motivated installations.
- Segment users and campaigns.
A source: http://mobiledevmemo.com
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