How to Create a Successful Mobile Game Marketing Strategy?

With the coronavirus, the mobile game industry has started to expand and grow. Especially in previous years, hypercasual games took first place in the market. People liked the games that they can use and delete quickly. However, after some years, the line has been back to casual games again. While the revenue of hypercasual gaming apps is decreasing, demand is getting higher for casual games. However, in addition, to design and technical skills, I believe it is necessary to be more active in terms of creativity.

Let’s open your Appstore/Google Play and write down ‘Airport’, you will see hundreds of gaming companies have the same kind of games. Of course, quality carries some of them to the top 3, but to be honest, as a user, I don’t try all of them and I don’t see it necessary. Many gaming company owners or developers can be unsatisfied while reading this blog, but I am criticizing it as an app user. Do you try all eCommerce apps while buying a Decathlon camping mat? The camping mat will be the same, just the user experience- payment and post-process will be different. Therefore, probably you’ll try only the top 3 shopping apps for your shopping. Others will stay below if they don’t have any game-changer options. Creating this game-changer strategy is easier in shopping apps when we compare it with gaming apps. However, end of the day, creativity will be the first important thing. For example, Vidyodan, which is an eCommerce app in Turkey, increased its purchases 10x in 2 days. What brings them to this level is to create new concepts in the shopping flow. Trying to create a behavior that has never happened before in Turkey — “Live Shopping”. Sellers show their products in Live Video and answer customers’ questions at the same time. I believe this trend will increase more.

Let’s get back to games! As mentioned above, games should include creativity besides technical skills. After having a discussion with some of the experts and seeing the market, I think the second important point is a marketing strategy. Before going live with the game you have to make sure which GEO you should live and what should be your main KPIs. Here are basic tips for you! How do we decide which countries we should live in first?

Check what kind of gaming app you have. For example, if it’s gambling or real money, you’re kind of closed off to worldwide targeting.

You should know that localization is the most important point while going live. It’s especially crucial for countries that don’t speak English. For example, targeting Korea or Japan might not work so well if the app isn’t localized in Japanese or Korean. Tier 1 countries have higher revenue and retention, so, these countries can be a good option to start first. T3 and other countries’ revenues can be lower and lower. So, to start there might be a bit risky.

Be creative for creatives!

Also, make sure creatives are also localized, and demonstrate the actual in-game experience. Don’t forget to use industry experience with it. According to marketers, playable ads are the most effective way to promote. Interactive and rewarded ads follow it.

Optimize your organics!

SEO and Appstore optimization will help you here.

App store optimization (ASO) is the process of improving the visibility of a mobile app in an app store, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The goal of ASO is to increase the likelihood that users will discover and download an app by making it more visible and attractive to potential users.

These optimizations help to increase visibility: By optimizing an app’s listing in an app store, developers and marketers can increase the chances that it will be seen by potential users. This can lead to more app downloads and ultimately more revenue.

Improved conversion rates: By making an app’s listing more attractive and relevant to potential users, ASO can improve the chances that users will download the app after viewing its listing.

Higher search rankings: App stores use algorithms to determine the ranking of apps in search results. By optimizing an app’s listing, developers and marketers can improve its ranking and increase the chances that it will be seen by users.

Also, it provides a competitive advantage: By optimizing an app’s listing, developers and marketers can gain an advantage over competitors who have not optimized their listings. Overall, ASO is an important part of the marketing strategy for a gaming app, as it can help improve the app’s visibility and increase the chances of success in a crowded market.

What do we look for as a KPI?

You should make sure you’ll earn higher than you spend. So, ROI is the most important term here.

Return on investment (ROI) is an important metric to consider in any marketing campaign, including for a gaming app. It is a measure of the profitability of a marketing campaign, calculated by dividing the profitability generated by the campaign by the costs incurred. A high ROI means that the campaign was effective in generating revenue and was profitable, while a low ROI means that the campaign was not as effective in generating revenue and may not have been as profitable.

ROI = (Ad Revenue — AdCost / Cost of Investment ) x 100

This metric shows us the investment performance from the marketing campaigns. For example, if a marketing campaign for a gaming app generated $10,000 in revenue and had a cost of $5,000, the ROI would be calculated as follows:

ROI = ($10,000 — $5,000) / $5,000 = 100%

This simple ROI can show basics, however, while calculating ROI we should consider the timeframe either. Annualized ROI helps here. The difference between ROI and annualized ROI is the period over which the return is calculated. ROI, or return on investment, is a measure of the profit or loss on an investment over a specific period. This period can be any length, from a few days to several years. In practice, the calculation of annualized ROI can be more complex and may require the use of specialized financial tools or software.

ROI also depends on the type of app. Each concept app has different returns and returns times. For example, Hypercasual app returns take up to 3–7 days, for casual its higher. Besides, retention is important as when users play the game for 7 days and stop playing we see higher ROAS in D7 and it can get lower inD14–30. So, optimizing retention can increase the rate.

In the gaming app industry, ROI is particularly important because it can help app developers and marketers understand how effective their marketing efforts are in terms of driving downloads and in-app purchases. By measuring the ROI of different marketing campaigns, app developers and marketers can determine which campaigns are most effective and allocate resources accordingly.

Many factors can impact the ROI of a gaming app marketing campaign, including the target audience, the type of marketing tactics used, the budget allocated to the campaign, and the overall market demand for the app. To maximize the ROI of a gaming app marketing campaign, it is important to carefully consider these factors and continually optimize the campaign based on data and performance metrics.

Of course, there are some metrics we should take care of like CAC, RR, LTV, and more but I assume it’s going to be another part of my blog!

Lastly, If any point doesn’t help your revenue growth, as mentioned in Digital Marketing in 2023, you need to check your UI-UX and add new features or levels to your game. Until make it work you should pay attention to budget expenditures, keep trying new advertising channels, continue GEO, level, and ROI optimizations and try retargeting campaigns.

Don’t forget to like it to give motivation for deeper research!

Thank you

#digitalmarketing #appmarketing #gamingapps #useracquisition #mobileapps #ROI #SEO