Since this is the part of the forum where fellow devs exchange ideas and feedback on different ad networks, ad units, monetization strategies and others I decided to start this topic, where we can share useful articles, videos or presentations on a daily basis around mobile app monetization that can be useful to others. I already do that from my twitter account on a daily basis but since this can be useful to lots of others here too, I thought of doing that here also. Material shared should be from any source and any company out there. The important thing should be to help others and we all learn something from that.
Feel free to share useful staff here, sharing is caring
That’s a very good idea. In my turn I suggest the bit old but classy : Coercive Monetization - by Ramin Shokrizade and edited by Alex Dale, the CMO of King.com.
“Amazon works with developers to create a new business model for monetization of mobile applications. Instead of in-app purchases, the retailer is paying per minute *– the developer’s revenue is based on the time consumers spend using the app. The rate for the developers is $0.0020 or €0.0018 per minute, so that they can earn money from every user. The ads and visuals for the new app store are presenting the idea of a rebellious platform, which can replace the freemium monetization strategy.”
"Levy says, it’s important to ask some follow-on questions, too: How will the game’s design motivate a player to keep playing and to want to make purchases? What will they want to make the game play better or easier? How will this motivate them to spend?
We looked for some successful mobile games that have asked and answered these questions well. Although they’re not the only games who’ve gotten it right, they are definitely killing it at mobile game monetization"
“DO NOT OVERDO IT! Just don’t, please. If you ever downloaded a freemium game you know just how frustrating it can be if the game requires you to pay for every life, star, candy, mushroom or whatever you collect in the game. Sure, Candy Crush is doing the same and they are doing just fine, but let’s be honest here – you are not making a new Candy Crush game. Try to find a good balance between various elements. Don’t charge for every single breath they take while playing your game. Make it challenging and engaging enough that it encourages casual play but requires payment for those who want to spend more than 20,30 or whatever minutes with it.”
"Usually, most of these games will feature two in-game currencies. One is a basic currency, which is easily earned and used for the essentials of the game; the other is a premium currency used to unlock the best content or speed up progress.
Without premium currency, in-game progress is often slowed – encouraging greater spend.
Pros: Currency systems are relatively easy to understand. The more you have of it, the more you can progress. Players get this knowledge from simple, real-world mechanics. It’s also well placed to take advantage of in-game sale mechanics, with players easily encouraged to spend more for a better deal.
Cons: Currency systems deliberately obfuscate value, forcing players into spending a certain amount on an IAP and relying on them to understand the exchange rate. Currency systems also require a lot of work to make perform correctly, and an imbalanced system will either frustrate players with slow progress or allow them too much success.
Example: Clash of Clans’ currency system is one of the smartest around. Gems, its premium currency, are difficult to obtain, but they allow you to speed construction, make purchases in the sub-currencies (gold and elixir), and recruit builders to expand your in-game speed. Purchasing gems drives the rest of the economy, encouraging players who do spend to consider a further investment."
I think there is still a lot of space in integrating and enhancing multiplayer related features… think about running in temple run along with your best friends. I am not talking about getting two players involved I am talking about engaging even more fellows
"Because downloads, ratings/reviews and velocity impacts search rankings and placement in the top app charts, why not give away a few smurfberries in exchange for a rating or for installing another app in your portfolio?
Apple recognized that ads that included a virtual good as a reward for installing an app meant that apps were being installed and immediately deleted as users performed actions for the reward and had no interest otherwise.
Likewise, rewarded ratings and reviews seemed too much like rewarding “good” reviews so Apple banned rewarded reviews as well."
hello @taimur97, totally agree. Have in mind though that some basic info are not always known to all fellow devs. Some of them have much deeper knowledge than others so still worth sharing staff even without something new or extraordinary. Just my two cents
Don’t Let Ads Kill Player Retention by Nate Barker - Link
“In general, strategy games encourage longer play sessions and long-term gameplay, so the occasional ad has minimal effect on whether a person wants to keep playing. If you have a game with long-term appeal, you can show ads without worrying about chasing away players. But what about casual games where players want to jump in quickly and enjoy the games without distraction? It’s important to be careful about how and when you show ads in a casual game.”
"App store optimisation (ASO) is the process of optimising certain aspects of your app so it ranks higher in app store search, and is therefore easier to discover.
The ultimate goal is to drive traffic to your app’s page and get more downloads.
ASO is a constantly evolving practice, as Apple and Google’s app store algorithms are updated regularly (and often mysteriously).
This app store optimisation cheat sheet is for you to quickly refer to when optimising the 6 biggest ASO elements in 2015:
An app developer can integrate our SDK to monetize their apps. we, incetnmobi is a fast-growing network and can offer three times more revenue than traditional advertising networks.
Celebrate Good Times! (With Your Users) by Dori Adar - Link
“Games designers know that one of the most important thing in gaming is to celebrate the player’s victories. This, however, rarely happens in non-game products. And you are about to change it.”
Reverse Engineering In-App Purchases Within Mobile Gaming APIs by Christopher Sandoval - Link
“Today, we’re going to dissect one of the most commonly hacked industries in the world — mobile monetized gaming. We’ll discuss the common vulnerabilities inherent in these systems, how they are generally hacked, and how to prevent this from occurring and disrupting a developer’s revenue stream.”
App Name Strategies: The Best Way to Win Globally by Fabien-Pierre Nicolas- Link
“The name of your app plays a part in amount of organic installs and therefore revenue potential. The wrong name can harm your app success potential in multiple markets. A great app name not only helps with your App Store Optimization (ASO), but creates the foundation for your entire app brand. While you can increase conversion rates by continually improving most of your app’s screenshots, icons and keywords, first you need a finely crafted app name.”
“Long gone are the days where games could just be great in order to generate revenue. Now, since 90% of games on the app store and Google Play are free, being a great game isn’t good enough. Games must be addictive, habit forming and mind–boggling, so they can rise to the top over a myriad of other great, free games who compete on users’ free time.”
