Mobile MonetizationPLAYBOOK

By definition, a playbook is a ‘notional range of possible tactics in any sphere of activity’. In practise, this playbook is going to give you the knowledge to recognize monetization opportunities, discuss the tools required to take advantage of those opportunities, and explore the exact tactics to employ for your game.

Players are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and as a result, player expectations have evolved. Currency pricing strategies, sales, and starting offers have become commonplace, but there is so much more that can be done. No matter what genre of game, with the right set of tools, there are plays for you.

In order to grow, we need to leverage the advantages of virtual shops while exploring the teachings of traditional sales techniques. By doing this, you will be able to connect with users on a more personal level and tailor your product to their needs. The result is better monetization and happier customers.

WHAT IS A PLAYBOOK?

What is a Playbook? | 2

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

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

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 the accuracy of your data reporting

Listen to early player feedback and respond appropriately

CLICK TO LEARN MORE “The First 48 Hours”

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 ads are in the most beneficial places is one of the best ways of improving monetization.

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 salesman 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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THE ERA OF PERSONALIZATION

The Era of Personalization | 9

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 what you’re offering. And those that aren’t necessarily interested in your top end price points is totally fine!

Virtual shops lack one key ingredient - the salesman. 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.

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 that by becoming better salesmen, and letting our players just be customers.

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CLICK TO LEARN MORE “Mobile Marketing Automation”

Large Scale Segmentation | 10

LARGE SCALESEGMENTATION

Everyone has heard of minnows, dolphins, whales, and of course, the non-payers. These segments have helped developers understand and build profiles on their players, but not every player is the same.

To truly target users with effective personalized offers, you must be able to segment your users even further.

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”

Player Graduation | 11

PLAYER GRADUATIONIt’s one thing to 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.

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 players.

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Improving Your Virtual Sales Force | 12

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 who is 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 data comes into play. By segmenting and qualifying your users quickly, 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.

SAMPLE PLAYBOOK

Sample Playbook | 13

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

CELEBRATE THE BEHAVIOR

Celebrate the Behavior | 14

Every time a player makes an investment in your game, it should reward and thank them. The science behind this shows that rewarding good behavior creates habits. Conveying the feeling of celebration using cheering sounds, fireworks, confetti, etc. solidifies the value of that purchase. Just remember, a simple thank you will do.

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Your Tool Box | 15

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.

Identify and segment users

Strategically position offers and ads

Design a dynamic offer system

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

1 IDENTIFY AND SEGMENT USERS

Identify and Segment Users | 16

It’s important to record 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.

Integrated Dynamic Offer System | 17

INTEGRATED DYNAMIC OFFER SYSTEM

By paying close attention to your players’ behavior and tracking it through the Fuse dashboard, you will be able to craft personalized offers that they actually want to see. For instance, if your players 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 pack that contains items necessary for game progression. As players evolve in the game, you will find opportunities to increase the price of the pack in order to increase your ARPPU.

2

3 STRATEGIC AD-VANTAGE

Strategic Ad-Vantage | 18

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”

MONITOR & ADJUST INREAL-TIME

No game is the same, and sometimes the first strategy you implement will not be successful. In order to stay ahead of the game, you need to monitor and make adjustments in real-time. For instance, if players are starting to leave your game earlier than you anticipated, adjust your offer strategy to be time-sensitive and more aggressive. Making real-time adjustments like this will ensure you are taking every opportunity to monetize your players.4

Monitor & Adjust in Real-Time | 19

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? | 20

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WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 21

“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

WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 22

“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

WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 23

“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

WHAT’S MY PLAYBOOK?

What’s My Playbook? | 24

“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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