glispa Data Flash: Game Developers Focus on Wrong Engagement & Miss Monetization Opportunities

SAN FRANCISCO and BERLIN, May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Game developers are continually seeking to drive in-app purchases by creating post-install engagement, and much of that focus has been aimed at utilizing tutorials to drive that engagement with users. But are people who use tutorials really more engaged? And more importantly, are they more likely to make purchases in the app?

The glispa team has pulled data that shows that when it comes to game apps, developers who focus on tutorials as key engagement to drive purchases are missing the mark.

The original glispa Data Flash and graphics can also be viewed at: http://www.glispa.com/blog.html

A Look at Tutorials and Purchases

The data, which focused on post-install engagement in Q1 2015 for nearly 1.5 million users, found that the majority of games are seeing an average of 65 percent of users engaging with game apps through using the tutorials after installing, but only 2 percent of users who engaged with tutorials went on to make a purchase.

This data shows that a focus on tutorials as key engagement is costing many game developers sales, and a shift in focus to the user experience will allow developers to create key monetization opportunities.

Driving True Engagement

There's been debate in recent years about how to truly monetize games without sacrificing the user experience and whether tutorials hold value as revenue-driving engagement. This data is shedding light on where game developers will want to focus.

Gary Lin, glispa's founder and CEO, said "Developers who want to drive purchases should not just look to tutorials to engage users with games, but make sure that they are optimizing the games experience — whether it's unlocking content or customizing the game, developers should look for opportunities to truly engage users in the game to drive purchases."

A Focus on Localization

Many developers also miss monetization opportunities by not focusing on localizing apps. Developers in the US and China, encouraged by rising currency values, are quickly expanding into global markets. This creates an ever-increasing need for a focus on engaging consumers through effective and relevant localization. Driving purchases means a hyper-focus on localization that goes beyond basic translation for games, and creates localized versions of games, including locally relevant ads and purchase opportunities.

The Value of Optimization

Driving purchases through true engagement also means that developers should focus on optimizing their marketing and ad campaigns to make sure that they're targeting the right users and pulling quality, targeted traffic that are likely to engage with the game.

Targeting quality users means tracking:

• App opens
• Registrations
• Logins and sessions
• Levels reached

Focusing on targeting the right consumers requires real-time evaluation of this user data to allow you to monitor marketing performance.

Developers have an increasing opportunity to convert engagement into purchases, but it requires that they focus on the right engagement opportunities and not simply rely on tutorials to do the heavy lifting.

Methodology

glispa examined data from Q1 2015, looking at the post-install behaviors of a set of 1.5 million gaming users from over 100 countries.

Complete contact information for glispa can be found at:
http://www.glispa.com/contact-us.html

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150513/215718

SOURCE glispa

Related Links

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