Mark Rein from Epic Games Is Wrong: Discounting Is Good For App Publishers & Consumers
Do you feel screwed when you purchase an app at full price, then find out later the price has dropped? Mark Rein from Epic Games thinks you should.
I first heard of Mark’s Twitter rants from PocketGamer.biz.
I purchased Epic Games’ Infinity Blade at full price for $5.99. It truly is setting the bar for graphics and game play for its game type. With that said, would I have felt screwed if Mark and company decided to drop the price over the holiday season? No way. Why should someone else’s good fortune of getting a great deal cause me to feel screwed? The whole buyer psychology of feeling screwed after paying what you felt was fair price baffles me, especially over the few meager dollars we are talking about with iOS apps.
I applaud EA for their aggressive $0.99 app promotional strategy. It is crucial to maintain high visibility in the App Store over the holiday season. EA will rack up the sales this holiday season, and leave other game makers like Epic Games in the dust.
For tips from the experts on how to set your holiday app marketing plans, check out my November 2nd ClickZ column “Holiday App Store Traffic Is Insane, Don’t Miss Out”.
How App Marketing Differs From Search Engine Marketing
[Originally posted on ClickZ November 30th 2010]
In the world of digital media, search engine marketing is so widely adopted that I often find myself explaining to other digital marketers how app marketing compares to search engine marketing. In this post, let’s compare and contrast how to think about marketing your app with an eye toward comparing it to your current search engine marketing knowledge.
Compare Implementation Time
It takes minimal effort to write your first 95 character keyword ad, design a landing page, and start your first promotion using self-service tools provided by Google.
Mobile app development and promotion can be done on a low budget, but it is definitely more complex than launching a search marketing campaign. Third-party app building tools like those from BuildAnApp allow you to build an app for free ($49 to remove banner ads). Once you build an app, there are self-service mobile ad vendors like AdMob, Millenial Media, and Jumptap that allow you to acquire traffic quickly.
Compare Pricing Approaches
Search campaigns are priced using cost per click (CPC). App campaigns are priced using cost per install (CPI), cost per click (CPC), and cost per impression (CPM).
CPC rates are all over the board depending on how competitive the search term is and the quality score. For app campaigns, free casual games dominate the top 25 percent in performance, typically having the highest click-through and conversion rate (often two times higher than other free apps). Their conversion rates range from 3 percent to 18 percent (small banner sizes tend to perform lower).
The CPC rate, for free iOS apps in the U.S., is typically $0.05 to $0.30 per click. The cost-per-install for the top performing free games generally backs out to $0.75 to $3.00 per U.S. iOS install for CPC and CPM placements on top ad networks.
The general rule is that if you are looking to achieve any meaningful scale, you should be satisfied with purchasing free U.S. app installs any time they are performing at $1.00 or less.
All of the above figures are for non-incentivized ad placements. Incentivized ad placements are very popular as they can help achieve a higher ranking in the app store and drive meaningful, predictable installs to the app. These app campaigns are priced using cost per install with rates ranging from $0.40 to $0.75 per U.S. install.
Every digital marketer knows what you are saying when you talk about a CPC campaign. Google made cost-per-click advertising famous. Google’s mobile display ad network, AdMob, is continuing what Google did in search and offers CPC pricing for most of their campaigns. This does not work as well for mobile developers. Larger advertisers are typically using CPC ad networks as backfill to the cost-per-install networks (with incentives and without incentives). The top cost-per-install ad networks will reach saturation after multiple campaigns leading to less volume available for a particular app. To maintain effective scale with each subsequent campaign an advertiser will begin to buy more installs from other sources such as CPC networks.
Compare the Landing PageThe landing page is very important in optimizing both SEM and app marketing campaigns.
In SEM, Raquel Hirsch of Wider Funnel advises that with optimization you can lift your conversion rates by as much as 277 percent.
In mobile, what users see when they get to your app store listing is crucial to whether or not they will download your app. For app store submission, prioritize and optimize in the following order for the most impact to your app ranking: icon, name, screenshots, and description. Here are several tips:
- Icon: Make it easy to recognize and tie to your game. Consistent use is also important. The small app icon and the large icon should be visually equivalent. Be careful of trademark violations. Build in a vector-based drawing app to allow for easy resizing.
- Name: Describe the utility of the game in its name. Avoid special characters. Don’t use “device” in the name, like iPhone or iPad.
- Screenshots: Use common sense, take time to capture the images that best depict your app. Never use imagery of the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, as they will ensure automatic rejection.
- Description: The first two lines of a description are the most important. Ensure they accurately communicate the app’s value. Use simple, concise words to demonstrate the features in the app. Match your tone to the app experience. Include copy to enhance your credibility. Never include pricing. Maximize the use of copy above the fold (before the “more” button). You are limited to three lines; lines are made up of 120 characters and then they word wrap. Watch out so when the line wraps, you don’t lose precious real estate. In the description, try using shorter lines (less than 120 characters) and a space between them for more readability. Be aware of how word wrap works on the iPhone screen, as many apps are being installed through the iPhone. Long lines can make the text look weird. Do your research. It will pay off with higher conversions.
Compare Conversion vs. EngagementSearch performs for digital marketers because the Web is transactional in nature. It drives a conversion.
When people are sitting in front of their computer, they can easily fill in the required fields in a transaction because they can easily navigate between their keyboard and their mouse.
Keying a transaction in a mobile device is very difficult and, therefore, conversion rates on any kind of complex transaction are going to be low. Mobile apps perform best when they are created with the goal of engaging users, not for converting users to some kind of a transaction. Once the user is engaged, you will find the best transaction possible is using in-app purchases because the native payment platform simplifies the purchasing process.
Consider How Top Search Marketers Use Apps
“PriceGrabber has a family of mobile apps (for the iPhone, iPad, and Android) that allow users to search via a mobile device just as they would in front of a desktop using PriceGrabber.com,” says Mindy Ferguson, senior director, application development, PriceGrabber. “For our mobile apps success is measured by ranking and number of downloads, but more importantly, from the feedback we receive from our user base as it was their word of mouth that pushed our apps to the top of the iTunes charts.”
Both search engine marketing and app marketing have a place in most digital marketers’ advertising mix. Those who have developed a strong expertise in search engine marketing are able to draw upon their expertise as they develop and implement their app marketing strategy.
Interview with Michel Kripalani, Founder of Oceanhouse Media (Sourced)
“When it comes to driving your app up the rankings chart in the App Store, make sure you have the following two tactics in your corner: discounting and press.
Smart App Marketing’s Rob Weber talks with Michel Kripalani the CEO of Oceanhouse Media about what it takes to deliver hit after hit in the App Store.
Oceanhouse Media publishes e-books and mobile games based on famous characters from Dr. Seuss, the Berenstain Bears and Rudolph to name a few.
The publisher is a media darling, having been featured in both national press and top tech press including: The New York Times, CNN Money, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, FastCompany, Wired and cnet.
Thanks to iPhone/iPad DevCon for press access at the 2010 San Diego conference.”
[Originally posted on Smart App Marketing November 30th 2010, along with my video interview of Michel]
W3i Starts a Fund to Lure Facebook Developers to iOS Gaming (Sourced)
“It’s not uncommon to hear social game developers complain that Facebook is becoming too difficult to build on, and that mobile development looks attractive as an alternative. But will they actually move? A Minnesota company called W3i hopes to help push more social developers into mobile with a fund and publishing group Recharge Studios.
Recharge is planning to invest a minimum of $1 million for outside studios to make social games for the iOS. To sweeten the pot, Recharge only wants a share of iOS profits in return — in other words, it won’t ask for an ownership stake in the company or launches on other platforms, like Android.
“Because you can acquire consumers relatively cheaply, mobile is like the early days of Facebook gaming,” says W3i cofounder Robert Weber. “We think it’s a great opportunity for developers on Facebook, especially if they’re feeling squeezed out.””
How To Create Hit Apps: Interview with Mike Lee, Co-founder, Tapulous
Ever wonder how a blockbuster app developer thinks? Recently, I caught up with Mike Lee, co-founder of Tapulous, to get his inside perspective on what is the recipe for a developer to create a blockbuster app. As virtually everyone knows, Tapulous is the developer that brought us the hit game Tap Tap Revenge, a series that has seen more than 25 million installations at the start of the year. In fact, Tapulous was so successful Disney came calling and acquired them for what was rumored to be $35 million according to TechCrunch. Nice job by the guys at Montgomery in working on the transaction. Many app developers have recently heard Mike’s keynotes at 360iDev and iPhone/iPad Dev Con. The following post represents my perspective on Mike, and what other developers can learn from Mike to increase their chances of creating a blockbuster. Some of my thoughts are based on direct quotes, some are my interpretations based on the discussion I had, and watching him present twice.
The Making of a Risk Taker
It is harder to create a hit without a cowboy mentality surrounding you.
Mike grew up in Hawaii before finding his way to Silicon Valley. Mike told me a story about one of his first entrepreneurial endeavors growing up as a kid in Hawaii. He got the supplies together to create a Macadamia nut jewelry business. To his dismay, his mother tossed out his supplies when she discovered his intentions. To this day, Hawaii’s culture of risk aversion hasn’t changed. Mike said a friend of his with a small business in Hawaii says the government there won’t help unless you have at least $5 million in investment. From my perspective, creating a tech company in Minnesota seems a lot like Hawaii. I’m part of a grass roots movement in the Midwest to try to change that.
Fail upwards.
As Mike puts it- “My life was a series of failures, but I always try to fail upwards.” After Mike decided to leave Tapulous prior to their successful sale to Disney, Mike took a job at Apple in developer relations. The Apple gig was much better than the options Mike had prior to Tapulous.
Don’t create a bigger footprint and get trapped in your own wealth.
Once you’ve made your millions of your first blockbuster, resist the temptation you change your lifestyle. You need to continue to focus on creating a company to change the world. You’ll get rich by doing this, not by creating a company to get rich.
Inside the Mind of a Hit Maker
It helps to be a little crazy, a little delusional.
Don’t be afraid to pivot.
The original plan for Tapulous was to create a social network. As I have observed with the majority of top tech entrepreneurs, you need to adjust your ideas based on the markets response to your initial ideas.
Start with a lot of concepts, then start cutting.
This is actually a pattern I’ve observed with other hit makers. Rather than start building out the first concept for an app that comes to mind, it is best to define some upfront parameters, and then brainstorm a variety of concepts that meet those parameters. Tapulous actually had a portfolio of 34 apps, from which they initially selected 10 to work on, then they cut it down to 3 apps to launch with. Those three were Tap Tap Revenge, Twinkle, Friendbook.
Understand the human side of business.
Mike talked about how Tapulous couldn’t get their apps approved the day of the App Store launch. When he learned the app review team was extremely overwhelmed with submissions during the launch of the App Store, and working without sleep, he backed off. Personally, he said he was not pissed off once he understood the situation. Rather than calling to harass them, Mike dropped breakfast and coffee off for them.
Relentless focus on quality and creating apps that don’t suck.
As Mike puts it- “The crap market is saturated.” With over 300,000+ apps in the App Store, only the bold are going to stand out. What are some tactical things you can do to stand out? Focus on creating apps that don’t suck. Stop doing things that piss users off. A few examples-
- Hurry up and wait- Eliminate splash screens
- Surprise and delight- Add those little things that impress people.
- Implementation detail- Never let them see how you made it
- Design for everyone- Bejeweled versus Grand Theft Auto
- Don’t be a jerk- spam
If you focus on creating quality hits, you will have a more defensible business. It is much harder to copy something that is of high quality without a lot of effort.
Get Out There and Start Creating Blockbusters
Mike says- “There is money in ripples, but immortality in hits.” and that “Life is finite. Use your time to do something worth remembering.” I couldn’t agree more. The vast majority of all app developers are focusing on creating niche apps because they feel it is a safer bet to ensure they get a positive return on their efforts. I’ve heard this referred to as the “niche buster” strategy. Death to the niche busters. Get out there and start creating blockbusters.
Holiday App Store Sales: Tips From The Pros
[Originally posted on ClickZ November 2nd 2010]
The season is almost upon us, and the holidays have a huge impact on mobile app sales. If you want to be joyous at the end of the year, take some advice from expert app marketers.
App Sales Go Crazy During the Holidays
Think about the target audience – teens and kids who have a lot of free time and are on the prowl for entertaining apps. Flurry reported App Store sales in December 2009 grew by 51 percent over November.
Holiday Sales Driven by Kids and Teens With iTunes Gift Cards
My intuition chocked up the spike in holiday app sales to new devices but an app developer advises that gift cards drive post-holiday demand.
So, there is all this App Store traffic during the holidays, what do the App Store marketing experts recommend to claim your share of the Christmas App Store pie?
Here are three tips from Brian Robbins, founder of Riptide Games and chair of the board at IGDA:
- Christmas is a head spinner. We’ve seen apps outside of the top lists get three times the traffic on Christmas Day and then slowly decline for the next two weeks. Last year we heard some of the top 10 apps saw 50 times the traffic on Christmas Day.
- Watch out for the big guys like EA. They know the market and know how to capitalize on holidays, making it very difficult to compete against them. You cannot outspend them. It may be better to spend prior to Dec. 23 or after Dec. 27. Flurry reported that big advertisers bought out several publishers’ inventory for several periods during last year’s holiday season.
- Don’t try to overanalyze the holiday timing. Everything in the App Store gets a boost around the holidays, and with Christmas in particular the effect lingers well beyond Christmas Day.
Promoting Four Days Prior to the Holiday Increases Visibility and Demand
Since there is a sales peak during the weekend (logically key holiday), strategically running a promotion for four consecutive days prior to the weekend (holiday) takes advantage of the App Store algorithm. “‘The formula for App rankings only accounts for your last four days of sales.’ The formula is 8 times the sales of the current day + 5 times the sales on the 2 proceeding days + 2 times the sales on initial date,” states faberNovel’s Baptiste Benezet.
Beware of App Store Holiday Lockdown
Getting in the top rankings of the App Store will pay off even more this year as Apple announced that it will freeze the Top App listings during the Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas lockdown, so beware of the lockdown timing and work it into your promotional strategy.
Holidays Are a Good Time to Launch Entertaining Apps
Michel Kripalani, president of Oceanhouse Media, (whom I interviewed at iPhone/iPad DevCon) won the rights to publish Dr. Seuss stories on cell phones. He launched three Grinch apps just before the holiday season last year. Each of the Grinch apps was featured individually in the App Store for a week or so during the holidays. Grinchmas! made it to number eight overall in the rankings. As daily sales rolled in, Michel said that’s when he knew he had a real business on his hands. Michel advises that quality is still the key to a sustainable app business as well as developing multiple apps.
If you have an app, plan on promoting it aggressively during the holiday season. If you are building an app in the near-term, do everything you can to launch and begin promoting it before the holiday season begins so you can take advantage of frenzied app sales.
Have an Appy Holiday (couldn’t resist)! If you have any additional tips for driving app traffic through the holidays, please comment.
Copper Wire (Joke)
[Normally I don't make reference to the Minnesota tech community where I am from or post jokes. Well, this is too funny, and it is wireless related. This was first sent to me by Mary Weber.]
After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: ‘California archaeologists, finding traces of 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.’
One week later, The Pioneer Press, a local newspaper in Minnesota, reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Embarass, Minnesota, Ole Olson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ole has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Minnesota had already gone wireless.
Thank Heavens for Ole.
The Future of Apps In Car Electronics
[Originally posted on W3i’s Blog on October 8th 2010. Written by Ryan Ruud]
Where are the top three places you spend your time, I imagine your list looks like this: work, in bed and in the car.
Regardless of which one of those three locations you’re at, applications are a touch, flick or wipe away.
With the killer success of App Stores, apps for handheld devices clearly are on fire. But what does the future look like for apps in cars coupled with car electronics and who’s in the game?
Who better to get the answers from then the CEO behind one of the most successful auto apps in the Apple AppStore, Pete Tenereillo. Pete is the CEO of Trapster, an auto app that is consistently in the top two spots in “Navigation” for the App Store.
Rob Weber, the co-founder and Vice President of Business Development for W3i got a chance to chat with Pete at the iPhone/iPad DevCon 2010 in San Diego to discuss app distribution to cars.
Pete says there are three key players in the game of in car apps. OEM systems who build navs and try to sell them as a “part” for your Mercedes, Chevy etc.–like OnStar, AcDelco and Uniden. Think back to the OnStar campaign, “standard on every new Chevy.” The app came as is on the Chevy.
Car manufacturers are also in the game doing their own thing, but for them they just want access to the app to rebrand and repackage it. Finally you have aftermarket folks like Pioneer where consumers buy them after they own the car to be installed on their car.
“Most of the next generation OEM and aftermarket supplier nav systems seem to be based on Android, while many car manufacturers are building proprietary connected nav systems based on either standard or proprietary technology,” says Tenereillo.
Tenereillo still contends that users will only want to download apps to one device, a phone or tablet, which can then be docked in a vehicle. The apps would run from the device, rather than be stored in the vehicle. This seems to be the way Samsung also thinks the market for in car apps will go, their new tablet will also feature in car docking accessories.
“There is another whole school of thought in connected nav systems, where the car simply becomes a UI for what’s already on the phone, clearly voice commands, and maybe even heads-up display at some point,” Tenereillo says.
In the end, all of the players are facing competition from apps like Google Nav on the Droid
Ford seems to be muscling their way into the game after their announcement at CTIA 2010, that they’re inviting more development for car apps. Where will the auto/app world move to next? Having apps on one device is important, but cost is the biggest factor, sound off below.
What Apple’s New App Store Guidelines Mean for Mobile Marketers
[Originally posted on ClickZ on October 5th 2010]
Since Apple’s App Store launch, marketers and developers of iPhone apps have had to humbly submit new apps to the application approval process, throw some salt over their shoulder, click their heels, and blow out a birthday candle hoping the app gets approved. It wasn’t an easy journey, rather one laden with the crushed hopes and dreams of the brains behind many apps that received the dreaded…rejection.
On September 9, Apple pulled back the curtain with its new App Store Guidelines, if even only a bit, to give app hopefuls an updated look into the review process.
Despite the general perception that the approval process has historically been somewhat nebulous, Apple contends that 95 percent of apps submitted end up making it through the approval process.
For digital marketers looking at getting a piece of the mobile pie, there are three key points from the recently released App Store Guidelines you should take note of, and one big “if only” that marketers can dream about at night.
Copyright This
Perhaps it should go without saying, but trademark concerns occupy a legitimate chunk of the new Apple guidelines. Key thought? Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
Cha-Ching
With virtual goods and other online/on-the-go transactions on the rise, it’s not shocking that purchasing consumes a large section of the guidelines. Basic rules of thought: credits and currencies can’t expire, and subscriptions must last at least 30 days and be able to be used on all iOS devices.
Watch the Pitch
Apple is serious about its commitment to user value. Nowhere does that seem more evident than section 7.3 of the guidelines, which reads “Apps that are designed predominantly for the display of ads will be rejected.” Message received.
So does that mean you can’t have a great branded application or in-app promotion as part of your marketing plan? No, I don’t think so. Remember, Apple is committed to value. It opened the guidelines by saying “If your App doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.” It just gives developers and marketers incentive to get creative.
“If Only”
Apple is pretty clear: apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind. But if they did…chew on that.
Court Adjourned
In the end, the App Guidelines read more like a Supreme Court decision, riddled with ambiguity and questions left unanswered. Some rules seem more like a nice idea than a rule by decree notion. They leave me wondering where exactly the lines are. Apple has an app -er- answer for that, simply saying, “I’ll know it when I see it.”
How PopCap Games Cracked the Cross Platform Code on Facebook & iOS with Bejeweled Blitz
Users want to connect with their friends when playing games, but application developers are struggling to make this happen since a user’s friends are not all playing games on the same platform. With all the hype behind cross platform gaming, there are very few true successes.
PopCap Games cracked the cross platform code with Bejeweled Blitz for Facebook and iOS. Bejeweled Blitz is the #10 most popular Facebook application and the #14 paid iPhone app in the App Store at a $2.99 pricepoint, #14 in top grossing. This synchronization enabled Bejeweled Blitz to get a mass user base—last count is 12,506,757 users as of 9/12/2010 (source, www.appdata.com) as the game allows users to connect to Facebook and compete with friends whether they are on their PC or iPhone.
Source: Topappcharts.com
In the example below, Colleen is playing in a weekly Bejeweled Blitz tournament on her PC through Facebook, while Jessica is playing in the same tournament on her iPhone —now that’s an integrated platform. Colleen and Jessica had never played the same game together, because Colleen doesn’t have an iOS device. Now they are regularly competing for the highest Bejeweled Blitz score.
Another indication that apps are moving toward cross platform synchronization is Google’s recent acquisition of Social Deck, a platform which provides social synchronization for app developers across Blackberry, iPhone and Facebook . Google is reportedly working on a social platform to rival Facebook.
OpenFeint is also working on a multi-player, cross-platform solution for Android and iOS called OpenFeint PlayTime. Reportedly OpenFeint PlayTime also gives the user matchmaking, game servers and real-time voice chat. “Traditionally, multiplayer technology has been accessible only to top-tier developers. It’s just too complicated and time-consuming.” states Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron.
Strong cross platform synchronization is going to become a defining requirement for games to achieve top prominence as social experiences will require that users can play all of their friends. I believe we’ll see Apple incorporate tools in Game Center to make cross platform experiences easier through tighter integration with Facebook within the next year.
Kudos to PopCap Games for their work on Bejeweled Blitz!
