Mobile gaming in 2024: the current situation
Adjust’s Hypercasual Games Report shows how much demand for mobile gaming has grown in 2020, especially for hypercasual games. Comparing the last week of March in 2019 and 2020, we saw a dramatic increase in installs of 132%. In Q1, mobile gaming app sessions also increase by 47% and installs by 75%. In just one week in March 2020, users around the world downloaded 1.2 billion mobile games — the highest week for app installs to date.
The story doesn’t end there, and it’s not just about installs. Mobile gaming hasn’t slowed down in popularity in 2021, and user spending on it has increased. In December 2021, player spending increased by 12.6% year-on-year. Despite this increase in spending brazil phone number list mobile gaming still accounted for 67.4% of all in-app spending in 2021, down from 71.7% in 2020, which says more about how much people spend in apps than about the popularity of mobile gaming overall.
Hypercasual Games and the Future of Mobile Gaming
IronSource’s report shows that mobile gaming revenue growth has increasd year-on-year despite a decline in installs over the same period. Following the explosive growth of hypercasual games in 2018, “the genre saw an average of 17.6 million installs per day, representing 12.5% of total game installs.” The report shows that “nearly 80% of the industry’s install growth came from hypercasual games.” The next challenge for the genre is maintaining the viability and growth prospects for hypercasual games after lockdown measures are eased.
What is Mobile Game Marketing?
Mobile game marketing can take many forms, but the goal is usually to increase installs and player spending. With downloads and spending on the rise, it may seem like the mobile game marketing landscape is better than ever, but competition is fierce. Netflix entere the gaming market in late 2021 , and by the end of January 2022, it had already reached 8 million downloads . With competition growing, it’s more important than ever to have a strategy for finding and retaining users.
To achieve these goals
Mobile game marketers must take a holistic approach and focus on user acquisition, in-app user experience, and user engagement and retention. So, if marketers don’t focus solely on user acquisition (UA), they will notice that the users they spent time and money acquiring stay engagd longer and ultimately have a higher lifetime value (LTV). With this in mind, let’s look at the different aspects of mobile game marketing.
What is the purpose of mobile games?
First and foremost, when planning any marketing strategy, it is important to understand your audience. Mobile games are played by a wide variety of people living all over the world. In addition, since 2020, mobile games have become noticeably more popular among the older generation.
In 2020 , 32.7% of mobile gamers were 25 to 34 years old, but the number of older users has increased significantly since then. More specifically, the number of gamers agd 45 and above has increased by 17% compared to last year. Additionally, MMA research shows that 70% of women play mobile games.
The new habits we developed during the early days of lockdown have stayed with us in 2022. The potential audience for mobile games is bigger and more diverse than ever before. You need to be able to find the right audience for your game and target them with the right messages.
Mobile Game Marketing: Attracting Users
The rise of mobile app usage opens up several opportunities for mobile gaming promotion. In this section, we will cover the basics and recommendations to help you achieve your goals in 2022.
As a marketer, your goal is to drive installs and generate revenue, but users are less likely to install your app if it’s poorly represented in the App Store or on the web. To attract more users and get the most out of your ad campaign, you nee to optimize the following activities.
App Store Optimization (ASO) is a cost-effective way to attract organic users and improve the user experience for those who come to you through paid acquisition channels. ASO helps you optimize your app’s presentation in the App Store and Google Play Store, including:
- Keywords in the app name and description
- Content localization
- Selecting primary and secondary application categories
- Presenting screenshots and showing video trailers
Adding videos is especially important for mobile games, as it allows the user to immerse themselves in the gameplay. Mobile games, especially hyper-casual ones, are very entertaining to watch, so it is a great way to attract organic users. Videos should also be uploade to your YouTube channel. The best examples of effective game marketing can be found in the App Store and Google Play Store, such and Clash of Clans .
Review your ASO strategy regularly and incorporate any new information into your game description. Check out our ASO eBook and this in-depth ASO overview .
A landing page is a one-page website where customers can learn more about your game. What content you put on this site will vary depending on the game, but it should include the following information:
- links to the App Store and Google Play Store;
- game promo video;
- call to action;
- screenshots;
- gameplay trailer;
- reviews.
A great example of a game being presente correctly is the landing page of PUBG Mobile’s official website . This page presents all the most important information, and the main selling point is built on the game’s design. In January 2020, PUBG increase the click rate on your sms with these tips by total revenue.
If your company is a new startup and you haven’t run any campaigns yet, make sure your game’s App Store presentation and landing page are fully optimize before you launch. These components of your overall strategy should also be updated regularly so that users are aware of any changes to your game.
You can also use your landing page to collect contact information about your users. If you’re in the pre-launch stage, you can use the information on your landing page to build an email list and send it to interested users when your app is ready to be installed. You can also use this data to inform users about app updates, potentially bringing back users who have churn. You can also measure the results of your email campaigns and optimize them for better results in the future.
3 Ad Formats to Target Players in 2024
According to Tapjoy , mobile gamers are much more likely to pay attention to ads in mobile games (41%) than they are to ads on the web (17%), print magazines (15%), or billboards (15%). And that’s a great opportunity to reach users who might want to try your app.
- Video Ads: Just like ASO and landing page, video works very well in mobile game advertising. Your product was originally designed to be visually appealing – use this to your advantage. And video ads will help you with this. Besides, it is much more difficult to convey the user experience of a mobile game through regular advertising.
- Playable ads: This format has been recognized by agency experts in the US as the most effective in-app advertising format for significantly increasing mobile game installs. Rewarded ads allow customers to play your game for a little while. This “try before you buy” approach is likely to reduce churn rates because those who download your app will know exactly what they are downloading before they install it.
- Rewarded video ads: This type of ad is a gamification format where users can choose to watch your ad and receive an in-game reward. For example, watching a 30-second commercial would reward them with in-game currency. According to video ad network Unity Ads , reward video is the “most effective revenue generator” on the market, and research shows that it is a great way to engage users. For example, OpenX found that 77% of users would watch a 30-second commercial if they receivd a discount later. According to Tapjoy , 76% of US mobile gamers prefer rewardd ads that they consent to watch over mandatory ads.
The effectiveness of the campaign will also depend on the type of game being promotd. For example, hyper-casual gamers watch fax database as other gamers and download 10 times more games. If you have multiple apps, you should also cross-promote both of your products with in-app ads. This is one of the best ways for a publisher and advertiser to monetize mobile games and gain insight into your users’ preferences. The different ad formats available to mobile marketers and how to use them are described in the guide .
Building a gaming community using social media
Social media is a great way to connect with your audience and build a community of fans. In 2019, the average user spent 136 minutes a day on social mdia. So, it’s important to be active on social media and make sure your game is present in the online space where gamers spend their time. Here are four key ways you should use social media for mobile game marketing:
- invitation to leave fedback and response to it;
- answers to questions and comments from users;
- providing access to user-generate content to build a community;
- sharing trailers and teasers as one of the most cost-effective ways to spread information.
Using social meia as part of an overall strategy can help engage users, create excitement, and add a social element to the user experience. For example, the official Angry Birds Facebook page hosts competitions and shares promotional materials to help users connect with the brand.
