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Case Study

App Intelligence Case Study: Rocket Games Employs Sensor Tower to Launch its Mobile Gaming Studio Background: Starting a Mobile Gaming Studio When Bill Gelpi, Darren Allarde, Niko Vuori, and Steven Jian le� Zynga to start a mobile gaming studio, they needed a partner who could demystify the App Store. “We wanted a partner that could help us understand what the App Store Optimization process was like as a whole. How do apps get surfaced organically? What is the value of a keyword? We knew we weren’t going to have the large user acquisition budgets we had at Zynga, so organic discovery was paramount,” says Allarde. “Sensor Tower was easy to use and the most comprehensive solution. There was also a sense of accuracy with Sensor Tower that other solutions lacked.” Today, with the help of Sensor Tower, Rocket Games has published more than 40 apps that have been played by more than three million users worldwide. What follows is a look at how Rocket Games grew its user base using Sensor Tower’s App Intelligence platform.

In addition to growing its user base, Rocket Games wanted to look at what competitors were doing in the App Store. The team looked to answer questions such as: What do competitors’ reviews looks like? What keywords are they using? Have they localized their app and its metadata? By utilizing Sensor Tower’s App Intelligence, Rocket Games has been able to conduct powerful market research to understand the Casino subgenre and tweak its strategy. “We consider Sensor Tower a partner. There’s no better way to be in the know than to connect with the people that are working with App Store data every day. Being able to pair up and understand these things together has been key,” says Allarde.

For Rocket Games, the App Store Optimization (ASO) process for an existing app is quite di�erent from the one utilized for a new game. With a new game, extensive market research is required to select an app title and identify initial keywords. For simplicity’s sake, this case study looks at the process Rocket Games utilizes when updating an existing app.

Customer

Key Titles

Viva Slots Vegas Jackpot

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Sensor Tower Product Used

App Intelligence

Results

10 to 20 percent average li� in installs if new keywords end up ranking in the top 10 search results.

Solution: An Inside Look at Rocket Games’ ASO Process

Challenge: Beyond Installs—Seeking Rich Insights

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Case Study

Rocket Games begins this process in Sensor Tower by checking the app’s current keyword performance and the ranking of keywords in its title. Moving beyond keywords, the team looks to keyword phrases. For instance, instead of only looking at its rank for “slots,” Rocket Games digs into its ranking for phrases such as “free slots” or “best free slots”. Using its keyword list and the terms in the title, the team comes up with valuable phrases and tracks performance. “We set some general rules. If we’re ranking in the top 10, that’s great. If we’re not ranking in the top 10—but we’re just outside—then we’ll think about promoting that word from the keyword field to the title,” says Allarde. This is an ASO strategy that works well, as terms in the title are given more weight in the App Store’s ranking algorithm. Allarde continues, “If we’re not ranking well at all—say, 800—then we remove that keyword and select a new term from our running keyword bank.” When adding to its keyword bank, Rocket Games turns to App Intelligence’s auto-complete phrases and related searches for additional ideas. The team has found value in ranking well for a related phrase that is one tap away from a high tra�ic query such as “free games”. Using related searches, auto-complete suggestions, and Keyword Spy, the publisher is able to maintain an updated and relevant keyword bank.

Rocket Games uses Sensor Tower every day to inform its daily operations and stay on top of ASO. Using the process outlined above, Rocket Games has been able to take multiple games within its portfolio from a baseline of 400 installs to 600 installs per day through ASO alone. “We strongly believe that keyword optimization was a high contributor to that growth. It doesn’t happen at each update. On average we see a li� of 10 to 20 percent if we replace poor performing keywords with new keywords that end up ranking in the top 10,” says Allarde. Visibility on the App Store is the way Rocket Games has been able to grow to more than three million users with little to no advertising. “If you’re not doing paid user acquisition, then your users come from organic search or word of mouth,” Allarde says, cautioning that, “word of mouth is di�icult because your game has to have a degree of virility. Even then, your growth will be fleeting.” Today, Sensor Tower is part of Rocket Games’ day-to-day workflow. Before, the team operated through spreadsheets with no centralized system. Sensor Tower has given Rocket Games the infrastructure to scale its ASO e�orts and the partnership needed to demystify the App Store algorithms.

Solution (continued):

Results: Explosive User Growth and Powerful Insights

“We consider Sensor Tower a partner. There is no better way to be in the know than to connect with the people that are working with App Store data every day.Darren AllardeCo-Founder/General Manager, Rocket Games

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