Using Audience Measurement Data to Acquire, Retain and Maximize Revenues | Alison Murdock

THE MOBILE GAME PLAYBOOK: Using audience measurement data to acquire, retain and engage users

Alison MurdockSVP, Marketing

05/02/2023

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Verto provides single-source audience measurement services for monitoring the complex behavior of today’s cross-device consumer on every device, app and platform they use throughout the day.

What We Do

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We provide data and insights that inform marketing, competitive intelligence, media buying, and product strategy and development.

How We Help

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DEMOGRAPHICSHolistic intelligence about the digital consumer’s background: age, gender, income, household size, marital status, race, ethnicity, state, etc.

PC BEHAVIORDesktop and laptop devices: web and app usage, device features and data usage, media streaming

SMARTPHONE BEHAVIORSmartphone web and app usage, device features and data usage, media streaming, advertising

DATA MATCHINGUse third-party data to append data on existing panelists

PURCHASING BEHAVIORSTracking e/m-commerce transactions and purchasing profiles in the offline world

TABLET & E-BOOK BEHAVIORTablet web and app usage, device features and data usage, media streaming, advertising

TV & RADIOTracking networks, channels, stations, TV and radio shows/movies, advertisements

A Single-Source Approach to Understanding The Consumer

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Some of Our Customers

Ecosystem and User Behaviors

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50% Reach 100% Reach

Games reach 57% of mobile app usersSocial activity touches nearly all mobile app users (99%)

Games reach more than half of mobile app users

Source: Verto Analytics, April 2016, Audience Size and Reach by Category

FINANCE

MUSIC AND AUDIO

GAMES AND KIDS

ENTERTAINMENT

TRAVEL AND NAVIGATION

PHOTO AND VIDEO

LIFESTYLE AND SHOPPING

PRODUCTIVITY

UTILITIES

SOCIAL NETWORKING

96,263,820

102,841,817

105,649,843

109,199,332

122,647,672

127,208,767

147,003,032

150,407,273

177,133,980

179,399,491

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Aggregate Time Spent (Hours per month)

4.91 BN1.15 BN

704 MM660 MM357 MM304 MM199 MM173 MM163 MM54 MM

Games category ranks second only to social12% of all mobile app hours spent playing games

While Size Matters, So Does Engagement


FINANCE

MUSIC AND AUDIO

TRAVEL AND NAVIGATION

PRODUCTIVITY

LIFESTYLE AND SHOPPING

ENTERTAINMENT

UTILITIES

PHOTO AND VIDEO

GAMES AND KIDS

SOCIAL NETWORKING

96,263,820

102,841,817

122,647,672

150,407,273

147,003,032

109,199,332

177,133,980

127,208,767

105,649,843

179,399,491

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While select developers dominate, fragmentation is the norm per gameOnly 7 current mobile games deliver more than 2% overall mobile reach

However, Higher Time Spent Has Its Challenges


Rank TOP GAMING APPS Users [M] MobileReach

1 Candy Crush Saga 12.6 5.12 Words With Friends 12.5 5.13 Candy Crush Soda Saga 8.1 3.34 Solitaire by MobilityWare 7.7 3.15 Clash of Clans 6.1 2.56 Cookie Jam 6.0 2.47 Trivia Crack 5.8 2.38 Candy Crush Jelly Saga 4.6 1.89 Yahtzee With Buddies 3.9 1.6

10 Despicable Me 3.3 1.3

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77 Mobile Games Deliver 1 Million+ Users

Source: Verto App Watch™ data, 18+ US internet users, April ’16

A sizeable number of mobile games (77) deliver over a million users each month.

As the mobile app evolution continues, more mobile games will surpass 1M and 5M in audience reach.

Game Apps User Distribution # Gaming Apps10+ MM users 25-10 MM users 52-5 MM users 161+ MM users 54

25

16

54

10+ MM users 5-10 MM users2-5 MM users 1+ MM users

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• Mobile represents a natural extension of game brands and their franchises • Parallel rise in casual gaming via online and mobile handsets• Add this trend to the near ubiquitous ownership of smartphones, particularly

among Gen Y

The move to mobile gaming

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< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

< / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / > < / >

THE APP DEVELOPER’S DILEMMA

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Testing/QA

Distribution

Development

Design

Marketing

7%

11%

17%

21%

43%

The Pressing Needs And Challenges

Source: Inmobi

Most challenging aspect of app development

Lack of transparency by app stores

App funding

Revenue model

Acquiring the right users

Discoverability/Awareness

7%

11%

17%

21%

43%

Most challenging aspect of app marketing

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The app Developer’s dilemma

The App Ecosystem

DiscoveryDownloadAdoption

The environment to discover and download apps is nearly “friction-free”.

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The typical marketer challenge

10-20%Usage RetentionUsing after 30 days from download

Interest Towards Apps

Download

App Discovery Within The App Store

Non-app Store App Discovery

63%

37%

• App store search• Recommended

apps• Featured apps• Ranking lists

• Search advertising • Mobile app advertising • Non-app store search• Web links and referrals

AdoptionUsing the day after download

Allows Benchmarking Against App Developers’ Own Metrics.

40-60% 0.2-2%MonetizationSpending money in the app/game

Source: Verto App WatchTM data, 18+ U.S. Internet users, 2016

Monetization typically less than 3% of all mobile gamers.

As much as 37% of installs happen via non-app store referrals including: advertising, social, search, reviews, etc.

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FOCUS ONGAMERS VS. SAMPLERS

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Gamer Stereotype

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Sample of Mobile Gamer Demographics

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Words with friends

Candy Crush Saga

Clash of Clans

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Core Gamer

HeavyGamer

LightGamer

Defining The Heavy GAMER

Not all Mobile Gamers are created equal:

Heavy Gamers (top 40%) make up a staggering 88% of all time spent playing gaming apps each month.

The Core Gamer segment alone (top 20%) represents nearly 2/3rds (62%) of all time spent with games.

The lightest gamers (bottom 40%) make up only 3% of time of gaming activity.

Source: Verto Analytics, April 2016, Games Category, Quintile Analysis

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The average game day


Average Time Spent playing games per

day Index

All Gamers 24m 100

Heavy Gamers 1h, 2m 259

Core Gamers 1h, 40m 417

Light App Gamers 2m 008


Core Gamer

HeavyGamer

LightGamer

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Gamers & Sessions

Average Number of Games played:



Per Day Per Month

All Gamers 1.3 3.6Heavy Gamers 1.7 (+31%) 5.2 (+44%)Core Gamers 2.3 (+77%) 6.5 (+81%)Light App Gamers

1.0 (-23%) 008 (-39%)

Per day Per month

Average session time

All Gamers 4.3 133.6 5 min, 35 secHeavy Gamers 10.6 (2.5x) 328.4 (2.5x) 5 min, 53 sec

Core Gamers 16.6 (3.9x) 514.4 (3.9x) 6 min, 3 secLight App Gamers 0.6 17.1 3 min, 32 sec

Average Number of Game Sessions played:

Core Gamer

HeavyGamer

LightGamer

BEST PRACTICES

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Mobile game Downloads – avg. Daily Focus

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

9,000,000

10,000,000

4,749,939

7,705,686

4,953,190

6,471,7266,043,750 5,962,936

7,366,833

Tuesday and Sunday deliver the highest average downloadsEnd of week is also generally favorable to the category

Source: Verto Analytics, April 2016, Audience Installations, Games Average per Day

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Game Downloads – Aggregate hourly example

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 240

300,000

600,000

900,000

1,200,000

1,500,000

Tuesday Sunday

General rise from mid-morning through prime hours for both days.Tuesday higher concentration during eves; Sunday midday and late.

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D0 D2 D4 D6 D8D10

D12 D14D16 D18

D20 D22 D24D26 D28

D30 D32 D34 D36 D38 D40 D42 D44 D46 D48 D50 D52 D54 D56 D580%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100% Retention of Popular App Categories

PHOTO AND VIDEO LIFESTYLE AND SHOPPING ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC AND AUDIO SOCIAL NETWORKINGTRAVEL AND NAVIGATION GAMES AND KIDS

Shar

e of

Use

rs U

sing

the

App

Mobile Games Have The Highest Retention Rate Followed by Shopping And Entertainment Apps

The first week is the most critical, especially the first few days.Retention drops well below 50% in most app categories.App sampling is the norm, byproduct of so little ecosystem friction.


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Managing customer churn

D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D140%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Average Daily Retention

Words With Friends Candy Crush Saga Clash of Clans Solitaire by MobilityWare

First 2-3 days are critical for each individual gameMinimal ecosystem friction from discovery, download to adoptionEmergence of two types of players - samplers and players


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Heavy Gamers & Specific GamesHeavy Gamer Monthly Time Spent:

94.4%

92.0%

92.9%

Core Gamer

HeavyGamer

LightGamer

Words with friends

Candy Crush Saga

Clash of Clans

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Sessions vs. Avg. Time Spent (multiple games)Impact of heavy usage on overall app behavior

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 3500.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

Sessions per Month

Avg.

Ses

sion

Dura

tion

Words with friendsClash of Clans

Candy Crush Saga

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Recap

• More developer competition on the way• While size matters, engagement is essential• A near “friction-free” ecosystem is a mixed blessing to mobile game developers• Games category requires a unique marketing approach• Mixed exposure strategy needed between app store and outside platforms

• Recognize the unique download behaviors for individual mobile games• Extreme sampling should be considered the norm• The first 2-3 days post install are the most critical• Those who remain potentially make up a mobile game’s primary user set• Develop a Heavy Gamer communications strategy

Read the report.http://research.vertoanalytics.com/download-mobile-game-report

LEVEL UP YOUR MOBILE GAME!New Industry Report on the Mobile Game User

• Audience measurement analysis and trends

• How audiences find and adopt games

• Mobile game deployment and user-engagement strategies

Thank you!

www.vertoanalytics.com

Alison Murdock, SVP, Marketing

[email protected]

Technology

Using Audience Measurement Data to Acquire, Retain and Maximize Revenues | Alison Murdock