Appreneurs Cookbook by Carolina Araujo

APPRENEURSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

COOKBOOK 7 Steps to Successfully Develop and Launch Mobile Games

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note

Step #1: Outsource the Mobile Game Development: How to select a Right Team for Your Mobile Game!

Step #2: Find the Cost of Making a Game App: 5 Easy Steps!

Step #3: Monetize Your Mobile Gaming App: How to make Money from Free Apps!

Step #4: User Acquisition

Step #5: App Store Optimization: How to Increase Your App Downloads

Step #6: App Reviews: An Important Aspect of App Marketing Strategy!

Step #7: Mobile App Analytics: Retention and Monetization Guidelines for Your Mobile Game!

Why Click Labs?

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Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note Being the Exec of a mobile game development company, I am frequently buzzed by lot of people with game ideas ranging from as simple as a knockoff of Flappy Birds to something as detailed as next Clash of Clans. But I always ask them one thing. An idea is just the beginning. Are you motivated to go all the way? Let me share something with you. Towards the fag end of 2013, Mike Bloom got in touch with me with a fairly detailed idea of a card battle. Before that, he was working with another mobile game development company for 18 months. But, unfortunately, everything fell apart and he was left midway with an idea on which he had invested years. Since I knew that he was onto something big the minute I laid my eyes on the preparation Mike had already put in. Today, his dream of the last 10 years, Mario Italiano, is about to go live soon. Another story worth sharing is that of our client Brian Davis. He encouraged his son Josaih Davis, a 15 year old High school freshman, to create rather than consume. And we are proud to say that the mobile gaming idea for one of the best designed games that we have developed so far, PaperChase, has come from him. We also learnt a lot from Josaihâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s insight as how he motivated us to get every minute detail right at every step of mobile game development journey. Hence, all you need is tons of zeal and patience to deal with everything that is thrown your way while you embark for this mobile game development journey. However, it is a rule of thumb you cannot develop the next big Candy Crush Saga in anything under $10,000. So you will be forced to either dig in to your friends and family pool or present your pitch to VCs, if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that kind of money lying around. I am happy to announce that we have already expanded our successful Startup Subsidy Program for utility/consumer side apps to games, and our first set of subsidized games are launching in June. It is crucial to note that mobile game development requires a varied set of specialized skills. If you are not ready to invest in these skills now, your half-baked game will get lost in the hyper-competitive crowd of hundreds of new mobile games that are launched in the App Stores everyday. Besides, when it comes to the learning-frommistakes part, you can either make all the mistakes in the first mobile app (or game) 3 2

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and/or leverage the experience of someone who has already made these mistakes. This ebook is our attempt to share some of the lessons we have learnt in the last few years. So if you find yourself constantly asking these questions.. “Where does it all start? Do I have the budget? How will everything come alive? Do I have the team to develop the game for me? If not, how am I going to select the team? How will I acquire users, monetize the app, get the artwork done, ensure that the game is launched bug free? How will I collect feedback and reviews from my audience to further tune the game parameters?” ... then you are at the right place. Appreneurs’ Cookbook: Step-by-Step Guide to Successfully Develop and Launch Mobile Games will answer all these queries, and help you tackle some of the mistakes you have been facing in the past.

Happy Reading. Parag Jain CMO, Click Labs

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Step #1: Outsource the Mobile Game Development: How to select a Right Team for Your Mobile Game For the purpose of this e-book I am assuming that you don’t have an in-house team to bring your next big gaming idea to reality. In all probability, the toughest part for getting started is going to be finding the right development team while staying within the related time and budget constraints. This if not done well often means a difference between a steady source of revenue for years to come or complete disillusionment from the mobile app world. With so many horror stories of outsourcing gone wrong bouncing back and forth it makes prospective appreneurs circumspect. The one’s to lose in the pursuing environment of distrust are the genuine development teams and the clients themselves. So, here is a non-exhaustive list of things to watch out for in a mobile development team when looking to outsource mobile game development.

Things To Look For In A Top Mobile Development Company A. Experience Hiring experienced mobile app developers is a wiser decision for your project. A quality development team writes a more efficient, more maintainable and bug free code which pays in the long run. They are better at handling chaotic situations and add value to your idea by guiding you through the process.

B. Work Portfolio Work portfolio gives you a better idea of a team’s skills and expertise. You can assess whether it’s just another sales pitch or the app development team actually has something concrete to show for by going through their work portfolio.

C. Technical skills A diversified technical skill set ensures the team would be virtually platform agnostic and will suggest you the right platform based on your idea requirement. Good technical skills make the team efficient in developing iPhone and Android apps that can top he CVrespective store charts.

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D. Thinking/understanding skills Working on the same project for a good number of months needs you and your mobile application development team on the same wavelength. Analyze their thinking and understanding skills.

E. Flexible No matter how well you spec your project, some things are going to change and you must ensure that the team developing your app knows that and won’t engage in constant bickering over every small change. But on the other hand you should be open to a revised quote if some major functionality is added at the later stage.

F. Communication Excellent communication skills are required for both in-house and remote development teams. Weekly sprints, daily updates, group chats and bi-weekly discussions are some meeting schedules which must be adhered to depending on your availability and comfort level.

G. Pragmatic A pragmatic estimate of the time it will take to complete the project ensures that the app development team won’t over-promise and under-deliver. This is one quality you should look for in any mobile app development company.

Are The App Developers Obsessive About Processes? A process oriented team is more likely to deliver on the initial promises ensuring good quality work in set timelines. Ask in detail about the processes your outsourced mobile app development team follows. Any oversight in this regard directly impacts the quality of the product, the bandwidth you spend, the iterations required and the timeline.

» Tools

While collaborating with a development team for a period ranging anywhere from a few months to years, the choice of right tools by your team can save many hours. The tools used should not have a huge learning curve but must be proficient in their niche areas. Your team should be using right tools for: • • • •

Project management, Bug tracking, Codebase management, Transferring development builds, among others. 6

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» Project Managers

Work with a team of game developers rather than individuals unless you already have a one at your end. A point-of-contact model with an intelligent person at the helm helps you transfer your vision to the team and makes communication much more effective.

» Spec Docs

Including every little detail of your project in spec docs might seem cumbersome and totally unnecessary at the initial stages but helps you do feasibility analysis, discover competition, make life easier for the development team and save money which goes into iterating constantly at a later stage.

Are They Transparent? With many mobile app developers looking to make a quick buck, the genuine ones often have to deal with mistrust from clients looking for prospective teams. But there is an easy way out to differentiate between the two types of teams. Look for these signs,

» Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

Ideally, your idea is your intellectual property (IP) and the sales reps of your prospective team should respect this and should be forthcoming when you ask for an NDA. All the discussions on your idea should follow after signing the NDA.

» Cost Estimates

The mobile game development team can estimate the total time and money it will take to complete your project only after they have a good understanding of your vision. If the team is able to give you a random number before you have shared your idea with them, it is a clear sign of a sales rep trying to make a quick sale. The only reliable number the team can give at the initial stage is their average hourly rates.

» Payment Terms

The payment terms also depend on whether you are going for an hourly billing-based model or a project-based model. For a project-based model, pre-decide the project milestones when you are expected to pay. Ideally, there should be at least 4 payment milestones and you shouldn’t be asked to fork out more than 25% of the total cost as upfront money. The final installment should go out only at project completion.

» Cost Overrun Risks

There is a high possibility of cost overruns and all the cost overruns associated with the scope of work included in the MSA(Master Service Agreement) should be borne by the game developing company whereas those arising due to change in scope should be borne by you. 7

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» Post Go-Live Support

You have a finished product which has undergone rigorous regression app testing and you are ready to make it live. Some bugs will creep up in spite of all the due diligence. So your team must commit to correcting the bugs for some time after the game goes live. So, in a nutshell, select a team that believes in the stakeholder based approach, is particular about processes, experienced in different genres and transparent to the core. Cost related to your game idea which is an important aspect of the whole process warrants the whole section in itself. Let’s quickly jump onto the factors which go into deciding the cost of the game beforee we go into actual development related aspects.

Step #2: Find the Cost of Making a Game App: 5 Easy Steps

If it’s your first time trying to make an app and you’re not willing to sit for hours and weeks on end coding and designing everything yourself, the big question in the front of your mind is, “How much does it even cost to build an app?!” We wish we could give you a simple, straight-forward answer, but there are simply too many factors to consider to give you an honest estimate of the cost to make an app without knowing the details of the game. We do, however, have some guidelines to help you quantify and estimate the cost of game development depending on the features you need and the nature of the app you want to build. This way, you can empower yourself to build an awesome app/game rather than get frustrated by ill informed talk that says, “Oh, well, you know, it’s prohibitively expensive to make a mobile application these days.”Because that kind of talk is just not true. So, what exactly are these guidelines? Let’s get started:

1. Conceptualization & Architecture Design The amount of time you need to hire a development team or a developer for this stage depends on how much product development and conceptualizing you’ve finished up to this point. Ask yourself if you’re fully prepared with a clear vision of your app, or if some addi tional brainstorming from app development experts will help you out. For example, 8

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even if you have an incredible, life-changing idea, a professional team can help you figure out its viability and feasibility of initial success in the market. The work of conceptualization itself takes a maximum of 3 days per month depending on your app’s complexity.

2. Design Because app stores are over-stuffed with countless “me too! me too!” apps, even a good idea is likely to get ignored. This is where the genius of design comes into play. For the majority of apps, the design is a huge part of what sells it. The beauty of the screens, the attractiveness of the characters, the ease of use, and the ever-important icon are all factors that set an app apart from its competitors. The best way to get a cost estimate for the design of your app is to specify exactly what type of design and animation you’re looking for with references to similar apps, coupled with the number of screens in your app or the number of playing levels and their extent if you’re making a game. Using the example of games, here are some considerations to help estimate the work required:

» Do you want retro 8 bit art, 2D sketches and animations, 3D models on a 2D

background, or a full-blown 3D game? » A single 3D character model can take 4 days to design. That doesn’t include animation. » How many UI screens do you need? And game levels? To what extent is new design required for each of these levels? » What is the number of characters and building block designs you need in 2D, 2.5D and 3D? Taking the time to list out everything related to these questions will be a bit time-consuming, but it will help you discover areas you can adjust if your budget requires it down the line.

3. Development The design might be the book cover of your app, but the coding and development is what

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brings your idea to life. The code is the nuts and bolts of what keeps your app working, serving users, and most importantly, not crashing. Development for a simple app that doesn’t do much beyond displaying content in pre-set tables or other types of containers can take as little as two weeks before you hit the market with an MVP. On top of these initial two weeks, consider the following development options and the approximate time frames we’ve given to further estimate the time it will take to develop your app:

» Integrating native features like GPS, camera, email, and contact lists - anywhere between 3-7 days depending upon the feature

» A server component to maintain user records, access database info, or com-

pute information on a server rather than a device, making the final results of the computation easily available to the user » A content management system allowing for quick updates in app content. The amount of time depends on the features that need to change in the live version of the app. » Open-ended research-based components are needed when you want your app to do something like identify a song being played in a public location so the user can add it to his playlist. This requires the matching of audio signatures in real time and can take some time to develop. » Integration of third party SDKs - 3 to 10 days in most cases » Social features like sharing and access to the open graph - 1 to 2 weeks » Integration of a physics engine is especially important for gameplay design. Even if not 100% scientifically accurate, these engines make collisions, shifting impulses, and body and fluid !dynamics at least perceptually correct to the player. - 2 weeks to 3 months

4. Quality Testing Here, the amount of testing depends on the number of features you’re integrating and whether or not you expect an MVP to release to a group of dedicated beta testers, or a fully polished product that’s ready to take the market by storm. For a standard MVP, expect testing and troubleshooting to take between one to three weeks, though this is highly variable depending the number of platforms you’re developing for. Keep in mind that Android apps also take a little more time due to the 10

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larger variation of screen resolutions.

5. Platform Development This consideration only applies if you want to develop your app to run on different operating systems. For this, you have two choices:

» Develop for each separate OS natively and go for a fully customizable experi-

ence and feel depending on the operating system. » Use a cross platform development tool like Phonegap, Unity, Corona, Cocos, or HTML5. Either way has pros and cons that are too deep to go into right now. We’ll save that for another post. But to give you an idea of the time it takes to get a more accurate estimate of your development cost, if you use a cross platform development tool, it only takes 15% more work to make an app for two platforms than it does to create an app on one platform natively. Ok, so now that you have rough time estimates, all you have to do is multiply this by the hourly or daily cost for the development team or professional individuals you hire - though we recommend the team approach.

Hiring a Team: Mobile App Development Cost Throughout your app’s development, you will have to coordinate communication with developers and designers to ensure the app turns out the way you want it. Most developers agree that hiring a team rather than individuals is worth it because you get a pre-built structure you don’t have to worry about, a project manager as your single point of contact, and a project architect to organize the 5 to 30 man hours per week you need according to your requirements. Beyond what your budget allows, it’s also important to consider a team’s experience, trustworthiness, transparency, and thrust on process to ensure you get the most for your money.

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Step #3: Monetize Your Mobile Gaming App: How to make Money from Free Apps The recent trend of more and more games going free (current number stands at around 90%) defies a common understanding of how the games are going to eventually make money. The underlying reason behind this trend is it is becoming difficult to drive people to download paid apps. Out of nearly 8,000,000 apps available in the Apple App Store alone, only 24% of the revenue is generated through paid apps (numbers are even more skewed for games).

Free vs paid apps - Which is better?

Free applications are still the leaders in terms of downloads and monetization. Out of all the paid apps, only 20% of them get more than 100 downloads and only 0.2% of the paid apps are downloaded more than 10,000 times. Whereas, in case of free apps 20% of them get 10,000 or more downloads.

Monetize Your Mobile App

So the question is, if you put your app for free download, how do you generate revenue? Here are some app monetization methods.

» In-App Advertising: As it’s becoming difficult for the paid apps to gain market

traction, in-app advertising is becoming more and more popular. Representing a market of about $7.3 billion, advertising is one of the most effective ways to market any product. Mobile-specific banner ad networks today form the bulk of in-app ad revenues. The trick is just to make sure that the app offers enough value to the user. For instance, earlier Facebook had no substantial in-app advertising revenue but today it drives roughly $3 of every $10 spent on in-app advertising. » In-App Purchases: Interestingly about 76% of the app store revenue in U.S is generated through in-app purchases. You can’t force your users to buy an app upfront but you can create a free-to-download app. A free app or game offers limited features and content. An in- app purchase is made to gain access to special content or features such as power-ups, unlocking extra level, stylistic themes, boosts, etc. A free app with an in-app purchase does not let price be a barrier for the users to download the application, thus, giving the developers an opportunity to prove the value of 12

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their product. We will go into much more detail in Step#8 on how to drive the users through this engagement funnel to maximize ARPU’s but first lets see how do we acquire users for our new engaging games.

Step #4: User Acquisition “If you build it, they will come.” This promise may have worked for Field of Dreams’ Ray Kinsella beckoning famous ghosts of baseball’s past to a corn field in the middle of Iowa, but with over-crowded app stores and countless copycat apps, it simply does not work as a user acquisition strategy for app startups and mobile games. Any indie developer knows the difference between a struggling app and a popular one. At least in the beginning, the key is how much traction you’re able to gain through downloads and installs in the initial days after the app’s launch. Unfortunately, there’s no way to magically share your new app with the entire world at once, so you need a touch of creativity and a lot of old-fashioned hard work to drive initial downloads for quality user acquisition – i.e. getting users that will actually want to use and enjoy the app, therefore helping you drive more downloads, rather than people who could care less about your app’s existence on their phone.

Our Best User Acquisition Advice After developing more than 100 apps and working with droves of indie developers and app- based startups, we’ve come up with a step-by-step tutorial presentation to help fellow indie developers get quality users and drive even more downloads without spending a lot of money on acquiring new users. View the SlideShare below, and feel free to share it elsewhere around the web. www.slideshare.net/clicklabs/user-acquisition-31238004 While most of the aspects are covered in the SlideShare let’s briefly touch on App Store Optimization and getting App reviews in separate sections. 13

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Step #5: App Store Optimization: How to Increase Your App Downloads More than 60% of apps are discovered through search. Discovery of your app depends either on high rankings or its searchability in the App Stores. Implementing a smart App Store Optimization (ASO) strategy helps you immensely improve your app rankings and get organic downloads in app store search results.

What is App Store Optimization?

ASO is the process of optimizing the description of your app/game to make it search friendly and rank higher in search results, leading to more downloads. App store rankings are important to gain visibility among potential buyers and attracting traffic to your app store page. It’s a pre-launch task that should be done before you put your app live in app stores. Google Play allows for description changes after the app’s launch, but in Apple’s app store, you can’t make immediate changes: the content first goes through an approval process, which generally takes a week.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the first step to effective ASO. To get a decent set of keywords to compete with other high-ranking apps, find high-ranking keywords, monitor their rankings, and try out related keywords. Short list the most relevant and effective ones to include in your description. Although there are multiple tools to help you in the process we have found SensorTower to be incredibly effective tool in helping you do this.

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Here is the link to a step by step blog post for using the tool: http://blog.sensortower.com/blog/2013/10/02/the-definitive-3-step-process-for-selec ting-keywords-that-get-your-ios-app-ranked-and-downloaded/

Keyword Implementation

Implementation is an important step after finding your app’s high ranking keywords. Each section of the app description, even the title, can be optimized for keywords. For iOS, the key is to optimize the 99-character keyword field your allotted because this is the only thing the App Store scans when considering rank based on keywords. For Android, the actual description is more important. Either way, each time you update your app and its description, discard lower- performing keywords you’ve integrated and leverage the best performing ones.

» App Title

The title of the app should be descriptive and would ideally have one of the top ranking keywords in it to influence search rank – just don’t change the title once the app has launched. Your app’s popularity will be associated with its name, so you need to keep it.

» Body Description

What your app does should be clear in the first two lines of the body description or no one will download it. Use 2-3 short sentences to stay ‘above the fold’ that give the best description possible for your app. Use the ‘More’ section to write everything else. Sprinkle important keywords throughout the description to increase your rankings.

» Read More: Detailed Body Description

Use as many high quality keywords as possible (without keyword stuffing) in the rest of your description. Keep in mind that while Google Play scans through all of your content for keywords, the iOS store doesn’t. So all the keywords which have been used the iOS store description should be intelligently put in the Google Play description 3-5 times to rank high for those particular keywords.

» Features

Features, generally placed below the description, should always be in bullet points. Bullet points are easy to glance through and most app users prefer them. You can also implement some keywords here.

» Notes

Another piece of content that you can add below the ‘features’ in your app description is

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notes. Mention anything unique about your app, its pricing strategy, or a fact related to your app you want users to know. This is more relevant in Google Play because you can use this content to infuse keywords and get higher rankings.

ASO: Beyond Keywords While doing App Store Optimization, keep in mind some important factors: Your app will be available on multiple app stores and will cater to audiences worldwide. The content that you use in your app must be legible and culturally inoffensive. ASO takes time and you must wait for results patiently. You must monitor and tweak it constantly to derive better results. Along with ASO, you must focus on good ratings and reviews. These help boost the overall search ranking. See below a small table with basic differences in two of the most popular app stores â&#x20AC;&#x201C; iOS App Store and Google Play:

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Expediting App Downloads

App store optimization is surprisingly one of the most democratized steps that can provide results instantly without putting in lot of marketing dollars. Putting in the effort to tweak the keywords in your app descriptions will give both short-term and long-term results in prompting more app downloads. But in addition to this democratized step, Apple and Google are continuously propping up App reviews as a really important factor in deciding the rankings. So letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s briefly touch on how to get app reviews from both the websites and the users.

Step #6: App Reviews: An Important Aspect of App Marketing Strategy According to consumer behavior analysis, most buyers read product reviews before purchasing a product. But how many read app reviews before installing an app? With more than a million apps in the app store and hundreds uploaded everyday, many developers get cold feet when uploading a new app to the marketplace. How the game/app is going to be perceived by the initial set of users who are used to highly polished games can make or break the game. But getting the good reviews can be tough. Although having a highly engaging game in the first place is a prerequisite but the work doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t end there. Developers go all out, e-mailing every app reviewer, sometimes more than twice a week, to get a review of his app done in time to coincide with the app launch. But most of the time, for whatever reason, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen and developers are left downtrodden and even more nervous about the success of their app.

But Why is an App Review Important?

There are a plethora of apps in various app stores and more are being uploaded every minute, so how do you get your app noticed? Either you are a big name in the industry and reviewers are waiting to write for you, your previous app was a major success and a sequel is much awaited, or you get a review to shed some light on why your app stands out. 16

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App reviews help to both leverage your app and bring you to the attention of reviewers who will keep a note of your future apps and as previously noted app reviews left by users also help improve organic rankings of your app and instill trust in the minds of new users.

App Marketing Strategy

Big names in the mobile industry plan an app marketing strategy months before the launch of their app. This helps leverage the buzz around the app that particular company is working on. Industry big shots hire marketing agencies to do the work for them, but if you have to do it on your own, a pre-planned strategy is crucial. Try to coincide the date of the launch with a good review and social media activities relating to the app. Viral word of mouth spreads like wildfire, so even if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get an app review, then make sure at least a handful of industry leaders you trust, know about your app and have some experience with it that they can tell others about.

App Reviews from Users

User ratings and rankings are equally important for an app as professional reviews. Have review submission available within your app for the best results. Prompt your users from time to time for reviews and ratings. Different app store studies show that some developers have earned positive reviews during the initial days of app installation. This is because users are enjoying the app when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new and go back to it quite regularly. But on the other hand, some developers believe reviews after some time of app usage are more prominent and genuine. You have to try what works for you.

Paid Reviews

Getting paid reviews is a black hat practice and is condemned by the industry. When advertising agencies are hired for pre-launch publicity, work may be outsourced to companies that indulge in such practices. Paid reviews are a downgraded way of earning publicity that may not last long. Such a practice is unethical and will result in bad publicity once itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s caught. Another perspective to this is that if you are an established app development company, getting reviews is no trouble, but for new and indie game developers, indulging in other practices to gain game reviews is apparent. 17

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Manipulation of App Reviews

The manipulation of app reviews involves maximizing positive reviews and minimizing negative ones. Some of the apps doing that well are Occipital’s 360 Panorama and Dragon Flight. 360 Panorama made a clever user interface by disintegrating their users with options like ‘Send Feedback’ and ‘Send Love’. The former directs the feedback in an email to the developers whereas the later takes them to app store review interface. The sentiment analysis in this technique is manipulation of app reviews. This practice is not black hat yet, but we can’t say if it is white hat. Dragon Flight, on the other hand, is a top rated app with 4.5 stars and more than 30,000 ratings. The gaming app gives its users 2,000 coins automatically as a bonus when they leave a review or rating. This cannot be referred to as black hat for sure and is an intelligent way of gaining reviews – both positive and negative. Read more about manipulation of app reviews here: www.90percentofeverything.com/2012/05/21/manipulating-app-store-reviews-wit h-dark-patterns/.

Getting App Reviews from Reviewers

On average, app reviewers receive more than 100 pitches per day to review new apps. Eminent companies get reviews for their apps without much hassle, but for others, you have to be really lucky. It’s hard to get an app reviewer’s attention unless you have something extraordinarily amazing in your email subject line that makes the reviewer open your email. Apart from that you can:

» » » »

Write the uniqueness of the app in the subject line. Be personal with the app reviewer but not informal. Introduce your company and your previous work. Talk about the reviewer’s previous work. Let them know you are an industry expert and not an e-mail spammer. » Along with the description of your app, attach a press kit, app screenshots & a link to the app video. » Highlight high points in the app, and how do you plan to release a sequel (if it is a » gaming app). 18

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» Let the reviewer know what is unique in your app and how it is better than others. » Send the app for no less than a month before you plan to launch it. An app

reviewer does not work on your deadlines. » A reminder email is suggested, but not everyday. You may e-mail after a week and then again after 10 days. » Have a professional signature at the end of the email, with links to portals you can be contacted at.

Furthermore, here’s a good link to review sites for iOS platforms along with their Alexa ranks:: www.reviewfordev.com/ipad-and-iphone-app-review-sites-the-list-to-promote-ios- apps.php. Also, here’s a highly useful marketing checklist for indie game developers: http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/articles/business-articles/promoting-your-indie-game-ch ecklist/.

Create an Effective Game Press Kit

So now that you have decided to reach out to the professional app reviewers you will need to create a professional press kit. A press kit is your resume to the world outside. It contains all the information about your company and the game you want the public to know. Since your press kit is your first impression to the world, it doesn’t have to be lengthy, but it does have to give all the required and relevant information. It also needs to be written in a compelling way that helps you stand out from the crowd.

Types of Press Kits

There are 3 different types of press kits to show yourself off. It helps to have a copy of all 3:

1. Traditional Press Kit: An on-paper press kit containing all the information and articles about your game/app in a folder. These can be handed out at networking events or mailed to publishers.

2. Online Press Kit: This is a direct link URL including all the latest news, events and accomplishments of your company is created and sent to various websites. Unlike the other two types of press kits, you can include audio and video clips within an online press kit.

3. Digital Press Kit: A press kit in a PDF file version can be handed out on disks, sent through ! email, or posted as a downloadable file from your website. 19

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Anatomy of a Press Kit

A press kit should be made to grab attention, make a lasting impression, and create enough interest that the readers will either download the app or contact you for more information. Each press kit should contain:

» Recent Press Release: A press release that explaining the services or entertain-

ment you are offering to them. The spotlight should be on the game you’re promoting. » Look Book: These are stylized screenshots of your games. Make sure the links you provide are working and are of good quality. Include a video link of your game giving an idea of the storyline and a demo video of the game being played. » Line Sheets: This is all the relevant information about the game like the price of the game and the different POS options. » Media Gallery: Any and all past press coverage is essential to help validate your work. You can also include articles relevant to your company which could help promote your game. » One Sheet: With a headshot or game/app logo, explain your game/app. This is quick way for readers to learn about you. » Company Background: People involved in your game and some information about your company. It should not be more than half a page. » Testimonials: Providing testimonials is the best way to build credibility. Include some testimonials from field experts or players who have already used the upcoming game or the previously launched version. » Contact Info: Provide the name, address, url, phone number and email address of your company. Present it clearly so readers can contact you easily and quickly. » FAQ: Include FAQ in the press kit to answer the most common questions on the spot. » Tip Sheets (optional): The tips you provide can range from gameplay hints, cheat codes, or general tips about all games in your genre.

Benefits & Advantages

Every brand needs to be packed in a way that will help it to gain acceptance and quality. » Single Resource: When you provide proper information, the publisher will not have to look to other sources. Thus, the first hand and only positive information will be passed on to the public. » Coverage: A properly maintained and distributed press kit does not guarantee a review or article on a big and influential blog, but not having one will definitely diminish the chances. » Maximum Control: You can experience the maximum control over the flow of 20

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information through a press release. It’s the publication that decides what information, links, and message are conveyed to the public. » High Quality Presentation Piece: The first impression is the last impression, and a good press kit could be used to impress investors, lenders and other people who are related to the company or work. » Faster Response Time: If you have a digital press kit, you are always ready to provide !information in minutes.

Warning

Making a noticeable press kit is the key to getting published on game review sites. But few things need to be taken care of while making a press kit.

» Be professional. It ensures that you get the attention you deserve. » Don’t include any assumptions in your press kit. It will end up in the trash. » Do not forget to include the header and footer on every document of the press kit you send. » To gain a competitive advantage and pass on the effective result oriented information, you should always check and recheck and recheck to eliminate mistakes and increase readability. » And always, always remember to follow up. » The information in ready to use format (downloadable pictures and grammatically correct content) is always preferred because it can be used by an editor without any extra effort.

The Golden Rule of Press Kits One must always remember that while making a press kit, more is always better than enough. No one can predict what information the publisher will be interested in, so try to include everything relevant. Just don’t forget to keep it crisp and concise. Now that we know how to get the game in front of the users lets see what we can do to engage and monetize the users.

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Step #7: Mobile App Analytics: Retention and Monetization • Guidelines for Your Mobile Game Making a game and advertising it is costly. Let’s be honest. Even from affordable development studios – you’re still spending a wad of cash to turn your idea into reality. This is why it’s so critical to pay close attention to each stage of game development to optimize it for users and their willingness to spend money, thus turning your wad of cash into something lucrative and profitable.

Mobile App Analytics = Addictive Apps = $$$

Aside from spending money to make your game, user acquisition and retention usually costs something. But unless lots of users magically come out of thin air – you’ll have to go through the grind and focus on fine-tuning the user cycle:

» » » »

Acquisition - we have already touched on this aspect earlier Engagement Retention Monetization

And yes, it takes some work. Unfortunately, we can’t all be as lucky as Flappy Birds.

The Math Behind It All

At the end of the day, you have to make more money per user than you spend in acquisition and retention. The profitability of making money with app/game, centers around the lifetime value of your users. Let’s call this Y. The amount you spend on acquisition and retention is X. As soon as Y>X, your spread is positive and you can begin to scale your game. • But reaching Y=X is a challenge, let alone Y>X. 22

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But let’s say X = $0.8/user. Initially, Y=$0.7. You’re losing money. Fortunately, paying close attention to data in the ways below can easily help you bring Y=$0.9 or higher, increasing your revenue to the point that you’re breaking even and making a profit. *Note: Costs for X and Y are given purely as an example

Making Money on Freemium Games We’re going to assume that you’re offering your game for a free download. But just because you don’t make money from downloads doesn’t mean all is lost. There are three key ways you can make money from players, either directly or indirectly as described earlier:

» Advertising revenue » Direct In-App Purchases (IAPs) » Driving more downloads through word of mouth and social sharing Let’s focus on IAPs, the most direct and reliable source of app income. It’s good to keep in mind that 80% of IAPs come from just 10 to 15% of your total user base who have played 30 or more sessions. With this basic data, you can start to form your game design to include a funnel that draws people through the flow of acquisition, engagement and retention to have the greatest monetization outcome possible.

1. User Acquisition Data In the beginning, a player’s lifetime value is either zero or not zero. Basically, either they download & play or they don’t. The most important KPI’s to focus on at this stage are: • • • • •

New downloads New users completing at least one game Average number of games completed by new users within the first day after the initial download Drop off rates

If the drop off rates are too high, or the users aren’t playing as many games as you’d like, troubleshoot or modify one or all of these 3 factors:

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• Incentivized downloads • Finding out if the game is being downloaded by a non-targeted demographic • A complex, elaborate sign-up process • Lackluster or absent tutorial to guide users through their first interaction with the game

2. Engagement: the Key to App Monetization Once the user has spent some time with the game, you want to entice him to make it a part of his everyday routine: something he gets into the habit of returning back to. Normally, this means he plays the game 3 to 10 times per day. At this point, important KPI data to track include: • Number of gaming sessions per day • Frequency with which a player returns to the game & time lapse between sessions Coupled with the data collected with each user during sign up, you can send customized push notifications and pop ups during the times when the user is most likely to play your game, incentivizing him to keep playing. Here, data-ridden activity maps help you know how a player is doing in different sessions and what content to include in your notifications. To motivate players to keep going, try to include elements of the game the player may not have discovered yet, like tips for improving, social initiatives, leaderboards, and so on.

3. In-App Retention Analytics After the user finishes 10 to 50 gameplay sessions, you need to pay a lot of attention to the depth of the game to keep them hooked with a personal interest in succeeding. Here, the most important thing for game designers to keep an eye on is milestone or mission- based metrics to find out where users are getting stuck or frustrated. Heat maps are especially helpful in figuring out where to fine-tune the game’s design-related parameters on different levels. To find out which levels you need to start fine-tuning the most, track retention rates in percentages at each of the following time-point milestones: • Daily • Weekly • Monthly 24

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4. App Monetization Strategies

Once someone has become a dedicated player, it’s time to convert him into a spender by pushing him through the monetization funnel. But this is easier said than done. People get scared of spending money and you should expect a sizable number will shy away from spending money and simply prefer to put the game down. However, taking care of how you display the request for an IAP has a lot to do with whether or not the user will take the plunge and spend a few dollars to keep playing. For example, having limited time sale offers for different amounts of lives or in-game credits tailored to what the user needs will have a much higher conversion rate than simply demanding payment under the threat of stopping the game. Here, to ensure your strategies for requesting IAPs are working to their maximum efficiency, track these KPIs: • ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) • ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) • LTU (lifetime value of user) • Inflation (whether or not the user has too many extra lives already at the time of an IAP request) But, just because a user doesn’t pay on the initial round of an IAP request doesn’t mean he or she is no longer of any value. After a while of resisting an IAP, try giving them a generous award for their dedication to the game, like extra lives or a boost to get to the next level. Here is the link to a blog post which will arm you with all the tricks of the trade as far as presenting the IAP’s are concerned. - http:// www.raywenderlich.com/39647/40-secrets-to-making-money-with-in-app-purchases Based on our work with games, user engagement, and monetization with hard data, we’ve developed an admin panel for game developers to track their user engagement and monetization so they can more easily and accurately monetize their apps with fine-tuning rather than educated guesses. At each stage, the dashboard displays KPIs applicable to each stage of the user monetization funnel and the ability to reach out to users in crucial parts of the game through tailored push notifications.

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Why Click Labs? Click Labs works as a team that believes in stakeholder-based approach, are particular about processes, experienced in different platforms and diverse genres and transparent to the core. We offer an affordable hourly rate for hiring a development team, that we use to figure your overall project cost. We also have a Startup Subsidy Program and a Startup Incubator for those who qualify. You can also check out our work portfolio here. If you are having a nightmarish experience finding an outsourcing partner for developing your mobile gaming app , and want to get realistic time and cost estimates , drop us a line and we would love to help you in the process. We believe in exchanging knowledge and would love to provide free consultation on your ideas.

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