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Mobile games have become increasingly popular in the past few years. While in the 2010s, people would dedicate approximately 4.7 minutes for one gaming session, most now spend 30 minutes and some even four hours playing online smartphone games.
But while the revenue is obviously there for the taking, you must ensure your game is doing most of that taking.
And for that, you need thoughtful planning.
This article helps you understand your target audience, analyzes five of the most effective strategies for marketing a mobile game, and discusses plenty of examples to help you start.
Keep reading below:
TL;DR
App Store Optimization:
- Boost visibility and ranking in app store listings.
- Optimize game title, icon, description, keywords, promo video, and screenshots.
Paid Search:
- Utilize Google's Universal App Campaign and Facebook's Automated App Ads.
- Monitor and adjust campaigns for best results.
Content Localization:
- Adapt game features to target cultures.
- Translate all app content, including videos, descriptions, and titles.
- Consider cultural nuances. Example: French Belote app card symbols.
Apple Search Ads:
- Increases game ranking and visibility on iOS devices.
- Pair with custom product pages to enrich user experience.
Social Media:
- Post relevant content, maintain active presence, and engage with users.
- Collaborate with gaming influencers for better reach.
- Integration for in-game results sharing boosts word of mouth.
Effective Ad Types for Gamers:
- Video ads: Short, engaging videos.
- Playable ads: Let gamers experience a bit of the game.
- Rewarded video ads: Offer in-game rewards for watching ads.
Starting Your Campaign:
- Understand the audience and choose the right approach.
- Blend multiple strategies for optimal results.
- Work with a professional mobile marketing agency.
What Is Mobile Game Marketing?
Mobile game marketing encompasses all the marketing strategies you use to promote your mobile game. These marketing efforts aim to increase the game’s downloads and get more ROI.
There’s a problem:
The gaming industry is an exhaustive market, with many quality games in app stores, each providing unique user experiences and incentives that keep people hooked.
There’s also a solution:
You need a customer-centric approach to increase sales. If you adopt this mindset, focusing on your customers’ needs above all, the strategies will follow.
You will know how to build persuasive messages, contour an exciting in-app experience, and engage users on social media. This guide will teach you what to follow from each of these perspectives.
But first:
Who Is the Main Audience for Mobile Games?
You can’t market anything (effectively) if you don’t comprehend your audience. To be persuasive, you must adapt your mobile game marketing strategies to your target.
Mobile gamers are a colorful bunch, but here’s what we know about most of them:
- 50% play games in the bathroom. The other half are probably lying.
- 63% of mobile game users are female, and the rest of the 37% are male.
- 55% of users are approximately 55 years young, 21% are in the 25-34 age group, and only 8% are teens.
- 60% of women mobile game players log into the app daily.
- 80% of game players play at home and mostly while multitasking.
- These people don’t consider themselves gamers.
Also:
- 34.1% of mobile gamers are in the upper-income echelon.
- 62% of people who get a new phone will download a game within a week.
- 62% of people below 13 years old make in-game purchases.
- 48% of the mobile gaming audience is from Asia. Europe is second, and North America is fourth.
- Puzzle games are the most popular iOS choice for the USA, garnering 18% of mobile game revenues.
- 20% of US players allocate 20-30 minutes for their gaming sessions. However, 10% play up to 2-4 hours.
But those stats aren’t the only variables that matter for marketing a mobile game. To truly understand your audience, you must analyze:
- Player motivations
- Archetypes
Player Motivations
Player motivations define the reasons why your specific audience plays your specific game. These reasons can include the following:
- Solving unique problems/exercising their thinking
- Unwinding after work
- Passing the time during a commute or doctor’s appointments
Why motivations are important: You can target specific segments starting from their interests.
For example, people play Pokémon Go for different reasons. Some do it for the community, others for nostalgia, and others because it’s an addictive game that helps pass the time faster.
Archetypes
Each type of gamer interacts with your mobile game app differently:
- Expressionists: Use games to express themselves through décor, storytelling, etc.
- Kings of the Hill: They are driven by competition and winning.
- Networkers: Play games with other people or be part of a community.
- Skill Masters: Look for games that hone their skills. They like to learn new things, especially if learning is challenging.
- Strategists: Look for games where they can exercise their strategic thinking.
- Thinkers: Prefer puzzles, Sudoku, and other brain teasers.
- Thrill seekers: They want steep adrenaline rushes out of their games.
- Treasure hunters: These people want games that allow them to explore and find rewards.
Why archetypes are important: Find out which archetype best fits your audience. Adapt your marketing messages to showcase how your game meets their specific needs/interests.
Baba is You offers an interesting example of advertising with their audience in mind. The mobile gaming app caters to Thinkers, Skin Masters, and Strategists. Each level features the game’s rules as blocks people can manipulate to change the action. Pushing these blocks around transforms users into different objects and even transforms the gameplay.
This example is relevant because the Google play store screenshots, descriptions, and keywords are specifically crafted for these three archetypes.
Notice specific words like “puzzle,” “logic,” and “rules” – all these appeal to Strategists and Thinkers. But the pixelated images are the most interesting. Most people who want something light wouldn’t touch this interface with a stick.
But Skill Masters, Thinkers, and Strategists get a rush of dopamine just by looking at these images below:
Best Strategies for Attracting New Users to Your Mobile Game
The best mobile game marketing strategies to attract new users to your mobile game can be categorized into two groups:
- Paid: Paid search, paid ads, Apple ads, etc.
- Organic: App store optimization, social media, localization, etc.
We’ll discuss some of the most effective such strategies below:
1. App Store Optimization
An app store optimization strategy is essential for marketing a mobile game because:
- It increases your visibility in the app store listings, thus bringing you new organic customers.
- It can boost your in-store ranking, giving you an extra visibility boost.
- It supports paid user acquisition so you can get more app purchases.
To optimize your mobile game for the app store, follow the elements below:
1.1. Game Title
Ensure your game title:
- Is 2-3 words long.
- Helps potential users understand what the game is about.
- Reflects the game genre and style.
- Is unique.
No pressure.
Pro tip: Special symbols make your title hard to find. You should also check the app store’s terms and conditions to ensure you haven’t used inappropriate words.
1.2. Game Icon
- Choose the right icon style and colors depending on your game’s genre. Popular styles include anime, retro, and character-based.
- Analyze your competitors to understand current trends and to ensure you stay unique.
1.3. Description
- Ensure the description includes all relevant details about the game, such as features, storyline, and updates.
- Use relevant, long-tail keywords to improve SEO.
1.4. Keywords
- Fill in the keyword field with specific keywords that showcase your game’s features and functions.
- Do your research first to see what keywords your audience mostly uses and what your competitors are doing on their pages.
1.5. App Promo Video
- Don’t neglect to post a promo video for your mobile game. It will help potential users understand what’s in store for them.
- Showcase your game’s best features to create desire, so remember to tap into your audience’s interests.
1.6. Screenshots
- Use screenshots to show potential gamers how your mobile game would look on their phone.
- Focus on your game’s most important features.
- Ensure these photos express your brand identity in terms of color, mood, and style.
The Lost Treasure is an adventure game that ticks all the boxes above.
- The app promo video is short and catchy, creating a mysterious atmosphere in just two seconds:
- The title is also extremely suggestive, showcasing the genre, style, and interest. Potential gamers understand immediately that this game’s purpose is to get them on an adventure to find a lost treasure.
- The screenshots are high-quality and feature specific titles that tell users what they can find inside the game:
- The description features specific keywords for the adventure game genre and the Treasure Hunter archetype (e.g., “adventure,” “quest,” “hidden passageways,” etc.).
- The added keywords further tell people what they can expect from this game:
2. Paid Search
Paid search is a non-organic marketing strategy, but it can bring you a massive boost of downloads quickly. Use:
2.1. Google
Create a Universal App Campaign so that Google can customize your campaign for you, testing different ads.
2.2. Facebook
Automated App Ads from Facebook might be a good start if you want to start your campaign faster. The input you have to introduce is limited, and machine intelligence will take it from there.
Couple this strategy with the classic, manual Facebook app ads if you want more control over the creative process.
Pro tip: Use our free ad mock-up generators to test how different ads would look for your game.
Here’s one intriguing example:
Rovio used Automated App Ads for its Sugar Blast Game, using a two-cell split test as follows:
- First cell: Standard ad campaign based on people’s interests and using lookalike audiences.
- Second cell: An Automated App Ads campaign using value optimization and a broad targeting strategy. This campaign pushed ads automatically, offering performance monitoring.
Results included:
- 33% increase in day 7 payer conversions
- 10% increase in day 7 return on ad spend
- 50% decrease in the number of campaigns run
3. Content Localization
Content localization is essential for marketing a mobile game in a specific area. This strategy is especially important if you want to rank in the top results within a certain geographical location.
Here’s how you do it:
- Adapt your app’s features to each specific culture you’re targeting.
- Use the local language.
- Follow the legal requirements of the countries/regions where your game operates.
Remember: Translate and adapt everything on your app page, from videos to descriptions or titles.
Pro tip: Use English if you’re targeting a global audience.
Here’s one neat example: The French Belote app.
Notice that the game’s description, title, and keywords are translated into French. But more interestingly, the cards are different in France.
The Ace (A) is 1, the King (K) is R (from Roy), and the Jack (J) is now V (from the French Valet).
Key takeaways: Tiny cultural details matter, so ensure you get them all straight.
4. Apple Search Ads
Apple Search Ads can:
- Increase your ranking and make your game more visible if relevant to your audience.
- Help you reach mobile phone users directly on their mobile devices.
Warning: Although these mobile game ads are affordable and have many benefits, people can turn off their Personalized App features. In this case, you may not be able to target them through your ad.
Here’s how to avoid this problem:
Use custom product pages in tandem with your Apple Search Ads.
If your ad is creative enough to raise people’s interest, they will tap into it. And doing so will take them on an exciting product journey, with stunning visuals and convincing words.
Pro tip: Remember to localize the game features you’re presenting on the custom product pages.
Example time:
Here’s Voodoo’s original situation:
When they launch highly casual games, they get a high volume of organic downloads. Voodoo leverages Apple Search Ads to get more customers when these taper off.
Voodoo decided to do things differently with their Helix Jump game to increase discovery and get ahead of the competition from the get-go.
This time, they used an Apple Search Ads campaign to increase discovery. Voodoo’s Apple Search Ads campaign brought a 30% increase in installs, a 10% decrease in cost per acquisition, and a 5% higher retention.
5. Social Media
Social media is an organic marketing strategy that helps you create a community around your game. Remember to:
- Post the type of content your users relate to. This can be user-generated content (UGC) like game reviews, teasers, game trailers, event-related memes – whatever you think useful. Use your own or affiliate websites to generate traffic for your game. For example, this website discusses Tyrone Unblocked Games and how users can enjoy them.
- Stay active. Post at least once each day to maintain an active social media presence.
- Answer people’s questions. Encourage comments and feedback. Adapt your product strategy, gaming experiences, and communication according to that feedback.
- Mention your fans. Give them credit, ask them to create fan art, and welcome new users. Remember that your social media page is like a huge family, so act like it.
- Keep your brand front and center. Although you are trying to create a community, your users’ ties should center on your game.
- Use mobile game influencer marketing. Content creators in the gaming industry know how to address their audience. As such, gaming influencers can market your game seamlessly, tapping into their knowledge of your potential customers.
Pro tip: Integrate all your social media platforms with your game to ensure people can share their in-game results online. For example, each time someone shares a high score, you get free word of mouth. Besides, you can analyze this data and tap into the insights to hone your game.
A neat example is the famous Kripparrian discussing the mobile game Art of Conquest:
This content creator has a lot of sway and credibility in the gaming niche, so he can be very influential, especially when he produces an in-depth app review like the one above. However, the downside of partnering with a massive gamer is not reaching the correct audience.
Kripp’s fans are mainly old-school gamers who have a good dose of disdain for mobile video games. Kripp experienced backlash from these fans and the Art of Conquest game publishers may not have reached the right audience.
Pro tip: inBeat has a wide database of content creators, so you can pick the right one(s) for your game. We have hundreds of thousands of partners, but we’ve cherry-picked the top 1%. You can leverage our free database or schedule a free call to set up your strategy.
The Top Methods for Attracting Gamers with Ads
Video ads are the most effective type of ads to attract new gamers. To create an ad, you will have to go through three (main) stages. It’s also a good idea to follow a production calendar schedule during each phase.
- Research: Analyze your audience and competition, and identify trends to see what your audience responds to.
- Scriptwriting: Set each scene and add notes so the creative production team can edit seamlessly.
- Creative production: Create the video using the right format. That brings us to the following point:
It’s essential to choose the correct video format. Of course, if that works for your target audience, you can create many video ads using different formats.
- Video ads: The standard short, attractive video that promotes your game in a way that creates desire. Try to convey the in-game user experience as closely as possible to hook potential users.
- Playable ads: Studies show this format is best for increasing app installs because it allows gamers to play a bit of your game. That means people understand what’s in store for them while you get the chance to hook them with your best scenes.
Rewarded video ads: This format is best for helping you drive revenue from your active users. As such, these gamers can watch an ad to obtain a specific reward, such as in-game currency or discounts.
How to Start Your Mobile Marketing Campaign
This guide has taken you through all the stages of marketing a mobile game. First, you must understand your audience and pick the most persuasive approaches.
These approaches are based on each segment’s interests, basically what makes them tick.
Then, you will have to pick a strategy that works for your game and audience specifically. Or, even better, blend multiple strategies.
inBeat can help you set a plan that will work for your mobile app. Whether you’re going for influencer marketing, paid ads, or organic content, we can help you define a plan.
Book one free strategy call to help you get started – no strings attached.