When you're building a free app, consider how you plan to earn revenue, whether it's through the support of other apps from your company, support of your brand, via ads, or any combination of all three. In this section, you learn how to add required elements to turn your app into a revenue-generating machine, beginning with absolutely free apps.
From a business perspective, regardless of which revenue model you pursue, the key factor in a free app is user engagement. Engagement is an important term for any app or game on any platform, but is especially poignant with regard to free apps.
Let's say you're supporting your app via ads. Every time your users use the app and come to one of your ad's landing spots, whether it's on the core gameplay screen or in between screens, one ad gets served. With high engagement (meaning that you have a base of users who frequently use the app on a regular basis), the ads are served that many more times.
When you combine high engagement with short session requirements (meaning that users aren't required to play for more than 5 minutes at a time), the formula becomes a winning combination. The ads are being served much more frequently.
Consider “Angry Birds” as an example. In between each loading screen, you have ads for other Rovio software, or supporting fan pages for the brand. Because each level takes from 30 seconds to 5 minutes to try, users are seeing a great number of ads.
The same logic applies when you're simply cross-selling other apps or your brand. The more users are engaged to come back, the more essential it becomes for them to frequently be exposed to additional promotional links to support your brand (without going overboard, of course).
Here are some of the ways you can support your brand:
This goes for all apps — free, lite, freemium, paid, or premium. It is absolutely essential for you to nail the app icon for any app. It should be these things:
Remember that icons can sell apps. If there's any part of your budget not to skimp on, it's the development of a proper app icon, and it doesn't have to cost much to begin with.
Again, this pertains to all apps, free or paid. It is speculated that app ratings figure into an app's popularity, not just downloads. Therefore, if true, the more ratings you have, the better. It's also already been suggested that a great competitive research tool is to go by the number of ratings to unofficially determine app popularity.
In any case, add a button somewhere that is a call to action about rating the app. With “Mahjong Towers Touch HD” for iPad, it was slightly disguised with the clever “More Mahjong HD” rather than the typical “Rate this app,” as shown in Figure 7-9. Yes, of course you want more — who wouldn't?
Where to place your ads within your app can be crucial, not only to maintain usability, but to determine where to find the best engagement and most frequently hit spots without causing an interruption to the experience. The ads should be noticeable, but also unobtrusive, and as engaging as possible.
In a game, a good place would be somewhere constant during gameplay (if achievable), but obviously not if it is distracting enough to diminish engagement with the game, or hamper gameplay in any way. In a normal app, placing an ad somewhere during normal heavy use would be best, again without being disruptive to the main functionality.
Because lite apps are built for one main reason by definition — to support a paid app — let's go through an example of great implementation (“Mahjong Towers Touch HD” by Big Fish Games), and touch on the main points.
The reason for using this particular example is that it was made by a developer with (one would assume) a fairly high production budget that had time to maximize and tweak the upsell/cross-sell method, and have other games in a repertoire to support. “Mahjong Towers Touch HD” has been distinguished as the Number 1 free app in the iPad App Store. Essentially, this developer has been doing very well in the App Store with almost across-the-board well-received games (mostly lite plus paid models) because of high production and presentation values.
Probably the biggest hurdle to overcome when creating a lite app is figuring out what to restrict from your paid app. How do you balance out value and prevent cannibalism of free content at the expense of buying your paid app? “Mahjong Towers Touch HD” does this beautifully in a number of ways.
“Mahjong Towers Touch HD” (or MTT for short) is a tile-based puzzle game where you try to clear each board, which is presented in a new layout. MTT is themed off of the zodiac, and has 12 major areas, one for each sign, plus a bonus unlockable area once all the signs are completed. As shown in Figure 7-10, for each sign, there are 15 different layouts, and the user is rewarded with 1, 2, or 3 stars as a measure of their success on completion. It's very similar to the reward system in “Angry Birds” (and many other games) in this respect.
This game is successful because a session is roughly 3–10 minutes, depending on layout and player speed. After completing one layout (which is not too difficult, given the user has access to hints and reshuffles, at a cost), the next is unlocked.
The mystery of unlockables (especially when there is some impact to gameplay, and even if just an aesthetic change) is a huge incentive in games for the user to continue to uncover. In this game, typical Mahjong players are already familiar with multiple layouts, so that in itself is not enough to get excited about. But the method of unlocking is something to drive addictiveness and engagement.
Whether free or paid, users expect a certain amount of value for their time. In a lite app, the value should represent what the experience would be like if you purchased the full version.
In MTT, the star system of measuring a player's success is an additional incentive to keep replaying the levels. For example, after (and sometimes while) unlocking all the levels, many players — especially the “completionists” out there — will be further compelled to go back to previously played ones in an attempt to fill up each area with three stars. What should be going through many players minds is if this fraction of content provides this much value and entertainment, imagine how much the entire game would provide.
MTT lets you scroll through each of the zodiac sign areas, expand the layout section, and click any one of the levels. But only the first area (15 levels) is accessible in the free version. Not only is the interface unique because this all scrolls left and right within the track (making great use of touch controls and space of the iPad), but the user is able to experience all that the full game would provide, rather than just be provided a bulleted list or inaccessible buttons (as in many games).
When upselling your paid version, you'll want to have your button, text, or banner prominently displayed without being overbearing. Users should also be able to access your upsell in several different ways as they use the lite version.
For example, MTT displays a large upsell button on the top right. It's also built into the theme's style. When clicked, the App Store popup appears, and the user can immediately buy the app. Likewise, there are other ways the player can get to this. When players click on any of the levels in subsequent areas, they get the new popup that contains both a “learn more” button and the larger call-to-action button, which takes them right to the purchase, still within the app.
When players attempt to unlock any new area in MTT, then tap to “learn more,” they are treated to a full-screen ad, but it's not just static. Instead, whenever any movement is made, a fanned-out visual wheel of levels rotates along with their fingers, showing them interactively some of the different layout styles and backgrounds (in this case, one for each sign of the zodiac, as shown in Figure 7-11).
Contrast this with the static screens found in most apps. Implementing at least a little interactivity or even animation in your own static upsell or cross-sell ads can be one thing that differentiates your app, and should be highly considered. Not all apps (especially serious ones) need to do this, but, if it is feasible for you, you would likely see an increase in conversion.
For example, consider the static screen for “Fruit Ninja HD,” as shown in Figure 7-12. Currently, the Buy Now fruit is animating as all fruits do, so the user is not any more engaged than normal. However, it would be very easy for the programmers to make this a game. Imagine how fun it would be if the Buy Now fruit were tossed up slowly as an option, just as other fruit does during the course of normal gameplay. When clicked, it could initiate the purchase. It could repeat every few seconds after falling back down off screen, making the user wait in anticipation of it coming back up again. It's touches like this that will make your app stand out.
MTT is a great example of a content-based game. A system is in place that could easily be expanded, making additional layouts available as DLC for a cost. But there is a reason the developers likely won't do this. Their brand has a pattern of releasing high-quality standalone games with good value, leaving players wanting more, and knowing more is around the corner. This, plus the fact that the game is highly themed, improves presentation (at least for this app), and makes it a little more difficult in this case to think of alternative options for DLC that fit with the theme and don't seem tacked on. It's better just to reuse what code they can, reskin the graphics, add some new features players have wanted (via feedback), and call it “Mahjong Towers Touch 2 HD.”
If you have a feature-based app, the process is the same, except that instead of limiting content, you might provide time-based or use-based limitations on features, allowing users to explore the full range and experience the value, but not forever.
Let's now turn to how to implement ads into your app.
According to a mashable.com article, in 2010, mobile ad spending was $87 million, and expected to reach nearly $900 million by 2015. In essence, in-app ads in mobile apps are staying for a while. In the same article, Rovio (makers of “Angry Birds”) estimated that, by the end of 2011, they will be bringing in $1 million per month in revenue on the Android platform alone via in-app ads.
In-app ads are relatively easy to implement, and are one of the main ways developers can support a free or lite app with additional revenue, sometimes significantly depending on user engagement with your app and how well targeted they are with both the intended demographic, as well as the platform.
Though you could also place ads on paid or premium apps (as “Angry Birds HD” did by supporting its own brand, resulting in a big customer backlash), it would generally be ill-advised because of their intrusiveness and negative effect on things such as value, customer reviews, and likely overall rating. That said, if your app is as big as “Angry Birds,” you can afford to ruffle a few feathers, so to speak.
When ads are used in conjunction with a lite app, it can mean an additional incentive to upgrade, with the promise of removing the ads. But, as mentioned earlier in the chapter, this alone is not usually incentive enough to justify paying for an upgrade.
In July 2011, Mobclix (blog.mobclix.com) released research statistics that provided a few meaningful insights into app usage and advertising patterns.
When shopping for ad networks, it's important that you are familiar with the terminology they'll be using to lure you in. In case you're not completely brushed up on current Internet marketing terminology, or if this is your first experience with ads, following are a couple of key terms to be familiar with:
Because you have many choices (see Appendix B for a larger list), choosing an ad network can be a daunting task. The most popular current ad networks for iOS are Admob (the largest), and, of course, Apple's own iAd. But many other viable solutions exist as well. The key with any ad network is both in eCPM (that is, how much you're earning per 1,000 impressions), and increasing your ad fill rate with targeted content.
Admob and iAd are examples of single ad network solutions. Of the two, iAd has been reported to have lower fill rates, but also potentially one of the highest payouts that many developers are happy with. If 82 percent of the top free apps are using it, it is certainly worth looking into as one of your first solutions.
As shown in Figure 7-13, Adwhirl (owned by Admob) is a mediation tool that allows you to use several ad networks and prioritize between them based on your success metrics. An ad exchange solution such as Mobclix claims to mediate between developer and ad networks, and provide access to more analytic data than does a mediation solution. They also offer one payment, as opposed to the different payments from separate networks that you might find in a mediation solution.
As new ad networks and business models are evolving, it is worth doing some additional research to look into mediation and exchange solutions. But for the average app, given the open source nature and general developer high marks for an ad service, this book would first recommend starting the process by taking a look at a mediation solution such as Adwhirl.
The offer wall is a single destination within your app that offers the users choices of advertisements in exchange for virtual currency. Basically, you get paid and they get paid based on the clicks to the leads to any of the advertisements, many of which are trials or subscriptions. In 2011, there were reports that Apple is now rejecting apps like this altogether because of a conflict of internal rules.
When you've decided to implement ads, here are several suggestions that will help maximize profits:
As you have seen, a free app is actually a great revenue opportunity cleverly shrouded in the nebulous non-revenue term “free.” It is an opportunity to market your other apps, earn revenue via ads, and provide overall brand promotion.
Next, you learn all about the exciting business model of freemium apps, and what key ingredients to add in order to make your app a success.
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