Mobile games depend on their players for survival, making both user acquisition and retention critical for longevity. This leads to an important question for game developers and marketers: Should the focus be on attracting new players to scale rapidly, or should efforts concentrate on keeping existing players engaged to maximize their lifetime value?
User acquisition in mobile gaming
User acquisition in mobile gaming involves attracting new players through various marketing strategies. Unlike traditional marketing, UA in gaming emphasizes immediate conversion. Building a competitive and sustainable gaming business necessitates continuous and substantial marketing efforts, especially in a crowded market where only the most compelling games survive.
Attracting paying players has become increasingly challenging also due to privacy restrictions that affect the measurability of marketing efforts. Additionally, the cost of user acquisition is high due to the intense competition. This underscores the necessity for developers to implement extensive and often costly marketing campaigns to stand out.
Effective strategies for user acquisition include:
- Leveraging diverse paid media channels to reach a wide audience.
- Encouraging existing players to invite friends in exchange for rewards.
- Partnering with other games or apps to attract users.
- Creating engaging content to attract high-quality visitors.
- App store optimization to make sure your store front stays relevant. A/B testing app store elements is a data-driven method to find best performing creatives.
- A strong branding strategy.
- Marketing automatization to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
User retention in mobile gaming
User retention focuses on keeping players engaged and ensuring they return to the game regularly. Maintaining a focus on retention is crucial not only for longevity but also because losing players means losing the cost of acquiring them in the first place. High retention rates show that players are satisfied and engaged, while high churn rates suggest issues that could threaten the game’s success.
The number of downloads a game gets in itself isn’t a strong enough metric to deem success. How many players return and continue to engage with the game should be the focus to ensure long-term success. Effective retention strategies make players feel valued and connected to the game and create a sense of loyalty and ongoing engagement.
Strategies to improve user retention
- An optimized onboarding experience to get the players hooked.
- Knowing and catering to your players’ motivations.
- Social features such as in-game chat, forums, and guilds create a sense of community among players.
- Providing excellent customer support through various channels ensures that player issues are resolved quickly, reducing frustration and preventing churn. Also monitoring and listening to ratings on the app stores.
- Keeping the game fresh with live events, new content and updates maintains player interest and prevents the game from becoming stale.
- Tailoring the gaming experience to individual preferences, such as recommending new missions or offering customized in-game items.
- Rewarding long-term players with exclusive rewards and privileges.
User acquisition vs. user retention
User acquisition focuses on attracting new players, requiring significant marketing efforts to build awareness and convert users. Retention, however, aims to keep existing players engaged, converting casual players into loyal fans.
Acquiring new players is generally more expensive than retaining existing ones due to the need for extensive advertising and promotional campaigns. Retention campaigns often require less financial outlay, targeting players already familiar with the game.
While user acquisition requires precise marketing tactics to ensure effective campaigns, retention typically offers higher ROI as keeping existing players engaged is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.
Acquisition strategies focus on attracting new players through advertising and referrals, while retention strategies aim to engage existing players through personalized experiences and loyalty programs. Both require tailored approaches to address their unique challenges.
Combining user acquisition and retention
For long-term success it is crucial to invest in both. User acquisition drives initial growth and visibility, attracting media attention and creating a buzz while retention measures keep the players active. Neither aspect should be overlooked when you are striving towards a successful game.
Money-wise, retaining users is generally more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Not only because retention doesn’t require as much continuous investments but also because retained users typically generate more revenue over time through in-game purchases and ad views.
Integrating acquisition and retention strategies
A smooth onboarding process should get the player hooked to ensure their return. Managing expectations and guiding the player is key in this stage.
Personalized content makes the player feel valued and unique. By leveraging data analytics to address specific interests and behavior, you are able to to tailor messages to both new and returning players along their journey.
Make them loyal by utilizing special offers depending on their stage. Long time users can be rewarded for their continuous engagement and new players can be welcomed with starter packs or welcome gifts.
Create channels for players to openly communicate and give feedback. Acting on this feedback shows players that they are heard and valued. Using the what’s new section on the app store for example gives you a way to demonstrate that you have listened to your players’ suggestions.
A/B testing is a powerful method for finding the best performing creatives in both UA and ASO, if you want to know how we can help let’s talk!
