Discover what the Amazon Appstore learned when creating its Reward Campaigns and writing a service to run those campaigns. This presentation includes results from Amazon's campaigns, results from partner campaigns, and a review of what rewards campaign practices worked well (and which didn't). The practices section is structured to give you insight when building your own rewards campaign or drafting requirements for a partner supplied solution.

1. Mike Hines
DEVELOPER EVANGELIST
AMAZON
HOUSTON, TX ~ JUNE 5 - 6, 2019 | DIGIMARCONSOUTH.COM
#DigiMarConSouth
What Amazon Learned About
Creating Rewards Campaigns
KEYNOTE

2. Part 1:
The Amazon Appstore
Rewards Journey

3. Amazon Appstore’s
Goal
Increase paid subscriptions
to premium FireTV content

4. Why a
Rewards Campaign?
Rewards Campaigns…
…don’t train users to wait for
sales
…can be targeted
…can be used for much more
than selling

5. Specific Goals
• Generate more first time subscribers
• Recover lapsed subscribers
• Increase email open rate

6. What Appstore Did
Wrote a service to run a
Rewards Campaign
Offer real world prizes sold and
shipped by Amazon for completing
actions

7. What Appstore Did
• Offered a $10 Amazon Credit to net
new subscribers
• Offered a $10 Amazon Credit to re-
subscribers
• Notified eligible customers
• Sent out mail with the reward
mentioned in the subject line

8. Amazon Appstore
Results
Generate more first time subscribers
5x
more likely with offer than without

9. Amazon Appstore
Results
Recover lapsed subscribers
2x
more likely with offer than without

10. Amazon Appstore
Results
Increase Open Rate on Mail
2x
more likely when offer mentioned
in subject line

11. These Results Got Attention
Other groups at Amazon
expressed interest

12. Part 2:
The Epiphany

13. “I’ll bet this strategy
works everywhere.”
We made the service
available to a select group of
our partners

14. Partner Goals
Increase User Retention
Increase In-App purchase Revenue

15. Specific Goals
Increase D30 Retention Actions
• Increase participation in Monthly Events
• Encourage use of product to level 20
Increase In-App Revenue
• Increase number of first-time paying users
• Encourage existing paying users to buy
next largest package

16. Specific Rewards
Increase D30 Retention Actions
• Reward completion of Montly Event
• Reward completion of level 20
Increase In-App Revenue
• Offer new customers a $24 reward
on $50 package
• Offer $24 reward to $50 customers
if they buy $100 package

17. Partner Results
Increase Retention: Event Participation
97% increase
in D30 retention
with reward

18. Partner Results
Increase Retention: Event Participation
2x increase in daily revenue
for 30 days after rewards
campaign ended

19. Partner Results
Increase IAP Revenue
117% increase
In first time buyers
27% increase
In average revenue per paying
user

20. Partner Results
Interesting Observation:
Rewards of Physical Goods
creates a halo effect that lasts
beyond the end of the
campaign

21. Part 3:
What We Learned

22. “I’ll bet this strategy
works everywhere.”
Well….. Almost.

23. “I’ll bet this strategy works everywhere.”
Well…almost
Well suited
Airlines, Banks, Coffee Shops, Restaurants
Video Game Publishers
Specialty shops, Seasonal Goods
Charitable or Issue Organizations
Lifestyle media
Advertising Agencies
Somewhat less spectacular
Single up-front transaction, no repeat
business expectation
Sales work better here
Mandatory transactions
Paying taxes
Required textbooks

24. Behavior to Reward
Actions that Matter
One Time Actions
Sign up for a newsletter
Make a reservation online
Check your account on the mobile app
Build Habits
Reward repeated tasks
Check luggage status on mobile for 3 flights
Check your in-app mail every day for a
week

25. Reward Economics
Actions that Matter
Pays for Itself each time
Value of Action > Cost Per Action
$50 Gem pack ($0 COGS, $50 revenue)
Reward of $24 speaker ($24 CPA)
Net Gain $26 per action.
Pays for itself on average
Aggregate Value of Actions > Total Campaign Cost
Customers who get newsletter spend on average
$50 more
Reward $24 speaker
Average gain over time: $26 per action

26. How to Announce Reward
Actions that Matter
Do X, Get Y
Do X, Get Y.
Explicitly announce the reward,
either a one time reward or a
habit building reward to the
eligible cohort
Delightful Surprise
Unannounced reward
• When a customer is doing
the right thing
• During high-abandon rate
tasks

27. Reward Selection
Cost per Action:
Less Expensive (or exclusive)
• One Time Actions
• Simple
More Expensive (or really exclusive)
• Multiple actions over time
• Complicated / hard / personal
These are guidelines!
You must do test campaigns to find the sweet spot.

28. Cohort Selection
Pay for Itself
• Everyone you can reach
Easy / Immediate rewards
• Pre-existing customers
Delightful surprises
• Paying customers doing good things
These are guidelines!
You must do test campaigns to find the sweet spot.

29. Good things to remember about Rewards
Drive Actions that Matter
Flexible
• One time actions
• Habits and Behaviors
Retain Customers
• Drive completion of high-
abandon tasks
• Reward good behavior
Target Specific Cohorts
• Target a specific group of
high-value customers
• Target new customers
Effects of Real World Rewards
• Sticky
• Memorable

30. Thank you!
Mike Hines | Developer Evangelist
@MikeFHines
facebook.com/MobileDevMikeHines
mihines@amazon.com
http://developer.amazon.com/moments