Insights on Buying ROI-Positive Traffic for Free-to-Play Mobile Games -- Konstantin Dieterle, Head of Game Publisher Accounts at AppLift (The Winter Nights: Mobile Games Conference 2014 http://www.wnconf.com/)

1. AppLift.com 1Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Best practices to deliver LTV:
Generating ROI-positive traffic
for F2P mobile games
Konstantin Dieterle
February 2014

2. AppLift.com 2Insights on Generating ROI-Positive TrafficAppLift.com Berlin | Seoul | San Francisco
Who is talking today?

3. AppLift.com 3Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
The 3 waves of paid User Acquisition
Top charts
Lowest CPI
ROI positive
Flat fee CPI aCPI
No SDK Many SDKs Few SDKs
Top position High volume LTV > CPI
Pricing
SDKs
Goal
2011 2012 2013+
Ad type Incentivized Non-incent Non-intrusive

4. AppLift.com 4Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Buying ROI positive traffic can be devided
into 3 different phases
Tracking setup
App Store
optimization
Traffic buying

5. AppLift.com 5Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic 5
Tracking setup
Common identifier needed to match channels with in-app behavior
Campaign tracking
Attribution of installs to paid and non-
paid channels
Methods: Fingerprint, Device
Identifiers (IDFA, Android ID)
In-game tracking
Tracking of in-app events to measure
and analyze user behavior
Possiblility to create cohorts of users

6. AppLift.com 6Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Three parameters to take into account
in order to deliver the highest ROI
Retention Monetization Virality
What is the probability a user
will be active day after day?
Benefit from tracked statistics
through open and engagement
events.
How much money does a user
spend within a given period?
A complete overview of tracked
in-app purchases will help you in
improving your marketing spend.
How many new users
does one user generate?
Tracked through invites sent
to friends via Facebook, Email
and other channels.

7. AppLift.com 7Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
The in-game KPIs in the user‟s lifecycle
Average time in-app / session
Total daily sessions / DAU
Engagement
Facebook shares
Referrals
Reviews
Virality
Day 1, 7, 30
Daily Active Users (DAU)
Daily New Users (DNU)
Retention
ROI-
positive User
Acquisition
Monetization

8. AppLift.com 8Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Buying ROI positive traffic can be devided
into 3 different phases
Tracking setup
App Store
optimization
Traffic buying

9. AppLift.com 9Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Master the App Store Marketing through
correct App Store Optimization (ASO)
100 characters (including commas)
Localized
Avoid repetition, don„t leave spaces
Single words & single forms
Long Tail: tailor your keywords
Game Category is automatically a Keyword
Main keywords should be included several
times over (5 times)
Use phrases
Check competition
Focus on your keywords with keyword tool
or auto-complete
Trendy Keywords can help
No luxury of many A/B tests as on desktop

10. AppLift.com 10Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Master the App Store Marketing through
correct App Store Optimization (ASO)
eBook on Mobile Games Marketing
Available for free download on
www.AppLift.com

11. AppLift.com 11Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Buying ROI positive traffic can be devided
into 3 different phases
Tracking setup
App Store
optimization
Traffic buying

12. AppLift.com 12Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Find the right traffic sources

13. AppLift.com 13Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Address the users appropriately
Performance
Based
Non-
Incentivized
Non-Intrusive
(detailed)
What is the probability a user
will be active day after day?
Pay for new gamers on a risk-
free CPI, optimize the
channels based on eCPI
Why pay for users that are not
going to bring any direct value?
Understand if a higher chart
position really pays off or if a
sustained campaign has better
returns.
Why bother users with
intrusive ads and ad formats?
Ensure that your game is
presented in the best possible
way
Find the best performing way to reach the audience and address your
potential new users

14. AppLift.com 14Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Examples of non-intrusive integration
Tailor the use of ads and promotions to your product, gameplay and enrich
the user experience
If done right, non-intrusive ads can show average CTR’s of 13%,
Conversion rates of 16% and result in eCPM’s of 33 USD for the publisher

15. AppLift.com 15Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Understand the real cost of your acquired
users
eCPI takes into account all the costs induced by the acquisition
of one user as well as free installs
• Fixed costs
• Setup costs
• “Free” promotions
• Virality (K-factor)
• Additional organic
installs
CLV > eCPI

16. AppLift.com 16Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic

17. AppLift.com 17Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Modeling CLV
RDk = retention rate on day k
ARPDAUk = Average revenue per daily active user on
day k
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
D1 D3 D5 D7 D9 D11D13D15D17D19D21D23D25D27D29
Retention
CLV

18. AppLift.com 18Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Address the users appropriately
4 weeks before
submission
2 weeks before
launch
The Game is
Live!
Do I have the necessary
SDK(‟s) in my app?
Integrate an installs tracking
and analytics SDK
Think about a monetization
SDK as well (if applicable)
Am I all set-up for the launch?
Set up campaigns with traffic
partners
Prepare creatives
Set up tracking
Set optimisation proxies
Is it time to sit back and enjoy
the ride?
Review in-game events
Optimize eCPI„s for traffic
source and estimate LTV
Check community feedback

19. AppLift.com 19Insights on Generating ROI-Positive Traffic
Thank
You!!!
Questions?