Marketing on Twitter for Game Developers
It can be overwhelming when choosing a social network to promote your game with, since there are so many options - including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Facebook is usually the first choice for many people, because of its huge 1+ billion user base, established advertising platform, and large focus on visual content.
But what about Twitter? Many businesses tend to overlook the platform, because of its somewhat niche business/tech-focused audience, butt in the case of a video game business, Twitter can be the perfect fit.
So how does a game developer start using Twitter as a marketing platform? Just as Facebook is focused on visual content, Twitter can be too, if used right. One way to take advantage of Twitter’s inline images is to post a 1024x512 pixel image along with your Tweet to help promote visual engagement. Include some text in the image, such as a link to your website, app store links, and other traffic-converting content.
Another thing you’ll want to focus on is Hashtags, which are Twitter’s bread and butter. A Hashtag is a great way to boost SEO - to create one in Twitter, just put # before the word you want to make into a Hashtag - such as #GameDevelopment. When someone clicks on that word, they’ll be redirected to a page full of tweets from around the world including that same Hashtag. Many people follow/subscribe to specific hashtags, so when you include a Hashtag in your tweet, try and choose something popular and relevant - such as #GameDev, #MobileDev or #IndieDev to help boost exposure, and try not to include more than 3 Hashtags per tweet.
There are many other important elements to using Twitter - check out this guide on Gamasutra created by game developer, Dave Toulouse, for some more tips.
Retention in F2P Games
While many game developers focus on day-1 player retention (players who return a day after install), day 7 retention is just as important. The problem with day 1 retention is that developers are going for a 50% churn rate, but in reality the churn rate is closer to 70-80% - which means only a third or so of your gamers will return after the 1st day, and that can be bad if it costs you money to acquire a player.
Focusing on a 7-day retention may not be cost-effective in the short term, but it can help gain trust and extended interest among your players, eventually converting them into regular paying customers. See how you can create a 7-day player retention plan for your video game in this article on PocketGamer.
Native Ads in Mobile - Do they Work?
It’s getting tougher and tougher these days to make money from F2P games - a recent report by Swrve found that in September, an average of 1.35% of people spent money within a mobile game, a decline from 1.5% in July.
Surprisingly, traditional native in-game ads are steadily on the rise as an effective method for monetization - in-app ad revenue is expected to grow 60% this year. Take a look at this article on VentureBeat, to see how you can take advantage of native ads in mobile and why IAP’s are on the decline.
