Mobile gaming is a booming industry, with revenues expected to reach $174.9 billion in 2023. However, with over 3 million games available on the app stores, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd and attract players to your game. That’s why you need a solid mobile game marketing strategy that covers every stage of the game lifecycle, from pre-launch to post-launch.
In this article, we will share some tips and best practices on how to market your mobile game in 2023, based on the latest trends and insights from the industry experts.
Pre-Launch: Build Hype and Awareness
Before you launch your game, you need to build hype and awareness among your target audience. This will help you generate interest, curiosity, and anticipation for your game, as well as collect feedback and data that can help you improve your product.
Some of the ways you can build hype and awareness for your game are:
- Create a landing page or a website for your game, where you can showcase your game features, screenshots, trailers, and other information that can entice potential players. You can also use this page to collect email addresses or pre-registrations for your game, which can help you build a loyal fan base and increase your launch day downloads.
- Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit to share your game updates, teasers, behind-the-scenes stories, and other engaging content that can spark conversations and interactions with your audience. You can also use hashtags, contests, polls, quizzes, live streams, and influencer marketing to boost your organic reach and visibility.
- Launch a beta or a soft launch version of your game in selected markets or platforms, where you can test your game performance, functionality, monetization, retention, and user feedback. This will help you identify and fix any issues or bugs before the global launch, as well as optimize your game for different devices and regions.
- Create a press kit and a press release for your game, where you can highlight your game’s unique selling points, story, features, and achievements. You can also include some high-quality screenshots, videos, logos, icons, and other assets that can help journalists and bloggers write about your game. You can then pitch your press kit and press release to relevant media outlets, websites, podcasts, and newsletters that cover mobile gaming topics.
Launch: Optimize Your App Store Presence
When you launch your game globally, you need to optimize your app store presence to ensure that your game is easily discoverable and appealing to potential players. This will help you increase your app store ranking, visibility, downloads, ratings, and reviews.
Some of the ways you can optimize your app store presence are:
- Conduct keyword research and analysis to find out what keywords your target audience is using to search for games like yours. You can then use these keywords in your app title, subtitle, description, and tags to improve your app store optimization (ASO) and rank higher for relevant searches.
- Create an eye-catching app icon and screenshots that showcase your game’s graphics, gameplay, characters, and features. You can also use video previews or app store stories to demonstrate your game in action and highlight its benefits. You should also test different variations of your app icon and screenshots to see which ones perform better and drive more conversions.
- Encourage your users to rate and review your game on the app stores by providing them with incentives such as rewards, bonuses, or discounts. You should also respond to their feedback promptly and politely, thanking them for their support or addressing their issues or concerns. This will help you improve your app store reputation, credibility, and user satisfaction.
Post-Launch: Retain and Monetize Your Players
After you launch your game globally, you need to retain and monetize your players by providing them with a fun, engaging, and rewarding gaming experience. This will help you increase your player loyalty, lifetime value, and revenue.
Some of the ways you can retain and monetize your players are:
- Update your game regularly with new content, features, and events that can keep your players interested, challenged, and entertained. You can also use seasonal themes, holidays, or pop culture references to make your game more relevant, timely, and appealing.
- Use analytics tools such as Wesma to track and measure your game performance, user behavior, and feedback. You can then use this data to identify and optimize the key metrics that matter for your game success, such as retention, engagement, conversion, monetization, and virality.
- Implement a smart monetization strategy that balances between ads and in-app purchases (IAPs) to maximize your revenue without compromising your user experience. You can also use different types of ads and IAPs to cater to different segments of your audience, such as rewarded ads, interstitials, banners, subscriptions, consumables, and non-consumables.
- Create a loyal and engaged community around your game by using social features such as chat, leaderboards, challenges, and referrals. You can also use push notifications, email marketing, and retargeting campaigns to communicate with your players and remind them of your game value and benefits.
Conclusion
Mobile game marketing is a complex and dynamic process that requires a lot of planning, research, testing, and optimization. However, by following the tips and best practices we shared in this article, you can create a successful mobile game marketing strategy that can help you reach and attract more players, as well as retain and monetize them effectively.