App Masters · Sep 10Licensing, ASO & Ad Monetization with David Cremades
Began in 2008 as a game spun out of an e-commerce agency, and grew through official licenses, constant store listing tests and tested ad placements. Only 2 to 4% of its players pay, so it monetizes the rest with rewarded videos and ad caps per placement.
Tips
- Show real licensed players in your app icon and test it▶ 22:46The icon with players beat the old one by 30% in downloads within one day, applied across all countries.
- Swap the featured players in your icon for each country▶ 23:23They run a different player lineup by country, chosen with Google Trends data.
- Do not chase ASO downloads that mislead users about the product▶ 20:15Simulator-style screenshots usually gave more downloads, but users were disappointed and left bad ratings.
- A/B test ad frequency and caps for every ad placement▶ 32:56Developers became more engaged in ad work once they saw revenue rise from changing the ad network alone.
- Cap rewarded videos per placement and use many placements▶ 34:52They found more users watching fewer videos each earns more revenue than fewer users watching many.
- Offer a rewarded video to double the daily prize▶ 36:18Most companies see a payer rate of about 2 to 3 or 4%, leaving about 95% of users unmonetized.
- Assign someone to own ad monetization and get developers involved▶ 31:22Revenue grew substantially after ad optimization got an owner; they now use AppLovin MAX style mediation (transcribed as Napa deal) and compare networks.
- Use official licenses as a substitute for early marketing spend▶ 6:32They built a portfolio of 30 to 40 football club licenses before the NBA and NFL.
- Start with revenue-share licenses and research prices before signing big leagues▶ 8:18Real Madrid was the first partner, since 2009, on a revenue share of about 50%.
- Build a track record with small licenses to win bigger ones▶ 9:27The NFL license came inbound, after their NBA manager game existed.
- Check whether you need both team and player association licenses▶ 11:29The new NBA players association asked for a year without any licensing, so the NBA license lapsed.
- Localize keywords into many languages, especially on Google Play▶ 18:05
- Test store description changes when you lack creative resources▶ 16:47
- Say no to exciting side projects that do not drive revenue▶ 1:06:40A Chinese Super League manager game project looked exciting and consumed a lot of time, but the partner never released the game.
