do's and don'ts of soft launching
TRANSCRIPT
DO’S AND DON’TS OF SOFT LAUNCHINGPETER FODOR
APP PROMOTION SUMMIT 2016, BERLIN
SOFT LAUNCH
PETER FODOR IS A MOBILE MARKETER WHO FOUNDED APPAGENT - MOBILE MARKETING EXPERTS FOR HIRE.
WORKING WITH CI GAMES, ABOUT FUN, TRADEWISE, KIWI.COM, BUDGETBAKERS AND MANY MORE TEAMS.
PREVIOUSLY CO-FOUNDER OF FLOW STUDIO. FOLLOW HIM AT TWITTER @PETRFODOR
SOFT LAUNCH
LAUNCHING AN APP IN SELECTED TERRITORIES TO TEST AND OPTIMIZE THE PRODUCT AND THE MARKETING
PRIOR THE GLOBAL LAUNCH.
SOFT LAUNCH
?
QUESTION: IS A SOFT LAUNCH FOR
FREEMIUM APPS ONLY??
WHY, WHEN, GOALS, WHO, WHAT PLATFORMS, WHERE,
TARGETING, TRACKING, BUDGET, MARKETING, GLOBAL LAUNCH
WHY A SOFT LAUNCH?
NEW APPS A DAY IN APP STORE
1 894
NEW APPS AND GAMES A DAY IN APP STORE
2 699
ACTIVE PUBLISHERS IN THE APP STORE
635 571
TOTAL ACTIVE APPS AND GAMES IN THE APP STORE
2 917 583
YOUR COMPETITION!2 917 583
ERIC SEUFERT “WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT BUDGET OF THE GAME, TO NOT GATHER CRUCIAL FEEDBACK ABOUT
HOW THE PLAYERS USE YOUR APP IS SILLY.”
SOURCE: CHARTBOOST BLOG
ERIC SEUFERT “WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT BUDGET OF THE GAME, TO NOT GATHER CRUCIAL FEEDBACK ABOUT
HOW THE PLAYERS USE YOUR APP IS SILLY.”
INCREASING CHANCES
UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE
IMPROVING THE APP
OPTIMIZING MARKETING
GET PROFITABLE
SAVING MONEY BY KILLING THE APP OR GAME
JON JORDAN “IT WASN'T SO MANY YEARS AGO THAT SOFT LAUNCHING CONSISTED OF A
COUPLE OF WEEKS LIVE IN CANADA TO BUG FIX.
FAST-FORWARD TO 2016 THE COMPLEXITY OF THE
EXPERIENCE HAS CHANGED IMMEASURABLY…”
WHEN TO SOFT LAUNCH?
DON'TDON’T LAUNCH TOO EARLY
OR TOO LATE
DO
CONTENT FOR 20 MINUTES
DO
HAVE A CLEAR ROADMAP
DOPLAN FOR 6 MONTHS
IN SOFT LAUNCH
DO
SOURCE: POCKETGAMER.BIZ
AVERAGE SOFT LAUNCH DURATION OF 36 SURVEYED GAMES IS 6.6 MONTHS
EXAMPLE
Product Marketing
• Very basic functionality • Focus at bugs and UI issues • Android only • 100 own shipments for test • Reserve courier • No insurance • No payments automation
• Focus at Prague only • Acquiring transporters • Testing FB and Adwords • Testing screenshots • Testing analytical tools • Communicating directly with first
customers via Intercom
GOALS OF THE SOFT LAUNCH
DOGOALS FOR RETENTION GOALS FOR REVENUE
EXAMPLE
RETENTION D1 52%, D3 30%, D7 21%, D30 10% = LIFETIME 9,71 DAYS + ARPDAU $0,16 = $LTV 1,77
EXAMPLE #1
EXAMPLE #2RETENTION D1 45%, D3 29%, D7 18%, D30 8% = LIFETIME 6,33 DAYS + ARPDAU $0,21 + AD APRDAU +30% = $LTV 1,73
WHO IS LEADING THE SOFT LAUNCH
DON'TDON’T EXPECT IT WILL MAGICALLY HAPPEN
DOWHO WILL ANALYSE DATA
WHO WILL DESIGN CHANGESWHO WILL IMPLEMENT CHANGES
WHO WILL ACQUIRE PLAYERS
WHAT PLATFORMS AND DEVICES
DON'TDON’T LAUNCH
ON IOS AND IPAD
DO
ANDROID PHONES FIRST
EXAMPLE
PHILIPPINES IN 8/2016
IPAD CPI $3.13 ANDROID CPI $0.25
WHERE TO SOFT LAUNCH
DON'T
DON’T BLINDLY FOLLOW OTHERS
DON'T
DON’T EXPECT FREE TRAFFIC
DO
ANALYZE MARKETS CAREFULLY
DO
SOURCE: POCKETGAMER.BIZCOLUMN = EACH GAME IN A STUDY, BAR HEIGHT = NUMBER OF MONTHS IN A SOFT LAUNCH
DO CRITERIA FOR THE MARKET SELECTION • % ENGLISH SPEAKERS• TIME ZONE • EXPECTED CPI• AUDIENCE SIZE • DOWNLOADS/REVENUE RATIO• DOWNLOADS/REVENUE OF COMPETITORS• DOWNLOADS NEEDED FOR TOP10
WHOM TO TARGET
DON'TDON’T BE VAGUE WITH
THE CORE AUDIENCE DEFINITION
DOUSE FACEBOOK ADS FIRST
TO LEARN
EXAMPLE
HOW TO SET TRACKING
DON'TDON’T START WITHOUT
ANALYTICS & ATTRIBUTION
DO
PICK RIGHT ANALYTICAL TOOLHTTP://WWW.POCKETGAMER.BIZ/FEATURE/63184/THE-BEST-MOBILE-ANALYTICS-TOOLS/
DO
DO
SET TRACKINGHTTP://WWW.POCKETGAMER.BIZ/FEATURE/63225/INTEGRATING-MOBILE-ANALYTICS/
DOINTEGRATE FB SDK AND AN ATTRIBUTION TOOL
EXAMPLE
SETTING AN ONBOARDING FUNNEL IN AN APP
DO
MOBILE ATTRIBUTION IN APPSFLYER, AD SETS COMPARISION
WHICH BUDGET YOU NEED
DON'TDON’T GO FOR 1000S OF USERS
FOR EVERY TEST
DON'TMinimum size of the cohort
Onboarding 200
D1-D3 retention 500
D7-D30 retention 1500
Monetization 3000
DON'TDON’T GO FOR EXPENSIVE
MARKETS TOO SOON
DON'T$0.20 PHILIPPINES
$2.00+CANADA
DOMINIMUM $10K, OK $20K,
COMFORT $50K+
DODO ACQUISITION WAVES IF
SHORT ON BUDGET
DOACQUISITION
EVALUATION
IMPROVEMENT
SUBMIT
ACQUISITION
EVALUATION
IMPROVEMENT
HOW TO TEST MARKETING
DON'TDON’T SKIP TESTING AND OPTIMIZING MARKETING
DOTEST TARGET GROUP,
MESSAGING, CREATIVES, FORMATS, NETWORKS
DO
DO
OPTIMIZE STORE CONVERSION
EXAMPLE
+10%
DOUNDERSTAND RETURN OF
INVESTMENT CURVE
DO
CUMULATIVE SPENDING ALONG DAYS IN THE GAME FOR A DAILY COHORT OF A BIG FREEMIUM GAME
WHEN TO GO FOR GLOBAL LAUNCH
DON'TDON’T LAUNCH
ON BAD METRICS
DOLAUNCH IF YOU HAVE
A GREAT PRODUCT AND OPTIMIZED MARKETING
SUMMARY
WHY, WHEN, GOALS, WHO, WHAT PLATFORMS, WHERE,
TARGETING, TRACKING, BUDGET, MARKETING, GLOBAL LAUNCH