Mobile Game Monetization: 4 Tactics to Level Up Your Web Store Sales Funnel
As mobile game publishers aim to strengthen their business fundamentals, financial resilience, and autonomy, going direct-to-consumer is a strategic imperative in 2024.
With the biggest publishers in the market steaming ahead in the web store space, it’s time to equip the wider market with the knowledge needed to truly capitalize on this opportunity.
Below, we share battle tested methods for taking users from first time visitors all the way through to repeat buyers. We’ve seen these tactics work wonders for major publishers using Appcharge’s white label web store platform, so you don’t want to miss them. Let’s dive in.
1. First visit
Driving players to your web store for the first time is your immediate priority. To do this, you need to have an online community.
From your community, create awareness of the web store while emphasizing its hyper-clear value.
See the example above. The text is extremely clear, and the banner image repeats the same message: ‘Want to DOUBLE the amount of coins at the SAME price?’
Tip:
Use Appcharge features such as Sale, Special Offer, and Customized Art to emphasize your message and the value of your store.
2. Repeated visit
Our data shows that most first-time purchases occur after 2 to 3 visits to your web store. So, once you get users to take the first step – entering your web store for the first time – your focus needs to be on getting them to come back.
Keep reaching out to your community and sharing the store’s special value, and create a feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out) to drive repeated visits.
This is where gamification elements play an important role. Daily Bonus mechanics, for example, are a great way to entice players back into your web store.
Tip: Use Appcharge features such as Daily Bonus, Daily Offers, and Seasonal Offers to increase retention.
3. First purchase
To encourage players to finish their window shopping and actually make their first purchase, make sure you give an enticing welcome offer.
Too many publishers use welcome offers that are the same as the offers in their in-game store. But to secure the First Time Deposit (FTD), you need to give more. After all, from the moment a player makes their first purchase, they’re more likely to make repeat purchases.
Monetization managers are justifiably concerned by potential game economy leaks by offering too much, but with welcome offers, you can afford to be slightly more generous than usual.
Also, consider making this offer time-limited and availability-limited, which will create a sense of urgency to encourage the purchase.
Finally, make sure your offers are visually appealing: use dedicated art and vibrant colors to maximize conversion.
Tip: Use Appcharge features such as Segments and First Time Offers to make the UX as personalized and relevant as possible to every user.
4. Repeat purchase
The goal of your web store is to drive repeat purchases from your players. To do this, you need to make it a fun and gamified experience that consistently gives valuable offers.
As you add new meta gameplay and LiveOps events to your game, for instance, consider offering updated web store bundles that cater specifically to these new game features.
Also make sure to use real time segmentation, which creates a personalized UX for different groups of users (you define these segments in your Appcharge dashboard).
Tip: Use Appcharge features such as Accumulation Bars and Endless Promotions to encourage repeat purchases.
Web Stores: The Secret Behind the Most Profitable Mobile Games Publishers
From Niantic to Rovio, Moon Active to Supercell, nearly all the major mobile game publishers launched a web store in 2023.
By creating out-of-app sales channels, these publishers unlocked a powerful tool that not only boosts their bottom line, but also deepens player engagement and LTV.
Appcharge’s mission is to democratize the web store opportunity by providing mobile game publishers a powerful, white label platform to handle all their DTC needs.
Book a demo to see how we can take you into mobile gaming’s new DTC era.
