# How to Use Mobile Marketing Insights to Successfully Launch Mobile Games

- Link: https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/how-to-use-mobile-marketing-insights-to-successfully-launch-mobile-games/
- Published: 2023-06-08T10:15:28+01:00
- Author: Wolfgang Peters

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In the competitive world of mobile gaming, marketability testing is crucial for 
ensuring the success of your mobile game launch. This blog post delves into the 
importance of collaboration between marketing teams and game developers, outlining
the various stages of marketability testing and providing actionable insights to
help you create a successful mobile game. From industry trend analysis and competitive
analysis to user research, feature and art style analysis, and concept testing during
soft launch phases, this article can guide you through the process of optimizing
your mobile game’s marketability, ensuring your game reaches its target audience
and stands out in the crowded marketplace.

 

### 

### **Stage 1: Analyze industry trends together with marketing**

A great starting point for closer collaboration is a joint and ongoing effort between
game developers and game marketers to stay informed about industry news and trends,
and share relevant information with each other. 

There are many resources available to help you stay up-to-date on industry trends
and developments. These include websites and blogs such as [PocketGamer](https://www.pocketgamer.biz/),
[TouchArcade](https://toucharcade.com/), [IGN](http://ign.com), [GamesIndustry.biz](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/),
[ Gamezebo](https://www.gamezebo.com/), and [Deconstructor of Fun](https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/),
as well as international conferences such as [GDC](https://gdconf.com/), [PGC](https://www.pgconnects.com/),
[ MWC](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/), [ChinaJoy](https://www.chinajoy.net/cjdhen/),
and [Tokyo Game Show](https://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2022/en/).

The app stores are also a valuable source of information about industry trends. 
Simply keeping an eye on the top-grossing rankings, most downloaded rankings, and
top movers/download trends in the gaming sub-categories are a great way to analyze
where the market and the competition is headed. This data can help you to identify
potential opportunities and challenges at the ideation phase.

 

### 

### **Stage 2: Conducting a competitive analysis for a game idea**

It’s fiercely competitive out there and ideas for new games often originate from
existing games or mechanics that are fun for the user and successful in the market.
When you have ideas for a new game in mind, it is highly advisable to already go
deeper into a competitor analysis. This should be conducted by marketing before 
any game development takes place, to indicate whether the idea has potential.

To build a competitive landscape for a game idea there are typically four steps:

 1. **Identify competitors.** You can do this by searching for apps in the same category
    as your game would be, analyze keyword rankings for these competitor’s unique selling
    points (USPs), and look at the similar or recommended apps of identified competitors.
    Tools such as [GameRefinery](https://www.gamerefinery.com/) can be very helpful
    in this process.
 2. **Gather data on competitors.**  The next step is to gather data on competitor’s
    performance in the market. This can include metrics such as downloads, revenue,
    and review analysis. Tools like [Apptweak](https://www.apptweak.com/en), [data.ai](https://www.data.ai/en/),
    [SensorTower](https://sensortower.com/), or [Mobile Action](https://www.mobileaction.co/)
    offer estimates on these metrics and analyze reviews for you automatically. 
 3. **Analyze competitors**. Once you have gathered data on your competitors, the next
    step is to analyze this information to understand their strengths and weaknesses,
    compare target audiences, gameplay mechanics, USPs, visual style, and key game 
    features.
 4. **Assess market dynamics**. Answering the following questions can help you to understand
    the dynamics of the market and identify any potential barriers to entry:
 5.  * Do competitors get high traffic quickly? If yes, the market may be dynamic and
       has potential for high traffic?
     * Alongside big and small competitors, is there also a middle layer? If yes, the
       market may be large and has potential for high traffic. If the answer is no,
       the market may be niche. 
     * Are all competitors old and well-established? If yes, there may be high entry
       barriers. If no, there may be potential for high traffic. 
     * Is the share of big intellectual property (IP) low among competitors? If yes,
       there may be potential for high traffic. If no, there may be high entry barriers.

 

### 

### **Stage 3: User research for mobile games**

With an understanding of the competitive landscape and the market dynamics, the 
ultimate positioning of your game should become clearer. Now it’s time to ask your
would-be users what they think. 

Conducting player surveys can now help to dig even deeper into understanding and
identifying further market opportunities. One place to start is to survey your existing
audience using tools such as Google Survey or SurveyMonkey. 

Alternatively you can find users to interview or conduct focus groups with, using
resources such as your own company network, targeted ads, or third-party tools like
[Playtestcloud](https://www.playtestcloud.com/). You should also consider offering
incentives to encourage players to participate in your survey, and give full answers.

It’s very important to ask the right questions and structure your surveys in a way
that yields tangible insights that can assist game development at this point. [See here for our instructive guide on how to do this effectively. ](https://phiture.com/mobilegrowthstack/how-to-translate-survey-results-into-actionable-insights/)

 

### 

### **Stage 4: Assessing marketability by analyzing features, setting, and art style**

As the game enters the production phase, it is likely it quickly takes on defined
features, one or a few possible settings, and one or a few directions for the art
style. These can be assessed for marketability as they take shape to ensure the 
game’s development remains on the right track. 

**Game features and settings**

The game’s features alongside the unique and/or innovative gameplay mechanics can
be a major factor in a player’s decision to download the game. The same can be said
for the setting of the game. Standing out from the competition without being too
polarizing is a balance, and one marketing can help with by asking critical questions
of the game developers. 

 * Is the amount of clear USPs high? If there are no or very little unique selling
   propositions, it’s best to rely on best practices and/or what competitors are
   successful with. 
 * Is the gameplay, the setting, and the story easy to explain? 
    If it’s difficult,
   adding explaining elements such as icons or texts to your marketing assets can
   help to make the marketing assets clearer and faster to grasp. 
 * Is the setting unique (ie not forgettable, generic, looking like other games)?
 * Are there features with potential for virality? 
 * Is the current pop culture fit high? 
 * Does the setting limit the audience heavily (Who would not click?)?

 

#### **Quality of the assets**

Looking ahead to what the graphic assets of the marketing material will look like
is also a valuable exercise at this stage, for example in the videos or on screenshots
to appear on the app stores on mobile devices. Some guiding questions for this process
are as follows: 

 * Are the assets clear, easy to read and adaptable to a variety of formats? 
    Review
   the assets keeping in mind that the game’s mobile marketing will need to sell
   the product in seconds. 
 * Are the assets visually appealing? 
    High-quality assets can help convey the 
   game’s visual style, themes, and gameplay mechanics to potential players, as 
   well as help create a strong and memorable impression. Poor-quality assets, on
   the other hand, can damage the credibility and appeal of the game. If the quality
   of the assets is low, consider overpainting or polishing the assets for marketing
   purposes.
 * Are there strong, diverse, and emotional characters? 
    Characters can be a powerful
   tool for marketing, however if they are not a good fit for the audience test 
   going forward without focusing on characters on your marketing material. 
 * Are the platforms (Google, Apple) likely to be enthusiastic about this game? 
   You can [read our introduction to just how impactful featuring on the app stores can be here.](https://phiture.com/asostack/just-how-impactful-is-being-featured-on-the-app-store-cb2185fb2e32/)
 * Do the assets spark ideas for social media (ads)? 

 

### 

### **Stage 5: Concept testing for your game and the soft launch phase**

If your mobile game has made it this far in development, it’s now time to collect
real user data and properly test creative concepts. This usually starts during the
production phase and is ongoing until the global launch. 

Third-party app stores, [like Phiture’s own Replika](https://replika.phiture.com/),
are a great tool to test the early funnel from impression to install, and will also
give a good indication of CPIs later on.

Replika simply simulates the app store page (App Store and Google Play) on the users’
browser in order to test icons, screenshots, descriptions, or any other asset. They
also provide insights into user behavior, ​​including information on which elements
of an app store listing are most likely to drive downloads. 

This can help developers identify which elements are most effective at communicating
the game’s appeal to potential players. When using Replika, another great page to
direct these users to is a survey that additionally qualifies user interest in the
game. 

 

#### **Questions like the following can give additional insights with Replika: **

 * How often do you play mobile games?
 * What types of mobile games do you typically play?
 * What factors influence your decision to download a new mobile game?
 * What interests you most about the game you have just seen?
 * Are you likely to recommend our mobile game to your friends or on social media?

 

Besides access to the Replika tool and the ability to send traffic to the pages 
via Meta or TikTok ads, the requirements for such a test are two to three concepts
with ads (static, video, or animated statics), some headlines and texts, as well
as titles, icons, subtitles, 2-3 screenshots, descriptions for the store page.

 [To find out more about how Replika can help you with your concept testing, you can contact us here. ](https://replika.phiture.com/contact-us)

 

#### **Technical Soft Launch**

The technical soft launch is typically the first time users are being sent to the
game through paid User Acquisition (UA). The focus here is on technical stability,
First Time User Experience (FTUE), or day 1 retention. During this phase, it’s important
to test a range of different creative directions and keep an eye on ratings and 
reviews. While the goal is not to achieve your desired performance marketing KPIs,
it’s worth looking and evaluating the preliminary CTR, CVR, and CPM or CPI, however
limited the data might be. 

 

#### **Soft Launch**

The soft launch can range from a few months when the game is far into production,
up to many months – or even years – if issues occur or the market fit is weak. The
goal is to test the longer-term retention as well as monetization versus the acquisition
costs of users. It depends on the product whether a soft launch is better done in
waves of user acquisition or a constant flow of traffic. 

ASO can deal well with waves as long as they are well-aligned with experiments (
e.g. bring 2000 new players in 1 week). Paid UA, on the other hand, can be more 
sensitive to waves of traffic. Some channels, such as paid social (e.g. Meta, TikTok),
are quicker to learn and adjust to changes in traffic compared to others, such as
Google Ads (GAC). Additionally, paid social is better for testing creatives. 

Keep in mind that for Creative Teams it can be suboptimal to work in sprints when
doing waves as they need to remain flexible for emergency tasks and react immediately
to performance to not waste traffic when it’s being acquired.

 

#### **Selecting soft launch markets**

Choosing the right markets for a mobile game’s soft launch is an important step 
in the process. There are several factors to consider when deciding which countries
to target, including acquisition costs, the distribution of operating systems and
OS versions, the size of the market, the relevance of the market to the target audience,
localization considerations, and regulatory considerations. 

Ultimately, the best countries for a soft launch will depend on the specific needs
and goals of the game and the target audience. Here are some examples: 

 * The Philippines are mostly cheap for UA and typically suitable for technical 
   tests
 * Eastern European markets, for example Poland, are often relatively cheap in user
   acquisition but considered culturally close enough to Tier 1 EU markets such 
   as Germany, France, and the UK. 
 * Nordic countries and the BENELUX region are culturally close to DE, FR, UK and
   don’t require localization as most people are used to English language media 
   and games. The markets individually are too small to run reasonable tests so 
   some of these countries are usually combined.
 * Canada is often used as a proxy for the US market and thus the focus towards 
   the global launch for marketability testing.

 

### **Conclusion**

In conclusion, the key to successfully launching a mobile game lies in the close
collaboration between marketing teams and game developers throughout the development
process. By staying informed about industry trends, conducting a thorough competitive
analysis, engaging in user research, assessing features and art styles, and effectively
testing your game concepts during soft launch phases, you can optimize your game’s
marketability and increase your chances of success. Remember that staying adaptable
and responsive to market changes, user feedback, and performance metrics is crucial
to achieving long-term success in the competitive mobile gaming landscape. By following
the guidance provided in this blog post and continually refining your marketing 
strategies, you’ll be well on your way to creating a mobile game that captivates
and engages players around the world.

 

### **Before you go:  **

 * [We recently launched Replika](https://replika.phiture.com/), a third-party app
   stores test environment, that lets game developers test app or game concepts 
   before development or release. In this article we explore how game developers
   can work with their Marketing Teams to factor in a game’s marketability throughout
   the process of game development. 
 * We can help you with this process by performing App Store Research, and surveying
   your would-be players. [Reach out to us here ](https://phiture.com/work-together/)
   with details about your game and we’ll be in touch. 
 * Our app store test environment Replika lets you test app and game ideas, designs,
   and concepts — before development. [Reach out for a demo here.](https://replika.phiture.com/contact-us)
 * Already launched your game? [Find out more about how you can motivate gamers to install your app via creative optimization. ](https://phiture.com/asostack/how-to-motivate-gamers-to-install-your-app-via-creative-optimization/)