Chris Akhavan - Mobile App Launch Strategies - LOGIN Conference 2012 - 9/26/2012

1. Mobile App Launch Strategies
Chris Akhavan
VP, Partnerships
Tapjoy

2. Agenda
• Pre-launch prep
• Initial bucket testing
• Full promotion
• Sustained user acquisition

3. Pre-launch

4. Checklist
 QA like crazy
 Maximize device and OS coverage
 Integrate SDKs
 Social
 Monetization
 Analytics
 Advertising
 Create required creative asset
 App icons and screenshots
 Banner creative
 Video trailer
 Localize
 Prioritize Japanese & Korean

5. Optimize the Download
Tapjoy Network Average Conversion Rates:
(click-to-install)
0-50 50-60%
50-100 30-45%
100+ 14-20%
The smaller the file, the better the CVR

6. Self-publish or get published?
Get published?
• Make sure you get adequate, hard
commitments on marketing budget and
promotional efforts
Self-publish?
• You should have at least $100K-$200K to
promote your app or be pretty damn sure
Apple/Google are going to feature your
app
• Ideally you already have a built-in user
base playing your previously launched
titles that you can use for cross promotion

7. App icons
They are starting to look a bit similar…

8. App icons

9. Initial Bucket
Testing

10. Testing the waters
• Choose a smaller region to test in
• Everybody uses Canada, so you’re probably better off going
with another English-speaking country (ex. AU, NZ, SG)
• Get 5K+ DAUs flowing through your app
• Focus on retention (next-day, 7-day, 14-day)
• Rough targets: 40%+ next-day, 25%+ 7-day, 15%+ 14-day
• Tutorial completion rate goal at 70%
• Monetization measurement
• High end: $1 ARPDAU
• Realistic ARPDAU range: $0.04-$0.15
• % DAUs monetized: 1%-5%
• Take care of any bugs
• Proceed with a full launch only when you’re happy with the
performance of your bucket test

11. Full Promotion

12. Burst campaign
• Budgets are typically
between $100K on the
low end and and $1MM++
on the high end
• Agency vs. Direct?
• Weekend vs. weekday?
• iOS vs. Android
differences

13. Getting Featured

14. Getting Featured
Featured!

15. Google Play Featured Process
1
Suggest an app into the wall of suggestions:
http://goo.gl/mod/DfIv
2 People vote on the apps that are on the wall of
suggestions
3
The apps with the most positive votes are reviewed
every Friday by Google’s Android Develop Relations
team (2pm PT on “Hangouts”):
http://www.youtube.com/user/androiddevelopers
4
The apps they like most are passed on to Google
Play’s editorial team to be considered for featured /
staff picks placement on Google Play

16. Getting Featured
Some things they’re looking at:
• Territories Available
• Languages Supported
• Supported Devices
• Technology Supported
– ex. Retina Display, Multitasking, Gyroscope, Accelerometer,
Location Services, Game Center, etc.
• Marketing Description
– one-liner that captures what makes your app special

17. Sustained User
Acquisition

18. Mobile Acquisition Channels
How are developers promoting apps?
• Rewarded installs search, word of mouth, etc.)
• Non-rewarded installs • Featured placements
• Video ads
• Dev-to-dev cross promotion
• Social discovery (FB, Twitter, etc.)
• Organic discovery (top charts,

19. Incentivize friend invites
Reward users
for inviting their
friends

20. Daily Rewards
Give your users a reward
for coming back every
day
• In the later days of the reward
cycle give the users bigger or
exclusive rewards
• Show them what they earned
and also show them what is
coming up

21. Thank you
chris@tapjoy.com
© 2012 Tapjoy, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Tapjoy and the Tapjoy logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tapjoy, Inc.
All third party logos and trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.