1. Building Successful
Free-to-Play Apps on Android

2. Agenda
• Introduction to Tapjoy
• Android Market Stats
• Acquisition
• Retention
• Monetization

3. About Tapjoy
• Founded 2007
• Headquarters San Francisco
• Offices in the US, Europe and Asia
®
• Reach 600+ million mobile
consumers on Android, iOS,
Windows Phone 7 HTML5
• Funding $70.5 million from
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management
• Rho Ventures
• North Bridge Venture Partners
• InterWest Partners
• D.E. Shaw Ventures

4. Recent Recognition
Tapjoy recognized among
the world’s Most Innovative
Companies by Fast Company
World’s Most
#27
Innovative Company
Most Innovative in
#1
Gaming
Most Innovative in
#2
Mobile

5. Tapjoy Value Exchange
How it Works:
Vivian needs more Pet Points to hire another employee in Pretty Pet Salon.
She can buy Pet Points She can earn Pet Points by engaging
with real money.
with ads in Tapjoy’s Marketplace.

6. Power of Choice
Vivian CHOOSES to watch
The Avengers trailer and earns 59 Pet Points.

7. Tapjoy Ad Units
Standard Banners
Offerwall
Full Screen
Banners
In-App Video

8. Android
Market

9. Android continues to grow
Android DAU’s continue to climb on the Tapjoy Network
Tapjoy Network - 2012 Android Daily Active Users
45,000,000
40,000,000
App traffic
35,000,000
spikes up
30,000,000
on weekends
25,000,000
20,000,000
15,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
0
r r r r r r r r r
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a
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Ap
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Fe
M
-M
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8-
5-
2-
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1
8
15
22
29
5-
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19
26
11
18
25
Android DAU

10. Free-to-play apps are dominating
Revenue from Top Grossing iOS Apps
…and the future is even brighter!
January 2011
39%
Projected In-App Purchase Revenue
(in Billions)*
Paid
6.00
61%
Freemium
5.00
4.80
4.00
Freemium revenue and distribution has increased
significantly over the last year, and continues to grow.
3.00
2.10
June 2011
2.00
1.00
35%
-­‐
Paid
2011
2016
(Projected)
65%
Freemium
*Juniper Research – The Mobile Games Briefing 2011-2016

11. Top Grossing Apps
There is only
ONE paid app
in the Top 25
Grossing
Android apps!
96% of the
Top 25
Grossing
Android apps
are free-to-
play

12. Free-to-Play: It’s not just for games

13. Acquisition
A R
M

14. A
R
M
Mobile Acquisition Channels
How are developers promoting free-to-play
apps?
• Rewarded installs
• Social discovery (FB, Twitter, etc.)
• Non-rewarded installs
• Organic discovery (top charts, search,
• Video ads
word of mouth, etc.)
• Cross promotion

15. A
R
M
The Holy Grail – Getting Featured on
Google Play

16. A
R
M
The Holy Grail – Getting Featured on
Google Play
Sessions New Users DAU’s ARPDAU
200,000 $.05
160,000 $.04
120,000 $.03
Featured!
80,000 $.02
40,000 $.01
1
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-0
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-0
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-1
-1
-1
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-1
-1
-1
-1
-2
-2
-2
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

17. A
R
M
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

18. A
R
M
New User Flow
The new user flow is one of the most important parts of
a successful game
• Optimize the download
• Great tutorial
You have 30 seconds to
• Use clear directions
hook your users and 5
min to teach them. The
• Give rewards
goal is to shoot for 70%
• Get the user playing as tutorial completion rate.
soon as you can

19. A
R
M
Optimize the Download
Tapjoy Network Android Conversion Rate:
(clicks to installs)
Total Conversion
Megabytes Rate (CVR)
0-50 50-60%
50-100 30-45%
100+ 14-20%
The smaller the file,
the better the CVR.

20. A
R
M
Start off Simple
Take Users by the Hand and Guide Them
Into the App
During the first 30 seconds put the user on rails, don’t let them get lost
• This is your chance to take an uncertain user and create an engaged user
• You can’t display everything, show off your core loop and build from there
Call to action
Use arrows
Gray out
Show off
Reward/ Get ‘em playing
the screen
the store
congratulate
them early

21. A
R
M
Use Clear Directions
How to do it right
Use arrows
Highlight where
you want the
users attention
Gray out areas
that don’t
matter now
Give simple
info

22. Retention
A
R
M

23. A
R
M
Social Channels
Take advantage of
free social channels
• Most social networks offer free
API’s and SDK’s
• Warning: Forcing a connection
to a social network can cause a
large drop-off in new user
conversion, so it’s best to make
social connections optional
• Orange’s TV Check app saw a 75%
drop off when the app forced
users to connect with FB

24. A
R
M
Social Channels
Sometimes it’s better to create your own social layer
Surface social
activity to
users early on

25. A
R
M
Incentivize friend invites
Reward users
for inviting their
friends

26. A
R
M
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

27. A
R
M
Daily reward combined with
chance mechanic

28. A
R
M
App Re-engagement
Remind them to keep coming back
Notifications
Appointment
Mechanics

29. A
R
M
Use Challenges / Quests to keep
users on track

30. A
R
M
Quests really work
Sessions New Users DAU’s ARPDAU
Quests/Achievements added.
6
7
8
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0
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5
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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2

31. Monetization
A
R
M

32. A
R
M
Mobile Revenue Channels
Direct Pay Alt Pay
In app purchase through Google Wallet Allowing users to engage with advertising
in exchange for virtual currency
Direct Pay
Alt Pay — Offerwalls
Alt Pay — Top: Display Ad
Bottom: Featured Ad

33. A
R
M
Glu Earnings – Direct and Alt Pay
monetization

34. A
R
M
Featured Item Specials
Highlight a limited-time featured item when users log in
• Items on the home page will have 150% + sales increase
• Rotate content often
• Great place for seasonal items
Today Only Seasonal Sale

35. A
R
M
Create Clear Virtual Goods Markets
Markets and Inventory
• Do - Make the buttons large and easy to tap.
• Do - Whenever possible use art and icons to direct the player, they look good and are universal.
• Don’t - use small icons and text.
• Don’t - make your users scroll through long item lists.
Do
Don’t

36. A
R
M
Sales and special offers
Make your users feel like they are getting a good deal
• Your
purchase
screen
should
be
clean
and
easy
to
navigate
• Tell
the
users
how
much
extra
cool
stuff
they
get
• Use
incenIves
to
encourage
them
to
buy
higher
priced
packages
• Use
icons
to
make
bigger
packages
look
more
impressive
• Users
scroll
through
long
item
lists.

37. A
R
M
Iteration and Metrics
A R
One of the advantages to the Android platform
is the ability to iterate quickly
• Choose a region you want to use as your test group (ex. Canada)
• Make changes based on metrics
• Review data on the changes, update and repeat
• Keep updating your app with new content
Key Points
Iteration Metrics
Small Changes can Make a Huge Difference
55,000
ARPDAU New Users DAU’s Sessions
44,000
33,000
retention rates
22,000
11,000
by cohort
-01
-02
-03
-04
-05
-06
-07
-08
-09
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20
-21
-22
-23
-24
-25
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12
12
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12
12
12
12
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12

38. Summary

39. Best Practices For:
Acquisition
A
• Choose the right channels for acquisition
• Hold the user’s hand through the first experiences of the app
• Keep it clear and simple
Retention
R
• Use social channels and incentivize sharing
• Offer daily rewards
• Keep users engaged by implementing quests and achievements
Monetization
M
• Make the most of your monetization by adding alt pay
• Highlight special offers and items to drive purchase behavior
• Frequently test and measure new features within a segment of your
users, and roll out successful changes to the full audience

40. Thank you
chris@tapjoy.com