作者：David Zhao

就像所有游戏开发者所知道的那样，用户获取成本在游戏业务中通常都占据着最大的比例，并且随着CPI的增加以及日益激烈的每用户获取时间的竞争，这一成本可能会继续增加。幸运的是，随着广告和市场营销技术的发展，游戏开发者找到了一些全新方法能够更有效地获取用户。以下便是游戏开发者可以学习的一些技巧。

激活

分析公司Localytics的研究表明，20%的用户只会打开一款安装好的应用一次，并且只有39%的用户会成为忠实用户。用户获取最重要的一部分便是将安装用户转变成忠实用户。

Plants vs Zombies 2(from huaban)

激活将把用户带到你的游戏中，并且将创造积极体验作为目标，如此用户才会再次回到游戏中。在这一阶段，你不仅想要呈献给用户如何游戏，同时这也是游戏机制的奖励部分。艺电的《植物大战僵尸2》便在激活用户方面表现出色。游戏是从教程开始，即呈现给用户简单的游戏关卡，他们将在这里经历消灭僵尸的紧张感。对于那些伴随着广告而进行的盈利，我只能一直强调确保最初体验是免费的重要性。

留存

当提到留存时，推送通知应该是将用户带回游戏最有用的一种工具。但开发者必须谨慎地使用这一方法，因为如果向用户发送过多推送通知的话，他们有可能一怒之下便将应用删掉。在iOS上，在得到用户的推送许可前便激活游戏同样也是一种好办法。

我看过的最有效的推送通知是那些能够带给用户游戏内部升级道具奖励的内容。Zepto Labs便通过《割绳子2》完美地做到了这点。它会通知用户游戏中有个奖励等着他们。通过道具作为激励元素而推动用户打开游戏并进一步成为忠实用户。

交叉推广

如果你拥有多款游戏，那么在其它游戏中推广某一款游戏便是最大化现有用户价值的最有效方式。当进行交叉推广的时候，你必须确保不会破坏现有游戏的用户留存。推广的频率和设置必须经过A/B测试，并且是基于最佳方式。

多个广告网络能够免费或以较低成本提供这样的功能。然而，使用一个标准广告单位进行交叉推广可能会让它看起来像是第三方广告，这会让现有玩家感到混乱。有许多开发者便是因为这一原因而选择使用自己的交叉推广工具。DIY交叉推广将提供给开发者更多控制权，并且能够创造更加自然的体验。

King在《Candy Crush》中便展现出了很棒的交叉推广体验。推广是呈现在右下方，并且当用户轻敲它时，它便会变成一个带有下载选择的内容。

比起数量更重视质量

通过不同广告渠道所获取的用户质量也会有所不同。我们都知道以物质刺激安装的用户留存率非常糟糕，因为用户只是为了在之前的应用中获得奖励才安装你的应用；他们没有理由继续游戏。

可游戏的广告是帮助开发者获得高质量用户的一种全新方式。该理念很简单：直接在广告单位中尝试游戏，然后再要求用户安装游戏。该理念与在买书前先浏览封面或看电影前先观看预告片是一个道理。

这对于广告主来说是一个非常重要的理念，因为它将把“激活”这一行动往前挪一步。通常情况下，安装是最主要的准入门槛，这里的流失率高达95%以上。大多数用户会因为安装要求而不愿意给你的游戏一次机会。即使安装了你的游戏，但却不知道游戏是关于什么的用户也不属于你的游戏玩家。这便是为何安装应用后只打开一次应用的用户数如此高的原因。

伴随着可游戏的广告，用户可能会在玩了演示版本后便选择安装游戏。如此你所获得的用户将更有可能变成忠实用户。

社交

向用户的Facebook好友发送垃圾邮件算是一种糟糕的做法，并且总是会惹恼你的用户基础。但是如果能够适当使用这一方法的话，社交将变成提升你的游戏病毒性传播的最厉害的工具。King在旗下多款游戏中都有效利用了社交机制。它们会在用户用尽生命值时巧妙地呈现邀请页面。如果你邀请朋友加入，他们便能够向你“发送”生命值，如此你便能够继续游戏。而对于那些接受邀请的人来说，他们也有了进入一款新游戏的理由，因为他们可以因此帮助朋友。这一动机能够成为用户邀请朋友的理由。

对于游戏开发者来说，用户获取将不再只是事后想法。当用户体验能够激活并留住用户，它便能够有效提升用户获取的效率。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转功，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

WHY MOBILE GAME USER ACQUISITION CAN’T BE AN AFTERTHOUGHT

By David Zhao

As all game developers know, user acquisition is often the biggest cost of doing business and with still rising CPIs and increasing competition for each user’s time, it’s expected this upward trend will continue. Fortunately, advertising and marketing technology has evolved, providing game developers with new ways to acquire users more effectively. Following are a few things that have worked for developers we’ve worked with.

Activate

A study by analytics firm Localytics shows 20 percent of users open an installed app only once, and a mere 39 percent become engaged users. The most important part of user acquisition is to convert an install into an engaged player.

Activation introduces the user to your game, with the goal of creating a positive experience so they want to come back. In this phase, you want to show users not only how to play the game, but also the rewarding parts of the game mechanics. EA has done a great job activating users with Plants vs Zombies 2. The game starts with a play-through tutorial that shows users a simplified level of the game where they go through the thrill of destroying their zombies. For those that monetize with ads, I cannot stress the importance of keeping the first experience ads free. I’ve seen far too many cases where games show a full screen interstitial when you open it for the very first time.

Retain

When it comes to retention, push notifications can be a useful tool to get the user to come back. These have to be done thoughtfully, as bombarding the user with too many notifications is a sure way to get your app deleted off of their phone. On iOS, it’s also a good idea to first activate the user before asking them for notification permission.

The most effective notifications I’ve seen are those that reward users with in-game power-ups. Zepto Labs did this perfectly in Cut the Rope 2. It notifies users that there’s a reward ready for them. The incentive of power-ups gets users to open your game and brings them closer to becoming an engaged user.

Cross-promotion

If you have multiple titles, promoting your own games within others can be the most cost-effective way to maximize the value of your existing users. When cross promoting, it’s important to ensure you are not hurting retention in your existing titles. The frequency and placement of the promotion should be A/B tested to arrive at the best formula.

Multiple ad networks provide this functionality for free or at a low cost. However, using a standard ad unit for cross-promotion may make it look like a third party ad, which could feel disruptive to existing players. Many developers choose to roll their own cross-promotion tools for this reason. DIY cross-promotion gives developers more control and creates a more native experience.

King has a pleasant cross-promotion experience with Candy Crush. The promotion shows up at the bottom right corner, and when tapped on, it expands to be a creative with an option to download.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity

The quality of users acquired from different ad channels could vary greatly. We all know the retention rate for incentivized installs is terrible because the user only installed your app in order to get rewards in the originating app; they have no intention of sticking around.

Playable ads are one new format that could give developers an edge in acquiring quality users. The idea is simple: try the game directly in the ad unit, before asking the user to install it. The concept is no different than reading the cover of a book before buying it, or watching a trailer of a movie.

This is a powerful concept for advertisers, as it moves the “activation” one step earlier in the funnel. Typically, the install step is the main barrier of entry, with a 95+ percent drop-off rate. Most users aren’t giving your game a chance due to the install requirement. Even the ones that do may not actually be the right audience for your game; after all, they’ve installed the game without knowing what it’s really about. This is why you see a significant percentage of users opening your app only once after the install.

With playable ads, every install comes from users that have already played a demo. You will get an activated audience that’s more likely to become repeat users.

Social

Spamming the user’s Facebook friends list can be an abusive practice and will instantly upset your user base. But when used properly, social is a powerful tool that increases the virality of your game. King has done this well in several of their titles. They are strategically positioning invite screens when the user runs out of lives. If you ask your friends, they could “send” you lives so that you may continue playing. For the person receiving the invite, there’s a purpose to engage with the new game, since you would be helping a friend with a free life. The incentive here gives user a reason to invite their friends.

For game developers, user acquisition can no longer be an afterthought. When the game experience is fined tuned to activate and retain users, it can super-charge the effectiveness of user acquisition efforts.(source:gamesauce)