作者：Mark Robinson

许多游戏开发者都专注于创造免费游戏——即使用应用内部购买去创造收益。然而却只有1%至3%的用户会花钱去游戏。而为了确保你的游戏具有较强的用户黏性同时也能够娱乐玩家（游戏邦注：如此他们才更有可能去花钱），你的盈利信息（即推送通知，应用内部信息，每日奖励通知等等）就必须足够突出且吸引人。这其实也是一门精准得学问，并且在某些情况下信息会让人觉得过于频繁从而对其感到厌烦，从而最终导致玩家抛弃你的游戏。

message（from gamasutra）

为了帮助你更好地留住玩家的兴趣，我们组织了以下能够帮助你呈现出有效的盈利信息的诀窍：

1.面向合适的用户进行推广

开始时你需要确保你面向用户所推广的道具正是他们想要购买的东西。也许适合某一群组的内容不一定适合其它群组。所以通过划分，你可以专注于像速度和进攻等游戏特性，如此你便可以基于与玩家相关的特定应用内部购买去瞄准他们。就像在第一人称射击游戏中，你可以推广像更大的枪支和掩饰物，狙击步枪和稀有的狙击步枪外壳等捆绑组合，而在角色扮演游戏中，如果玩家想要打败地下城中的敌人并且表现出较为缓慢的进程（这时候他们并未表现出任何盈利的兴趣），你便可以提供给他们生命或维持生命力的药剂作为礼物去推动他们的游戏进程。这将帮助玩家更沉迷于游戏中并有可能进一步推动之后的盈利，因为现在的他们已经像付费玩家那样体验过免费的奖励了。

2.专注于难度曲线

如果游戏难度太高，或者太过简单，玩家便会选择离开游戏。而你可以通过发送信息去针对玩家的游戏能力以调整游戏。例如，如果关卡4的用户留存出现下降，你便可以分析玩家在进入这一关卡前的生命值，并判断哪些玩家觉得这一关卡太过复杂，然后你便可以提供给他们相关提示，诀窍或生命药剂和推进器等礼物去帮助他们完成这一关卡。如果你想要留住那些表现出无聊的玩家的心，那么发送像“你知道那个吗？”或“你是否看过这个？”等信息将通过把玩家带向游戏的未知区域而让他们感到满足。如果玩家获得了乐趣并收获了奖励，那么盈利也就自然而然会到来了。

3.不要让玩家感到厌倦

当你在考虑发送信息的频率时，你必须确保维持在太多与不足之间。也许你所发送的是有益的信息，但如果在较短时间内频繁发给玩家大量的信息便会惹怒玩家，玩家也会因此选择忽视所有的游戏信息。你必须牢记如果信息发送得过于频繁，玩家便有可能因为厌烦而选择删掉游戏。为了阻止这种情况的出现，你可以使用A/B测试去实现信息频率的平衡。然后当明确了信息策略时，你便可以设定每天/每周/每个月发送的信息数的限制。这是有效调节且平衡信息发送频率的一种重要方式。

4.考虑发送信息所使用的语调

为了帮助你做到这点你可以使用一个人物角色。语调将呈现出一种情感联系，拥有个性且必须保持一致性。而不管是语调还是人物角色的使用都能有效地影响玩家的回应，并且使用得当的话便会是非常有用的工具。除此之外在信息中包含游戏角色去引导玩家并提供给他们建议也是提高盈利的有效方式，因为这会让玩家觉得有自己认识的人站在自己这边，如此他们便更有可能接受来自这些人的信息和建议。《Uno & Friends》便是一个典型的例子，即游戏使用了友善的角色去提醒玩家他们可能遗漏的游戏区域。

5.测试是关键

测试是创造有效的游戏信息的关键。它让你能够面向玩家创造具有针对性的信息，如此玩家将更有可能接受这样的内容。将不同的道具类型和相应玩家匹配在一起，如此玩家便不会觉得自己收到的是垃圾邮件。如果特定玩家对你的特定信息策略并不感冒，你也就没有意义继续重复这一过程了，这时候就需要去改变你的策略。另一方面，或许你会选择提供给特定玩家像治愈药剂等礼物。在这种情况下你可以使用A/B测试在不同时候去通知玩家，从而观察在什么情况下发送信息最有效，也许是在游戏最后，也许是在下个关卡开始的时候。

当你在考虑创造游戏内部信息以及使用方式时，你必须清楚你的玩家都是不同的，而专注于他们的体验是获取盈利和提高用户留存最重要的一点。真正成功的信息将避免强制性的要求和频繁的弹出内容，相反地它们将更多地呈现出对玩家有帮助的提示内容。并且这些信息通常都是定制化的，考虑到环境的，适时的，且和玩家相关联的。

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

How to perfect your monetization messaging

by Mark Robinson

Many game developers focus on the free-to-play (F2P) model – using in-app purchases to generate revenue. However only 1-3% of users pay to play. To make sure the game is as engaging as possible and your players are happy (and therefore more likely to spend money), your monetization messages – push notifications, in-app messaging, offers and daily bonuses – needs to be spot on and appealing. It is a precise art, and in some cases, messaging can feel intrusive or too frequent, which can result in the abandonment of an otherwise perfectly good game.

To help engage your players productively, we have put together top tips on how to perfect your monetization messaging.

1. Promote relevant offers

To start with, make sure when you are promoting an item to a user that is one they are likely to want to purchase. What works for one group might not work for another. Using segmentation, you can focus on in game characteristics such as speed and aggression and with this knowledge you can target them with specific In-App Purchases (IAP) that are relevant to them. For a FPS (First Player Shooter) game you could promote bundle offers such as a bigger gun or camouflage, sniper rifle and a rare sniper rifle skin, whereas in a RPG (Role Playing Game) scenario, if the player is struggling to defeat an opponent in a dungeon and is showing signs of slowed progression (and there is no indication of interest to monetise at this time) you could gift health or an increased stamina potion to help the player progress. This helps the player to become more engaged with the chance to monetize further down the line, since they have now experienced the game as a paying player with the free gift.

2. Focus on the difficulty curve

Players will leave a game if the difficulty is too high, or alternatively, if they find it too easy. Tailor games to suit the player’s level of ability using messaging. For instance, if there is a drop in retention on level 4, you could analyze the health levels or lives left of players entering that level, to find out if a segment of players is finding the level too hard, then you can offer them hints, tips or gifts such as a health potion or booster to help them complete it. However, if you are looking to engage players that are showing signs of boredom, pushing messages such as “Did you know that…?” / “Have you seen this…?” can help keep them entertained by directing them to unexplored regions of your game. If players are having fun and have been exposed to what items are on offer through gifting, monetization can naturally follow.

3. Don’t fatigue your players

When considering the frequency of messages, there is a fine balance between too much and not enough. While you may be sending well-meaning messages, flooding players with a flurry of them in close succession can soon become irritating, and can mean that players learn to ignore all in-game messages, as they appear all too frequently. Remember, a player can delete the app altogether in frustration if messaging becomes a frequent annoyance. To prevent this from happening, carry out A/B testing to strike the right balance between the frequency of messages. Then once a messaging strategy has been defined, set up limitations on the number of messages that could be pushed in a day/week/month. This is a crucial way to fine-tune and balance your frequency.

4. Consider tone of voice

To assist with this write using a persona. Tone of voice provides an emotional connection, has personality and ensures consistency. Both tone of voice and the use of personas often have a remarkable influence on players’ responses, and can be powerful tools if used correctly. Additionally, including likeable characters in the game that guide you through and offer you advice are a good way to increase monetization, as players are likely to feel like they have someone on their side, who they can identify with, and therefore they will be more likely to take their messages and advice on-board. An example of this is in Uno & Friends, where a friendly character, used throughout on-boarding, returns to draw the player’s attention to areas of the game they may have missed.

5. Testing is key

Testing is essential for effective game messaging. It allows you to tailor personalized and relevant messages to players, which means they will be more likely to act on them. Match the item type to the segment and they won’t feel as though they’re being spammed when you send offers. If a certain segment of players is not engaging with a particular messaging strategy, there is little point in repeating the process indefinitely, so change your tactics. On the other hand, perhaps you would like to offer a gift, such as a healing potion, to a segment of players. In this case, you can use A/B testing to notify players of the gift at different times and from this, discover what works best, maybe holding off until later in the game, or maybe more promptly at the next level.

When considering in-game messaging and how to use it, to maximize monetization, it is key to understand that your players are different, and focusing on their experience is paramount to monetization and retention. The most successful messages avoid aggressive commands and generic pop-ups, instead focusing on helpful hints and tips. And they also have one thing in common – they are personalized, contextual, timely, and relevant.（source：gamasutra）