• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics Business

Mobile App Publishing 2.0

  By Magnus Alm, CMO, Palringo There are more than 1,000,000 apps in the App Store and the same goes for Google PLAY. Needless to say, there is a discoverability issue for developers. A few lucky ones are able to get that global hit which turns into a viral phenomenon, such as Flappy Bird. But […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
June 4, 2014
in Business

 AppPIC1

By Magnus Alm, CMO, Palringo

There are more than 1,000,000 apps in the App Store and the same goes for Google PLAY. Needless to say, there is a discoverability issue for developers. A few lucky ones are able to get that global hit which turns into a viral phenomenon, such as Flappy Bird. But what about the rest?

Millions, if not billions, of funds are invested into developing mobile games each year. There is good reason for that. Apple recently announced that their App Store had generated $10 billion during 2013 and more than $1 billion in December alone. Yet surprisingly few developers invest money or resources into marketing. According to a survey by marketing firm App Promo, 52% of developers devote 5% or less of their time to promote their app. Even more astounding is that 52% of the developers had zero marketing budget, even though 91% of them believed marketing was key to success in the App Store. The reason more often than not is that the developer is mainly driven by passion for developing games, rather than marketing them. No surprise, as the games industry has always relied heavily on passionate individuals rather than rigid corporate structure and marketing plans. The mobile market is an open marketplace where everything you need to know about publishing on the appstore is more or less public knowledge. The hard part is refining that knowledge, which is tedious work. The finer details, the tips and tricks you need to master, can result in costly failures until you get it right.

The need for publishers has always been apparent and is indeed still a relevant value proposition for developers in the age of mobile gaming. However, the current publishing models often stem directly from console and PC games development, which is a very different market. Few publishers truly understand and value the difference of publishing a console game compared to a mobile game. The business model for mobile has revolutionised the games industry, with in app purchases and free to play as dominant forces. But it is led by new and clever startups rather than the old publishing dinosaurs of yesterday. These startups are able to navigate through a rapidly changing landscape and adapt at any given time. They know how to leverage ad spend to reach and maintain good chart positions in the app stores. Another key area is that they analyse what is happening within their games and refine them constantly with updates, in order to optimise performance. Few developers have the insight, funds or (to be frank) interest in keeping track of all of these areas. That is why most developers would have a lot to gain by siding with the right publisher. A telling number is that according to analytics firm Distimo only 2% of the Top 250 developers for iPhone apps in the U.S. App Store were newcomers in 2013. The other 98% were established developers and publishers.

A big problem for most publishers looking to establish themselves within the app ecosystem is that they do not have access to a true network of users. They might have a cross game ad system, in order to benefit from previous successful releases. But they do not outright “own” their users, meaning they lack a direct and open link of communication to the end user. The more direct that link is, the more efficient and valuable it is. That is why there is a strong trend among messaging and social platforms to get into games publishing right now. They understand their users behaviour, their specific appetite for content and sometimes even regional appeal. Giving the developer access to insights and long term retention mechanisms (such as messaging) is beneficial for both publisher and developer. Compared to a marketing platform like a social app, the shotgun approach of banner advertising is very indirect, costly and a lot less effective. If the publisher has direct access to users, as opposed to indirect access to a network of users, that publisher has real value.

When deciding whom to work with the developer should shop around and scrutinise every offer. In the end, the publishers who have access to a large network of users, know their target audience and have marketing capital to spend will prevail. Developers shouldn’t expect less.

RelatedPosts

KPMG UK chairman quits after telling staff unconscious bias is ‘complete crap’

Why Amazon is set to earn billions from Brexit

Why BP’s green future depends on Rosneft

Brexit: Reactions as Mastercard to increase fees for UK purchases from EU

Looking forward we will probably see more messaging and social apps entering games publishing. We will also see niche publishers, similar to smaller record labels, as the app stores grow their user base. Most importantly, the cooperation between the developers and the publishers will be based on a mutual understanding of each other’s businesses and user base.

 

 

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism
Please login to join discussion

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

‘Lawlessness and disorder’ – around half of UK police stations closed in past decade

Government advertorials claim success as factory output slows in Feb amid Brexit and Covid supply chain woes

Former Tory councillor admits attempted upskirting

Best Gravy Recipe Photo: Glory Foods / Flickr

How To Make: The Ultimate Gravy

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.