Unlocking player loyalty: Key metrics driving LTV
Crack the code to player loyalty with essential metrics! Discover what drives lasting engagement and boosts revenue in mobile gaming. 🎮💰
Deciphering player loyalty can be a challenging endeavor, compounded by its elusive nature. Recent findings from Appsflyer reveal a decline in average retention over time, with merely 6.5% of users remaining engaged beyond seven days post-installation. Concurrently, Data.ai's State of Mobile 2022 report indicates a 5% decrease in annual mobile game player spending. As player bases become less lucrative and more volatile, it becomes increasingly crucial for publishers to master the KPIs and tools that enable them to cultivate deeper connections with players while stimulating revenue-generating actions.
However, quantifying something as abstract as loyalty poses its own set of challenges. The interpretation of loyalty varies among publishers for valid reasons. Loyalty towards a narrative-rich RPG differs significantly from that towards a branded match-3 puzzle game, as evidenced by their distinct analytics dashboards. While achieving a universally agreed-upon definition may be a gradual process, our experience as developers of a mobile game loyalty program has highlighted certain metrics that offer substantial insight.
Why gauge mobile game loyalty?
With escalating CPIs, mounting privacy constraints, and other industry impediments, the landscape for mobile game marketers is becoming increasingly daunting. Thought leaders such as Eric Kress from Deconstructor of Fun foresee no imminent improvements, emphasizing the ongoing decline in yield growth and the subsequent reduction in both downloads and their quality. Essentially, profitable players are becoming scarce commodities, elevating the demand for loyalty.
This sentiment is further reinforced by considering the cumulative value of a loyal player over time. As industry analyst Eric Seufert elucidates, while the term "leaky bucket" commonly refers to the onboarding funnel, user churn during later stages is considerably more costly. Losing a user with a year-long tenure poses graver consequences than losing one during the initial stages due to the established affinity and behavioral data.
User loyalty encompasses multifaceted dimensions, necessitating the reliance on a set of metrics to construct an accurate depiction of user attachment to a game. The following metrics have proven to be particularly insightful:
6 metrics for assessing mobile gamer loyalty
Understanding loyalty entails grasping a player's sentiment towards a game and how it influences their recurrent engagement and spending. Consequently, evaluating loyalty quantitatively demands an amalgamation of monetization and retention perspectives. Player spending behavior and engagement patterns intricately contribute to the elusive "loyalty" computation. Thus, we have delineated our loyalty formula into six pivotal metrics:
Monetization
1. Share of spenders (D30)
In the realm of mobile gaming, in-app purchases vie for a portion of players' expenditure, competing with other discretionary outlays. Games that captivate users and offer substantial value tend to emerge as preferred choices. Assessing the share of spenders within the first 30 days post-installation serves as a fundamental metric for gauging the prevalence of spenders in your player base, offering a succinct glimpse into the efficacy of in-game monetization. Essentially, this metric quantifies the number of users who made at least one in-app purchase (IAP) within 30 days of installation – commonly referred to as the install-to-purchase conversion rate.
Implementing robust monetization systems within your games can augment the share of spenders and enhance the quality of user spending, consequently driving up revenue per user and fostering long-term loyalty.
Fun fact: According to the 2023 Mobile Gaming Loyalty Report, lifestyle games rank highest for a share of spenders (D30) across all genres.
2. Repeat purchase rate
As the name suggests, this metric indicates the percentage of users making multiple in-app purchases (IAPs). Why does this matter in the context of loyalty measurement? Users who repeatedly make purchases in your game demonstrate a perceived value in its offerings. Repeat IAPs serve as the cornerstone of high-value player bases and serve as self-sustaining catalysts for loyalty – the more a user invests in your game on a recurring basis, the stronger their inclination to remain engaged.
A low repeat purchase rate necessitates a reassessment of the value and structure of your IAPs and their integration into your digital economy. Identify opportunities for your IAP offerings to furnish enduring value to players as they progress through the game's lifecycle, thereby propelling the loyalty cycle. Crafting irresistible IAPs, while ensuring they do not alienate users, constitutes a winning strategy for boosting repeat purchase rates.
3. Average purchase value
The most lucrative game economies are those that cater to players across all pricing tiers. While average purchase value does not substitute ARPPU in estimating financial returns, it serves as an effective gauge of your IAP pricing strategy's contribution to monetization. A value closely aligned with your highest-priced IAPs suggests a balanced game economy that effectively nurtures purchaser loyalty.
Tracking this metric over time, both internally and within the industry, is imperative. SensorTower's research indicates a slight uptick in the median price of IAPs among the top U.S. iOS games in 2020. Acquiring insights into the competitive landscape can empower monetization professionals to maintain competitive yet equitable prices.
Engagement
4. D30 retention
D30 retention rate, akin to the share of spenders (D30), provides a fundamental measure of player engagement, serving as a precursor to evaluating the quality of engagement. Retention stands as one of the most succinct indicators of a mobile game's success, reflecting its ability to consistently deliver enjoyable experiences to players.
As Oleg Yakubenkov, CEO of GoPractice, asserts, "Day-30 retention is a clear indicator of metagame performance and the depth of the game." Notably, sustained retention beyond the 30-day mark underscores the presence of a robust metagame and often signifies a deep social experience.
However, the relevance of retention extends beyond the initial 30 days, prompting many publishers to assess long-term retention metrics such as D180 and D360.
5. Average sessions per user
Frequent interactions with your game correlate with heightened loyalty. Average session counts, particularly when segmented based on retention intervals, offer insights into lifestyle integration. Multiple daily sessions indicate a highly engaged user base, with players incorporating your game into their daily routines. Games boasting average session counts exceeding days retained have successfully positioned themselves to capitalize on fleeting moments of play, aligning with the design ethos of casual and hyper-casual games.
Nicholas Lovell's concept of "The Starbucks Test" underscores the importance of divisibility and short loops in sustaining high average session counts. By prioritizing these elements, developers can foster enduring relationships with players, thereby cultivating long-term loyalty.
6. Average playtime per session
Understanding the duration of player sessions provides valuable insights into loyalty, especially when juxtaposed with average sessions per user. This metric, accessible through app usage statistics on Android devices, offers insight into players' engagement levels relative to expectations. Notably, average playtime varies across genres, with hyper-casual games typically exhibiting shorter playtimes than RPGs or strategy games.
Monitoring fluctuations in average playtime, particularly following significant updates, enables publishers to discern shifts in player loyalty. Additionally, top publishers leverage playtime metrics to showcase the engagement levels fostered by their games publicly.
As reported by TheGamer, Diablo 4's launch garnered immense success, accumulating 93 million hours of gameplay within a day, exemplifying the profound levels of engagement achievable in the gaming sphere.
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