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There is lots of excitement about the revenue generated from Pokemon Go.  Sure, $1,6m per day or $200m in revenue in a month is nothing to shrug away, not is an expected $36,9bn in total mobile games revenue expected for 2016. But that is peanuts compared to expected growth in mobile gambling revenues.

How big is mobile gambling?

So how big is gambling on mobile? Figures vary. Interactive gambling is approximately a €35bn business according to iGamingbusiness. Out of that, approximately 30% or more is expected to be from mobile, so it would put it at app €10bn. However, Juniper predicted that over $60bn was wagered this year:

Total wager mobile gambling (Juniper)

(Source: Juniper)

The growth is expected to be staggering, largely attributable to changes in US regulation coming into play, as the US moves from fantasy sports to traditional gambling. The US market alone is expected to grow from $6bn wagered this year to $135bn wagered in 3 years.

Where can you find the apps?

So where can you find apps that involve gambling? Well Google is taking it slow, most likely due to the roll-out of US legislation on this. Alternative App Stores may be the way to go for anyone interested in these types of apps. Providers of betting related games, like online casino and the likes also allow direct downloads from their sites.  This market will no doubt be a very interesting one to follow in the next couple of years.

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Short message service (SMS) marketing is a tool that any industry can take advantage of. Whether it’s for internal use or promoting sales, text messaging has something to offer all businesses. It is a feature that almost everyone is comfortable with giving it a great advantage over other mediums such as email and social media.

Check out these four stats on SMS marketing:

● 75 percent of people would prefer to have offers sent to them
● The average millennial sends out 67 texts per day
● 80 percent of people use some form of texting for their business
● 23 BILLION text messages are sent per day

For more details on SMS marketing, take a look at the beginner’s guide below created by Trumpia.

The Beginner's Guide to SMS Marketing

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Pokemon Go has injected a much needed excitement into the mobile games market. An excitement not experienced since we all flipped birds on pigs. And while Pokemon Go started as a franchised set of characters, and Angry Birds went the other way – what constitutes them both is that they are originally genuinely fresh. The creators are heralded as geniuses, no doubt inspiring new game creators all over the world. But how normal is the phenomenon of original content mega hits in the creative world?

Quick trivia question: How many titles did Rovio have before Angry Birds? The answer is approximately 50. How many titles does Rovio have that have gone to top of the charts that is not a variation of Angry Birds? Zero. So while the geniuses came up with the idea, they have not come up with any new ideas. And the glut does not stop in Finland.

A look at Hollywood

Surely there can be examples of creative people that keep creating good stuff? Well, George Lucas created something amazingly exciting in Star Wars – a New Hope in the late 70s, but all the following milked the original (or rather were part of the same story told over several movies). You could argue Indiana Jones was pretty cool too, but never achieved the height of Star Wars. But surely Hollywood keeps on throwing out new original amazing stuff? Not exactly. Out of 2014 box office hits for instance, none were original. Spinoffs, sequels, making movies out of books — you’d have to turn a lot of stones in Los Angeles to find any script that smelled of original content that made it big.

Jack

How about musicians?

Well ok, so the movie industry may be subject to milking existing concepts over and over again. But music, surely that is a different story? Well, you will be surprised to find out that the majority of hits on the charts are written by a few bald Norwegians. Sounds crazy right? Taylor Swift, Fifth Harmony, The Weeknd, Minaj, David Guetta, Britney Spears, Nsync, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Katy Perry and more — all get a substantial portion of their material from a few individuals.

At least the “music makers” keep producing hits. That is more to be said about games makers, film makers and the like. Authors may be best placed as J.K. Rowling seems to make no mistakes, and Tolkien is a legend. Jo Nesbo keeps coming with the hits, and so does others. So writing seems to be the one creative art form where creativity lives and can be replicated – and where the power of creativity is spread out among many. Not the case for gaming.

Hang in there

The beauty of it though – it can still be done. As more and more mobile developers join the party, we hope soon that means more creativity, more original content, and more Pokemon Go like hits. Keep at it!

p.s. To note, our title “A Few Good Men”, was indeed an original screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Again, writers rule…

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Facebook is the undisputed king of mobile app advertising. For the price of $3.40 per install on average, $2.9 billion is spent of marketing apps on Facebook. Few can argue the platforms strong ability to target users. But the price is steep. Does it pay off?

It starts with your business model. Appsflyer claims that in-app-purchase (IAP) models are by far more lucrative than advertising financed apps. Regardless of the category of your app, you can expect that a user utilizing IAP will spend $7.17 on Android each month:
In-app spend per user (Source: Appsflyer)
That is good news, of course the report does not say anything about churn. However, if you consider that only 4.6% of users end up spending, it means in order to recover your $3.40 investment in the install, your paying users have to be paying for more than 10 months in order for your Facebook investment to be worth it. That is a tall task.  Of course that is assuming the gross revenue goes to the developer, which it never does. If you consider a 30% app store share and potentially other billing costs in emerging markets, developers may end up with only 50%, meaning you need a paying user to keep paying for 20 months. It would not be a stretch to say that the average economics here do not add up.

There are good news however. Some regions have significantly higher spend, like Asian users:

Asian gamers spend (Source: Appsflyer)

That means for gamers in Asia, you can recover the average cost in about 4-6 months. However, in Asia there are far better paths to market for installs than Facebook. First, there are a huge variety of alternative app stores, like the T-Store, Mobango, 9Apps, 1Mobile and more. Second, CPI campaigns for these countries can be significantly cheaper than going through Facebook. We have a strong CPI offering for the region just here at CodeNgo.

Of course, as Appsflyer points out, the solution of focusing on Asia (or other regions like Latin America) is not that simple. The market is vast, business models (including price points, user behaviour on paid vs free, etc) varies widely, and you may have to spend on localization as well – at a minimum on your marketing. Clearly, no better time to build a small global business though!

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Only a few years ago, game makers were still haunted by the grim specter of Nintendo’s massive failure, the Virtual Boy. But in 2012, the launch of the Oculus Rift Kickstarter threw the development of games into a frenzy—every major tech company scrambled to build their own VR headset in order to stomp out the competition.

by Gabrielle Montoute

Whether you like it or not, VR is the next big trend in gaming, and tech companies are flooding the market with headsets of all shapes, sizes, and tech specs. Everyone is raring to jump on the VR bandwagon by buying their first headset, but first you should know what you’re getting into.

 

HTC Vive

With a price point of $800, the Vive is the most expensive VR experience on the market. The headset is packed with two controllers as well as the Vive’s patented infrared sensors which allow you to move safely around your living room without walking into walls or hitting your knee on the coffee table.

Along with Vive’s partnership with Valve, there has been speculation that the system will support the long-rumored Half-Life 3, so if you’re desperate to continue the adventures Gordon Freeman, the Vive may be worth the steep price.

VR headsets

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift was the Kickstarter heard round the world, rocketing 18-year-old tech guru, Palmer Luckey, to stardom in a matter of days. So, if you’re looking for a tried and tested product with name recognition, the Oculus may be the system for you. The headset, with free Xbox One controller included, will run you about $600, but if you want the Oculus Touch controllers (to be released later this year) you’ll have to pay extra.

That’s in addition to the upgrades you will probably need to make to your PC: the suggested specs for the rift include an incredibly powerful (and expensive) graphics card and processor, as well as at least 8GB of RAM. Mounting hype over a four year period also means the waitlist is long, so you may have to be content with your regular old PC for several months before your order arrives.

Oculus’ partnership with Facebook may make you a little uneasy, but if you’re looking for a powerful machine that will stay relevant and stable for years to come, Oculus is the right choice.

 

Playstation VR

If you’re a dedicated Playstation gamer, then you can’t lose with the Playstation VR, to be released October 2016. Although the headset has a lower screen resolution than some of its counterparts, it also boasts a record 120 Hz refresh rate meaning lower latency, virtually eliminating motion sickness.

PSVR also has some of the best exclusives on the market—Star Wars: Battlefront, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and a new Pyschonauts standalone will be only on Playstation VR. Having a VR headset as an accessory to a console means lower cost and most importantly no spending extra time and money upgrading your system.

Being an early adopter can be exciting, especially when what was once the stuff of sci-fi movies is being actualized by tech companies all over the world. VR is the next big step in the gaming industry and the tech will only get better as more and more companies develop and release their products. If the meteoric rise of VR continues, virtual reality systems will soon become a console standard, so it’s time to get in on the ground floor.

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Today, the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store pack three million mobile apps. Consumers are spending 85 percent of their smartphone time in mobile apps, but only five of the daily mobile user’s apps experience heavy use. What gives?

by Sophorn Chhay

Failed retention, mostly, is responsible for the split dichotomy of app use. Often, most users downloading mobile apps don’t continue use after the first week. If you’re marketing your mobile app, you should prioritize retention over acquisition. Your brand depends on it, and for a few good reasons.

Reason One: Repeat App Users Offer the Most Revenue

It’s a simple mathematical equation. 80 percent of a business’s revenue is pulled from 20 percent of its existing customers. Mobile app marketing can be fickle, but a majority of gained revenue comes from day-to-day app users. App developers are shoveling money into advertisement campaigns, and they’re acquiring users who only constitute a fifth of their revenue. In 2016, word of mouth will serve your strategy more than initial outreach.

Reason Two: Repeat Users Use Opt-In Services

Today. 79 percent of mobile users rely on opt in mobile app and SMS services to assist the purchasing process. Acquisition fails to rake in the numbers of a good retention strategy. Even if your business’s opt-in services are SMS-centric, your mobile app’s ability to keep customers interested will power your opt-in baseline. To influence customers, you need to maintain customers in both app use and ongoing benefits.

Retention of customers

Reason Three: Deep Linking is Winning

If you’re an app developer, fueling deep links with retention should be a go-to strategy. In fact, staying on top in Google’s ranking system is often enough to secure a good amount of page views. App installs, while important, aren’t necessarily a business’s most-targeted goal these days. Deep linking is taking over, and it’s being powered by ongoing use.

Users click on apps for specific reasons. They browse the web, find an app and download it. They will, however, turn away approaches if an in-app experience fails to “capture” them. For this reason, app creators are using deep linking and SEO to maximize in-app use. Initial acquisition, while powerful, can’t begin to touch the importance of retention when entire Internet marketing strategies are at the helm.

Reason Four: In-App Messages Cement Engagement

Did you know 34 percent of mobile users abandon apps because of lost interest? Fortunately, the mobile marketing world has answered with in-app messages to boost engagement. Updates, reminders and personalized greetings, a byproduct of SMS marketing, are giving retention-focused companies a huge edge. Every time the consumer opens an app, they’re faced with a plethora of reasons to leave. Real-time alerts boost outreach campaigns. More importantly, they enhance the user experience to a point of mass integration.

Reason Five: Double Opt-In Strategies are on Fire

Automated mobile marketing providers like Trumpia are implementing retention-centric solutions, and they’re boosting business databases with relevant, real-time tools made to please mobile carriers. By opting in with a simple “yes” or “no,” customers effectively tie their texting experience to their mobile app experience. Consumers will always text, and they’ll stick with a mobile app capable of offering ongoing company support.

Assuming your mobile app offers unique utility, customers will stick around. Sure, they might have “flings” with other, interesting apps, but they’ll stay with providers able to create memorable, consistent experiences. Your mobile strategy has a long way to go, so you should power it with sustainable practices. Take advantage of the mobile world’s latest, greatest innovations, and stay up to date with the trends consumers care most about.

 

What’s Next?

How do you ensure that your customer is getting the best mobile experience possible when interacting with your brand? Make sure to share them with us in the comments below. I would love to read them.

 

Author Biography

Sophorn Chhay

Sophorn is the marketing guy at Trumpia, the most complete SMS software with mass text messaging, smart targeting and automation.

Follow Sophorn on Twitter(@Trumpia), LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+

 

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We’re proud to be supporting the new developer survey run by our friends at VisionMobile! This is the 11th developer survey and it’s entitled Developer Tools Benchmarking – as you can understand, the focus is on developer tools.

The survey features questions on topics like programming languages, platforms, app categories, tool categories, revenue models, IoT verticals – and, of course – tools! It’s a survey made by developers, for developers – so the questions are very relevant!

Whether you’re looking to share your thoughts with the dev community, find out something new, contribute to the leading developer research – or win a great prize – this is the survey for you!

Participants can win one of the tens of prizes available, including an iPhone 6s, an Xperia Z5, a Nexus 6P, and more. VisionMobile will also share the survey findings with you, and show you how your answers compare you to other developers in your country.

TakeSurvey

 

 

 

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A deep link is any URL that takes you to content within a website or app, rather than to the homepage. They can be used to bring the user from one page of web content to another, or from web to app or, as is becoming more common these days, from app to app. In the case of the latter, this is known as mobile deep linking, a tactic which has been used increasingly as mobile commerce and the use of mobile apps have expanded. So, why use deep links and how can you implement them?

by Olga Grigorenko

 

Step #1. Identify the Value of Deep Links

 

Deep links drive user engagement.

This is a factor which is tremendously important to the success of any website. As explained above, a deep link provides a direct route from one page to another, bypassing unnecessary content and funneling the user directly to the targeted page and/or app.

This streamlines the process, making it not only easier for the user but also ensuring that they go directly to the content you’re pointing them to. If you’re trying to attract new users to a new app, deep links can allow them to get there within the app store, as opposed to exiting their browser window and having to search for it themselves.

Time is money, and convenience is a valuable commodity.

Deep links increase acquisition and retention.

These are two of the most essential marketing goals of any company. If the end-goal of your site or app is to obtain new customers and keep them (as it should be), deep links can directly help you reach that goal.

One thing that marketers have learned when targeting millennials, is that those customers value ease and utility. Deep links offer both of these assets, creating a better user experience that will attract and retain your customers.

 

Step #2. Building Your Own Deep Links

Develop deep links from scratch.

If you’d like to build your deep links internally, your developer will first need to identify the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) of each page in your app. From there, they’ll need to build and develop the code that will direct and launch the intended action of the deep link.

A useful resource to direct your tech team to is MobileDeepLinking, a guide which provides developers with implementation details as well as standard framework to help them get started.

Deep link tools for developers.

If you would like to use existing software to develop your deep links, there are a few great options out there that will lend a helping hand to your techies. A few big name solutions such as AppLinks from Facebook and AppIndexing from Google are two widely used options.

Other startup solutions are cropping up as well, offering customers a variety of options. All of these solutions are intended for developers (since they require a knowledge of coding), but they nonetheless provide invaluable framework which will ensure that you are making the most of your deep links.

 

Step #3. Set forth and unleash your deep linking potential

 

Build your deep links and let them work for you.

Now that you know the why and how, you can get started on implementing deep links in order to power up your site or app. Whether you are a developer or a marketer, understanding the capabilities of deep links will help you make the most of your marketing efforts and ensure increased usage and visibility.

By directing users to content other than what is on the home page, you will also increase the authority of your entire site, which is an important SEO strategy for most websites. With the number of various options out there to help streamline and simplify deep linking across multiple platforms, you are certain to find the right fit for you and your team.

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The Verge recently posted a fascinating article on the fate of the app developer Pixite.  The story recounts what many developers are already seeing:  Relying on the App Store or Google Play for continued success simply will not fly. You could end up spending a fortune in just discoverability, and should you be so lucky to achieve seven figures of downloads (or more), your journey is actually just beginning.

The problem is not only that getting paid for the download is increasingly getting more difficult (In 2011, 63% of all downloads were paid, at $3.27 per download – last year only 27% were paid at $1.27 per download), but that users are downloading less apps per user per month. Downloads overall are going up as a huge number of new smartphones come online every day, but chances are those users are global of nature – adding more complexity in how to reach and monetize those users.  Being an app developer is becoming ever increasingly complex from a business perspective.

Where do you find revenue?

85% of the app store revenue goes to games.  And the majority of revenue in gaming today is predominantly in in-app purchases and/or advertising – i.e. it’s nearly impossible to charge for single app installs.  At CodeNgo however, we have seen an uptick in subscription based stores, where consumers do not pay for a single download of your app, but pay for a curated experience from app stores picking top of the line content where they can download apps that normally cost money for a monthly subscription fee. The reason this model works to some extent is similar to the overall app store problem:  Too many apps overwhelm consumers, and a value is placed on curation. Players like Opera, Mobango, Naranya – all CodeNgo channels, are seeing some traction in subscription offerings.

The problem of course in gaming is that your content is only relevant for so long. Just as movies die out over time, so do games.  Sure, you can try and discover new markets, but eventually you’ll run out or succumb to the complexity of localization. You can, as the movie industry does, try and produce sequels, or come up with entirely original content (Quiz: In 10 seconds, name 1 Rovio title published after Angry Birds that did not have anything to do with Angry Birds……. No? Yeah, point proven). But you will be in a hit based entertainment industry – and if you don’t already have a huge installed base to market to – be faced with distribution and marketing challenges for every title you produce.

So what if you do not have a gaming app?

Pixite’s story really tells the tale from a non-game app revenue perspective. Sure, you can create apps that are of incredible value, but then you really need to constantly re-invent your app and your offering to entice the user to come back and to keep spending. Your ability to charge much more than the standard amounts for in-app purchases are also there, as users are likely to value the utility of your app. But – copycats can come quickly, and you need to constantly evolve your offering too keep users enticed and fend off competitors.

So what if my app is great? Is publishing in the app store enough?

Even if you continuously innovate and improve your product, there mere presence in Google Play is not enough. As new markets continue to open up due to more and more affordable handsets and data plans thrown into emerging markets, the super stores ability to cater to locals dwindles.  And as any producer of a commodity (yes you may feel your app is not, but apps in general are), you need to think like the big soft drink producers in your distribution strategy – you will need to be everywhere your users are.  And increasingly in emerging markets, that is not on Google Play. And while some feel that Google will solve headaches for developers even in markets like China, we know they actually cause more (unless you have the big $$$s to spend to be on the top 25 lists).

If you are relying on in-app purchases for a living, you will also need to have a very clear understanding that while you may not need to localize your app fully, you need to localize billing capabilities. Maintaining multiple SKUs are a pain point, thus seeking to work with frameworks like OpenIAB should be explored.

Distribution does not unfortunately negate the need for marketing.  Your funds do not exclusively have to go to CPI, but chances are you will need to spend something. And the bang for your buck may be far greater in emerging markets and through non-traditional channels like Facebook and Google, where big publishers drive up the cost.  Talk to CodeNgo about how we can help you efficiently reach new users in markets you may not have thought of.

Distribution and promotion is only the beginning

Your journey as a markets is not over after spending money on ads and distributing your app everywhere though. There is a lot more to app marketing, that begins even at the product design level. From efficient use of notifications to entice users to user your app, to ASO, to analytics and tracking and more – you will quickly find more time needs to be spent on marketing than product development. We recommend reading the excellent compilation of marketing 101 tips from Apptentive.

Krypted.com

app store?

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As an app developer, sitting firmly atop the rankings on the first page of Google may be enough to secure a sizable amount of page views. Be it so, it’s no longer the crowning achievement in determining the number of downloads or installs your app has. There’s a more effective method for that now, and that’s where deep links come in.

By Li Huang

There was a time when using a search engine to find an app brought you to its homepage, whereby you would download, install, and begin using it. But deep links have changed this game all together. Instead of spending time roaming the app to find and access what it was you were looking to to begin with, deep links bring you to that desired location right away. Basically, deep links narrow your priorities while broadening efficiency.

To you help you better imagine the situation before deep links, it’s best to understand the circumstances first.

On the user’s end, they’re trying to use an app for a specific reason. They search the web, find the app they want, and then download it. However, when the app is finally installed, there is still the hassle of spending time narrowing down what they actually want out of it. This can prove to be inconvenient, and with this in mind, potential customers could be deterred from using the app all together.

On the developer’s end, this is seen as success: your customers are downloading and installing your product, and your goal of getting the app to reach as many people as possible is met.

2016 02 23 Deep linking

Deep linking and SEO

But. There lies a great problem here. There is a rift of miscommunication and inconvenience that separate the customer and the developer. Deep links then play the role of savior in order to bridge this gap.

Mobile design is clearly not finished renovating the tech scene, and it is using deep links to plaster the walls and patch up the holes. The deep link tool extends beyond your typical Android and iOS app indexation in search engines. Its potential is being utilized in SEO, SEM, email, display, social, radio, and TV: “As much as 86% of mobile time is spent in apps. New studies show mobile consumers install on average eight new apps per month, making app re-engagement more and more challenging.”

Before deep links were widely recognized as a sacred tool in app marketing, one of the top priorities of app developers was to shoot for high rankings on the first page of Google. The introduction of deep links added an extra dimension to app marketing. Now, instead of solely trying to top Google charts, developers divert some of their efforts to allow potential users to access its fruition – without all the nonsense. This raises the ceiling of interaction and satisfaction, thereby heightening app popularity.

So how exactly do deep links propel SEO? Well, whether you rank on the top of the first page or on the bottom of the fifth page, deep links will take the user directly to the context that they’re searching for in the featured app. Apps can be very broad and steep, and deep links drill to the source of interest without cutting. So, by using deep links, it helps your SEO by making life easier for your users.