SessionM announced on Tuesday that it teamed up with Ludia to improve player retention for the Family Feud game app. A rewards program known as mPOINTS has been added to the game in an effort to get players to return.
While the number of downloads of an app is certainly an important statistic, it can often be misleading, especially if users download a game but only play it once.
"Knowing that around 72 percent of users only visit a game app once after it's installed, we're focused on delivering a platform that encourages mobile users to become more deeply engaged with in-app content," said Bill Clifford, chief revenue officer for SessionM.
The mPOINTS program is similar to a frequent flyer or credit card reward program. As a person uses apps that are part of the program, they accumulate mPOINTS. Once a user has enough mPOINTS, they can redeem them for gift cards, apps, charitable donations or the right to participate in prize drawings.
About 30 percent of Family Feud players currently earn mPOINTS and play twice as many sessions per month as non-mPOINT players. Skeptics might be inclined to look at that number and claim that if 72 percent of game app users visit a game app only once, then 28 percent visit it more than once. Therefore the 30 percent figure after the mPOINTS program represents no significant change, because it includes people who would have visited the app more than once anyway.
SessionM's other work speaks more loudly, however. A campaign with Honda achieved a 65 percent advertisement opt-in rate, 94 percent video completion rate and 8.6 percent clickthrough rate. Other success stories include campaigns with the New England Patriots, Universal studios and Livestrong. SessionM has also partnered with other game developers like Addicting Games, Fluik and Skyworks.
Advertising and marketing have changed with the decline of print and the growth of digital media. The so-called funnel method or numbers game that relies on contacting millions just to get hundreds to respond is inefficient and outdated. It's also much easier for the audience to turn off. Effective marketing and advertising not only has to be compelling to the audience, but like SessionM's model, it may have to give before it can receive.
Edited by
Ashley Caputo