This document outlines best practices for user acquisition and new user experience for mobile games. It recommends optimizing downloads, using simple tutorials, showing engaging game elements quickly, providing clear directions, and getting users playing within 5 minutes to boost tutorial completion rates. It also discusses monetization strategies like in-app purchases, ads, and alternative payment options through networks like Tapjoy.

1. Best Practices for User Acquisition
Rob Carroll
Director of Publishing
Tapjoy

2. The Leading Mobile App Network
Tapjoy is embedded into more
than 80% of the leading Free-to-
Play mobile gaming applications
• Founded: 2007
• Headquarters: San Francisco,
with offices in London, Tokyo,
Beijing, Seoul and New York
• Reach: 500+ Million Devices with
70 million monthly active users
• Platforms: Android, iOS,
Windows Phone 7 & HTML5

3. Best Practices for
New User Experience

4. New User Experience
The new user flow is one of the most important parts of a successful game
• Optimize the download
• Make your tutorial simple and clear
• Show off the cool parts of the game
• Use clear directions
• Get the user playing as soon as you can
You have @ 30 seconds to hook your users and 5 min to teach them.
• The goal is to shoot for 70% tutorial completion rate

5. Optimize the Download
Don’t lose users before they open the game
• Apps may freeze during the download, let your users know it’s still working
• Use this time for tips, hints and jokes
• File size makes a big difference
Android Conversion rate: iOS Conversion rate:
(clicks to installs) (clicks to installs)
• 0-30mb 50-75% • 0-20mb 50-75% *
• 30-100mb 30-50% • 50-100mb @ 40%
• 100+mb 14-20% • 200+mb @ 30%

6. Start off Simple
Take Users by the Hand and Guide Them Into the Game
• During the first 30 seconds put the user on rails, don’t let them get lost
• This is your chance to take an uncertain player and create a returning user
• You can’t display everything, show off your core game loop and build from there

7. Show Off the Cool Parts
Why should users play your game?
• If it’s about fighting let them fight,
• If it’s about cute animals give them fluffy things
• In the first 1-2 minutes you need to hook them to the game
• Don’t try to show them everything

8. Use Clear Directions
Call to Action
Clearly direct the user
Get Them Playing
Give Rewards

9. Use Clear Directions
How to do it right
Use arrows
Highlight where you
want the users
attention
Gray out areas
that don’t
Big icons to call matter now
attention
Give simple
info

10. Get Them Playing
User don’t want to watch, they want to play
• Once you have shown the users the basics of the game, let them play
• Put the user in control but give them direction on what they should be doing
• Using a task or quest list is a great way to direct without controlling
• Tasks keep the user from getting lost and quitting
• This is where you should start to get the user into the depth of the game

11. What to do
with your users?

12. App Re-Engagement
Keep Them Coming Back
Daily Rewards
Appointment Mechanics Notifications
Appointment Mechanics

13. Mobile Revenue Channels
Direct Pay: In app purchase through Google Checkout or Featured Ad
iTunes
Alt Pay: Banner ads, Featured ads, videos and services like
Tapjoy’s Marketplace, can increase app revenue by up to 50%
Direct Pay Tapjoy.com
Cross Promo Ads

14. Important Things to Keep in Mind
• Don’t lose users before they open the game
• Walk the user through the first experiences of the game
• Show the user what is cool in the game
• Get them in and playing as soon as possible
• Make the most of your monetization by adding alt pay

15. Thank You
Proprietary and Confidential Information of Tapjoy, Inc. Please do not copy or distribute. © Copyright 2012 Tapjoy, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Tapjoy and the Tapjoy logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tapjoy, Inc. All third party logos and trademarks mentioned are the
property of their respective owners.