The appeal of mobile games is universal and lucrative, with mobile game revenue predicted to increase by 4% annually to reach $111.4 billion this year. With such potent revenue potential, building effective strategies for mobile game segmentation is a key opportunity for developers.

In this blog, learn key trends and tactics in mobile gaming and mobile game player segmentation to maximize long-term revenue with retargeting.

The Unstoppable Growth of Mobile Games

As mentioned above, global mobile game revenue is set to rise year-over-year in 2024. This is despite slowing consumer spending, which dropped 3% in 2023.

What accounts for the continued rise of mobile game revenue despite the slowdown in consumer spending?

According to Data.ai, the mobile game market has continued to grow due to rising popularity of certain genres, namely, role-playing games (RPGs), match-three titles, and party games. In fact, RPG and match-three games contribute $1 to every $5 driven by the mobile game market. What’s more, the US will account for 40% of year-over-year growth in the mobile market.

How can marketers and developers maximize the mobile game revenue opportunity? By segmenting and retargeting high-potential players with relevant mobile ads.

What is Mobile Game Segmentation?

Mobile game segmentation is the process of dividing a game's player base into distinct groups or segments based on specific characteristics and behaviors. This allows game developers and marketers to better understand their audience, tailor experiences, and optimize strategies for engagement, monetization, and retention.

On a broad level, here are some ways to segment a mobile game’s audience:

  • Demographic segmentation: Gender, age, occupation, income, education, family status, etc.
  • Psychographic segmentation: Lifestyle, attitudes, values, interests, personality traits, hobbies, etc.
  • Geographic segmentation: ZIP code, city, region, state, or country.
  • Behavioral segmentation: Playing habits, use of app features, frequency of sessions, browsing history, average in-app purchase, levels reached, etc.
  • Technographic segmentation: Which mobile device and software the player uses.

Example of Mobile Game Segmentation

The first step to segmenting a game’s audience involves considering its monetization strategy. In other words, whether it drives revenue via in-app purchases, in-app ads or both.

If your game monetizes via in-app purchases, then segmenting your players based on whether they’ve made a purchase or not is a smart strategy. On the other hand, if your game monetizes itself by serving in-app ads, then you might consider segmenting your players based on their engagement levels.

Here’s an example of how you might segment your player base if your game app monetizes with in-app purchases.

Players who have made a purchase:

  • Active Paying Users: Anyone who has ever purchased an item in your game and consistently records sessions in your app.
  • Recently Lapsed Paying users:  Paying users who have not logged in for a certain number of days, but used to log-in regularly.
  • Churned Payers: Previously paying users who have stopped playing your app and/or uninstalled your app.

Users who have not made a purchase:

  • Active Non-Paying Users: Players who have never purchased anything in your game but record sessions in your app.
  • Recently Lapsed Non-Paying Users: Non-paying users who have not logged in for a certain number of days, but used to log-in regularly.
  • Churned Non-Paying Users: A user who has never made a purchase and has stopped playing your app and/or uninstalled your app.

Mobile Game Segmentation Best Practices

Along with the example above, here are our recommendations for mobile game player segmentation in 2024.

Define Your Highest Value Players

As mentioned above, depending on your game’s monetization strategy, there are several ways to define your best players. If you monetize via in-app purchases, these players may be those who spend the most money in your game app. On the other hand, if you monetize via in-app ads, then perhaps your best players are those who spend the most time playing your app. Define what a ‘high-value’ player is to your app so you can set out your targeting parameters.

Identify the Channels that these Players Come From

Once you define what a high value player is to your app, then it's time to identify where they exist. It’s important to identify which channels in your marketing mix are driving the best players so you can prioritize them.

Analyze Your Best Players

If you’re looking to re-engage top players, you must understand what makes them tick! Analyze the defining characteristics  and behaviors of your top players. Do they play most during a certain time of day or day of the week? How long do they typically play for? Are there levels in your game or features that they interact with most?

Based on these behaviors and characteristics, what conclusions can you draw about their interests and needs?

Notice Inconsistencies 

When doing game analytics to identify your segments, you might find there are inconsistencies between different groups. You might identify two top-performing groups of players that are notably different. For example, your top playing segments might include men aged 18-24 and women aged 35-44. Note these interesting divergences and stay curious to what they say about your game’s audience.

Personalize Your Retargeting

Once you have formed your high-value player segments and the trends and patterns therein, it’s time to optimize your ads towards each. Tailoring ads to the interests, behaviors, and preferences of distinct player segments, can make your ads far more relevant and engaging. Personalized ads resonate better with players, increasing engagement rates like click-throughs and conversions.

Takeaways

With mobile game revenue predicted to increase by 4% annually to reach $111.4 billion this year, mobile game segmentation is a key opportunity for developers.

  • Understanding Mobile Game Segmentation: Segmentation of a mobile game's audience is crucial for developers and marketers to tailor experiences and optimize strategies for engagement, monetization, and retention. Key segmentation criteria include demographics, psychographics, geography, behavior, and technographics.
  • Segmentation Example: Depending on the monetization strategy, segmenting players based on their purchasing behavior or engagement levels can provide valuable insights. Segments may include active paying users, recently lapsed paying users, churned payers, active non-paying users, recently lapsed non-paying users, and churned non-paying users.
  • Best Practices: Define your highest value players, identify the channels that attract them, analyze their behaviors and characteristics, notice inconsistencies in different player groups, and personalize retargeting efforts accordingly. Personalized ads tailored to the interests and preferences of distinct player segments can significantly increase engagement and conversion rates.

 

Are you ready to maximize revenue and engagement for your mobile game? Reach out to YouAppi today to leverage our expertise in mobile game player segmentation and retargeting strategies.