Drop us a line if you’ll also be in the area for any of the following events in June:

iDate
Date:  Wednesday, 6/5 – Friday, 6/7
Location:  Beverly Hills, CA
Speaking Session:  Mike Polner, Product Marketing Manager

Inside Social Apps
Date:   Thursday, 6/6 – Friday, 6/7
Location:  Hilton Union Square, SF

E3
Date: Tuesday, 6/11 – Thursday, 6/13
Location: Los Angeles Convention Center, LA

Mobile Commerce World
Date: Monday, 6/24 – Wednesday, 6/26
Location: Palace Hotel, SF
Speaking Session: Michael Oiknine, CEO

If you’d like to have a chat with us to talk about how Apsalar’s mobile DSP can help you acquire and optimize high-ROI mobile audiences at scale, feel free to drop us a line at http://apsalar.com/contact-us or e-mail us at contactus@apsalar.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Drop us a line if you’ll also be in the area for any of the following events in May:

Mobile Marketing Association Forum
Date:  Wednesday, 5/8 – Friday, 5/10
Location:  New York, NY

Webinar: Mobile Marketing Attribution: How You Can Measure and Boost Your ROI
Date:  Thursday, May 16, 2013
Time:  10:00 AM -10:30 AM PDT
Register Now:  https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/276760047

CTIA 2013 – The Mobile Marketplace
Date: Tuesday, 5/21 – Thursday, 5/23
Location: Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas

If you’d like to have a chat with us to talk about how to acquire the right users for your app, analyze the performance of your users, or remarket to them to increase user engagement and lifetime value, feel free to drop us a line at http://apsalar.com/contact-us or e-mail us at contactus@apsalar.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus. While this adage may hold true when it comes to opinions on sports, fashion, and 50 Shades of Grey, what about app usage? We decided to take the battle mobile to see how app usage differs by gender.

For this infographic, we looked into our massive data set of 500M unique user profiles, of which we have millions of data points on behavioral information by gender, to answer questions such as this one….if Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus, which planet prefers social networking apps?

Mobile App Usage By Gender – An infographic by the team at Apsalar

Embed Mobile App Usage By Gender on Your Site: Copy and Paste the Code Below

<br /> <img src="https://apsalar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/rsz_1rsz_apsalar_mobilebattle.png" width="540"/></p> <p>Mobile App Usage By Gender – An infographic by the team at <a href="https://apsalar.com">Mobile App Infographic</a></p> <p>

What You Need To Do Before May 1

You may have already read the latest announcement from Apple that all apps submitted to the app store that access the Universal Device ID (UDID) will be rejected starting May 1.

We’ve previously stated our opinions on why the deprecation of the UDID is a good thing for both users and the mobile app advertising industry at large.  We’ve also shared our thoughts on what we think Apple should do next in order to ensure the success of the new, improved AdvertisingIdentifier (also called IDFA or sometimes IFA) for IOS6.

Drop us a line if you’ll also be in the area for any of the following events in March:

Eye for Travel: Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel
Date:  Monday, 3/18 – Tuesday, 3/19
Location:  Hotel Nikko, San Francisco
Booth #: 2

Game Developers Conference SF
Date: Monday, 3/25 – Friday, 3/29
Location: Moscone Center, San Francisco
Booth #: 206

If you’d like to have a chat with us to talk about how to acquire the right users for your app, analyze the performance of your mobile campaigns and in-app users, or remarket to your users to increase user engagement and lifetime value, feel free to drop us a line at http://apsalar.com/contact-us or e-mail us at contactus@apsalar.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Today’s developers face a significant challenge of accurately measuring and understanding what’s happening in their apps. Fortunately, there are a number of mobile app analytics tools that help developers gain deeper insight into how their app is being used. The cohort analysis report, funnel analysis report, and detailed event reports are all comprehensive reports to help understand app usage. In this post, we will be covering another analytics report, the trending report, which can be used to compare multiple applications or metrics over time.

The trending report is available out of the box with Apsalar’s free mobile app analytics SDK and can be located in the dashboard.

This report can be used in a number of different ways. The first is viewing how a selected metric performs over time.

In this example, an app was launched near the beginning of December, and the developer wants to see how engagement, as measured by sessions per user, changes over time. Sessions per user is a good metric to focus on for engagement and usage because it provides a ratio, rather than a simple number, that takes into account user growth in apps.

Looking at the trending analysis, a developer could see that there is a positive trend in usage since the app launched, and average sessions per user have increased in December.

Another attribute of the trending analysis is the ability to compare one metric vs. another over time. In the previous example, a developer could see that sessions per user are increasing…but does this have any impact on the bottom line? By plotting a second metric, in this case revenue, a developer can see how the growth in average sessions per user affects the revenue metric in December.

There is a clear correlation in this case.  Through the trending analysis report, developers can see how average sessions per user and revenue generated within applications relate to one another over time.

For developers with multiple applications, the trending report also provides a simple way to compare how a metric performs across different application versions. This is crucial to measuring how changes made in an app affect engagement.

In this example, a developer has released an updated application (version 1.2) to the app store. Through the trending report, developers can select the appropriate application versions, date ranges, and the level of granularity desired (day, week or month), then view how that metric compares from the previous version to the new version.

A developer can see that, after the new app version was released on November 22^nd, there was an inflection point in the total number of sessions by app version. Shortly afterwards, there is a significant uptick in usage of the new app, and the developer can see the new version has significantly higher session volume than the previous version. It looks like this has been a successful app update, as a key usage metric has dramatically improved.

The last common use case for the trending analysis is using a segment to measure which groups of users are the most valuable to a developer.

In this example, a developer wants to see how the “first time user” segment performs in terms of revenue generated. This segment is pre-built and available out of the box along with the “repeat users segment.”

The trending analysis shows a strong upward revenue trend from first time users of the app. This is a key performance indicator of the app’s health, as it’s crucial that developers are able to demonstrate consistently positive revenue from these new users.

The trending analysis report should be at the center of every developer’s strategy to understand user behavior in their apps.

If you’d like to access the trending analysis for free, you can sign up for Apsalar’s free mobile analytics.

Today’s most successful developers are giving their apps away in the app store for free, and, if done correctly, it’s an effective monetization model. At the end of October, of the top 15 grossing apps in the Apple app store, 14 of them are completely free.

This model can be both lucrative (when done correctly) and nerve-wracking, since companies are spending time and resources developing and marketing a product that they subsequently give away for free.

Fortunately for developers thinking about making a game, Apsalar’s Big Data Lab has gathered insights on some 400M unique active devices to help developers make better decisions and figure out what genres of game app developers should be making more of in order to maximize revenue.

For this report, we examined data on millions of in-app purchases. Our goal is to try and inform developers with knowledge on which game categories are most effective at driving in-app purchases and how engagement correlates to purchase events.

Our data shows Strategy, Trivia, Adventure, Family, and Role Playing games have the highest propensity for in-app purchases. Also noteworthy is the significant drop-off between the top 5 and the bottom 5 categories, as the “Simulation” category has generated about half as many in-app purchases as the “role-playing games” category. One more interesting data point on the above is how low “Action” games rank in terms of in-app purchases. The shift from predominantly casual games on mobile to more hardcore games (i.e., Infinity Blade, Rage of Bahamut, etc.) has driven some companies, who previously pioneered casual games to consider building a hardcore, action game. This data suggests that companies looking to expand beyond casual games should actually consider strategic, role-playing games as viable alternatives.

The next piece of data we looked into was average daily session length by app category. This data shows us how long users have been spending on average per day inside these games.

The sweet spot in terms of engagement is around 2 minutes. Interestingly, while arcade games have an extremely high average daily session length (as seen in the previous graph), they generate a relatively low number of in-app purchases.  One possibility may be that these games actually monetize best not by the freemium model, but by a business model known as paymium. In the paymium model, developers have users download free versions of their games then generate revenue by upgrading their users to, for instance, a $.99 or $2.99 paid product.

We also plotted both graphs together to show the correlation between session length and in-app purchases.

The graph above presents a consistent picture between engagement and monetization, except for 2 game categories:

• Arcade- High engagement with low monetization
• Trivia- Relatively low engagement with very high monetization

Now let’s look at the same data on a 2×2 matrix:

This graph shows almost a straight correlation for all the data points, except for Arcade and Trivia, noted above. Trivia doesn’t appear to be an outlier though. That category generates a healthy level of in-app purchases but is still in a high engagement quadrant. The outlier is Arcade. This category has similar engagement to Trivia, Role-playing and Family (three categories that are high in in-app purchases), yet is at the bottom of in-app purchases.

A key observation is that there is no game category falling in the top left quadrant (i.e. low engagement + high in-app purchases). Which means that game developers have no chance of generating in-app purchases without high engagement.

So the key takeaway for developers using the freemium model is that it’s still critical to first focus on building a great, engaging game in one of the categories where in-app purchases are highest. Once developers have managed to do that and have engaged users, offering in-app purchases such as special items and unique gifts is a great way to take a free app and turn it into meaningful revenue.

In previous posts, we discussed using cohort analysis to measure the retention, engagement and monetization of your users.

Also important is having the ability to measure user conversion rates on goals.  As an app publisher, you want app users to take a set of actions toward desired goals.  In a game, this could be completing a level or purchasing virtual currency.  In a shopping app, this could be completing a purchase or sending a product recommendation to a friend.  These goals are specific to what you’re trying to achieve with your app. In each instance, you need the ability to measure how well users are converting on these goals in order to improve.

Funnel analyses are an effective way to calculate conversion rates on specific user behaviors.  Think of a funnel as a series of steps toward a goal.  In an app, these goals are important user actions of your choosing.  The goal you seek to measure could signify retention (relaunching the app), engagement (reaching level 10), or monetization (completed in-app purchase).  You may even want to see how well you are converting users on upgrading from your first app to your second app.  In each case, a funnel analysis is the report of choice.

When building a funnel, you have the ability to establish the goal event, as well as each step leading towards this goal.  These steps can be within your app, or across two apps.  Keep in mind that the steps aren’t a specific user path.  Instead, they are the steps you’ve determined a user will likely reach on the way towards a goal.  A simple goal could be a user completing an “In-App Purchase” for a mobile game with the following set of steps:

1. Launch App
2. Reach Level 2 of Game
3. Offer Displayed
4. Clicks on Purchase Offer
5. In-App Purchase Complete

Once the funnel has been established, you will then begin to see exactly how many users are converting on these goals, giving you the insight to know which part of your app you will need to optimize to improve conversions.

Let’s look at three examples:

• Completing in-app purchases – what percentage of users spent money on a particular digital good?
• Level Progression – what percentage of users reached Level 6?
• Cross-selling your other apps – what percentage of users in App 1 went on to download and launch App 2?

In-App Purchase:

We created the funnel below to assess how well users are converting for an in-app offer.  As you can see, of the 13,289 users that entered the funnel, 1,088 users completed the purchase, giving us a total conversion rate (Funnel CVR) of 8.19%.  This important knowledge is useful when comparing how well users were converting on this purchase in March versus February.  You also have the ability to see conversion rates between individual steps, which could highlight any steps that are producing significant drop-off.  If you do see a peculiar drop between steps, it’s an indication from your users that something in the user experience is creating lower conversion rates during that particular stage in the process.

Christmas 2012 was officially the holiday season of the app, as multiple reports claimed record numbers of app downloads and installs. With all this new data confirming positive momentum for apps, we looked at Apsalar’s data set to see how these new users affected revenue for mobile app developers.

As a leading provider of free mobile analytics, we have insight into 400M+ user devices . For this report, we turned to our Big Data Lab to analyze how lucrative last holiday season was for developers.

ARPU LEVELS ARE UP

First, we analyzed how the 2012 holiday season compared to 2011 in terms of in-app purchase dollars. We looked at average revenue per user (ARPU) against a baseline to see whether the 2012 holiday season was more or less effective than the 2011 holiday season at driving in-app revenue.

Our data shows an 11x increase in ARPU in December 2012 when compared to the previous year. One likely explanation is that, as of last year, in-app purchases became recognized as one of the best ways for game developers to generate meaningful revenue. This was a major inflection point in the industry, as the freemium model’s efficacy was proven, and companies like Natural Motion generated $12M+ worth of in-app purchases in August 2012.

Another key insight from our data is that users began making in-app purchases earlier in 2012 than they did in 2011.

One possible explanation for this is that consumers have developed a higher willingness to make in-app purchases over time. This means they do not require as strong an incentive to make a purchase as they previously did. Last year, it may have taken an iTunes gift card or holiday promotion around Christmas to incite an in-app purchase, whereas users may have been willing to make these purchases even without promotions in 2012.  It’s also possible that mobile app companies started promotions earlier this year, due to increased competition in the app market.

DECEMBER STILL KING BUT THANKSGIVING WEEK STEALS THE SHOW

December is historically the strongest month of the year for retail sales and ecommerce, so we also looked to see how last December compared to the previous 3 months in terms of ARPU for developers.

Our data uncovered that the week of Thanksgiving, and not the week of Christmas, had the highest average revenue per user in the past four months. This is an interesting data point for developers, as many apps release major updates before Christmas or typically increase marketing around the holidays. There may be an opportunity for savvy marketers to further focus app promotion around Thanksgiving, since app marketing costs are traditionally lower than in December.

Finally, while the week of Thanksgiving had the highest ARPU, we also looked to see how ARPU changed month-month since September.

December experienced a 370% increase in ARPU vs. September and a 40% increase vs. November. This positive trend is great news for the app industry and mobile app developers worldwide.

For developers looking to capitalize on the higher ARPUs found during these time frames, the data recommends focusing promotion around Thanksgiving and during the first half of December.

In order to best capture users’ in-app spend in the 2013 holiday season, marketers may want to keep the above findings in mind when planning for promotions in Q4 and beyond.

Drop us a line if you’ll also be in the area for any of the following events in January or February:

MacWorld 2013
Date:  Friday, 1/31 – Saturday, 2/2
Location:  Moscone Center West, San Francisco

AppsWorld
Date: Thursday, 2/7 – Friday, 2/8
Location: Moscone Center West, San Francisco

Mobile World Congress
Date:  Monday, 2/25 – Thursday, 2/28
Location:  Barcelona, Spain

If you’d like to have a chat with us to talk about how to acquire the right users for your app, analyze the performance of your users, or remarket to them to increase user engagement and lifetime value, feel free to drop us a line at http://apsalar.com/contact-us or e-mail us at contactus@apsalar.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!