Originally published at thinktank.personagraph.com.

Game apps are the undefeated number 1 in the app markets in terms of popularity (measured in downloads) as well as in generating revenue. Clearly, there is strong demand for game apps so just put your app out there and it will have plenty of success right? Wrong! Although the demand is strong, there’s no shortage of supply either. To be able to keep your users happy and your bank account out of the red numbers can be quite a task. Luckily, there are several things you can do to make your game app a success in monetary terms. Here we list 5 essentials.

1. Graphics, graphics, graphics
   Without a doubt, a game’s graphic performance is the most important aspect of achieving success. Whether you have a simple puzzle game or a fast moving race game, aesthetics matter. Many users download a game based on the screenshots in the app markets and a good looking game draws attention. Especially Apple has a weak spot for nicely designed apps and getting featured will get you an enormous boost in downloads, ergo, revenue. But even without this, a well designed app always performs better in terms of downloads and engagement which results in higher profits.
2. Incentivize users to do in-app purchases
   This little trick has been mastered by big players like King, Supercell and Zynga. Their games are characterized by highly addictive elements combined with in-app purchases. The strategy is usually to stimulate a lot of gameplay in the early levels of the game to let a user get the hang of it. Over time, the games start to limit the player’s possibilities and gameplay slows down when they do not purchase more time, in-app currencies, levels, power-ups, etc. The player gets prompted to buy these at peak moments of excitement which makes it extremely tempting to spend money in the game. The trick is to keep a fine balance between the gameplay and monetizing your app. Too much “free” gameplay and your revenues will lag. Too much focus on in-app purchases will deter users which will shoot up abandonment rates.
3. Choose the right type of ads
   When you choose to monetize your game app with ads you can choose from a plethora of different ad formats. Interstitials, native, banner ads, video ads, the list goes on and on. The type of ad you choose to have in your game greatly affects its performance. As with getting players to buy in-app items, showing ads needs to be finely balanced with respect to the gameplay and user experience. The interstitial is a popular ad format among game app developers because a game often provides natural pause moments, when proceeding to a next level or when the game is over for example. These interstitials can take on forms like video, rich media, and static display ads. Then there is also the choice to show ads from other app publishers, so called app install ads. There are even networks that will reward users for installing an app from an ad. Though this can be very lucrative, users can easily stumble upon another addicting game that you are competing with and can lose his attention in yours.
4. Make your game social
   If there is one thing people love it is to play games with their friends and family. Where people used to gather round the kitchen table to play board games, today you can play anyone with an internet connection worldwide. This provides a huge opportunity for game publishers. When you make a game social you essentially do two crucial things: you provide a great deal of value to your users and you stimulate players to share your gameto their friends and family. It’s a win-win situation. This element ensured millions of people flocked to apps such as Draw Something, Words With Friends and Farmville and rake in millions of dollars in revenue.
5. Know your users
   Perhaps this tip should be number 1 because it has effects on all other aspects of your game. Truly knowing your users brings forth a number of opportunities to benefit from. A very important one is that it allows you to optimize your app with your most valuable users in mind. When you see a strong spike of loyal users in a certain demographic of users you can focus your attention on this segment. You can improve your app to better cater to this segment which leads to increased retention and ultimately an increase in revenue. Another way user understanding leads to better monetization is the effect it has on user acquisition. When you have identified your most valuable users you can start to target them to acquire more of them. Your marketing and advertising will be narrowly targeted and your new users will be more valuable. In other words, you spend less effort and resources and your campaigns are more effective! If you are looking for help to better understand your users you have come to the right place. Personagraph specializes in providing app publishers with the tools they need to really get a deep understanding of their user base.

With these 5 tips in mind you should be able to get some more money from all the hard work you put into your game. In the end it all comes down to what works best for your type of game. It is always recommended to test what effects the changes you make in your app have. Get to know your users, keep track of what works and what not and you’ll be raking in cash in no time.