A few weeks ago, we released an episode on balancing monetization and retention. We talked about improving user experience to enhance retention by getting rid of monetization. However, this does not always work. We did say that it’s not a one size fits all solution. 

In this episode, we talk about another hack that can be used to improve your app’s retention – adding monetization barriers. Sounds confusing, but it’s a strategy that has worked successfully..

We talked a few weeks ago about how there is a tradeoff between retention and monetization.

We looked at the example of a word game I worked on a few years ago – and saw how we reduced monetization barriers by making the daily puzzles free, and how that led to a huge boost in retention that more than made up for the monetization drop.

BUT as it turns out, that isnt always the case. One of the pieces of feedback we got from someone that worked on a leading match 3 game was that sometimes the opposite can happen.

For instance, a game in which users are not very highly invested won’t retain very well. You could lower your monetization barriers to the point where there is almost no investment of time, effort or money by the users – and that can translate into very poor retention and engagement. As you can imagine, the retention from invested users can far outweigh the retention from non-invested users.

However, the moment a user makes one purchase, even if it’s a small micro-transaction – it helps them get invested, so they can engage much more. Oftentimes it makes sense to add that level of ‘good friction’ to an onboarding flow to make sure that users are much more engaged – and much more likely to retain.

So – the takeaway is that the interplay between retention and monetization is nuanced – and very much dependent on the specifics of the game itself. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

A REQUEST BEFORE YOU GO

I have a very important favor to ask, which as those of you who know me know I don’t do often. If you get any pleasure or inspiration from this episode, could you PLEASE leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform – be it iTunes, Overcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast fix. This podcast is very much a labor of love – and each episode takes many many hours to put together. When you write a review, it will not only be a great deal of encouragement to us, but it will also support getting the word out about the Mobile User Acquisition Show.

Constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement are welcome, whether on podcasting platforms – or by email to shamanth at rocketshiphq.com. We read all reviews & I want to make this podcast better.

Thank you – and I look forward to seeing you with the next episode!