For mobile game developers with multiple games, cross-promotion presents a unique opportunity to boost in-app purchase (IAP) revenue. This article covers strategies to promote IAPs across your game portfolio, encouraging players to explore other games in your collection and increase spending.
Why Cross-Promotion Works for Game Portfolios
As the mobile gaming industry becomes more competitive, developers with a multi-game portfolio have a significant advantage. Cross-promotion leverages your existing player base, introducing players to new experiences and IAP opportunities across your catalog. By strategically linking games in your portfolio, you can increase player engagement, boost IAPs, and create a connected ecosystem where players naturally migrate between games.
Cross-promotion is effective for a few reasons:
Familiarity: Players who already enjoy one game are likely to trust and try another game from the same developer.
Increased Lifetime Value (LTV): Players who engage with multiple games in a portfolio are often more likely to make purchases across titles, raising overall LTV.
Engagement Opportunities: Cross-promotional tactics can encourage more frequent engagement and exploration, leading to additional revenue.
Let’s explore some of the most effective cross-promotion tactics for increasing IAP revenue.
1. Linked Rewards: Incentivize Players to Explore Multiple Games
What It Is Linked rewards give players bonuses in one game for completing actions in another. For instance, a player might earn coins, character skins, or exclusive items in Game A by reaching a certain level in Game B. This strategy encourages players to download and engage with more games in your portfolio.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue When players see the value of items they receive through cross-promotional rewards, they may be more likely to make IAPs to continue experiencing those benefits. By linking rewards, you’re not only increasing engagement across games but also familiarizing players with the benefits of premium items, making them more likely to make future purchases.
Best Practices
Offer Unique Rewards: Provide exclusive rewards for cross-game achievements, such as limited-time items or enhanced abilities. Make sure the reward is desirable enough to encourage players to try the other game.
Keep the Experience Seamless: Minimize friction by linking the reward directly to the player’s existing account, so they can claim it instantly.
2. Cross-Game Events: Create Unified Experiences
What It Is Cross-game events are limited-time events that span multiple games in your portfolio. Players who participate in each game’s event can unlock rewards across all games, encouraging them to engage more widely within your ecosystem.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue During events, players are typically more motivated to make purchases to complete challenges or earn special rewards. By creating cross-game events, you increase the likelihood that players will make IAPs in multiple games to gain access to event-exclusive benefits or progress through time-limited challenges.
Best Practices
Theme Events Around Shared Elements: Use a common theme or storyline that ties each game’s event together, so players feel part of a larger experience.
Advertise Events In-Game and Across Channels: Promote cross-game events within each game and through email or social media. Visibility helps drive engagement and excitement, encouraging IAPs for exclusive rewards.
3. Cross-Promotion Ads: Use In-Game Ads to Highlight Other Titles
What It Is In-game ads for other games in your portfolio can promote new releases, major updates, or special offers in your other titles. These ads might appear as banners on the main menu, notifications, or in special sections of the game dedicated to your portfolio.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue Cross-promotion ads let you directly showcase premium features or popular items in other games, encouraging players to check them out. By highlighting specific IAPs or premium content, you can spark interest in players who may want to explore more options within your portfolio.
Best Practices
Showcase Popular IAPs or Premium Content: Use the ad space to highlight appealing content players can access if they try another game in the portfolio.
Use Targeted Messaging: Tailor cross-promotion ads to segments within each game. For instance, show more challenging or complex games to players who have completed most of the content in their current game.
4. Shared Currencies: Build a Seamless Economy Across Games
What It Is Shared currencies allow players to earn or purchase currency that they can use across multiple games in your portfolio. Players who accumulate currency in one game might be more willing to try another title, especially if they can use their existing funds.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue When players have a currency they can spend across games, they may feel more inclined to buy additional currency for flexibility. Shared currencies also encourage more frequent engagement as players realize the value of their currency grows with each new game they try.
Best Practices
Provide In-Game Clarity: Make it easy for players to understand how the currency works across games. Show players the cross-game potential of their currency to boost interest.
Offer Bundles That Include Cross-Game Currency: Promote currency bundles that can be used across multiple titles to maximize appeal and revenue potential.
5. VIP and Loyalty Programs: Reward Multi-Game Engagement
What It Is VIP and loyalty programs that span multiple games reward players for their overall engagement across your portfolio. These programs might offer tiered benefits that increase with time spent or money spent in any game within the collection.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue VIP programs encourage players to reach higher tiers, especially if perks apply across games. The appeal of a loyalty program that grows with engagement creates additional value for each IAP, motivating players to make purchases that will support their VIP status or unlock exclusive benefits.
Best Practices
Design Tiers for Variety: Create rewards that cater to different spending levels, so both casual and hardcore players feel motivated to participate.
Cross-Game Benefits: Offer perks like exclusive items, faster progression, or special access in each game to show players the value of loyalty across your portfolio.
6. Referrals Between Games: Encourage Players to Invite Friends
What It Is Referral programs that allow players to invite friends to try your other games can be highly effective. For example, a player might receive rewards in Game A for inviting friends to Game B, and vice versa.
How It Boosts IAP Revenue Referrals bring new players into each game while keeping current players engaged. For every new player referred, there’s potential for new IAPs, especially when they’re incentivized with items or currency that enhance gameplay.
Best Practices
Incentivize Both Players: Reward both the referrer and the friend with desirable in-game items, creating mutual value and increasing the likelihood of referral.
Encourage Ongoing Engagement: Offer rewards for continued gameplay by referred friends, creating a sustainable, long-term effect on player engagement.
Making Cross-Promotion a Seamless Player Experience
When players feel encouraged, not pressured, to explore more games within your portfolio, they’re more likely to appreciate the broader ecosystem and become loyal users. Cross-promotion strategies can foster a sense of community within your portfolio, where players feel connected to each game and recognize the value of engaging with them all.
A multi-game approach to monetization lets players engage on their terms, choosing how they want to interact with each game while discovering new content that enhances their experience. Keeping this experience smooth, rewarding, and cohesive will improve retention and monetization across your portfolio.
Elevatix: Your Partner in Maximizing Cross-Game Revenue
Interested in using cross-promotion to increase IAP revenue across your game portfolio? Elevatix offers data-driven insights and tools that make cross-game engagement easy to implement and effective. From shared rewards to portfolio-wide analytics, Elevatix can help you unlock the full potential of your portfolio. See how Elevatix can elevate your games and grow your monetization strategy today.
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