To get the inside scoop and learn current best practice for monetizing apps in this growth market, Bango Marketplace has issued its first Bango App Monetization survey.

And the results are in…

## The BIG takeaway?

Finding a way to target new users who are proven big spenders is the smart way to do user acquisition.

<ImageBlock src="//images.ctfassets.net/tlyywrmp30mw/5uYxxLOtCtzfflKHTZSZxh/33a556ac40c109ef3098350ac1f75a3f/Survey_says_in-app_purchases_are_king.png" />


Jennifer Kite-Powell

generic-person

Bango app marketer survey...in-app purchases are king

To get the inside scoop and learn current best practice for monetizing apps in this growth market, Bango Marketplace has issued its first Bango App Monetization survey. And the results are in… The BIG takeaway? Finding a way to target

To get the inside scoop and learn current best practice for monetizing apps in this growth market, Bango Marketplace has

The Bango Marketplace team was in Korea, 14-17 November for the [G-Star Global Games Exhibition](https://www.gstar.or.kr/eng), the largest gaming exhibition in Korea. 
 
The biggest breaking news from the show was the [merger of Line and Yahoo-Japan](https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/17/yahoo-japan-and-line-corp-confirm-merger-agreement/) and its impact on the gaming business. On 18 November, Softbank announced it had reached an agreement to merge with Yahoo Japan and Line Corp., with sources saying it will better position search portal Yahoo Japan, Line’s messaging app and their other businesses to compete against rivals from the United States and China. But could this also be a new way to reach users outside the dominance of Facebook and Google?
 
On the hardware side of things, virtual reality (VR) dominated B2B booths illustrating the power of the technology to create new user experiences, new ways of entertaining and bring to life to classic titles.
 
<ImageFloat side="right" src="//images.ctfassets.net/tlyywrmp30mw/pTL2whwYkXVTq2y7t7No1/4884f256507bb295be126591062ac92e/Bango_at_G-Star_Global_Games_Exhibition.png" />

The Bango Marketplace team at G-Star - Shirley, Alex, Andy and Ray -  introduced global app marketers to Bango Marketplace’s new Korean Audiences. The team demonstrated to several of the largest Korean game companies how to get nine times more conversions to paying users in key export markets.

Want to try our new Korean Audiences? Check out [Bango Audiences](https://marketplace.bango.com/) and see how easy it is to get straight to the users who pay in-app.

Ray Anderson

Bango at G-STAR

The Bango Marketplace team was in Korea, 14-17 November for the G-Star Global Games Exhibition, the largest gaming exhibition in Korea. The biggest breaking news from the show was the merger of Line and Yahoo-Japan and its impact on the

The Bango Marketplace team was in Korea, 14-17 November for the G-Star Global Games Exhibition, the largest gaming exhibition in

It's that time again -- the holiday season is here. It's not just retail goods that get all the attention, its digital content too. In fact, the holiday season drives more app downloads and in-app payments in the U.S. than any other time of year. During the 2018 holiday season, there was a 25% increase of in-app payments globally compared to the monthly average over the rest of 2018 (Source: Bango, 2019). 

So how do you get your acquisition campaigns in front of these high-value, proven to spend audiences during this critical holiday period? That's something we can help you with. If you want to direct your campaigns to people who have a history of making in-app purchases, try a [Bango Marketplace](https://marketplace.bango.com/) audience today. 

Go to our [Bango LinkedIn page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/23533/) for a special Black Friday offer.

Black Friday

It's that time again -- the holiday season is here. It's not just retail goods that get all the attention, its digital content too. In fact, the holiday season drives more app downloads and in-app payments in the U.S. than

It's that time again -- the holiday season is here. It's not just retail goods that get all the attention

The traditional rules for app marketing say that the more you grow your user numbers, the more you can justify your marketing budget. But once you have acquired users, you still need to monetize your audience to generate revenue. While many developers rely heavily on in-app advertising, apps which can monetize through in-app payments need users who pay.  Marketing to these higher lifetime audiences of in-app payers not only increases return-on-investment (ROI) for less marketing spend, it grows your revenues. 

__But is there any alternative to bombarding every target consumer with your campaigns, including those that won’t generate in-app payments? What if you could intelligently target consumers who already had a history of paying in-app – the ones most likely to make in-app payments? __

Answering this question transforms the economics of acquiring and monetizing users. In a recent 2019 Bango app monetization survey, 40% of developers said that in-app purchases are the most important outcome of their marketing campaigns. And, 47% said that in-app purchases were the primary method to monetize their apps.

Yet, when it comes to targeting marketing campaigns, 33% said that less than half of their marketing campaigns prioritize generating in-app payments and a further 33% said that none of their marketing campaigns prioritize in-app payments.

Asked about applying payment insights as a factor in user acquisition campaigns, 53% of developers said they do not target their campaigns to audiences known to make in-app payments, or in the case of media services audiences known to make paid subscriptions.

In a robust and growing app economy; consumers are spending more on apps; but at the same time, developers are not prioritizing in-app payments through their marketing campaigns.

Back to the earlier question. What if you could intelligently target users who already have a history of making in-app payments? By targeting your marketing to these high-value users, you can actually focus your Facebook campaigns on a smaller audience, but an audience of people that are more likely to pay. This combination of increasing monetization by boosting IAPs from your campaigns while reducing the costs of acquisition is defined as intelligent marketing. 

It isn’t about casting a bigger net; it is about fishing in the right waters. Bango Marketplace audiences are created using payment information gathered from billions of dollars of in-app purchases so you can focus your marketing to people who have history of payments and subscriptions for apps and media services. Why show your ads on Facebook to people who won’t pay? 

Bango Marketplace audiences challenge the conventional marketing and targeting approaches, and instead prioritize quality over quantity. You fish for less but land more fish. 

Bring intelligent targeting to your app marketing campaigns, try a [Bango Marketplace audience](https://marketplace.bango.com/?utm_source=BOA&utm_medium=intelligenttargeting&utm_campaign=BM&utm_term=BMA) today. 


Here’s how you can use intelligent targeting to know who spends in-app

The traditional rules for app marketing say that the more you grow your user numbers, the more you can justify your marketing budget. But once you have acquired users, you still need to monetize your audience to generate revenue. While

The traditional rules for app marketing say that the more you grow your user numbers, the more you can justify

Bango has launched carrier billing payment services for the monthly subscription based YouTube TV package. Following an initial launch with a leading mobile operator in the USA, customers can now conveniently subscribe to YouTube TV paying on their monthly bill.

YouTube TV is the live streaming subscription service owned by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. Subscribers to YouTube TV can watch live TV streamed from over 70 major broadcast and popular cable networks on mobile, desktop, TV, games consoles and many other connected devices. In addition to live TV, subscribers can stream popular movies and shows on-demand. A subscription to YouTube TV is $49.99 a month, for which the customer also receives cloud-hosted, Digital Video Recorder storage for their own video content.  Add-ons to the YouTube TV package are also available, including premium TV networks.

*“With the roll out of 5G wireless networks underway, the move to ‘cable-free’ TV is a logical step, re-establishing how customers access online entertainment. We are excited to be a part of this step change”*, __said Anil Malhotra, Chief Marketing Officer at Bango.  __

Sukey Miller

Bango enables carrier billing subscriptions for YouTube TV

Bango has launched carrier billing payment services for the monthly subscription based YouTube TV package. Following an initial launch with a leading mobile operator in the USA, customers can now conveniently subscribe to YouTube TV paying on their monthly bill

Bango has launched carrier billing payment services for the monthly subscription based YouTube TV package. Following an initial launch with

Bango and MobileAction, the app store optimization and app intelligence platform, are collaborating to boost in-app payment revenues for app developers through smart campaign targeting. 

MobileAction’s global community of app developers can now gain a substantial competitive advantage by targeting their campaigns at the users most likely to spend in apps. Created by analyzing payment information gathered across billions of dollars of in-app purchases, Bango Audiences enable app marketing campaigns to directly target new paying users. By applying Bango Audiences, the revenue generated from user acquisition campaigns has been proven to increase by between 2x - 9x compared to targeting “vanilla” audiences that do not offer payment insight.

MobileAction’s developer community can take advantage of special offers on audiences listed in Bango Marketplace ([www.marketplace.bango.com](http://www.marketplace.bango.com)). The audiences are ready to plug in to Facebook campaigns with no effort by the developer.

Consumer spending in apps will reach over $155 billion worldwide by 2023, forecast MobileAction. Competing for a share of this spend requires increasingly sophisticated marketing and monetization techniques. With the worldwide average cost to acquire a paying user in a gaming app costing $35.42 ([LiftOff](https://info.liftoff.io/2019-mobile-gaming-apps-report/), 2019), the ability to go straight to new users with a history of paying in apps can turn a loss-making campaign into a profitable line of business.


__Aykut Karaalioglu, CEO at MobileAction commented;__ *“MobileAction’s aim is to give app developers the competitive advantage, app marketers have never had a proven method of getting their offers and promotions directly to new paying customers until now. Bango Marketplace is a new and unique approach to maximizing ROI from user acquisition campaigns, we’re excited to offer our customers access to this new way of marketing.”*

__Ray Anderson, Bango CEO commented;__ *“We welcome MobileAction’s network of app developers to Bango Marketplace, which showcases high value audiences of users with a proven interest in paying for games and other digital content. App developers now have a unique way to boost revenue earned from in-app payments and other charging models by simply applying Bango Marketplace audiences to their existing campaigns.” *


MobileAction

Bango and MobileAction, the app store optimization and app intelligence platform, are collaborating to boost in-app payment revenues for app developers through smart campaign targeting. MobileAction’s global community of app developers can now gain a substantial competitive advantage by targeting

Bango and MobileAction, the app store optimization and app intelligence platform, are collaborating to boost in-app payment revenues for app

When launching new resale and bundle offers, time to market is critical for resellers such as mobile, fixed line, and cable operators. Offering customers premium OTT services like Amazon Prime and Spotify is a proven way to acquire, retain and monetize new customers. Getting these premium services to market faster can be vital to gaining a competitive advantage.

At Bango we have been working to find more ways of reducing time and effort on the part of the reseller through the power of Bango Platform technology. Having insight into reseller systems, we recognized that by enabling batch processing of subscription entitlement status, we can significantly reduce development time on the part of the reseller, speeding up time to market.

As a direct result, resellers are now able to batch update customer entitlement status without having to develop deep API connections, which are required if the entitlement status can only be updated using individual system calls. 

Batch updates remove pressure on the resellers’ business and development teams. Avoidable delays in system integration impacts a reseller and OTT providers time to launch compelling new services and - more importantly - delays their customers’ ability to take up new offers.  The Bango Resale batch processing solution provides low latency and high-speed offer uptake at scale.

In a highly competitive market where customer acquisition and retention are fundamental KPIs for these businesses, the time to market  advantage gained is significant.  Sometimes, being first is everything.

In one recent example, avoiding the need to schedule and develop the necessary API integration work, batch processing has enabled a reseller using Bango Resale to speed up time to market by at least 2 months. 

Batch processing capabilities are now a standard part of Bango Resale. Documentation is available here - [https://developer.bango.com/resale/entitlements/batchprocessing/](https://developer.bango.com/resale/entitlements/batchprocessing/)

Jamie Seabrook

Launch OTT partnerships faster

When launching new resale and bundle offers, time to market is critical for resellers such as mobile, fixed line, and cable operators. Offering customers premium OTT services like Amazon Prime and Spotify is a proven way to acquire, retain and

When launching new resale and bundle offers, time to market is critical for resellers such as mobile, fixed line, and

Bango has signed an agreement with NHN ACE, the South Korean big data digital advertisement company. Through the partnership, global app developers can easily target their offers and promotions to high value mobile and internet users in Korea. 

Under the agreement, NHN ACE and Bango are making audiences of Korean customers who are interested in paid content available for marketing. Targeting campaigns to customers with an interest in premium apps and content enables app developers to acquire new paying users and increase in-app purchase revenues, while reducing marketing costs.

South Korea offers some of the world’s highest “life time value” customers, who spend hundreds of dollars a month online. Mobile devices dominate online usage, with mobile gaming popularity leading to Korea’s ranking as the world’s fourth biggest mobile games market ([Newzoo](https://newzoo.com/insights/infographics/south-korea-games-market-2018/)). The country’s “super spenders” spend hundreds of dollars a month on mobile content, with an average monthly revenue per user in the mobile games segment of more than $96 ([Statista](https://www.statista.com/outlook/211/125/mobile-games/south-korea#market-arpu)).

Consequently, user acquisition costs are very high. According to [LiftOff](https://info.liftoff.io/2019-mobile-gaming-apps-report/), the cost to acquire a user in South Korea who will make an in-app purchase is $66.95, which means marketing to low or non-spenders is a sure fire way to lose money. 

*“Through this partnership, NHN ACE and Bango will help app developers spend their marketing dollars wisely”*, __said Guy Singh, Vice President of Product Marketing at Bango.__ *“By effectively targeting marketing using Bango Audiences, app developers have the opportunity to generate significant revenue from Korea’s high spending gamers”.*

The audiences that become available through this agreement are available on Bango Marketplace at [marketplace.bango.com](https://marketplace.bango.com/).


Bango Audiences - Korea

Bango has signed an agreement with NHN ACE, the South Korean big data digital advertisement company. Through the partnership, global app developers can easily target their offers and promotions to high value mobile and internet users in Korea. Under the

Bango has signed an agreement with NHN ACE, the South Korean big data digital advertisement company. Through the partnership, global

In the second of our __*'Three Minutes With'*__ series of articles, [Bango Marketplace](https://marketplace.bango.com/?utm_source=BGO&utm_medium=Mobisystem&utm_campaign=BM&utm_term=BM) talk with Dobromir Dobrinov from [Mobisystems](https://www.mobisystems.com/) about the importance of customer loyalty, user retention and how 5G will change everything. 

## Bango Marketplace: What is the biggest challenge the company faces today as a global app developer?

__Dobromir Dobrinov, Marketing Specialist at Mobisystems:__ Recognition and customer loyalty comes first. Today, it’s even harder to win in a competitive market where apps are produced every day. This stands as our constant challenge which drives our innovation and product improvement. Second, is how we can win our users over and convert them to paying customers providing value with our apps for their everyday life.

## Bango: What have you noticed about purchasing behavior in different geographical markets? Do any patterns emerge?

__DD:__ Every market is different. We constantly improve and adapt to our users and their purchasing behavior. Many factors come into place. It’s not only geography but also the current political situation, purchasing patterns set of global companies, also people's attitude and understanding of how you communicate in their language. One example of that is the subscription versus one-time purchase in different countries. 

Compared to two or three years ago, more people today find value in subscriptions. This is the only way for developers to push their apps forward and keep up with the market. We can see this with the increase in subscriptions worldwide, even in more reserved countries.

## Bango: When it comes to user retention, what stands out for the company as the most fundamental aspect?

__DD:__ This is something we think about a lot at Mobisystems. Loyalty and retention are a cornerstone for us.

When you create a marketing funnel you can track users' journeys and see where you can improve. As simple as that sounds, it is difficult as many people must do the right steps to incrementally improve the user experience around and within the apps.

It is natural for growing companies to focus on new user acquisition and sales. Many times, as soon as any company reaches a certain status their affection to customers drops significantly. They stop focusing on user retention as bringing new customers onboard is less expensive. We strive to differentiate and continue caring for our loyal users.

## Bango: What’s been the biggest change in the last 10 years for getting your app out there?

<ImageFloat side="right" src="//images.ctfassets.net/tlyywrmp30mw/1xZZ7KSOi46aTElHlHX5kv/585744c5cb49217e061ad0f7631aa38d/Mobisystems_quote.png" />   
__DD:__ A decade ago, when the app market was still forming, preloads were the only guaranteed way to connect to customers. Today, app stores, social networks and servicing around these are way more advanced. Preloads still have a major role but are not a cornerstone for getting your app well known worldwide.

Now, we focus on targeting the right channels to reach our customers. There are lots of new apps out there and we need and want to attract the next generation’s attention in the most meaningful ways - the networks they use, the message they want to hear, the value they seek. It’s not new conceptually, you have to use the right tools and adapt quickly. Ten years ago, changes that took two to three years to penetrate the market now come into place within six months or less.


## Bango: What is the company’s view on downloads v installs v monetization?

__DD:__ The entire app industry is focused on selling and selling more. The entire user funnel is important. It is a process, not pieces. There are multiple reasons for people to install an app, there are much less to stay and even become a paying customer.

The first breakpoint for the developer is when users open your app. Was it worth the download? Can you guide the users to purchase in the best manner possible? Can you help them find the value within your app? We constantly ask ourselves: Did we do a good job to convert users into customers, providing real value to them? 

Installs push the apps in the ranking. This means more people will download the app. Downloads generate opportunities to increase your paying customers. But that's only one part.

If you want to serve your customers better, you need to know them. GDPR is a great thing but when you need to know where your loyal user stands you need to track that. Google and Facebook, for example have that data, but they won't share with us that George bought and Paul installed. We get a vague, blurry picture on customers actions. There are many challenges with that. One way to solve it is to focus on the well-known “buying personas” so we can bring value to a more specific audience and try to analyze its members behavior.

## Bango: So, what’s next for mobile apps?

 __DD:__ Apps were born out of technology. They are destined to rely on it.

In the next 10 years, we'll see significant advancements due to the 5G connectivity, AI and augmented reality. Our world is reshaping fast and apps are the first to adapt by nature.

Little by little the consumers will ultimately set their world to comply extensively with their needs. Everything will happen in an instant and without much hesitation. For the users it will be easy to change the apps. So there stands the continuous challenge - create apps that consumers will find valuable to use in their life and even their lifetime.

=======


[Mobisystems](https://www.mobisystems.com/) is a production and software company that develops mobile apps on Android, iOS, and Windows. Some of Its flagship apps are OfficeSuite and Oxford Dictionary of English. Apps developed by MobiSystems bring in more than two million new users a month on top of more than 300 million installations. With dozens of partnerships with hardware OEMs like Huawei, Sony, Alcatel, DT and Acer, Mobisystems is redefining how customer loyalty is improved and retained in the apps era.


[Bango Marketplace](https://marketplace.bango.com/?utm_source=BGA&utm_medium=Mobisystem&utm_campaign=BM&utm_term=BM2) is where app marketers go to immediately reach paying users. Created using purchase information gathered from over $1Bn of in-app payments, Bango Marketplace audiences get you straight to the paying users so you generate revenue faster. Access these audiences directly through your preferred advertising platform, no integration required. Finding the users that pay is vital to a successful business, getting you to revenue faster. Bango audiences provide a unique way to reach paying users. 


Dobromir Dobrinov

In the second of our 'Three Minutes With' series of articles, Bango Marketplace talk with Dobromir Dobrinov from Mobisystems about the importance of customer loyalty, user retention and how 5G will change everything. Bango Marketplace: What is the biggest challenge

In the second of our 'Three Minutes With' series of articles, Bango Marketplace talk with Dobromir Dobrinov from Mobisystems about

The Bango __*'Three Minutes With'*__ series talks with app developers around the world to get their views and experiences with user acquisition and monetization in the global marketplace. In this article, [Bango Marketplace](https://marketplace.bango.com/?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=PlayQ&utm_campaign=BM&utm_term=BM) talked with Noemie Hernandez, Director of User Acquisition at PlayQ about the importance of customer loyalty and user retention.

PlayQ has seen some incredible growth in the past four years. Right now, the company has five casual games, and most recently, the company has been focusing on marketing Charm King, a match-three puzzle-adventure.

## Bango Marketplace: Charm King is doing well in Germany at the moment, why is that? 

__Noemie Hernandez, PlayQ:__ [Laughs] Good question, but we’ve invested a lot into Charm King in terms of the acquisition of the game in Germany. We saw its potential in that market early on, so we invested in user acquisition.

But, there are multiple sides of that investment that boil down to performance marketing; using the channels everyone is using today like Facebook, Google, etc.; creativity in our ads; and app store optimization and having the relationship with the app stores.

## Bango: What is most important to you as an outcome of your marketing campaigns on Facebook? 

__NH:__ A positive return on ad spend, which is a mixed bag of everything. Any metric is not perfect, so we look at all parameters to be sure we aren't  overlooking anything. Retention is essential for us and helps us know if the ad we created is a good offer or experience to the user as well as a good reflection of the game. Retention will be low if you click on a bad ad, people will leave. Some don’t care about that metric, but I think it’s essential. 

The number of installs is vital to us; we have to be sure there’s a decent number of people playing the game. 

## Bango: What would you want to change about that scenario if you could?

__NH:__ Well, the challenge that we have is to find new market opportunities. On Facebook, there are options for buying customers who have paid for games like ours, but it is very expensive. Customer installs is very expensive too, so we will pay crazy money to pay for just one install. It’s hard to find a balance and narrow down the targeting. I want to buy users who are suitable for the app while maintaining a decent cost. 

Most mobile advertising is facing this scenario. And, for mobile games and casual games, the main issue is a limited amount of users who actually pay. So that makes the audience we need to reach even narrower.

## Bango: What do you see as the newest trend in mobile game marketing? 

<ImageFloat side="right" src="//images.ctfassets.net/tlyywrmp30mw/1S1PLYB1BIeVsE7hewJkKG/2af62e5db7cd92e690e158aa01d94568/Noemie_Hernandez_quote.png" />   
__NH:__ The usage of ads. Less than five percent of users pay in-app, so how do we make money on that 95%? We’re pushing more ads out there to boost daily rewards and making money from that, but if this becomes a more significant trend, I think success will depend on the types of games adopting that tactic. Hardcore games probably won’t go down that road, but causal games are different. 

With casual games, you play them to pass the time, you don’t care too much, so there will be more ads for casual games. Now we see a new category emerge - hyper-casual games like [Voodoo](https://www.voodoo.io/), that are heavily monetized with ads. These companies are releasing new games each month, and users play them for only four or five minutes a day. Those apps are heavily monetized with ads. 

## Bango: Do you treat acquisition and monetization as separate marketing activities?

__NH:__ We are considering it. But they do sit in different departments and yet they go hand in hand.

There is the current trend of gaming companies building growth departments to merge user acquisition and monetization to find new ways to help monetization or vice versa. 

Increasingly in the digital industry, it’s harder and harder to compete against the big guns, they’re taking everything [..], and most of the revenue comes from a handful of companies. It’s very challenging for smaller companies to compete against these guys. 

## Bango: So, what’s the solution to that challenge? 

__NH:__ The good thing about smaller structures is that they are more agile and can move faster. We have to keep being innovative and not fear failure, and that’s what small gaming should focus on, rather than trying to copy what big companies are doing. They might have more power to succeed, and they know how to play the game which means smaller gaming companies need to be innovative in all areas  thinking and acting differently when it comes to doing user acquisition, marketing, and creativity.


_____________________________


[PlayQ](https://www.playq.com/?utm_source=Bango) is a rapidly growing global entertainment and technology company delivering high-quality mobile titles and innovative game development solutions to a worldwide audience. Our games have been downloaded more than 60 million times across the globe, with millions of users playing every day!


Noemie Hernandez - PlayQ

The Bango 'Three Minutes With' series talks with app developers around the world to get their views and experiences with user acquisition and monetization in the global marketplace. In this article, Bango Marketplace talked with Noemie Hernandez, Director of User

The Bango 'Three Minutes With' series talks with app developers around the world to get their views and experiences with