Understanding Power Users and How to Attract Them (White Nights Conference St. Petersburg 2017) The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

1. @MikeFHines MobileDevMikeHines
UNDERSTANDING YOUR POW ER -USERS
AND GETTING MORE
MIKE HINES
D E V E L O P E R E V A N G E L I S T, A M A Z O N

2. A B O U T
M ike Hin es
Amazon Appstore
@MikeFHines
Founder @ 2 Financial Services Startups
Founder @ 2 Software Startups
QA Engineer @ Now Software
QA Manager, Product Manager @ Microsoft
Evangelist @ Amazon.com
Mentor @ GameFounders, Dev Bootcamp
Games Judge @Casual Connect Indie Prize, White
Nights, and Pocket Gamer Very Big Indie Pitch
Speaker @ GDC, GDCE, Casual Connect, Pocket
Gamer Connects, AnDevCon, White Nights, CES,
PAX Dev

3. iPHONEiPAD
GOOGLE
PLAY
AMAZON
47.7%57.1% 36.5%64.2%
66.0%
26.3%
7.7%
SHARE OF MOBILE
GAME SPENDERS
PER APPSTORE
US, UK, GER, FR
2014
LEVEL OF
SPENDING
AMONGST ALL
MOBILE GAME
SPENDERS PER
APPSTORE
US, UK, GER, FR
2014
56.3%
34.9%
8.7%
64.9%
28.2%
7.0%
58.1%
33.1%
8.1%
% Minor
Spenders
% Average
Spenders
% Big
Spenders
© 2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer
Source: Newzoo Trend Report Spotting The Mobile Spenders
A M A Z O N R E A C H E S ( B I G ) S P E N D E R S B E S T

4. POWER USERS
The vital few
1

5. P O W E R U S E R S : T H E V I TA L F E W
WELL-KNOWN ACROSS
INDUSTRIES
POWER USERS ARE NOT NEW
M o b i l e G a m i n g i s n ' t t h e f i r s t
i n d u s t r y t o r e c o g n i z e t h e
i m p o r t a n c e o f h i g h l y e n g a g e d
c u s t o m e r s .

6. P O W E R U S E R S : T H E V I TA L F E W
SUBSTANTIAL SPENDERS
SPEND ON THE THINGS
T H E Y L O V E
When it comes to
th eir p assion
( wh atever it may b e) ,
power -users spend
more mon ey th an th e
average fan .

7. P O W E R U S E R S : T H E V I TA L F E W
THE PARETO PRINCIPLE
KNOWN EARLIER AS
T H E 8 0 - 2 0 R U L E
In 1941, Joseph M.
Ju ran gen eralized
th e con c ept of th e
"vital few," which he
n amed after V ilfred o
Pareto .

8. P O W E R U S E R S : T H E V I TA L F E W
WHALES, DOLPHINS, MINNOWS
CASINO DEFINED COMMON TERMS
Mon etization strateg y is
segmented, based on different
c u stomer exp erien c es at
d ifferent p ric e p oints .
F reemiu m:
Min n ows = 9 0 -9 8 % of u sers
Dolp h in s = 5 0 % of reven u e
Whales = 3 -4% of paying users
( <0 .1 % total)

9. P O W E R U S E R S : T H E V I TA L F E W
THE NUMBERS VARY, BUT…
SEGMENTATION IS SIMILAR
• Newzoo: 3.5% of U.S. mobile gaming customers generate
33% of sales
• Google: 1% of U.S. customers generate 14% of monthly
sales
• Kongregate: 0.1% of U.S. customers generated 53% of all
time sales
Top 1% of customers who spend on mobile
Sources: Google, Casual Connect July 2014; Kongregate, GDC March 2015

10. AMAZON’S PERSPECTIVE
2

11. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
THE VITAL FEW AND USEFUL MANY
EVERY CUSTOMER HAS VALUE
Non -spenders are important.
Th ey can b e:
• Potential p ower -u sers
• Influencers and advocates
• Eyeb alls for ad vertisin g

12. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
W H A L E I S P R E J O R AT I V E
P O W E R U S E R V S . W H A L E
Nicholas Lovell, author of The Curve, differentiates:
• Ethical: Customer spends because they love what you do
• Unethical: Customer spends because of who they are
We prefer the term "power-user" to describe the avid hobbyist
who loves your work.

13. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
AMAZON APPSTORE POWER USERS
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE TO US?
• Spend $50/ month or more
• O n average, sp en d
>$ 2 0 0 / month
• Are concentrated in US,
Jap an , UK, an d Germany

14. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
F O C U S E D PA S S I O N
POWER-USERS ARE LOYAL
T O A F E W A P P S
80% of customers who
sp ent $ 1 0 0 0 in
Jan u ar y, 2 0 1 5 sp ent
75% ( or more) of that
on ju st two titles.

15. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
CANDY CRUSH SAGA
POWER-USERS LOVE ALL
K I N D S O F A P P S
MMOs are
trad ition ally
assoc iated with
power -users, but King
h as exp an d ed ou r
view of wh at is
p ossib le.

16. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
GAME OR WAR: FIRE AGE
POWER-USERS LOVE ALL
K I N D S O F G A M E S
Similarly, Machine Zone
h as h ad su c c ess in a
comp letely d ifferent
genre.

17. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
3

18. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
A R P U A N D A R P P U
NOT ALL IMPORTANT METRICS
A R E C O M P L E T E
Averages are most u sefu l wh en
d ata h as a n ormal d istrib u tion
( Bell c u r ve) .
For examp le:
• Hu man life -sp an or b lood
pressure
• Nu mb er of p etals on a d aisy
• Clou d y d ays in S eattle

19. AMAZON’S PERSPECTIVERevenue
User Rank
Revenue by User
Best-described by a
power law, in which
one value (such as
revenue) varies as a
power of another (such
as rank).
APP REVENUE HAS
HIGH VARIANCE

20. A M A Z O N ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E
IMPACT ON OTHER METRICS
R E V E N U E D I S T R I B U T I O N
I F N L U E N C E S A N A L Y S I S
O ptimize th e fu n n el, b u t look for
emergent b eh avior amon g
p ower -u sers an d tu n e th ose
p athways.
• Prioritize featu res ac cord in g
to monetization segment
• Desig n sep arate A |B tests
• Id entif y h ig h est -imp ac t flows

21. IT’S ALL ABOUT EMOTION
4

22. I T ’ S A L L A B O U T E M OT I O N
P E R S O N A L E X P R E S S I O N
W H A T Y O U B U Y S A Y S
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU
Th e med ia you con su me
exp resses wh o you are, an d
you r emotion al con n ec tion
in sp ires th e willin g n ess to
p ay.

23. I T ’ S A L L A B O U T E M OT I O N
K R I T I K A : T H E W H I T E K N I G H T S
GAMEVIL OFFERS AVATARS THAT APPEAL TO COLLECTORS

24. I T ’ S A L L A B O U T E M OT I O N
STAND OUR OR FIT IN?
CONNECT WITH WHO OR
W H A T Y O U A D M I R E
Go b ig : Id entif y with
someon e, a b road er
commu n ity, or someth in g
th at in sp ires you .
Go small: E stab lish you rself
as p art of an elite trib e .

25. I T ’ S A L L A B O U T E M OT I O N
S T A T U S U P D A T E
TELL THE WORLD WHY
Y O U ’ R E G R E A T
Hig h lig ht you r
ac comp lish ments or soc ial
statu s. Pu rc h ases ac t as a
b ad ge of ac h ievement, or
a u n iform comman d in g
respect.

26. I T ’ S A L L A B O U T E M OT I O N
EMOTION AND SPENDING
U N D E R S T A N D T H E
C O N N E C T I O N
Kn owin g why th ey b u y is
c ritical to makin g you r ap p
attrac tive to p ower -u sers —
an d more imp ortantly,
worthy of th em.

27. BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER
5

28. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
B E F O R E
D E S I G N F O R Y O U R
P O W E R - U S E R S
• Foster early en gagement
• Message at th e rig ht time
• Keep th em in th e ap p
• Keep th em comin g b ac k
• Use ser ver -sid e ac cou nts

29. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
D U R I N G
L E T YO U R C ATA L O G
SUPPORT THEIR DESIRES
• Self -expression /
aesth etic s
• A b ility
• Status / collection
• Mon ey for time
• Pric e d istrib u tion

30. Source: Amazon Appstore, March 2014
31%
29%
7%
12% 11%
5%
3%
1%
14%
11%
6%
3%
16% 16%
11%
9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
$0.99 $1.99 $2.99 $4.99 $9.99 $19.99 $49.99 $99.99
% of Assortment % of Sales
ASSORTMENT BY PRICE POINT
Total Marketplace

31. 28%
15%
10%
13%
11%
9% 9%
5%
32%
19%
7%
4%
10%
12%
5% 4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
$0.99 $1.99 $2.99 $4.99 $9.99 $19.99 $49.99 $99.99
% of Assortment % of Sales
Source: Amazon Appstore, March 2014
ASSORTMENT BY PRICE POINT
Top 50 Only

32. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
A F T E R
GROW WITH THE CUSTOMER
• Un d erstan d p ric e
sen sitivity
• E xp an d you r catalog ( keep
it fresh )
• Limit p ric e p oints to
clarif y value
• Treat all c u stomers well!

33. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
180%
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28
Source: Amazon Appstore, July 2013
Days Owned
+60%
average
selling price
REGULAR CUSTOMERS SPEND MORE
Price Sensitivity Declines over Time

34. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
A F T E R
GROW WITH THE CUSTOMER
• Un d erstan d p ric e
sen sitivity
• E xp an d you r catalog ( keep
it fresh )
• Limit p ric e p oints to
clarif y value
• Treat all c u stomers well!

35. 69%
100%
145%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
1-5 Items 6-10 Items 11-15 Items
Source: Amazon Appstore, March 2014
# of In-App Items for Sale
ARPPU
INDEX: Average = 100%
SELECTION DRIVES REPEAT ORDERS
More Is Better

36. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
A F T E R
GROW WITH THE CUSTOMER
• Un d erstan d p ric e
sen sitivity
• E xp an d you r catalog ( keep
it fresh )
• Limit p ric e p oints to
clarif y value
• Treat all c u stomers well!

37. Conversion Rate
INDEX: Average = 100%
DON’T CONFUSE YOUR
CUSTOMER
OFFER VARIETY,
BUT NOT TOO
MUCH
Source: Amazon Appstore, March 2014
147%
101%
52%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
1-5
Price
Points
6-10
Price
Points
11-15
Price
Points

38. B E F O R E , D U R I N G A N D A F T E R
A F T E R
GROW WITH THE CUSTOMER
• Un d erstan d p ric e
sen sitivity
• E xp an d you r catalog ( keep
it fresh )
• Limit p ric e p oints to
clarif y value
• Treat all c u stomers well!

39. AMAZON CAN HELP
6

40. iPHONEiPAD
GOOGLE
PLAY
AMAZON
47.7%57.1% 36.5%64.2%
66.0%
26.3%
7.7%
SHARE OF MOBILE
GAME SPENDERS
PER APPSTORE
US, UK, GER, FR
2014
LEVEL OF
SPENDING
AMONGST ALL
MOBILE GAME
SPENDERS PER
APPSTORE
US, UK, GER, FR
2014
56.3%
34.9%
8.7%
64.9%
28.2%
7.0%
58.1%
33.1%
8.1%
% Minor
Spenders
% Average
Spenders
% Big
Spenders
© 2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer
Source: Newzoo Trend Report Spotting The Mobile Spenders
A M A Z O N R E A C H E S ( B I G ) S P E N D E R S B E S T

41. ANDROID PHONES & TABLETS
FIRE TV & FIRE TV STICK
BLACKBERRYFIRE TABLETS

42. M O R E WAY S TO M O N E T I Z E
PREMIUM ADS SELL T-SHIRTS
GET PAID FOR EVERY
MINUTE OF APP USEIN APP PURCHASE

43. TAKEAWAYS
7

44. TA K E AWAY S
T H E G O O D S T U F F :
P O W E R U S E R S
• Power-Users drive revenue
• Any user may become a power-user
• They spend on what they love

45. TA K E AWAY S
T H E W O R K P A R T :
P O W E R U S E R S
• Plan for them
Engage early; don't distract; keep them coming back
• Support their (emotional) choices
Self-expression; collecting; status; advancement; optimization
• Grow with them
Keep catalog fresh; clarify value; offer several price points

46. THANK YOU!
Mike Hines
mihines@amazon.com
@MikeFHines
Facebook.com/MobileDevMikeHines
http://bit.ly/MikeHinesDevTools