3/7/2016
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This is a follow-up on Conversion Rate Optimization part 1. In this part we'll go deeper in on the science part of conversion before we'll make a CRO plan.
In "What's free isn't free part2" I wrote this:
WHY DO PEOPLE BUY?
Why do we buy things? It's a question many people are trying to answer. Therefore I found a lot of answers. Clickz has found 20 reasons. Our shared resources points to the human emotions. NASP reduced this to 2 reasons.
I think they are all right. But is there 1 single anser for this question?
Don't ask me where if found this anser. But someone answered: "We buy things to solve our problems."
And that's just it. You can check it. Someway, somehow, we always buy things to solve our problems.
Ironically a game is a problem solving activity. So do we really want to pay for something that we want solve for ourselves?
And this still stands. People play games to fullfill certain needs. The more needs the game fullfills the higher the value of that game and the more likely they are willing to pay for it. (Check Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to see what needs your game can fullfill.)
Human behaviour doesn't change very fast. Non-customers that started playing games because of facebook and smartphones are very slowly starting to give a higher value to games. My guess is that we will see a bigger change in 10 years or so. The kids from now will grow up with smartphones and games. Gaming will be a bigger part of their identity and hopefully they will see that games are much more then to pass the time.
Let's hope this trend could lead us to a new blue ocean.
I got some more links with theories for you. This one explains a lot and has multiple posts about buying behaviour.
forentrepreneurs.com
blog.hubspot.com is about How-to-Leverage-the-5-Stages-of-the-Customer-Buying-Cycle-for-More-Sales
pardot.com
But before you want to dive into all this theorie, read the rest of this post first. Because there is a lot more coming your way.
Some more links about buyers types and personas:
avidian.com/blog
rainsalestraining.com/blog
livehive.com/blog
THE SURVEY
I had the feeling that women are less likely to spend money on games. So I did more reseach about this. I made a survey, posted a question on quora and I also asked Jenny Darroch for some advice.
And last but not least I stumbled upon this article from business insider and this one from cinema blend.
To make a long story short, I still haven't found a clear answer why women spend less money on games.
I only had 10 women who ansered my survey (very sad I know) so I can't rely on this survey to get a clear anser. (even though most of the women ansered that they didn't payed for game content and are not willing to support the developer)
The ansers I got from Jenny and quora where assumptions. And the articles only prove that female gamers are willing to pay small amounts on a mobile game. But they do not tell us why.
So I will follow my gut here and conclude that female gamers are less willing to spend money on games because:
The game industry doesn't appeal to women.
Women see a game in a more broader spectrum. If it's just to pass time, then it's not worth paying for it. (A game should have more purpose and there are more important things in life.)
Younger gamers (that do think games are worth paying for) don't have the money to spend on a game.
They are more analytical buyers then men. They find more of these "life hacks" so that they don't have to spend (as much) money on a game.
They are more sensitive during a sales process.
They need to keep up a certain image to the community. Many people think gaming isn't social.
Women seem to have more hobbies and worries that aquire money and attention.
Am I forgetting one? :-p
So women have a lot of reasons to not spend money on your game.
BUT when female players like your game, then they will be more loyal then male gamers.
If we can avoid all these hurdles women could be a better customer then men.
The neurological system regulates how our bodies function, language determines how we interface and communicate with other people and our programming determines the kinds of models of the world we create. Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay affects our body and behavior (programming).
NLP is used for many things. Originally it was used in therapy to inspire people to adopt different and better behavior. But others found a way to use it in sales.
I know I've talked about the buyer type and the buyer cycle. And it's good if you want to know more about these things. But this book about using NLP to sell goes deeper into all this material.
I will not go into detail here. Please just read this or any other book about NLP. It will greately improve your selling skills and your way of thinking.
CHASING THE WHALES DOESN'T MAKE SENCE.
There is not much known about the behavior of "whales" in the video game industry.
I listed up some links:
gameanalytics.com
gamasutra.com
vg247.com
gameindustry.biz
forbes.com
But why should you even bother to know more about these whales?
I'm not talking about the ethics here. Just from a logic business perspective it just doesn't make sence.
Why risk everything to find and extort 100$ from this 3% when you can ask 3$ from the other 97%?
Ok no one can make 97% of their players pay 3$ but even if I can convice 30% of them to spend money on our game, then atleast we have revenue.
I always wonder how big our chances are to catch these whales with our game. But when I see how other games are selling their content to players I think: "Screw this! I'll grab my chances with the other 97%."
And now, It's about time for practical matters.
More helpfull websites:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/personalities.htm
http://www.leadformix.com/blog/2013/04/suspects-prospects-leads-opportunities-tell-them-apart/
http://www.gtms-inc.com/What-is-your-Sales-Process_ep_123.html
http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/buying-cycle-and-triggers/
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/19022/How-to-Leverage-the-5-Stages-of-the-Customer-Buying-Cycle-for-More-Sales.aspx
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/buying-cycle-stages-60966.html
http://www.pardot.com/buyer-journey/
http://www.customerexperienceinsight.com/there-are-4-types-of-customers-how-to-treat-each-one/
http://www.copyblogger.com/psychological-selling/
https://www.raywenderlich.com/39647/40-secrets-to-making-money-with-in-app-purchases
http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/psychology-tricks-to-sell-better-and-faster#sm.000076zr8c2jpdi3svs2fypc7gxnx
http://www.smarta.com/advice/sales-and-marketing/sales/the-10-insider-tricks-of-sales-professionals/
CRO part 1: What is conversion rate optimization?
CRO part 3: I love it when a plan comes together.
