With one out of two adults in the United States owning a handheld device with internet access, it is becoming more important than ever for businesses to tap into the advertising potential of smartphone apps, a major part of which includes games. Smartphones have led to a boom in the online gaming industry, with an estimated 126 million Americans playing a game on their smart phone every month, making chances of you reaching prospective customers through gaming app marketing increasingly high.

The marketing strategies through smartphone games are countless, ranging from pop-up ads to marketers placing themselves in gaming apps. This marketing strategy is especially useful for businesses targeting the middle-aged demographic, which as per a recent survey by Flurry, are the leading users of game apps. Marketing through gaming apps helps you enter into the personal space of a user, with most users treating their smartphones as extensions of themselves. This makes it a lot easier to establish a deep connection with the user, which would previously be possible only through personal interaction.

However, when advertising in the gaming market, you need to have a thorough understanding of the math of the app business, where installation is not the end of the game. The real question that needs to be asked is not how many people are installing the gaming app that you are advertising on, but how many are actually retaining it. While advertising through gaming apps, you can choose between the following two options- advertising on someone else’s app, and creating your own app.

The first option makes sense for small businesses that have found a gaming app that targets their market. An example of this form of marketing is gaming companies that allow you to send coupons to smartphone users of their apps. Creating a marketing app for your business, on the other hand, is more challenging in terms of choosing the right nature of an app. “Gamification” of apps is being viewed as a great way to engage users and increase retention of the app. Your goal should be to find a way to merge your market with the kind of gaming app you choose.

A key marketing lesson to imbibe while creating a gaming app to market your business is to understand the power of free. Keeping your app free will entice more people to play your game by eliminating the risk involved in making a purchasing decision.

Centex Technologies provide Mobile Application Development Services to its clients. We also assist clients in planning and executing mobile ads and SEO.