4 questions to consider when selecting your mobile game analytics solution

Picking the right game analytics partner is no small endeavor; the one you choose will help you understand your app’s users, influence how your app ranks in the app store, let you know where you should be putting your advertising dollars for the highest ROI, and enable you to develop long-standing customers with high lifetime value. In other words, the vendor you choose largely predicates the success (or not) of your app. At TUNE, we work with more than half of Pocket Gamer’s top game developers as part of their strategy for success.

We’re here to help. So we’ve compiled a list of the questions we hear most often from our clients — and the ones you should be asking when considering your mobile game analytics solution — to help you select the right vendor for your business needs.

1. Will this mobile game analytics vendor grow with your goals?

Nine of 10 top worldwide app developers use TUNE technology, so we see budgets, goals, and strategies of all shapes and sizes. Some mobile game publishers are ready to spend major advertising dollars, whereas others are just trying to get their organic user base in place. Make sure you have clear business objectives before searching for a solution, so the vendor you choose can scale with you as you grow.

A lot of our clients, for example, start out with App Store Analytics to jumpstart their app store optimization and find out which keywords bring users to their app before they invest marketing budget. As they’re ready to invest in paid campaigns, they’ll leverage Attribution Analytics to measure the effectiveness of their ad partners. Then as their focus shifts to keeping users interested or re-engaging lapsed users, they’ll rely on In-App Marketing to send push notifications to entice users back into the app. There are a lot of point solutions out there, but for the biggest impact, choose a vendor that has a solution for every stage of your strategy.

2. Are you going to get the support you need to be successful?

Between developing an app, marketing it, measuring installs, and climbing the app store — you’ve got a lot to wrap your head around, and a lot to do in a day. You can’t afford to waste time troubleshooting or missing out on valuable data if things go wrong. Make sure you’re analyzing the level of support your would-be mobile game analytics vendor provides.

At TUNE, we aim for 100 percent customer satisfaction every single month, and we’re thrilled when we nail it. Our customer service has been dubbed “the best and fastest in the biz” by Fetch and many others, and it’s something we strive to live up to every day. Make sure all of your chosen vendors can not just say — but actually prove — the same.

3. Does the vendor tightly integrate with other technologies?

Many of the gaming publishers we work with have one or two add-on analytics solutions they’re using. Make sure that if you’re choosing a mobile game analytics partner, they’ll be able to integrate with the other platforms you want to keep using. Nobody wants to log into a bunch of separate systems all the time. Plus, reconciling data, spreadsheets, and systems is a headache and eats away at precious time you could be spending on higher-value work to grow your business.

TUNE products play nicely with all kinds of other solutions, so you have the most seamless experience possible. Then you can get what you need to from each solution and move on with your day. Better yet, our TUNE Marketing Console can function as a standalone solution for if and when you’re ready to use one platform that does it all.

4. Do you get to own your data?

This is a biggie, since many game analytics companies will only give you seven, 30, or 60-day windows to access your data before it’s dissolved into the interwebs forever — or at least may as well be since you’ll never be able to access it again.

With TUNE, your data belongs to you. Forever. Always. Without the fine print. It’s all part of our data pledge.

We’re here to help

If you have additional questions that you’d like to discuss with one of our mobile gaming experts, we’re here for you. We’ve even compiled a few resources to help you out in the meantime — check out our latest webinar, “Mobile Marketing 101” to get the foundations in mobile marketing, or deep-dive into the world of mobile game marketing in the webinar, “Game On: Pro Tips and Winning Strategies for Gaming App Marketing.” Whichever vendor you decide, asking the right questions at the beginning is going to ensure you have the answers you need every stage of marketing your mobile game.

P.S. Check us out in Forrester’s report, “Vendor Landscape: Mobile Analytics Vendors You Should Know.”

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