First of all, the Starter pack is a mechanic for interacting with a paying audience. From a psychological point of view, the most difficult thing for a player is the first payment. As soon as the player makes the first purchase in the project and receives a proportionate portion of positive emotions for it, it will be much easier for the player to part with the money in each subsequent payment. There is a segment of paying players who always buy the starting offer. They have already developed the habit that it is always a very profitable offer.
A properly formed starting offer does an excellent job of converting a paying audience into a first purchase. Depending on the genre and execution, a starting offer can offer almost anything and in any form. You can highlight the main characteristics that you should rely on. The offer must have clear value for the player and a bright, rich visual. Additional pressure on the player naturally comes from the time limit.
Choose the right time of appearance, take into account the needs of the player and offer a good discount. This way you can convert even the most skeptical player. Let's take a closer look at the main characteristics for creating a starting offer.
A properly formed starting offer does an excellent job of converting a paying audience into a first purchase. Depending on the genre and execution, a starting offer can offer almost anything and in any form. You can highlight the main characteristics that you should rely on. The offer must have clear value for the player and a bright, rich visual. Additional pressure on the player naturally comes from the time limit.
Choose the right time of appearance, take into account the needs of the player and offer a good discount. This way you can convert even the most skeptical player. Let's take a closer look at the main characteristics for creating a starting offer.
Filling
When choosing the composition of the starting offer, take into account the player’s understanding of the value of the entities. The player must be able to use them immediately after purchase. A good basis for a starting offer is base currencies and resources. The player has already become acquainted with them and appreciated their value for game progress.
If there is advertising monetization, a good addition to the starting offer may be to disable advertising. This can be either a complete disabling of advertising on a permanent basis or for a certain period, or hybrid options - with disabling interstitials or issuing tokens to receive rewards from return placements without watching the video.
You should carefully consider the cost of your starting offer. As a reference, you can focus on the cost of starting offers from similar projects. To improve conversion, a large discount is often used in the starting offer - 70-80%. Sometimes higher, which makes the content of the offer greatly inflated. Try to make sure that the player does not lose interest in further payments and gameplay.
You shouldn’t take too much advantage of the cheapness of the offer and “sell the game” for $1. Chat with your company's marketing team. Check with them whether such an offer will affect the purchase of traffic. Since such an action can cause an influx of “fake payers”. Players who pay $1 once will be considered "paying players". This will have a negative impact on procurement. Leave cheap offers for working with non-paying audiences for a later date.
You shouldn’t take too much advantage of the cheapness of the offer and “sell the game” for $1. Chat with your company's marketing team. Check with them whether such an offer will affect the purchase of traffic. Since such an action can cause an influx of “fake payers”. Players who pay $1 once will be considered "paying players". This will have a negative impact on procurement. Leave cheap offers for working with non-paying audiences for a later date.
Time
Time in starting offers is used in two entities:
The optimal time for the starting offer to appear is the end of the tutorial. At this point, the player understands the primary game values and is familiar with the prices. If the starting offer provides the ability to interact with advertising, a good option may be to display the offer after the first viewing of the advertisement. The player will be able to pay and never see advertising again.
The time limit greatly depends on the content of the offer. Often the starting offer is made short in time. From one hour to a day maximum. Its value lies in the conversion of a paying audience and further work with it. If the player has not purchased the offer during this time, it’s okay. Perhaps the player is not ready to pay for its contents. Then we need to offer him alternatives. Or the player is not ready to pay at all. You can work with this too.
- time when the offer appears
- duration of the offer before disappearing
The optimal time for the starting offer to appear is the end of the tutorial. At this point, the player understands the primary game values and is familiar with the prices. If the starting offer provides the ability to interact with advertising, a good option may be to display the offer after the first viewing of the advertisement. The player will be able to pay and never see advertising again.
The time limit greatly depends on the content of the offer. Often the starting offer is made short in time. From one hour to a day maximum. Its value lies in the conversion of a paying audience and further work with it. If the player has not purchased the offer during this time, it’s okay. Perhaps the player is not ready to pay for its contents. Then we need to offer him alternatives. Or the player is not ready to pay at all. You can work with this too.
If the offer is unique - some special hero/skin or currency/resources that are not subject to inflation, the starting offer may be unlimited. This is not a very common practice, but it has a right to life. It is designed to ensure that the offer is profitable and the player will return to it a little later.
It’s worth highlighting offers with zero duration. They are more designed for an audience ready to buy everything they see here and now. Good for quick user segmentation. A bright lucrative offer, manipulation of lost profits - “now or never.” They are often reinforced with the “Miss” sign on the opt-out button. But it requires a good offer system that will immediately pick up the player, depending on the decision he makes.
Visual
This is the first sentence the player sees in the game. It should attract attention and arouse curiosity. A good solution for a starting offer is unique colorful art. Beautiful art will attract maximum user attention, forcing you to pay more attention to the offer. Even if the rest of the offers are simpler visual solutions, make the starting offer special.
However, do not overdo it - the player must clearly understand what he is buying. Naming and icons of things other than the basic ones don’t tell him anything yet. Complex entities in the form of upgrades or boosters may not yet be understood and their value may not be obvious. For this reason, refrain from lists of text or icons, and concentrate on juicy images of a product that the player can understand.
Specify the discount amount or profit amount. You can add a brief explanation of the value of this offer - “New hero”/“Annual supply of gold”/etc. Do not forget that the starting offer is most often an impulsive purchase - the player is pleased to see a beautiful image and obvious value.
You can also use a starting offer as a tool for segmenting a paying audience. To do this, you can invite the player to choose the best offer for him within one offer.
You can also use a starting offer as a tool for segmenting a paying audience. To do this, you can invite the player to choose the best offer for him within one offer.
Or show him a chain of offers. Where each subsequent offer becomes available for purchase only after purchasing the previous one
There is a fairly large number of different mechanics for offers. Almost all of them can be used for starting offers. I'll cover most of the common mechanics in subsequent articles.