How to sell mobile entertainment applications for smartphones costing 10 - 20 Euros successfully?
Currently I am developing an international distribution strategy for a client of ours that produces a cool mobile entertainment application. Because this company - that prefers to remain incognito for the time being - wants to make money and believes in their great product quality they plan to sell it at a price tag of 10 - 20 Euro in Europe, the US and Japan.
So how shall we do it to minimise customer acquisition costs and maximise profits?
First, very few mobile network operators are able to bill for high-value mobile software for smartphones costing more than 5 Euro per one-time download. So far, my research in Germany has proved that this is the case. It might and should change in the future, but we not yet there. Let me know in which countries high-priced mobile applications can be billed and delivered through the official mobile portals and where this works well.
Second, even if you are listed on the official mobile portal it is not certain that users will find your content, love it and buy it. The reason is that there are little to no default co-marketing options with content providers such as "Top 10 Applications", "Latest Entertainment Adds" or "Cool Stuff Newsletter" initiatives in Europe. In Japan, for example, i-mode and especially D2 Communications established a good number of powerful mobile marketing tools for mobile content and applications.
As a consequence, we have to look into other distribution channels which are often called the "unofficial content market". In Japan it is very: 50% of the mobile data traffic is going to and coming from unofficial content providers that are not listed on any of the three operator portals.
So the challenge here is this one: Which distribution channels, payment systems and marketing tools should I use for my mobile entertainment app that I want to sell to a global audience with a maximum profit at a price per unit of 10 - 20 Euro?
In the US and increasingly in Europe, you can work it out with the help of mobile software shops such as Handango. Handango usually takes 30% sales commission on each sale and passes on 70% to the application developer. That's less revenue for the developer than the typical i-mode revenue sharing. But due to a lack of competition and the efficient job they do, Handango is able to ask for such a substantial piece of the cake. In Germany, Handango's competitor is called Mobile2Day. If you want to do marketing action in these mobile software shops you usually pay even more sales commission on a success basis. Moreover, Handango or Mobile2Day operate mobile software shops for device manufacturers or partner with web portals to increase their mobile eyeball reach as much as possible.
What other ways can you recommend to distribute this entertainment application? Will it be enough to work with independent mobile software shops, device makers' online shops and some mobile marketing schemes targeted at smartphone users? Or do you want to share with us some better ideas?
Let me end this article with another another option to boost your mobile sales: P2P content superdistribution or, like I prefer to call it, the ultiimate "Face2Face M-Commerce Engine". This is a smart piece of software that allows you to resell your favourite mobile applications to your friend while getting the sales commission yourself. Transfer the app over Bluetooth and let your friend buy a license key over 1 or more Premium SMS or any other mobile payment system at hand. This is what Openbit in Finland offers. A similar, multichannel approach is followed by Navio in the US.
Enjoy your innovative mobile application distribution strategies.
