Daniel Neumann shared some of ClicksMob’s secrets for attracting new users during his speech at Casual Connect Tel Aviv 2015. “Unlike in the past, where gaming back in the ’80s or ’90s was just for gamers, today everyone’s playing,” Daniel said. “(Whether) it’s my 94-year-old grandfather who lives in England, my parents, my uncles — everyone’s on gaming. And the figures are astonishing.”
Daniel Neumann, who oversees ClicksMob’s Global Strategy and Global Business Development, spends his days looking at ways to grow the business, forming new strategic partnerships, identifying new growth opportunities and setting up new offices as the company expands globally. He has been working in the technology sector for the past eight years and even longer in international environments, where he has gained valuable experience relating with people from different cultures. He brings to his position a comprehensive understanding of technical, pre- and post-sales and business processes.
It’s Always Fun to Create Something New
After several years working in large organizations, Daniel realized he was really motivated by the idea of being a part of a young, growing startup. He explains, “It’s always exciting to create something new and to see ideas and initiatives turn into reality.
His career path in the game industry started as an account manager with Playtech, a leading provider of turnkey solutions in real-money gaming. His clients were gaming operators who used the platform for online, mobile and retail gaming platforms. He provided support and consulted with game operators on every facet of the product: features, design, configuration, CRM, support, finance, business plan formation and marketing. And he says, “It was fun as I learned each and every aspect of the business.
In his position with ClicksMob, he especially appreciates the way he is encouraged to innovate. This is a company that fosters creativity, he says, and every positive contribution to the company is valued. And he enjoys the constant interaction with people, including clients, partners and industry experts.
The Challenge of Success
The main challenge Daniel faces in his work with Clicksmob comes from the incredible success of mobile. Mobile is booming in many countries where it has become the main medium through which people consume information, shop and communicate. There are now many markets for their business, but the company can only do business in one place at a given moment. Daniel deals with this situation by staying very focused, following the company’s plans and constantly reviewing how their actions compare with their strategy. As he sees the company growing and becoming more important in the mobile performance industry, he feels great satisfaction, but he emphasizes that the best is yet to come.
Daniel is a fan of technology and enjoys seeing how our habits change as our lives transition more and more to handheld devices for communication, travel, shopping, playing games and making financial transactions. “It’s fun to be working in this ecosystem and to help some of the players evolve, distribute their products and monetize their mobile inventory,” he says.
It’s also brings much satisfaction that as a mobile performance platform we are able to empower game developer to reach their full potential by connecting them to relevant, targeted and engaged audience – globally.
The Monetization Issue
Monetization is a crucial issue for the games industry, especially since only about 2% of users spend money on games. So monetization through advertising continues to be dominant. In the future, Daniel expects new ad formats to develop in ways that are more engaging and entertaining. And new business models will evolve to make monetization sustainable.
To smaller companies facing monetization issues, he recommends, “Make your games as appealing and engaging as possible and get the math right. Pace your game in a manner that users will be ‘captured’ by the game and will simply have to pay money to continue.” To encourage users to pay rather than quitting the game, he insists that the advertising must blend well with the user experience of the game.
Daniel explained, “Video as a format in mobile gaming monetization has seen huge growth primarily due to the fact that on top of delivering higher revenues to game developers, the format is a less-intrusive, engaging and integrates well with the game experience. I believe game developers should definitely look into incorporating video ads as Video becomes more and more popular.”
Shifting Markets, Shifting Advertising
In the future, as the world becomes more and more connected, Daniel expects game developers to search for ways to penetrate niche markets as they look for mobile havens and less saturated markets. ClicksMob is already located in these markets; they are planning for these developments through leading industry events and strengthening their presence to service global players.
ClicksMob is also seeing a shift in mobile advertising to performance-based campaigns. So they are constantly investing in their technology and products to ensure they’re able to serve their clients and deliver them the maximum ROI for their user acquisition spend.
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