Note  59  Osse         (10/20/08 14:58)  Advertising Update

Here is an update on our Advertising Initiative, for anyone who is
interested.
 
We started advertising in earnest on October 4, 2008 - 16 days ago. In
that time, we have spent just short of $100 on our advertising campaign.
We have placed ads on a number of sites, including topmudsites.com, other
free online games, popular web comics, etc. We also have an advertising
campaign that began over a month ago using the Google Adwords service. We
have received a number of generous donations from our players and admin,
totalling over $420, which has made this advertising iniative possible.
Many thanks to everyone who has donated!
 
Now, for the results:
 
Prior to Oct 4, our average of new character creations from new IP
addresses (what I call "true-news") was ~10, and had been on a 6-month-
long decline. Since Oct 4, our average is ~22, and continues to increase.
On Friday Oct 17 alone, we had _46_ "true-news", the highest in recent
memory. Many of you have noticed that there have been many new characters
running around, asking questions and exploring the game.
 
In total, we have had ~400 "true-news" since Oct 4. Now, on to retention.
Our retention rate has been holding fairly steady for several years, at
10%. That meaning, 10% of all true-new users end up staying. Since Oct 4,
we have seen that hold roughly true. So far we have 34 of these new
players who have aged more than 2h, most of those with multiple logins
over the time period measured.
 
Finally, our tracking of average user counts shows a significant
increase, with an average of ~52 over the last few days, compared to
averages in the low 40's pre Oct. 4.
 
In short, advertising is having a noticeable impact on The Towers. We
will keep this initiative as long as we have the funds to support it. If
you are interested in donating to help this cause, please contact me
(Osse) directly via mail or tell.
 
Also, don't forget to mudvote! It _does_ make a difference! ('help
mudvote' for more info).
 
Osse