Mobile Gaming User Acquisition. 8 Best Practices From Key Advertisers

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Darcy Hart
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1 Mobile Gaming User Acquisition 8 Best Practices From Key Advertisers

Methodology Between September and December 2015, we conducted interviews with 10 user acquisition professionals working for 10 major gaming studios.

2 Methodology Between September and December 2015, we conducted interviews with 10 user acquisition professionals working for 10 major gaming studios. The goal has been to identify key success factors and new trends within the mobile UA (User Acquisition) space. We expected to start the study with a segmentation of these advertisers, and find out different acquisition behaviors depending on company size, app business model, etc. We later realized that these parameters didn t influence their user acquisition strategy. We concluded that the best way to share the lessons learned from our interviews was to highlight 8 best practices. These will be found in the first part of the study. We hope that this helps any individual who wants to acquire gamers on mobile today. 6 out of 10 game studios accepted to have their interviews summarized on a fact sheet. These will be found in the second part of the study.

3 8 BEST PRACTICES

4 8 Best Practices 1. Try Various UA Partners 2. Find Transparent & Direct Partners 3. Optimize Your Campaigns 4. Dabble In Video Ads 5. Maximize Cross Marketing 6. Prepare For RTB Take Off 7. Investigate Retargeting 8. Target Tier 2 And 3 Countries

5 1. Try Various UA Partners Most of the studios we interviewed work with 5+ UA partners: 4 of them said that they have between 5 and 20 partners Number of UA partners / Number of studios 1-4 partners 5-20 partners partners 100+ partners

6 2. Find Transparent & Direct Partners Advertisers mainly work with 2 types of UA partners, to get transparent and direct traffic: ad networks (like AdBuddiz) and social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter). Gaming ad networks represent the most direct way to advertise in relevant apps. Our interviewees also appreciated the infinite targeting options provided by social networks. Transparency is a key factor when choosing a new partner. 3 out of 10 advertisers require the app names of the publishers when choosing a UA Partner. 5 out of 10 did not recommend to work with affiliation platforms. They found a lack of transparency and received non-solicited incentivized traffic via affiliation. Robert Orr, in charge of Customer Acquisition at GSN Games, explains We look for trustworthy partners who agree with our no rebrokering policy. We have worked with affiliation platforms before, but got mixed results.

7 3. Optimize Your Campaigns (1/2) All 10 advertisers kept track of several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to optimize their campaigns. The ones most commonly cited include in-app purchases : ROI (Return on Investment), % of paying users, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). Information on user retention is also collected: Day 1 retention (user keeps playing on the first day), conversion rate from first app opening to registration, etc. 2 main optimization tools have been identified to improve campaigns performance: 1) Blacklist / Whitelist publishers according to performance. 9 out of 10 advertisers use this tool on a regular basis. 2) Apply a different CPI per publisher: 2 out of 10 advertisers use this tool.

8 3. Optimize Your Campaigns (2/2) Automatic optimization is highly appreciated. 7 out of 10 advertisers use post-install event optimization, meaning that the UA partner automatically pauses traffic sources that don t reach the KPI target. Christina Bogatova, Marketing Manager at ZiMAD, says: We prefer partners who can set up a post-install event optimization on their platform. It is best to make sure the traffic will match our target in terms of KPI. ROI is our main focus for optimization. A successful post-install event optimization requires you to: Identify the most important KPI needed to track and set up a clear target: 20% Day 1 retention, 2% of paying users within the first month Coordinate the tracking set up with your UA partner: most tracking solutions on the market (Adjust, Appsflyer, Tune ) support this. 3 of the 10 interviewees consider data related to post install events as highly sensitive. They prefer sharing it with big partners only.

9 4. Dabble In Video Ads 8 out of 10 advertisers declare that video is the best ad format in terms of performance (volume of installs) and KPIs (retention, in-app purchases). The CPI (Cost per Install) is usually similar to the other ad formats. 2 ad formats co-exist: rewarded and non-rewarded videos. With a rewarded video, the user earns some virtual item in the app he is using in exchange for viewing the video ad. Our interviewed advertisers mostly use rewarded videos because the supply is higher on this ad format. Advertisers able to compare the traffic coming from rewarded and non-rewarded videos notice similar performance. One of our interviewees shares: 50% of our video traffic is coming from rewarded videos, but the performance is the same as for non-rewarded videos.

10 5. Maximize Cross Marketing Cross Marketing is a way to promote your other apps within your own app. For instance, if your users are enjoying your app, A, they might be interested in your new app, B. Therefore, you can do Cross Marketing by displaying an ad for app B to the users within app A. There are various ways to do Cross Marketing: banners within the game, s, push notifications Alexandre Yazdi, Co-founder at Voodoo, uses the remaining space from his ad inventory to promote his other app: We monetize our app with advertising solutions that offer a fill rate of 70%. We use the remaining 30% to promote the premium version of this app.

11 6. Prepare For RTB Take Off (1/2) RTB stands for Real Time Bidding. RTB allows advertisers to bid on CPM on specific ad impressions based on the characteristics of the user (geolocalization, gender, etc). The advertiser proposing the highest bid wins and displays the ad to the user. The whole process is done in real time and programmatically. Actors involved in the RTB process are divided into 3 categories: o The Supply: the platforms aggregating all the supply are called «SSP» («Supply Side Platform») o The Demand: the platforms aggregating all the demand are called «DSP» («Demand Side Platform») o The Ad-Exchange: where the supply and the demand meet

6. Prepare For RTB Take Off (2/2) 7 out of 10 advertisers have launched RTB

Only 1 of them considered it a success: Failure Average results Success The

12 6. Prepare For RTB Take Off (2/2) 7 out of 10 advertisers have launched RTB campaigns. Only 1 of them considered it a success: Failure Average results Success The interviewees tell us that RTB is not ideal for them as they are used to CPI acquisition. However, everyone agrees to see a high potential in the future for RTB. Alexandre Yazdi, Co-founder of Voodoo, explains We got high quality traffic from RTB campaigns. We want to use more when we launch our next game.

13 7. Investigate Retargeting (1/2) The goal of retargeting is to reengage high-quality users who stopped playing a game, by displaying ads to them. As a studio, you can choose to promote among these high-quality users the same game they stopped playing, or a new similar game of yours. There are 2 main ways to do it: Facebook: tool used by Robert Orr, Senior Manager at GSN: We use Facebook to find users who are no longer playing one of our games. We promote a similar game to that pool of users. RTB: game studios usually list the device ids of the most interesting loyal/ high paying users who stopped playing the game. They target them on the RTB channels with visuals that encourage them to come back (sometimes they can offer them a reward or a discount of virtual items to attract them). They profit from the high targeting possibilities of RTB to adjust their CPM bids based on the quality of the user.

7. Investigate Retargeting (2/2) In order to evaluate whether a retargeting campaign is efficient or not, one of our interviewees (who prefers to remain anonymous) recommends A/B testing.

14 7. Investigate Retargeting (2/2) In order to evaluate whether a retargeting campaign is efficient or not, one of our interviewees (who prefers to remain anonymous) recommends A/B testing. In one pool, he suggests to track the performance of non retargeted old users, and in the other one, to put the retargeted ones. The second pool has to bring more reengaged users back to your app. 7 out of 10 advertisers have launched a retargeting campaign: 4 of them have had successful results. Results: same % of re-engaged users for retargeted and non-retargeted users Results: more retargeted users come back to the app than non-retargeted users Manuel Pacreau, UA manager at Kobojo, said We used retargeting to re-engage users who used to play our game Mutants: Genetic Gladiators. It worked well on a CPC or CPM model.

15 8. Target Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries (1/2) In advertising, targeted countries are usually divided into 3 categories with different pricing. Advertisers are willing to pay more to get users from Tier 1 geos because they can potentially generate higher revenues. o Tier 1: USA, Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, UK, Japan, Korea o Tier 2: Europe (France, Germany, Switzerland), Singapore, Taiwan, Russia o Tier 3: Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines), South America (Brazil, Mexico), Africa Although most advertisers focus their UA efforts in Tier 1 geos, 6 out of 10 interviewed advertisers have bought traffic from Tier 2 geos (especially France, Germany). 3 out of 10 have bought traffic from Tier 3 geos (in particular: Brazil, Russia, Turkey). * Advertisers may include different geos into each Tier (Western Europe is sometimes considered as Tier 1)

8. Target Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries (2/2) There are 2 main advantages of targeting

the CPIs are much lower (varies from $0.20 to $1.40 on average).

Yoann Morand, UA manager at BeeMoov, tells us: We have 2 different pricing strategies.

We focus on the CPI and retention data to optimize our campaign.

16 8. Target Tier 2 and Tier 3 countries (2/2) There are 2 main advantages of targeting countries in Tier 2 or 3 : the campaign gets higher visibility due to lower competition, and the CPIs are much lower (varies from $0.20 to $1.40 on average). The UA strategy can be different according to the geos the advertiser is targeting. Yoann Morand, UA manager at BeeMoov, tells us: We have 2 different pricing strategies. High ROI is not the priority in developing geos. We focus on the CPI and retention data to optimize our campaign. From our experience at AdBuddiz, the most attractive geos among Tier 2 are in Europe (France, Germany, Switzerland ). In Tier 3 they are: Russia, Brazil, Turkey, and South-East Asia: India, Indonesia, and Thailand.

17 HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR USER ACQUISITION STRATEGY WITH ADBUDDIZ

Premium CPI ad network: direct link between you and our 30K+ publishers 100% non-incent traffic on all types of vertical Worldwide strong traffic in Europe, America, Asia

18 Premium CPI ad network: direct link between you and our 30K+ publishers 100% non-incent traffic on all types of vertical Worldwide strong traffic in Europe, America, Asia Beautiful interstitial ads: static + video Possibility to optimize with post-install events and publishers blacklisting Smart algorithm allowing to target the relevant audience

19 ADVERTISERS FACT SHEET

BEEMOOV Company info Mobile games Created in 2006 in France Between 20 and 49 employees

Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner?

downloads - Geos: USA, France, Germany / Brazil, Turkey, Russia - Category: Role

mobile than web because of lower retention and paying users - ios works better than

20 BEEMOOV Company info Mobile games Created in 2006 in France Between 20 and 49 employees 7 titles targeting young female audience 50-80K monthly budget for user acquisition Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges My Candy Love - Android: 5M-10M downloads - Geos: USA, France, Germany / Brazil, Turkey, Russia - Category: Role playing - High volume - Target specific audience - It is harder to be successful on mobile than web because of lower retention and paying users - ios works better than Android - Increase paying users and retention on Android - Improve ROI on Tier 1 geos Interviewee: Yoann Morand, User Acquisition Manager

GSN GAMES Company info Mobile Games Created in 2000 in the United-States 9 offices around the world 5 titles 1 million $

Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges 4 games: 25% budget each - Solitaire TriPeaks, Bingo Bash, GSN Grand

to target specific publishers with relevant audience - Important to have a trustworthy partner that respects GSN s policy (no

21 GSN GAMES Company info Mobile Games Created in 2000 in the United-States 9 offices around the world 5 titles 1 million $ monthly budget for user acquisition Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges 4 games: 25% budget each - Solitaire TriPeaks, Bingo Bash, GSN Grand Casino, GSN Casino - Geos: USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada - Category: Casino - Doesn t do any media buying - Being able to target specific publishers with relevant audience - Important to have a trustworthy partner that respects GSN s policy (no media buying, non-incent ) - Explore a new ad format: Playable ads (only few partners do it currently) Interviewee: Robert Orr, Senior Manager, Media Customer Acquisition

KOBOJO Company info Mobile Games Created in 2008 in France 51-200 employees in

focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner?

Gladiators - Geos: worldwide - Category: Action - No media buying - Reporting

who are 100% transparent and give the publishers apps names - Focus on 2

22 KOBOJO Company info Mobile Games Created in 2008 in France employees in Paris and Dundee (UK) 1 title 100K monthly budget for user acquisition Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges Mutants: Genetic Gladiators - Geos: worldwide - Category: Action - No media buying - Reporting API - Possibility to target specific publishers - Important to find partners who are 100% transparent and give the publishers apps names - Focus on 2 current projects: The Phoenix Project and Zodiac Interviewee: Manuel Pacreau, User Acquisition & Advertising Manager

VOODOO Company info Mobile Games Created in 2013 in France Headquarters in Paris 1-10 employees 1

Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges Quiz Run - Category: Trivia - Geos: US, DE,

partners who can send high volume with low CPI - Self-serve platforms are best - Improve the

23 VOODOO Company info Mobile Games Created in 2013 in France Headquarters in Paris 1-10 employees 1 title Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges Quiz Run - Category: Trivia - Geos: US, DE, FR - High volume - Self-serve platform - Post-install event optimization - Important to find partners who can send high volume with low CPI - Self-serve platforms are best - Improve the monetization from advertising (ads generate the biggest part of the revenues, before in-app purchases) Interviewee: Alexandre Yazdi, Co-Founder

ZiMAD Company info Mobile Games Created in 2009 in the United-States Headquarters located in San Francisco 51-200 employees in different offices (US, Russia, Belarus) 6 titles Main focus for User

24 ZiMAD Company info Mobile Games Created in 2009 in the United-States Headquarters located in San Francisco employees in different offices (US, Russia, Belarus) 6 titles Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges 4 games - Magic Jigsaw Puzzles, Bubble Birds 4, Bubble Birds 5, Dig Out - Category: Arcade / Puzzle - High volume and quality - Trustworthy partner - Android is harder to monetize through in-app purchases compared to ios - Improve the traffic quality from current partners - Find new optimization tools with these partners Interviewee: Christina Bogatova, Marketing Manager

1492 STUDIO Company info Created in 2014 in France Mobile Games 1 Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges Is it love?

25 1492 STUDIO Company info Created in 2014 in France Mobile Games 1 Main focus for User Acquisition Best feature in a partner? Thoughts on mobile User Acquisition Today s challenges Is it love? - Target: female audience - Category: Role playing - 1 User Acquisition partner: Facebook - Possibility to target a specific audience - ROI is the most important KPI - Being able to launch new apps regularly (every 4/5 months) - Get more targeting options Interviewee: Thibaud Zamora, CEO

26 Thank you Come and meet us! Maïwenn Joncour 4 rue de Châtillon Paris Campaign Manager Phone: maiwenn@adbuddiz.com Jonathan Ferrebeuf CEO jonathan@adbuddiz.com

REACH NEW HEIGHTS A DIVISION OF

REACH NEW HEIGHTS A DIVISION OF A DIVISION OF ABOUT US With an experience of over 6 years in the mobile User Acquisition industry, assisting to over 100 app developers worldwide to achieve their mobile marketing strategy, we have brought