Project: Graphic Design, Photo and Video Production
Client: Intellis, d.o.o.
Mobile strategy games are hugely popular across generations. This is evidenced by the fact that they have risen to an enviable number 1 in the mobile app store charts in terms of revenue, usage, and accessibility.
But have you ever wondered what it is that influences their downloads and success? To make sure you don’t overthink it, we’ve prepared a list of key factors:
⦾ VISUAL ATTRACTIVITY, i.e. high-quality graphics and animations, is of utmost importance.
⦾ This is followed by ACCESSIBILITY AND USER-FRIENDLINESS, which is ensured by intuitive controls, a clean user interface, and smooth gameplay.
⦾ In addition, ENGAGING GAMEPLAY is also important and is delivered through exciting content, challenges, strategic decision-making, and resource management.
⦾ Players are attracted by the DIVERSE CONTENT, which is manifested through different levels, features, and power-ups. This ensures their engagement as they cannot get bored of the game quickly.
⦾ ADVANCEMENT AND REWARDS are just as important, as players are motivated to unlock higher levels and get rewards for their achievements.
⦾ POSITIVE REVIEWS, i.e. reviews in mobile stores and word-of-mouth recommendations, also contribute enormously to the number of downloads and the success of the app.
⦾ Finally, FREQUENT UPDATES AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT are also important to ensure that any errors are corrected and new content is added on an ongoing basis.
Intellis d.o.o., which also runs a gaming program within the company, the result of which is the mobile game ZOMBIES vs TOWERS, approached us with a desire to advertise and attract more users.
In the game, the player is tasked with defending his settlement from a zombie invasion as one of the last survivors on the planet. This addictive arcade game combines elements of strategy, defence, and survival in a zombie world. In short, a real challenge for your strategic skills.
With this in mind, we created eye-catching static and animated UGC (User Generated Content) ads with mockups and short clips in the style of TikTok posts for the client.
Through static and animated graphics, we wanted to present potential users with the most interesting elements of the game, the ones that attract players and, as a result, keep them hooked.
In addition, we also highlighted:
⦾ a clear and attractive design
⦾ high-quality graphics
⦾ cool sound effects
⦾ an original, modern, and intuitive interface
⦾ easy to follow game rules
⦾ being a user-friendly application
That is why three shorter videos with provocative, dramatic content were also made. We chose this type of strong emotional impact because we wanted to grab the attention of the unsuspecting viewer in the first few seconds and keep it until the end.
With this in mind, the videos start with a shocking incident or a thrilling scene of gameplay that takes the viewer by surprise.
Social media advertising with prepared graphics and videos (UGC, in-game play) took place on Facebook and Instagram.
Due to preliminary data on the level of monetization of the user (gamer) within the app, we focused mainly on the US market, despite being aware of the higher cost of advertising. Later on, we added some other English-speaking countries (Canada, Australia, and the UK).
The next thing we had to pay attention to was the segmentation into iOS and Android users, with the metrics within Facebook ads manager being more precise for Android users. Again, based on the preliminary information regarding user monetization, we decided to focus on iOS users. However, we also tested Android-only campaigns.
The most important goal when we started advertising was to find the “winner” creatives and audiences.
First, we started testing the creatives:
⦾ Static graphics (high-quality zombie images) vs. static graphics (gameplay graphics, in-game images).
⦾ Video (in-play) vs video (person, unexpected event in the first seconds)
⦾ Winner static vs winner video
We continued with audience testing:
⦾ Different interests related to zombies, apocalypse, and mobile games.
⦾ Winning combinations of interests.
⦾ Testing CBO vs ABO (winner ad sets)
All campaigns have been optimized for app installs (maximize the number of app installs).
Zombies vs Towers campaign level:
⦾ App installs optimization
⦾ ABO (ad set budget optimization) better performance vs. CBO
Winning AD sets:
⦾ Combinations with narrow audiences (“and must also match”)
⦾ Specifically, zombie and apocalypse-related interests performed better than broader mobile game-related audiences. Very broad interests must be combined with narrow audiences.
Ad level:
⦾ Winning ads: static gameplay graphics (direct images from the game). The cost per link click was between 30-50% lower than all three other creative types, which is quite a surprise for us as we had predicted the best performance of short videos with an initial hook based on past experience.
IOS vs Android:
⦾ iOS metrics should always be compared to in-app stats, due to Facebook’s iOS limitations.
⦾ In our cases, cost-per-install prices for Android users were 60-70% lower than for iOS users. In this case, it is necessary to check the data for differences in monetization between the two types of users and optimize campaigns based on the totality of the data.
US vs Australia, Canada, and UK:
⦾ CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) was about 40% lower in other countries vs. the US (approx. €10.00 vs €6.00).
⦾ As a consequence, the cost per install was also significantly lower on average (between 50% and 60%). Again, it is essential to check the average monetization rate of users in each country for further optimization.
To learn more about our bold approach to advertising and how your project can become the next marketing hit, contact us.
