With the recent lockdown measures arising from the pandemic, interest in gaming has surged all over the world as people seek to entertain themselves at home. The performance of the mobile game segment, in particular, should surpass that of PC and console with over 40% of the global population owning a smartphone vs other devices.
A recent report estimates that the global games market will generate revenues of $159.3 million in 2020, with mobile games alone being expected to produce $77.2 billion. This increased interest presents a massive opportunity for the mobile games industry, whose ad spend is expected to reach a whopping $48.5 billion by 2022.
With its very youthful user base, one of the key ad platforms that mobile game developers utilise for user acquisition is undoubtedly Snapchat.
Check Out these Snapchat Ad Campaigns by Mobile Game Developers
1) Tamatem
Run Time:
March - May 2020
Target Region and Audience:
Levant and Gulf Region
Performance:
The use of Snapchat full suite of acquisition and retargeting solutions proved to be a beacon of success for the brand. Tamatem witnessed a 50% boost in LTV each month during the campaign period.
Goal:
The Snapchat ad campaign built by Tamatem aimed at driving the growth of their games and thus, boost LTV.
Approach and Buyer’s Journey:
The approach developed by the gaming firm included the use of some ingenious Snapchat tools and techniques.
Tamatem leveraged Story ads and App Install Snap Ads to reach out to users for their new gaming title Fashion Queens. Besides using the best Snapchat ads, the gaming firm also leveraged an innovative targeting approach for reaching out to Arabic speakers.
The approaches included multi-country targeting and lookalike audiences. These helped the brand reach out to users with localized creatives all around the globe.
Other than this, the brand used Deep Link Snap Ads for their existing VIP Baloot. To ensure high ROI and retention, Tamatem used Re-engagement App Purchase goal-based bidding.
Results:
The soft launch of their new title Fashion Queens via engaging ads and state of the art targeting approach led to the following:
The title topped the app store chart in the middle east.
Achieved the most efficient cross-channel CPI and ROI.
50% boost in the LTV each month during the campaign period.
20% less CPI with respect to other channels.
Products Used:
Deep Link Snap Ads, Story Ads, App Install Snap Ads
2) ZPLAY
Run Time:
2019
Target Region and Audience:
US and Worldwide
Performance:
The use of Snapchat’s single image ads and video ads fostered mind-blowing results for ZPLAY. The game developer experienced a 50% lower cost per install as compared to other channels.
Goal:
The casual game developer used the Snapchat platform to raise awareness about their new game, Sharpen Blade. Moreover, they also aimed at acquiring new users on a global level.
Approach and Buyer’s Journey:
Rather than using simple Snapchat tools, ZPLAY got their hands on Snapchat’s Goal-Based Bidding Strategy for getting maximum results at the lowest cost. Moreover, to effectively and quickly acquire users, the brand leveraged multi-country targeting.
The ads produced by them were simple, though they helped them attain marvelous results in the end. The initial phase of the ad campaign was fairly rewarding for them. The brand’s daily investment became 5X.
The Result:
This simplistic yet novel marketing approach offered the finest outcomes like:
50% less cost per install than was less than $0.15
6% higher retention rate
5X increase in expenditure in the beginning after efficient scale and reach.
3rd most downloaded app in March among other Chinese apps.
Products Used:
Single Image Ads, Video Ads, Multi-country targeting
3) Playtika
Run Time:
2019
Target Region and Audience:
Gamers in the US and EMEA
Performance:
The near to perfect ad campaign designed by Playtika attracted some quite interesting results for them. The combination of Snap and Story Ads brought a 12% higher lifetime value (LTV) for the game firm.
Goal:
The chief reason for Playtika to partner with Snapchat was to acquire a new audience by leveraging the fact that the platform has a differentiated audience.
Approach and Buyer’s Journey:
Playtika knew that on Snapchat, it was easy to reach out to a differentiated audience. So, they designed their approach to target users just in the US and EMEA for their game Pirate Kings.
The brand leveraged Snap Ads and Story Ads to reach out to people. And to make sure that it reaches the right ones, Playtika used Snapchat lifestyle categories and lookalikes. They realized that creatives were the gems of Snapchat, so they kept updating their produced creatives to keep them fresh. This became the core reason for their success on Snapchat.
Furthermore, Playtika used the Snapchat Goal-Based Bidding tool for maintaining a balance between app installs and invested capital.
Results:
The simplistic approach used by the gaming firm attracted a lifetime value (LTV) of 12% with respect to other channels.
Other than that, the ad campaign led to a 15% higher first-time depositor rate versus the other channels.
Products:
Snap Ads, Story Ads, Goal-Based Bidding
Want to create your own Snapchat Ad Campaign?
Everyone loves to play games and there are millions of them in the market, each one with a its own concept and USP. If you'd like to create your own ad campaign for your mobile game app, it is necessary to make it absolutely powerful, stimulating and unique.
The ad campaigns listed above may seem easy to pull off but they have all been very carefully designed. There are multiple aspects to keep in mind while designing your ad campaign, especially for gaming. As the market is huge, you need to do a comprehensive research about the types of games already available in the market and the trending ones.
Moreover, it is also necessary to keep a close eye on your competitors and learn from their mistakes. Lastly, it is crucial for you to leverage all the necessary tools that Snapchat offers, like Snap Ads, Story ads, Goal-Based Bidding, lookalike audiences, Multi-country targeting, and more. By keeping all these things in mind, you can build a high yielding ad campaign.