With recent mobile industry changes, like the iOS privacy updates, making it more difficult to track and measure UA performance, now more than ever, creatives matter for success. That’s because they’re one of the last few levers you can control that gives you unique transparency into how to optimize your campaigns and improve performance.
Creative production works best when a creative team has full control over operations - often that means managing production in-house. Having an internal creative team has many advantages, particularly when it comes to control and speed to help you scale. Based on what we’ve seen from working with over 100 mobile studios across the globe, it takes on average 10 business days to produce 1 playable when outsourcing production. But moving creative production in-house brings that average down to 5 days.
Because internal teams:
Have full access and control over all of the game’s assets
- Encourage a faster feedback cycle
- Get access to other internal teams to improve collaboration
- Become an expert on the game and audience because they have more at stake to succeed and work closely alongside those who built the game
“Since switching to in-house creative production, we’ve been able to concept test significantly more. Whenever we had an internal discussion on how we could produce more playables, the conclusion always ended up being that producing creatives internally is a lot easier and faster”
- Cemal Gunusen, Chief Gaming Officer & Co-Founder at Coda
Now it’s time to discuss the types of creatives you can actually design to help scale your UA campaigns. In-house teams can bring their speed and efficiency to interactive creative production, which tends to be a coding- and resource-heavy process, depending on the type of creative.
We can break down interactive creatives into two types:
- Quick and simple creatives, such as interactive end cards (IECs). IECs are shown at the end of a creative (usually a video creative) and highlight additional features or gameplay to encourage users to install your game and start playing
- Those that give users a rich, immersive experience, such as playable ads. As they sound, playable ads give users an interactive ad experience that encourages them to engage then install with a call to action at the end
The right combination of the two, along with video creatives, can help unlock massive scale and new supply sources. There’s two reasons for that.
First, different users react to different types of creatives - by running playables, you’ll be able to engage a new set of users compared to running just videos.
Second, generally for many game types, playable ads perform better, which gives them a higher ranking in the network waterfall. By topping the network waterfall, they’re shown in more apps across more genres. This helps advertisers scale significantly on apps they weren’t able to reach as many users on before. For example, introducing a playable into the creative set for one advertiser increased their supply from puzzle games on iOS by 753% - essentially unlocking this genre for them.
There are many metrics you can use to optimize your interactive creatives. The four main KPIs for measuring playable performance are:
- Engagement rate (ER)
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Conversion rate (CVR)
- Impressions per mille (IPM)
Each of these pertain to the parts of the playable funnel. Engagement rate refers to the percentage of users who interact with your playable (e.g. press “tap to play”). It’s an indicator of how effective the start of your playable is, in particular. If your tutorial is clear and the initial visuals are captivating, users are more likely to start engaging with your ad.
As users start engaging, click-through rate measures the number of users who ended up at the app store. It’s an important metric for analyzing the effectiveness of your playable’s gameplay and end card. Users need to be engaged enough with the playable to want to install the game.
Conversion rate represents the percentage of users who installed your app after going to the app store. CVR is a good indicator of users’ motivation to download your game based on factors like how effective your playable gameplay is and if the app store listing accurately resembles the playable experience. Users are expecting to install a game that resembles the playable they just engaged with - if they go to the app store and your game seems totally different, they’re less likely to download it. You should aim to create a seamless experience from playable to install and confirm that you’re achieving this by analyzing CVR.
Lastly, IPM brings it all together. It’s a metric that informs you about the effectiveness of your playable as a whole by measuring how many installs it drove out of every 1000 impressions. If the IPM is low (compared to genre benchmarks), it means your playable won’t be able to scale affordably - you’ll end up paying a lot for each install. If this is the case, optimizing your playable to boost other KPIs like CTR and CVR can help increase IPM. When IPM is high, your playable can not only help you achieve massive scale, but it also ensures your playbale gets ranked higher up the waterfall - a high-performing ad that’s driving installs gets bumped up in the waterfall, leading to even more impressions and traffic.
Because they’re interactive, playable ads give you unique insights into creative performance that just video and static creatives simply cannot. That’s because you can see how users interact with your creative at pretty much every step of the ad experience, which becomes powerful information you can use to optimize UA campaigns - beyond the metrics we just discussed.
This is what we call “ in-ad metrics ” which you can set up as custom events. It’s important use custom events to ensure you’re optimizing your playable ads effectively and maximizing performance.
- Completion Rate: How many users completed the playable
- Dropouts: Users who dropped off before completing the playable
- Time to Engage (TTE): How long it took the user to begin interacting with the playable
- % Win CTR: How many users won the playable and clicked through to the store
- % Lose CTR: How many users lost the playable and clicked through to the store
Measuring custom in-ad events can tell you which parts of your playable are performing well and which need to be tweaked. If there’s a particularly outstanding result, this can even inform the game build. For example, if the % Win CTR is very high (let’s say 80%), then it indicates users really enjoy playing your game and winning. The games team can use this information and design more levels that are easier to win or make the game less challenging overall.
It’s also important to analyze these metrics as you make changes to your playable - you’ll be able to see the impact of each tweak to determine if the iteration was successful.
Now let’s talk about using these metrics in action while designing creatives for each game genre.
Now that you’re familiar with types of interactive creatives, let’s explore best practices for designing and developing them across mobile game genres. Each genre attracts different users, so here are playable design tips for each game genre that tap into their distinct user psychology.
Collaborating with others and continuing to make characters faster, better, and stronger draw users to RPG games.
1. The first tip for an RPG playable is to give your users the feeling they’re playing together, leveling up, and/or taking on challenges by highlighting gameplay That shows the collaborative parts of your game or upgrading characters. RPG games encourage users to play together, upgrade beloved characters, and take on challenges. Show off the fast-paced nature of the game and exaggerate the visual effects to entice users to engage and make your playable feel more exciting.
2. Evoke a sense of accomplishment and progression in your playable With an element like unlocking a prize, leveling up, or adding a progress bar. This should encourage a higher completion rate and boost CTR.
3. When designing a playable for your game, research the trends and best practices for creatives in the RPG genre. A/B test and optimize variations of your playable to achieve a higher conversion rate.
Users who play matching puzzle games are always looking to replicate the satisfaction they get when they make a match.
1. The first tip we suggest for your match playables is A/B testing the length of gameplay and animations, and looking at those helpful in-ad metrics we just discussed to determine the winning version. Users who play match games are always looking to replicate the satisfaction they get when they make a match, and showing them an animation of a match can create that feeling. You also want to give them time to play themselves - your goal is to strike that balance between engaging users with an animation and letting them play long enough to get that satisfying feeling.
2. Matching puzzle games can be challenging - to help players understand how they should interact with your playable, give specific visual hints. For example, a hand pointing at a match on-screen or a button glowing can show users what to do and help them start engaging. Looking at metrics like time to engage, engagement rate, and CTR can confirm that your playable was clear.
3. Include a few “wow” animations after users match the items successfully. Some element that’s related to your game, like smoke blowing up, confetti, or sparkles can give players a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to download your game to keep playing - you can confirm this was the case by looking at CVR.
For the game Tile Master 3D, Higgs built a 3D playable that accurately represented gameplay and struck that balance of engaging users with just the right amount of play time. Their playable ad had a 15% higher IPM compared to the video and static creatives they were using before.
In merge games, players want to arrange pieces in a specific order and clear the board.
1. It’s important users understand how these games work and the goal, so our first tip is to use pointers (e.g. arrows or fingers) in your playables to guide users and show them how to play. Like the visual hint tip for merge games, check metrics like TTE, ER, and CTR to confirm these visual hints worked in your playable. Merge games give users the feeling of order and organization - players want to arrange pieces in a specific order and clear the board.
2. Motivate users by showing them everything they can merge - they’ll be tempted to make these merges themselves and keep playing. You can also tease players in your playable with an initial bonus, like a free initial merge, that tempts them to start playing and drives the engagement rate higher and TTE shorter.
Big Fish Games designed a playable for their game EverMerge and implemented best practices like the ones mentioned above to drive installs.
Starting with a great design then A/B testing and iterating on their playable led to the following KPIs:
- Drove 87% of installs at global launch
- 2X higher IPM than the video creative they were using
In idle games, users enjoy the rich environments that often have lots of elements and features all related to a single theme.
1. First thing’s first for idle games, start your playable by zooming in. In idle games, there’s usually a rich environment with lots of elements and features all related to a single theme. It’s easy for users to get overwhelmed by the possibilities when they first see these games and play from a bird’s-eye view - you’ll see that TTE is long and ER is low if this is the case. But starting your playable zoomed in then lets you start zooming out to show users more of the environment, which puts the game in context in a gradual, easy to understand way.
2. Our second tip is to emphasize the parts that users should pay attention to by experimenting with black overlays that grab user attention and reduce cognitive overload.
3. Third, have a clear and easy playable tutorial - keeping it short lets users engage more quickly (reducing TTE) yet they still know the goal and how to play.
Kolibri zoomed in on gameplay in the playable for their game Idle Firefighter Tycoon, letting users clearly see the goal of the game and entice them to progress and earn money by putting out the fire.
Players look to hyper-casual games when they have a few minutes of free time and are looking for a quick, fun fix.
1. The first tip for hyper-casual playables is to make gameplay challenging enough that it’ll likely end in a fail scenario in which users can’t pass the level. This frustrates them just enough to want to install the game and try to beat it. Usually, users play hyper-casual games when they have a few minutes of free time and are looking for a quick, fun fix. Playables should be simple but entice users to play by presenting them with a challenge they’ll want to overcome. Make sure you’re achieving the right balance of challenging vs. engaging by checking the % Lose CTR and CVR - but don’t forget to check all of your in-ad metrics to confirm what’s working for your users.
2. Secondly, make the gameplay in your playable ad dynamic and visually engaging. Creating a strong color contrast between the background and gameplay can make it easier for players to understand how to play and engage faster and for longer.
For their hyper-casual game 100 Mystery Buttons, Panteon built playables with Luna Elements that tapped into the user psychology of the genre. These creatives helped scale their game to #1 on iOS - the top playable had an engagement rate over 75% and the playable set as a whole drove 25% of installs.
Users play puzzle games to feel smarter and test their intelligence - they want to feel a sense of accomplishment and capability.
1. To clarify your game, get users hooked, and increase ER, our first tip is to include a clear tutorial in your playable. Users play puzzle games to feel smarter and test their intelligence. With each puzzle they solve, they feel a sense of accomplishment and capability. A playable ad only gives you a short time to tap into players’ desires to test their intellect - you don’t want them to waste time figuring out how to start playing. Make sure the goal is clear, too, so they’re tempted to install your game and get that sense of achievement.
2. Our second tip is to avoid confusing users by keeping the playable simple. Too many visual hints or details will end up distracting players from the goal and how to play - both of which are important for them to engage and install your app. Try removing some visual clutter and tracking the impact on ER, CVR, and completion rate.
Angry Birds: Dream Blast by Rovio is a playable ad that showcases gameplay clearly and simply. The easy to understand tutorial, engaging gameplay, and simple design led to the playable increasing impressions by 56% and boosting revenue on Unity by 16%.
Users want to feel rewarded and lucky when they play casino games - they’re chasing that jackpot or winning hand.
1. Tap into users’ desire to win and excitement when they play casino games by using bright colors, lucky images (e.g. leprechauns and buffalos), and casino-related language like “jackpot” and “ante up” in your playable. These elements will immerse users in the casino atmosphere and encourage them to play, which will lead to a high ER. Unlike hyper-casual playables that use a fail scenario to frustrate and engage users, casino playables are all about the big win. Users want to feel rewarded and lucky when they play casino games - they’re chasing that jackpot or winning hand.
2. Use a simple mechanic in your playable, like tap to spin - it keeps the focus only on the gameplay and the potential reward. Confirm that the mechanic and directive are simple enough by looking at TTE - it should be low.
Using dollar bills and coins is our third tip and it’s a must - it reminds users what’s at stake and the possibility of real rewards.
Neowiz implemented these tips into the playable for their game 777 Slotoday. The neon lights, winning scenario, and waterfall of coins tempts users to install the game and try their luck.
You just learned about creating playables that will resonate with users in your game’s specific genre. After you’ve let them run for a bit to track performance and analyze, it’s time to optimize them and check user quality by A/B testing different variations that focus on each part of your playable ad.
It starts with the tutorial in your playable - a good tutorial is how you can capture user attention and maximize engagement rate. A/B test visual elements, like the text on-screen and environment to nail the best tutorial that’s both engaging and clear.
Once you’ve captured players’ attention with the tutorial, keep them engaged by A/B testing different gameplay scenarios (many playables feature gameplay, but it depends on the app). Iterating on level difficulty, characters, and the speed of play are all good places to start if your playable includes gameplay. Confirm that the ad is resonating with users and convincing them to install your game by analyzing in-ad metrics like engagement rate and click-through rate after each A/B test. Looking at custom events such as end level and score can indicate if user quality is high, as players who finish the level or have a higher score tend to be higher quality and can boost your game’s LTV. Also look at conversion rate, which indicates if the gameplay experience in your playable was effective at converting users and they remained interested when they got to the app store.
Doing so can improve performance and help ensure you’re hitting your KPIs into the future. Confirm that your iterations are making an impact and maintaining - if not boosting - user quality by looking at the in-ad metrics and custom events we went over earlier.
We’ve covered a lot over the course of the eBook, so let’s quickly summarize the key points:
1. Bringing playable production in-house reduces production time in half on average.
2. Find the right combination of video creatives, playable ads, and interactive end cards to maximize scale and unlock new supply sources.
3. Take advantage of all of the in-ad metrics and custom events that playables offer to optimize your creative strategy more effectively.
4. Design playables that tap into the user psychology of each game genre.
5. Optimize each part of your playable by A/B testing and confirming the winner of each test by looking at key metrics like ER, CTR, and CVR.
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