Creative is an advertiser’s best opportunity for a competitive advantage in social advertising, and it has been since 2019. Soon, the combination of Facebook’s and Google’s Media buying automation with Apple’s removal of IDFA will make ‘winning’ creative ﹘the five percent of Facebook videos that are successful﹘of paramount importance. Here we break down Episode: Competitive Trends & Creative Recommendations, so you can learn from creative best practices.
Check out our romance apps sample reel.
Episode’s Competitive Analysis
- Competitors: Choices: Stories You Play, Chapters: Interactive Stories, Lily’s Garden: Design & Relax, Moments: Choose Your Story, Linda Brown: Interactive Story, Journeys: Interactive Series, My Story: Choose Your Own Path, What’s Your Story?, Secrets: Game of Choices, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Tabou Stories: Love Episodes, Covet Fashion, Dreame, Galatea: Immersive Stories, iReader: Novel, Readict: Novels and More, Wattpad: Read & Write Stories, Kiss: Read & Write Romance, Hooked: Chat Stories, Lure: Interactive Chat Stories, Radish.
Episode’s Top Ads & Platforms
Romance Creative Trends
- Female Story: Women overcoming obstacles and misbehaving men (Hooked, Choices, Chapters, Readict, Dreame, Kim Kardashian)
- Female Story/Pregnancy: Pregnancy and the challenges of motherhood featured prominently. (Choices, Chapters, Dreame, Readict)
- Choices: Choosing an option that directs the narrative. (Choices, Chapters)
- Testimonial: Focused on a player’s review and/or experience of the game. (Hooked, Wattpad)
- R-Rated Humor: Risque, bawdy, sexually suggestive and other adult humor. (Choices, Chapters, Dreame, Readict)
- Pop Culture: Concepts that leverage pop culture and trends. (Hooked)
- Relaxation: Concepts that tout relaxation as a primary benefit. (Dreame)
Romance App Creative
Episodes: What’s Working
- Quick vignettes are perfect for short attention spans and are culturally relevant
- Characters are quirky, aspirational and realistic
- Graphic look is recognizable and polished
- Creative pushes boundaries but does not devolve into poor taste or misogynist fare
- Stories feature a diverse and inclusive cast of characters
Romance Iteration Ideas
- Continue short vignettes featuring multiple characters
- UGC testimonials are a good way to break up animation
- Character design concepts will engage users interested in decoration/design
- Social connection is another way to tell a story with less animation
- Try more concepts that engage the user as if they’re a character
- Try more concepts with humor around real-life situations (e.g., whether to shave your legs)
Romance Creative Trends
Concept: Female Story
Create videos with female-centered narratives:
- Overcoming badly behaving men
- Jealousy scenarios with men & women
- Female empowerment
- Narrative techniques can include:
- Choose the option to affect the narrative
- Pickers (picking clothes, hair, etc for a makeover)
- Social media (text chats between characters)
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Choices, Chapters, Readict, Dreame, Kim Kardashian
Player Motivations:
- Immersion, romance, quality stories
Concept: Female Story/Pregnancy
Create videos that have pregnancy as the central topic:
- Renovation pickers to create the perfect environment for baby
- Who’s the father/jealousy scenarios
- Single mothers overcoming obstacles to raise their child
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Choices, Dreame, Chapters
Reader Motivations:
- Escapism, Immersion, Romance
Concept: Choose What’s Next
Create videos that simulate choose your own adventure stories:
- Usually female-centered stories
- Wide range of scenarios involving dating, cheating, jealousy, or choosing between action and apathy
- Dual choices keep it simple
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Choices, Chapters
Reader Motivations:
- Immersion, Fantasy, Being someone else
Concept: Testimonials
Create testimonial videos and images featuring user reviews:
- Reviews from Google Play & App Store
- Supered or voice over quotes
- Filmed UGC
- Try different categories/genres to target users
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Readict
Reader Motivations:
- Quality stories
Concept: R-Rated Humor
Utilize double entendres and other suggestive languages to attract users interested in more adult stories:
- Dating and relationship issues
- Jealousy scenarios with men & women
- Control/power scenarios
- Narrative techniques can include:
- Choose the option to affect the narrative
- Social media (text chats between characters)
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Chapters, Choices, Dreame
Reader Motivations:
- Quality stories
Concept: Pop Culture – Memes
Create videos/images that leverage current events and/or pop culture:
- Meme format
- Pair with app imagery
- Pair with stock photos
- Humorous takes on romance genre and relationships
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Chapters
Reader Motivations:
- Fun, romance
Concept: Diverse Stories
Explore stories that are inclusive of all types of relationships:
- Same-sex couples
- Interracial couples
- Unique situations utilizing a broader definition of family
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Dreame, Chapters, Choices, Readict
Reader Motivations:
- Immersion, fantasy, relatable narrative
Concept: User/Character Interaction
Create concepts that simulate a user interacting with a character in the story:
- Character texting user
- User reacting to various characters
- Character talking to a user
Competitors Utilizing Trend:
- Hooked, Dreame, Readict
Player Motivations:
- Fantasy, immersion, romance
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Please reach out to sales@consumeracquisition.com if you have any questions about our Romance App Creative Best Practices and Recommendations. We power some of the world’s largest mobile game advertisers on Facebook, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Apple Search Ads.
