Lian, Author at Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs

TikTok UA Hot Tips and Updates for May 2022

Posted on May 24, 2022May 19, 2022 by Lian

Get insider details on fresh TikTok UA tips and tools including:

First- and third-party cookies added to TikTok Pixel
Pulse, a new contextual advertising solution
Insights platform for trending topics
A new mobile gaming playbook

TikTok UA Tips and Updates for May 2022

To help UA and creative teams adjust to the evolving ad ecosystem, we’ve compiled the latest tips, updates, and guidance for TikTok UA campaigns. TikTok For Business has introduced several new features to enhance its advertising capabilities, so UA teams have some great new tools to try out. And if you’d like expert TikTok UA tips and recommendations from our UA team, feel free to contact us here. Our market insights and creative expertise come from managing over $3.5 billion in creative and social ad spend for the world’s largest mobile apps and web-based performance advertisers. Here’s what’s happening in TikTok mobile advertising.

TikTok Capitalizes on Contextual Advertising

With the goal of increasing user reception to ads, TikTok is focusing efforts on serving ads more closely aligned with user behavior, and relevant to the content being viewed. A recent study found that contextual ads increased memorability by 76% and favorability by a staggering 107%. Serving ads based on context is proven to increase user sentiment and user engagement.

Source: Business of Apps

TikTok Pulse

TikTok capitalizes on contextual ad placement with the launch of TikTok Pulse, “a new contextual advertising solution that lets advertisers place their brand next to the top content in the For You Feed.” TikTok suggests that aligning brand presence with more relevant content fosters a sense of community that inspires creators and app discoverers alike. According to TikTok, “Pulse is designed to give brands the tools and controls to be a part of these everyday moments and trends that engage the community.”

Stats on Pulse performance via TikTok Newsroom

Key Features for Pulse

Advertisers receive placement within the top 4% of trending videos
Placement within 12 culturally relevant categories including gaming, cooking, beauty, fashion, and more
Inventory filter and campaign measurement tools ensure ads are paired with verified content for brand suitability

TikTok’s Insight into Current and Past Trends

TikTok’s new Insights platform supports marketers with an easy tool that offers trend transparency over time. Marketers can view trending topics over time based on audience generation, holidays, industries, and years. While the analysis is currently quite broad, marketers new to TikTok will gain data on user sentiment and behaviors as they plan campaigns.

Source: TikTok for Business

Increasing Visibility for Mobile Games

TikTok For Business released its mobile gaming playbook that highlights best practices for brands to engage with gaming audiences. The resources show how the platform embraces gaming culture and how to leverage emerging gaming trends to enhance brand image. The diverse gaming community thrives on interaction and engagement, with TikTok’s top 100 gaming-related hashtags earning 40 billion views per month. 1 in 5 users says they downloaded/purchased a game because of an ad on TikTok. 65% of US TikTok users have made an in-app purchase within the last 3-6 months, offering marketers an opportunity to get in front of known spenders.

Stats and hashtags via TikTok For Business Mobile Gaming Playbook 101

Tailored TikTok Campaigns

Advertisers can tailor TikTok campaigns based on objectives and KPIs for all stages of mobile game marketing: pre/soft launch, launch, scaling, retaining, and monetizing. Owned content, creator content, and in-feed video are used in tandem to create the best possible mix. During pre-launch, advertisers can use organic and paid content to validate product-market fit and optimize content. During the launch, growing the player base through direct response user acquisition is a critical focus. Once the player base is established and growing, advertisers should expand brand visibility and optimize for value. Finally, rewards, content updates, and community engagement increase loyalty, and by extension, player retention and monetization. View TikTok’s Mobile Gaming Playbook here.

Chart via TikTok For Business Mobile Gaming Playbook 101

TikTok Adds Cookies to their Pixel

TikTok’s in-platform capabilities are robust, but attribution has long been an issue for advertisers seeking to validate their TikTok campaigns. Even with cookies (eventually) going away, TikTok has added first-party cookies to their site conversion pixel, allowing advertisers to track site behavior and attribute ads across browsers. Additionally, TikTok now requires advertisers to collect and pass third-party cookies to TikTok. In their documentation, TikTok states:

“As identity continues to become increasingly fractured and uncertain, and as third-party cookie deprecation continues to delay, we have decided to bring our product offerings in line with the industry by activating the use of first- and third-party cookies. Cookies will supplement existing event data advertisers already share with TikTok, and will improve both the quality and dependability of event data.”

TikTok’s third-party cookie will dramatically improve attribution, particularly within their already flourishing shopping community. Unlike Facebook, TikTok has historically been accommodating to users leaving the app when linked to an outside browser. By allowing advertisers and influencers to direct users to off-platform marketplaces, TikTok has actually encouraged shopping behavior. This flexibility paired with the Pixel and cookies provides TikTok an opportunity to “improve matching and attribution capabilities.”

Source: TikTok Business Help Center

Diverse Content Drives Results on TikTok

As we’ve reported, without deterministic tracking on iOS or effective lookalike audiences, relying on general broad-stroke creative won’t be enough to profitably expand your audience. However, persona-led creative developed around player motivations, preferences, and interests is the key to sustainable user acquisition. In TikTok’s Creative Solutions: The Ultimate How-to Guide their recommendation is clear: “in order to captivate new audiences, the key is to continuously share fresh and diverse content.” With the platform built on a content graph instead of a social graph, “diverse discovery” keeps users “inspired and energized.”

Source: TikTok For Business

TikTok Creative Guide

Our 2022 TikTok Creative Guide provides an in-depth analysis of creative trends along with actionable insights to drive creative performance. Understand how different styles of UGC ads work and get TikTok creative testing and media buying recommendations. Working with a knowledgeable marketing partner that can provide quantitative creative testing ensures you get the best performance from your TikTok ads. Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to discuss your creative and user acquisition goals.

Most Loved In-App Ad Format? Rewarded Video

Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 by Lian

Rewarded video ads are universally popular among advertisers, publishers, and mobile game players, alike. Read our latest blog post to learn more about the most loved in-app ad format, rewarded video.

Understand different types of in-app advertisements
Discover why in-game advertising is gaining traction among non-gaming companies
Find out which in-app ad formats bring in high-value users

Most Loved In-App Ad Format?
Rewarded Video

In-game advertising among non-gaming companies is gaining notable traction among marketers. According to MarketingDive, major brands such as Unilever and American Eagle are “using gaming to support commerce goals and court favor with hard-to-reach audiences.” Setting aside “gamer” stereotypes, mobile games appeal to hugely diverse audiences and offer marketers an increasingly flexible environment to reach them.

In-game ads have great benefits for advertisers seeking contextual placement, brand-safe environments, and captive audiences. And the market is only growing. By 2027, the in-game advertising market is expected to grow by a healthy 19.5% up from $5.29 billion in 2020, according to Report Ocean. “As marketers contend with the deprecation of cookies and changes to other identifiers, an embedded approach in gaming could have greater appeal. Gamers, after all, are held at rapt attention given the interactive nature of the medium,” says MarketingDive.

Types of Ads Displayed in Games, by Genre

Source: PocketGamer

In-App Ad Formats

Among the different in-app ad formats, rewarded video ads are universally popular among advertisers, publishers, and mobile game players, alike. Based on the user experience, players are 64% more likely to engage with an in-game rewarded ad than a sponsored post on social media.

As users playing a mobile game are actively participating in something they enjoy, they tend to accept ads in exchange for a free-to-play (F2P) experience. When interviewed, 82% of users said they’d much rather play free games than purchase paid ones and the higher volume of F2P users makes measurement and tracking at scale more efficiently. Users are accustomed to ad monetization models and generally understand how ads factor into the free-to-play mobile game experience. In fact, players often actively seek out opportunities to view ads if they unlock a reward within the game.

“For media buyers running in-app campaigns, I recommend maxing out rewarded video before anything else. Prioritize SDK networks like IronSource, Unity, and Applovin. Then run banners, interstitials, and rewarded video on Facebook audience network, Google display, YouTube for mobile and TikTok’s Pangle.”

– Bo Jacks, Director of UA, Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs

REWARDED VIDEO ADS

Players served rewarded video ads receive an in-game benefit for watching, such as hard currency or extra lives. This format is a win-win situation for all parties involved. Because advertisers get high CTRs while developers enjoy the ad revenue. No matter what kind of rewards or apps are being advertised, the opt-in nature of rewarded ads means players are very likely to stick around for the duration of the ad after starting. If a player quits early, they forfeit the reward. Users are generally supportive of this kind of ad, with 77% of them willing to sit through a 30-second ad if it means getting retail discounts. According to eMarketer, rewarded video ads are the most prevalent format, given their high completion rates. Unity Ads calls rewarded video as the “hottest revenue generator” in in-game advertising.

INTERSTITIAL ADS

Interstitial ads have been around since the early days of F2P. They take up the viewer’s full screen for a certain period of time, after which the viewer can skip the ad or elect to install the app. While both static images and video can be used in this format, it’s highly recommended to use video content as it provides a more entertaining experience for the user. Compared to rewarded video, players typically don’t get anything out of the experience so they tend to be neutral about interstitials. From a developer perspective, the key to successful interstitials lies in making them as unobtrusive as possible, ensuring the ads are placed within natural gameplay pauses and at predictable locations.

BANNER ADS

Unlike interstitial ads, banner ads do not interrupt gameplay or app activity since they are designed within the user interface. When executed well, banner ads can even feel like a part of the game’s universe. Portrait-mode apps tend to favor these ads since they are usually discrete and do not take much space. Banner ads benefit advertisers with their cheaper costs and simple production process. This format tends to be less favored by developers and publishers due to lower revenue. So it’s usually better to employ them as part of a comprehensive advertising strategy, rather than as standalone performers.

OFFER WALLS

Similar to rewarded video ads, offer walls allow users to claim a reward for completing a specific activity. For example, engaging with another app or filling out a survey. Offerwalls are often located within an app’s store and provide many options to users. Although offer walls are less popular than they used to be, there are still plenty of reasons to use them. With the promise of high-quality users, advertisers only pay publishers when the target goal is reached. So there’s little risk of wasting an investment.

PLAYABLE ADS

Playable ads are the most production-intensive type of ad and are specifically for mobile games. They introduce a mini-game that showcases the core features of the app being advertised. Upon completing it, players are prompted to install the application. Users generally perceive playable ads as the most enjoyable of all ad types. Advertisers should note that the CPI for playable ads is at an all-time low ($1.98), making them a highly competitive option even when compared to rewarded ads. This is especially true on Android as the CPI is at $1.41 over there, much lower than the iOS average at $3.66. Playables also tend to acquire high-quality users since players who have tested a game are far less likely to quit after installing it.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Our Creative Studio provides clients with bespoke ad creative driven by Hollywood storytelling and quantitative analysis. Mobile app marketers and web-based performance advertisers come to us for end-to-end, outcome-oriented creative, integrated user acquisition, and creative optimization. Through our proprietary technology AdRules, we make creative and media buying decisions based on our clients’ real-time financial performance.

Our creative expertise comes from managing $150m in monthly ad spend across Facebook, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Apple Search Ads. Creating and testing 100K videos and images each year for clients provides us unparalleled insights into the evolving mobile advertising ecosystem. From our strategic analyses of IDFA loss and media buying automation to tactical guidance for A/B testing, we ensure our clients can adapt and thrive. Contact us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to work with our team.

Facebook Tips for Mother’s Day Advertising 2022

Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 by Lian

With Mother’s Day almost here, Facebook for Business shared with us some timely tips for advertisers to make the most of the holiday.

Understand market opportunities
Provide inspiration to gift-givers
Get creative recommendations

Facebook Tips for Mother’s Day Advertising 2022

A key growth opportunity

To understand the value of the Mother’s Day market, consider participation at the national level: 83% percent of U.S. adults celebrate the holiday, translating to an enormous brand growth opportunity that boosts sales averages and increases visibility. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported a $2B increase in consumer Mother’s Day spending from 2020 to 2021, with average spending increasing every year since 2018.

Online spending continues to increase, even compared to pre-pandemic numbers. Facebook notes that 34% of consumers plan to shop online and have their Mother’s Day gifts delivered directly. This presents a massive opportunity for eCommerce marketers, in particular.

Source: National Retail Federation, Mothers’ Day Consumer Spending & Celebration Plans

Retailers Should Inspire Gifters

32% of Mother’s Day gifters always/very often look to retailers to provide inspiration for their gift-giving. Irrespective of demographics, NRF identifies core purchase motivators as convenience, uniqueness, cost, and creating a special memory.

Source: National Retail Federation, Mothers’ Day Consumer Spending & Celebration Plans

Ad Creative

With consumers looking for retailers to inspire them, advertisers must craft campaigns and utilize ad creative that addresses those top motivations. Persona-led and motivation-driven ad creative will improve direct response results. Create “special memories” by evoking care, wonder, or nostalgia. A Mother’s Day celebration isn’t typically an ordinary, everyday experience, so gifters seek out unexpected and unique gifts. While jewelry continues to dominate gift spending, consumer electronics is a competitive category, following after special outings and experiences. Self-care and fitness gifts are also on the rise. Advertisers must understand the underlying values, desires, and behaviors of target customers to inspire their purchase decisions.

Creative Facebook Tips

Facebook for Business recommends the following tips for Mother’s Day creative.

When incorporating seasonal assets (as many eCommerce advertisers will be doing), include strong, attractive branding to ensure your offering stands out
Highlight the value of the experience (not the product) to inspire the consumer
Remember that your product encapsulates a set of emotions from a gifter to the receiver
Appeal to the human (not the wallet) with great storytelling and alignment of values
Leverage user-generated content for a sense of community and authenticity
Make it beautiful, says Facebook: “Inviting, captivating visuals followed with direct pushes towards your desired action allow for the merging of performance and branding in a flawless way”

Source: Facebook for Business

Want better results from Facebook performance advertising?

Working with a knowledgeable marketing partner that can provide market resources and Facebook expertise ensures you get the best performance from your platform ads. Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to discuss your user acquisition goals.

Check out our Creative Reels

In-Game Advertising Trends [Infographic]

Posted on May 10, 2022May 3, 2022 by Lian

In-game advertising has proven benefits for advertisers seeking contextual placement, brand-safe environments, and captive audiences. Setting aside “gamer” stereotypes, mobile games appeal to hugely diverse audiences and offer marketers an increasingly flexible environment to reach them. “As marketers contend with the deprecation of cookies and changes to other identifiers, an embedded approach in gaming could have greater appeal. Gamers, after all, are held at rapt attention given the interactive nature of the medium,” says MarketingDive.

Data from our article Most Loved In-App Ad Format? Rewarded Video is summarized in this infographic In-Game Advertising Trends.

In-Game Advertising Trends Infographic

Sources

In-Game Advertising Market to reach USD 18.41 billion by 2027 | IPS News
Mobile Gaming Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 – 2026)
3 Reasons why Mobile Games Represent a Huge Opportunity for Digital Marketers
20+ Intriguing Mobile Gaming Statistics: How Effective is Mobile Marketing in 2022?
55 Mobile Gaming Demographics Statistics: 2022 Data on Market Share & Spending
The Consumer Engagement Crossroads: Getting consumers to opt in before they opt out
The Mobile ePCM Report: In-App Ad Monetization Worldwide
Smaato and Liftoff Reveal the Most Engaging In-App Ad Formats
Rewarded Video Ads: Statistics and Best Practices for 2022
Rewarded Video Ads Monetization: App Developers Guide
Playable in-game ads are most effective but marketers should consider motivation
What Mix of In-App Ad Formats Are Mobile Game Developers Worldwide Using?
What Are US Mobile Gamers’ Attitudes Toward In-App Advertising? | Insider Intelligence
Playable Ads: Creation, Examples & Tutorial | ironSource
Offerwalls Impact On IAP, Engagement & Retention | Tapjoy

Want better results from video ads for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Snap?

Our industry expertise comes from managing over $3.5 billion in creative and paid social spend for the world’s largest mobile apps and performance advertisers, including Glu, Roblox, Wooga, Zynga, and Skillz. Our proprietary full-stack marketing platform AdRules provides real-time business intelligence and creative research from 3.5 million video ads across social channels.

As the mobile advertising ecosystem has evolved, we have focused on being a reliable source of mobile app industry insights and trends. Our strategic analyses of IDFA loss and media buying automation, along with tactical guidance for user acquisition and creative teams, has helped advertisers remain profitable during an unprecedented era of change. Our industry expertise has earned coverage from CNBC, Forbes, SeekingAlpha, Business Insider, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Mobile Marketing Magazine, and many more.

Working with a knowledgeable marketing partner that can provide extensive quantitative creative testing ensures you get the best performance from your UGC ads. Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to discuss your user acquisition goals.

DOWNLOAD In-Game Advertising Trends Infographic NOW

New Facebook Tool Predicts Creative Fatigue

Posted on May 17, 2022May 11, 2022 by Lian

Facebook released a new tool that predicts creative fatigue. In this post, we will explain the details of this new feature and help you do the following:

Diagnose creative fatigue patterns early
Receive improvement recommendations from Facebook
Recover campaign performance faster
Avoid increased costs per action

New Facebook Tool Predicts Creative Fatigue

Facebook Ads Manager introduced new guidance for when an ad set is predicted to fatigue, before and after starting a campaign. During ad creation, advertisers will receive a “creative limited” prompt if Facebook predicts the ad set will likely fatigue within 7 days. Once an ad set is published, the prompt may surface as early as 3 days post-launch in the Delivery column and Account Overview if the ad set appears to be nearing fatigue. With this early detection from Facebook, advertisers can update their ad creative before declining campaign performance is unrecoverable.

How Facebook Identifies Creative Fatigue

Facebook can determine if an audience has seen the same ad too many times. Facebook analyzes the cost per result for all recent exposures of the ad’s image or video. This includes those from other campaigns. If the cost per result is approaching twice as much as past ad performance, the ad will be flagged with “creative limited” status. If the cost per result is twice as much or more than past ads, the ad will have a “creative fatigue” status.

Facebook’s Creative Recommendations

If ad creative receives a limited or fatigue prompt, Facebook provides some recommendations. Increase audience size or create a new ad materially different from the original creative, while keeping the original creative running to maximize results. Facebook also recommends dynamic experiences. Facebook uses a proven algorithm to distribute dynamic creatives personalized by user predictive measures. By using the same image or video in each dynamic ad, reach is maximized through result-driven variations.

Source: Facebook for Business

Every Ad Will Eventually Fatigue and Die

As dramatic as it sounds, no ad will perform forever. Based on over 100,000 videos and images we produce and test yearly for our clients, our research has shown that winning ads last only 10 weeks, before they burn out. We have performed over 25,000 A/B and multivariate tests on Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Snap and have learned that 85-95% of new creative concepts fail to outperform the best ad in a portfolio. To survive in this volatile ad ecosystem, 20-50 new concepts are needed to find the next winning creative. And you’ll need to keep developing new concepts to stay ahead of creative fatigue.

How We Can Help

Our Creative Studio provides clients with bespoke ad creative driven by Hollywood storytelling and quantitative analysis at scale. Mobile app marketers and web-based performance advertisers come to us for end-to-end, outcome-oriented creative, integrated user acquisition, and creative optimization. Through our proprietary technology AdRules, we also make creative and media buying decisions based on our clients’ real-time financial performance. Also, to help our clients stay ahead of creative fatigue, we use our proprietary Ad Concept Model. This creative development tool pairs creative trends with motivational drivers to guide creative exploration aligned with target audiences.

Creative Expertise

Our creative expertise comes from managing $150m in monthly ad spend across Facebook, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Apple Search Ads. We also create and test 100K videos and images each year for clients. This provides us unparalleled insights into the evolving mobile advertising ecosystem. From our strategic analyses of IDFA loss and media buying automation to tactical guidance for A/B testing, we ensure our clients can adapt and thrive. Contact us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to work with our team.

Check Out Our Reels!

April 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

Posted on April 26, 2022April 26, 2022 by Lian

April 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

Drama drives profitable UA. Our April 2022, Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup shares insights into how dramatic storytelling works across app genres to drive installs. Just like Lily’s Garden or Merge Mansions, story-based episodic ads are increasingly popular for app marketers. Similarly, see how cinematic ad creative attracts paying players at record rates for mobile RPG Genshin Impact. And make the most of your best video assets with our cheat sheet infographic on ad specs that work across TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels.

As a follow-up to last month’s UGC white paper, I’d like to invite you to our 4/28 Webinar: Increase Ad Engagement with Influencers and UGC for TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels. Discover how to efficiently incorporate micro-influencers and user-generated content into your multi-channel app marketing.

This month we celebrated our 9-year anniversary as a company and are thrilled to enter our tenth year with the support of Brainlabs. Want to discuss our full suite of mobile app marketing services? Let’s talk!

See Our Live Action and CG Creative Work

UA and Creative Trends in April 2022

[Infographic] TikTok + Reels + Snapchat: Video Ad Specs That Work Across Channels

From file types to creative filters, find out which ad specs ensure proper optimization and improve video ad results across media channels.

How to Make the Best Episodic Ads for Your Mobile Game

Every game genre can drive viral installs with episodic ads and deliver the promise of “to be continued…” Discover the pitfalls and pointers from our team of Hollywood storytellers and animators.

How Genshin Impact Attracts US Spenders With Cinematic Ads

Mobile RPG Genshin Impact attracts high-value spenders by capitalizing on key consumer drives with high-quality animated cutscenes and cinematics.

[Infographic] Influencer & UGC Advertising in 2022

See how influencer and UGC ads increase conversions, get insight into the growing UGC Market, and discover UGC advertising trends.

[Whitepaper] TikTok UGC Ads: 2022 Creative Guide

UGC on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram is driving profitable UA across all app categories and presents a massive opportunity for marketers.

Paid Search Best Practices: Responsive Search Ads

As advertising ecosystems increase Paid Search automation, Responsive Search Ads are a critical capability to drive higher performance.

Infographic: Video Ad Specs That Work on TikTok, Reels & Snapchat

Download our newest infographic for ad specs and creative recommendations that will work across TikTok, Reels, and Snapchat.

TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels are increasingly popular channels for contextual video ads, particularly for mobile games. But testing new channels and mastering their respective formats can be daunting, especially for a UA team with limited creative resources. Check out the infographic to maximize your efficiency with video assets that work across channels without extra revisions.

Upcoming Webinar in April 2022

Register for our 4/28 Webinar: Increase Ad Engagement with Influencers and UGC

Discover how to efficiently incorporate influencers and UGC into multi-channel app marketing and drive mobile ad engagement across all app categories.

Join this webinar to learn about:

Common mistakes in influencer and UGC ad creation
Influencer and UGC ad effectiveness
Leveraging video assets across TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels
Influencer advertising creative trends
Motivational triggers for UGC ads
The growing influencer market

From micro-influencers and reaction videos to captions and meta-commentary, UGC ads across social networks— and on TikTok in particular— are a critical part of any successful growth marketing strategy. Bring your questions!

Join Our Team!

We are hiring across all departments for global, remote positions! Since our founding, we have been fully remote and thrived in this model for nine years! We have proven how working remotely has immense advantages for both employees and employers alike. Come work with us as we enter our 10th year with the support of Brainlabs!

See all of our Global-Remote openings

User Acquisition, Senior Manager
Group Account Director, Client Services
Junior Creative Director
Engineering Product Manager
Sales and Marketing Manager, Corporate

Consumer Acquisition in the News

Check Out Our Creative Reels!

More Creative Trends

Helpful Content

For more information on the UA trends we will be watching in 2022, please contact sales@consumeracquisition.com.

TikTok + Reels + Snapchat: Video Ad Specs That Work Across Channels [Infographic]

Posted on April 12, 2022April 15, 2022 by Lian

As mobile app marketers diversify their media buying, UA budgets are splitting out across channels. TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels, on both Facebook and Instagram, are increasingly popular for contextual video ads, particularly for mobile games. However, testing new channels and mastering their respective formats can be daunting, especially for a UA team with limited creative resources. In this infographic, we’ve summarized video ad specs and recommendations across channels so you can get the most traction out of your best video assets.

We create and test 100K videos and images each year for clients so we know it takes 20-30 new concepts to find your next winning creative. Resizing, localizing, and scaling across channels before you have a winner simply multiplies your failure rate. However, if you want to try a new channel or test across channels, you can maximize your efficiency by making video assets that work on TikTok, Snapchat, and Reels without extra revisions. Here are the video ad specs that will work across these channels.

Video Ad Specs That Work Across Channels

TikTok + Reels + Snapchat

Sources:
TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads | TikTok For Business
Facebook Video Ad Specs for Facebook Reels | Facebook Ads Guide
Facebook Video Ad Specs for Instagram Reels | Facebook Ads Guide
Snapchat Ad Specs and Dimensions | Snapchat for Business

Want better results from video ads for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Snap?

DOWNLOAD VIdeo Ad Specs Infographic NOW

How to Make the Best Episodic Ads for Your Mobile Game

Posted on April 19, 2022April 19, 2022 by Lian

In today’s post, we explain how to make the best episodic ads for your mobile game. If you are considering a series of narrative ads to drive new players and profit, read on to hear about the following pitfalls and pointers from our team of Hollywood storytellers, animators, editors, and producers:

Appeal to specific gaming motivations
Build out your main characters
Use a three-act structure
Don’t skip the storyboard
Establish a memorable visual style
Leverage an agile production process for live action

How to Make the Best Episodic Ads for your Mobile Game

Virality. Profit. Suspense. Scandal. Mobile games Lily’s Garden and Merge Mansion reached international meme status through provocative episodic ads for their match-3 and merge games, respectively. More often associated with AAA console games, sophisticated narrative-based commercials are increasingly popular for mobile game user acquisition. As app marketers diversify their portfolios to YouTube pre-rolls and connected TVs, high-quality video is critical. (Interestingly, this trend stands in stark contrast to the massive popularity of ads with scrappier user-generated content, which we’ve reported on as well.) Just as cinematic mobile game trailers gain momentum and attract spenders, ads that tell a story over several “episodes” are proving to be successful for app marketers. Every game genre can drive viral installs with episodic ads and the promise of “to be continued…”

If you’re considering a series of narrative ads to drive new players and profit, read on for pitfalls and pointers from our team of Hollywood storytellers, animators, editors, and producers.

Appeal to Specific Gaming Motivations

To attract high-quality top-of-funnel users, persona-driven creative is critical. Ad creative tailored to users’ motivations, behaviors, interests, and preferences ensure media buyers can understand what is working and how to do more of it. This insight is crucial in light of aggressive privacy regulations.

As part of our creative process using our Ad Concept Model, we identify different user motivations within an app category to target users based on their emotional drivers. Below are typical user motivations for playing games. It’s easy to stereotype how certain game genres map to user motivations. But critical to the success of Lily’s Garden and Merge Mansion ads was the excitement of a narrative-driven scandal inside of these otherwise calm and casual mobile games. Irrespective of game genre, test ad creative targeting different motivations and you might be surprised with what actually works.

Build Out Your Main Character

After analyzing target users and their motivations to play your game, consider what type of character will appeal to those motivations. A relatable main character is foundational for a viewer to connect with your content. Remember that relatable doesn’t have to mean likable. The main driver of your story could be a protagonist, antagonist, or a morally ambiguous mysterious other. Even if your game doesn’t have one main character or even a narrative, creating one for this type of ad is a proven tactic. The main character should be recognizable and idiosyncratic enough to be memorable throughout a series of ads. And they must be interesting enough to lead a three-act drama.

Three-Act Structure of Episodic Ads

Before attempting a thirty-episode arc, work the tried-and-true three-act structure: introduce the conflict, build to the climax, then offer a resolution. The main character should embody the user motivation you’re trying to trigger and the story will bring the audience along. With typical episodic ads running from 10 to 30 seconds, the full story arc needs to be tight and punchy and each individual episode needs a clear focus.

Don’t Skip the Storyboard

You’ve thought about what you want to happen, who it’s happening with, and now it’s time to visualize it. A storyboard ensures the whole production team understands the expectations and acts as a tool for collaboration. It also reveals inconsistencies or missed opportunities, and ultimately helps keep everyone focused on the same goal. Our storyboard for Wooga’s Switchcraft is below and you can read the full case study here.

©Wooga Switchcraft

Establish A Memorable Visual Style

A critical part of making episodic ads work is that each ad on its own is instantly recognizable as part of the larger narrative arc. Art-heavy games like RPGs can use their best in-game assets for their paid social advertising. This includes cutscenes animated in 2D and 3D, resting-state 2D character sprites, and open-world third-person exploration. Other examples include game footage battles and rigged character illustrations. But what if your game has no 3D assets or lacks truly cinematic cutscenes? Then you may need a little help to tell the story.

Casual games studio, Wooga, was seeking compelling ad creative for the soft launch of their first story-driven puzzle match-3 game, Switchcraft. They were striving for market differentiation among competitors such as Gardenscapes, Lily’s Garden, and Small Town Murders. Wooga wanted to highlight their dramatic relationship-driven storyline, diverse characters, and magical gameplay. In-game assets had a unique painterly art style. But Wooga wanted to bring the story to life with 3D cinematics that combined realism and comic-book aesthetics.

Through our creative partnership with Wooga, Consumer Acquisition developed a 30-second CGI game trailer, 50 original concepts, and over 150 videos. We created entirely original 3D computer animation along with motion graphics. We also created 2D animation and FX, text animations, lighting effects, character rigging, illustrations, and character design.

Agile Production Process for Live Action

An agile production approach to live action will ensure UA and creative teams have multiple variations of an ad to test, while efficiently capturing hundreds of video and photo assets during the shoot. Be sure to include different character reactions, different narrative progression, and different gameplay or app features. Shoot in 4K and you can capture still photos from the digital footage for social posts and single-image or carousel ads. An agile shoot also means post-production resizes and optimizations across channels will be easier.

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How Genshin Impact Attracts US Spenders with Cinematic Ads

Posted on April 5, 2022September 21, 2022 by Lian

Mobile RPG Genshin Impact attracts U.S. spenders through Instagram at record rates. Read our newest report on Genshin’s ad creative used to acquire these high-value players. Get expert analysis on:

The Explosive Growth of Genshin Impact
Genshin’s Monetization Structure and Gameplay Mechanics
Growing the Playerbase through Cinematic Ads on Instagram
Analyzing Genshin’s UA Ad Creative
How to Leverage Assets Without Cinematics

How Genshin Impact Attracts US Spenders With Cinematic Ads

Mobile RPG and Open World UA Creative Trends

In an app industry shakeup, U.S. consumer spending in mobile action games rose 69% in 2021 largely driven by one open-world RPG: Genshin Impact. This report analyzes how Genshin Impact attracts high-value users in the United States and how RPG games can leverage that proven success in their own user acquisition.

Genshin Impact

Launched in September 2020, Genshin Impact quickly became a major contender in the mobile game market. The innovative gameplay combines an alluring open world with long-term RPG progression mechanics, proving to be a very successful formula. As of January 2022, Genshin Impact had earned over $3 billion in revenue from mobile players, while enjoying very high user retention rates by gradually releasing new characters and areas to explore.

Source: SensorTower

Genshin’s main genre competitors in the US are Raid: Shadow Legends and RPGs built on strong IPs such as Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dragon Ball. Genshin remains the most profitable anime-based game by far, as its main competitors are mostly Western releases. By revenue, Genshin is bested only by Western app giants PUBG and Honor of Kings, reaching a comfortable third place in top-grossing App Store games in February 2022.

The game has had an important influence on the mobile action genre and is largely responsible for the massive boost in mobile action game revenue in 2021, reaching $966.8 million. Player spending in the open-world adventure subgenre increased by 3.5x last year, a category in which Genshin enjoys little to no competition whatsoever.

Source: Genshin Impact gameplay

Genshin Impact is developed by miHoYo, a Chinese company that incorporated typical elements from the Japanese video game industry into the game. However, Genshin has a key advantage over most games in the Japanese market: the substantial revenue generated overseas. In 2021, Genshin’s US revenue was a whopping $400 million, nearly double its closest competitor in the US market. The New York Times said Genshin’s “success points to a shifting balance of power in the $200 billion-a-year global video game industry, which has long been dominated by Japan and the United States.”

Monetization Structure

Savvy in current mobile game trends, miHoYo takes a simplified approach to monetize its free-to-play game. The game caters to both small and large spenders alike, offering few but enticing options that cleverly blend with the game’s progression system. Genshin Impact’s core monetization mechanic is through the Japanese-inspired gacha, a random lottery where players spend virtual currency for a small chance at getting desired characters, weapons, and gear. The term derives from gachapon, the real-world vending machines that tempt buyers with limited-edition collectible toys in plastic capsules. Gacha monetization is growing in popularity among US mobile games, including those with known IP.

Source: Sensor Tower

Genshin’s currency can be purchased directly in bulk, but small spenders can take advantage of two lower-cost deals as well:

The monthly package lets players earn small amounts of currency every day they play. Players forfeit the reward for any day they don’t log in which drives retention and DAU.
The season pass offers substantial in-game resources to facilitate progression, together with a useful amount of premium currency.

Along with gachas, season passes are an increasingly popular monetization mechanic among free-to-play mobile games with half of the top-grossing titles currently implementing a season pass system.

Source: SensorTower

Genshin employs the tried-and-true mechanics of the stamina-based progression and the cycling of time-limited content, typical of free-to-play mobile games. With the stamina system in place, players can play the game in short bursts every day, unless they choose to pay. This leads to both higher user retention and monetization since meaningful progress can only be seen after having played for an extended period of time.

Source: Genshin Impact gameplay

Growing the Playerbase through Cinematic Ads

Genshin Impact is an award-winning mobile game that could easily pass as a AAA release. Irrespective of later-game monetization, the rich world-building and anime aesthetics on their own are striking enough to attract new players. In fact, Genshin has substantially increased its player base month-over-month since its release, reaching nearly 60 million monthly active users by March 2022. The quality of the initial open-world experience, heavily inspired by Nintendo’s beloved 2017 release “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” has allowed the game to reach communities that may not typically engage in mobile gaming.

Source: Genshin Impact in-game scene

For years, anime-style mobile RPGs have consistently included the highest quality animated cutscenes and cinematics, often resulting in longer load times than typical mobile games. However, as devices, networks, and mobility capabilities evolve (see Nintendo Switch), visually arresting storytelling on mobile will attract more and more players. A clear benefit of in-game cutscenes and cinematics is the ability to use those high-quality assets for user acquisition. And Genshin Impact does just that.

Analyzing Genshin Impact’s UA Ad Creative

Based on MobileAction data, Genshin Impact is advertising almost entirely on Instagram and Facebook. Facebook Ad Library and MobileAction show that the ads leverage the most popular creative trends for RPGs, open world, and gacha games. Some of these ad creative trends include:

Cinematic Trailer: Dramatic, high-quality story showcasing characters and action, often 3D animation
Gameplay: Game overview showcasing user experience, core objectives, and game features or mechanics
Characters: Highlighting game character personalities, powers, origins, and vignettes
Player Focused: Player types, player interviews, and PVP gameplay
Testimonial: Leveraging player experiences, influencer reviews, and user-generated content
Level Progression: Footage of mastering levels, increasing stats, or unlocking the content
Competitive: Comparing the game against other similar games or gameplay experiences

Genshin Impact uses all of its best in-game assets for its paid social advertising: cutscenes animated in 2D and 3D, resting-state 2D character sprites, open-world third-person exploration, game footage battles, and rigged character illustrations. Based on MobileAction, two of their most popular styles of ads are cinematic trailers and gameplay, with a strong focus on character vignettes.

Many of the video ads incorporate several types of assets and art styles at once. The still shots below show several art styles that were utilized in one high-performing Genshin Impact cinematic trailer on Instagram. This ad focused on one character’s personality, style, and capabilities in battle.

Source: MobileAction

Ad Concept Model

As evident even in the still shots from video ads, Genshin Impact’s creative appeals to users driven by many of these motivations.

For players seeking escape, open-world ads show an immersive fantasy land to explore; character-driven ad creative offers rich lore and story progression to live the fantasy firsthand.

Source: MobileAction

Genshin’s gameplay ads appeal to players seeking excitement by showcasing fast-paced battle action and thrilling elemental reactions. For the success-seeker, footage of acquiring and leveling powerful characters, completing quests, and beating bosses are very attractive. Players wanting to exercise their expertise will be drawn to challenging content and mastering game mechanics strategically.

Source: MobileAction

No cutscenes? No problem.

One of the most impactful ad creative trends gaining momentum is the high-fidelity cinematic trailer. More often associated with AAA console games, mobile games are employing increasingly sophisticated commercials for user acquisition. As mobile app marketers diversify their portfolios to YouTube pre-rolls and connected TVs, high-quality video is critical. (Interestingly, this trend stands in stark contrast to the massive popularity of ads with user-generated content, which we’ve reported on as well.)

An anime-style RPG like Genshin Impact naturally lends itself to visually arresting, dramatic cinematic trailers. And, it already has plenty of in-game assets to use. But what if your game has no 3D assets or lacks truly cinematic cutscenes? Then you may need a little help.

2D Assets Get a 3D Makeover

Casual games studio Wooga was seeking compelling ad creative for the soft launch of their first story-driven puzzle match-3 game, Switchcraft. Striving for market differentiation among competitors such as Gardenscapes, Lily’s Garden, and Small Town Murders, Wooga wanted to highlight their dramatic relationship-driven storyline, diverse characters, and magical gameplay. In-game assets had a unique painterly art style but Wooga wanted to bring the story to life with 3D cinematics that combined realism and comic-book aesthetics.

Through our creative partnership with Wooga, Consumer Acquisition developed a 30-second CGI game trailer, 50 original concepts, and over 150 videos. We created entirely original 3D computer animation along with motion graphics, 2D animation and FX, text animations, lighting effects, character rigging, illustrations, and character design. View the official Switchcraft trailer below.

Nathalie Wood, Marketing Manager at Wooga praised the results:

“Consumer Acquisition was able to provide us with fresh, breakthrough ad creative that performed to meet different goals, from installs at scale to targeting high-value players. We were truly impressed by how Consumer Acquisition took our 2D assets and brought them to life. The creative process was collaborative and Consumer Acquisition tested all types of concepts and art styles to ensure we found what worked best. For our official game trailer, Consumer Acquisition created compelling 3D assets from scratch under a very tight deadline and we are thrilled with how it turned out. Consumer Acquisition’s commitment to creative research and rigorous creative testing was evident in the excellent results.”

See the full Wooga Switchcraft case study here.

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Creative Trends

March 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

Posted on March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 by Lian

March 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

Our March 2022, Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup brings you our new TikTok infographic on the UGC market and the trends you should be watching. Also, see the latest Snapchat UA updates and our newest white paper: TikTok UGC Ads: 2022 Creative Guide.

Please join us at our 3/31 Webinar: The UA Formula to Beat Ad Fatigue and Increase Creative Success. The discussion is about finding fresh ad creative concepts and where to go next when you think you’ve tried everything.

We are hiring across all departments for fully-remote positions! Read our blog post to hear firsthand from our animation team in Mexico, and learn why we keep actively pursuing international talent, year after year.

As the mobile advertising ecosystem has evolved, we have focused on being a reliable source of mobile app industry insights and trends. Want to discuss how UGC ads can improve your marketing mix? Let’s talk!

See Our Creative Work in 30 Seconds

UA and Creative Trends in March 2022

[TikTok Infographic] UGC Ad Guide

See how UGC ads increase conversions, get insight into the growing UGC Market, and discover UGC advertising trends.

[TikTok Whitepaper] UGC Ads: 2022 Creative Guide

UGC on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram is driving profitable UA across all app categories and presents a massive opportunity for marketers.

Snapchat UA Hot Tips and Updates For March 2022

UA teams looking to tap into the Snapchat market should check out these new features to enhance their advertising capabilities.

Animation Talent Based In Mexico Expands Capabilities For Our Clients

Discover why Mexico is a rising star for CGI, 3D animation, and motion graphics and hear from our Mexico-based team on emerging trends.

Paid Search Best Practices: Responsive Search Ads

As advertising ecosystems increase Paid Search automation, Responsive Search Ads are a critical capability to drive higher performance.

TikTok UGC Ads Creative Guide

Download this comprehensive report for details on:

The current state of UGC on social media platforms
Latest industry investments in video content and creator ecosystems
Current UGC trends and motivational triggers
Updated best practices for UGC ads for TikTok

Google Paid Search Best Practices

Paid search is a darling of data-driven marketing for good reason: it is a user-initiated opportunity to provide value. For each user query, an advertiser can provide the right answer to a declared need. Similar to Programmatic Dynamic Creative Optimization, Responsive Search Ads use contextual signals to assemble text assets predicted to perform best for each individual user’s search query.

Discover the best practices to make the most out of Responsive Search Ads. Google’s RSAs became the default ad format in 2021 and will be the only ad type for new paid search text ads after June 2022. Now is the best time for marketers to embrace this efficient AI-driven process.

We offer Paid Search through Brainlabs! Contact us at Sales@ConsumerAcquisition.com to discuss the benefits of adding Paid Search to your marketing mix.

Upcoming Webinar in March 2022

Register for our 3/31 Webinar: The UA Formula to Beat Ad Fatigue and Increase Creative Success

To stay ahead of creative fatigue, we developed the Ad Concept Model as a tool for creative teams to overcome creative slumps. This reusable framework uncovers fresh ideas to discover “where to go next” when you think you’ve tried everything. David DeJong, Group Creative Director for Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs will discuss how to develop your own Ad Concept Model that supports 30-50 new concepts. Create lanes for your creative team to explore while eliminating unfocused ideation that doesn’t align with your target personas, motivations, or trends. Use this tool and find your next winning ad!

Join Our Team!

We are hiring across all departments for fully-remote positions! Read our blog post to see how working remotely has immense advantages for work-life balance, productivity, cost savings, and more.

Our employees with families appreciate having the flexibility to attend their children’s events or family appointments as they need to. Employees who love to travel enjoy working from anywhere they like. Working with us, night owls and early birds all have a chance to thrive. And everyone benefits from working with people from different cultures and different perspectives.

See all of our Global-Remote openings

Consumer Acquisition in the News

More Creative Trends

Helpful Content

For more information on the UA trends we will be watching in 2022, please contact sales@consumeracquisition.com.

TikTok UA Tips and Updates for May 2022

TikTok Capitalizes on Contextual Advertising

TikTok Pulse

Key Features for Pulse

TikTok’s Insight into Current and Past Trends

Increasing Visibility for Mobile Games

Tailored TikTok Campaigns

TikTok Adds Cookies to their Pixel

Diverse Content Drives Results on TikTok

TikTok Creative Guide

Most Loved In-App Ad Format? Rewarded Video

Types of Ads Displayed in Games, by Genre

In-App Ad Formats

REWARDED VIDEO ADS

INTERSTITIAL ADS

BANNER ADS

OFFER WALLS

PLAYABLE ADS

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In-Game Advertising Trends Infographic

Sources

Want better results from video ads for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Snap?

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April 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

See Our Live Action and CG Creative Work

UA and Creative Trends in April 2022

Infographic: Video Ad Specs That Work on TikTok, Reels & Snapchat

Upcoming Webinar in April 2022

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Consumer Acquisition in the News

Check Out Our Creative Reels!

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Video Ad Specs That Work Across Channels

TikTok + Reels + Snapchat

Want better results from video ads for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Snap?

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Appeal to Specific Gaming Motivations

Build Out Your Main Character

Three-Act Structure of Episodic Ads

Don’t Skip the Storyboard

Establish A Memorable Visual Style

Agile Production Process for Live Action

How We Can Help

How Genshin Impact Attracts US Spenders With Cinematic Ads

Mobile RPG and Open World UA Creative Trends

Genshin Impact

Monetization Structure

Growing the Playerbase through Cinematic Ads

Analyzing Genshin Impact’s UA Ad Creative

Ad Concept Model

No cutscenes? No problem.

2D Assets Get a 3D Makeover

Want better results From UA?

Check out our creative work:

Creative Trends

March 2022 Mobile App UA and Creative Roundup

See Our Creative Work in 30 Seconds

UA and Creative Trends in March 2022

TikTok UGC Ads Creative Guide

Google Paid Search Best Practices

Upcoming Webinar in March 2022

Join Our Team!

Consumer Acquisition in the News

More Creative Trends

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Most Loved In-App Ad Format?
Rewarded Video

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