Lian, Author at Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs

Over 200 Mobile App Ad Concepts for TikTok, Facebook, and Google Advertisers

Posted on February 15, 2022March 11, 2022 by Lian

In today’s post, we share over 200 mobile app ad concepts for TikTok, Facebook, and Google advertisers in this 2022 edition whitepaper. Starting with an advertising ecosystem update, we explain what you need to do to survive in this now volatile ad ecosystem in 2022.

Over 200 Mobile App Ad Concepts
for TikTok, Facebook, and Google Advertisers

2022 Edition

Section 1: 2022 Advertising Ecosystem Update

Mobile app advertisers in 2022 are better prepared for the evolving advertising ecosystem than they were last year. We can now quantify the impact of IDFA loss and understand the iOS A/B testing implications and automated buying and privacy restrictions. Based on public comments, IDFA impact is generally being accepted as the new normal, with lower-level setting and -30% margin compression due to the complexity of targeting and measurement on iOS. Mobile app businesses are acclimating and many are growing within these new constraints.

As dependence on upper-funnel campaigns increases, UA teams know they can no longer rely on the crutch of deterministic tracking to provide sustained financial performance. The deterioration of lookalike audiences and the black box of deeper funnel events means a user’s declared interests and contextual advertising are critically important for insights into user motivation and intent. Ad creative optimized to appeal to discreet personas is now the most efficient lever for sustained profitable user acquisition. Even without deterministic tracking, UA teams that understand their target personas can scale by attracting high-quality users.

At scale, agile persona-led creative is now the most efficient way to support the ongoing experimentation now required for profitable user acquisition. 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.

Read on for recommendations to:

Organize and track creative development through our Ad Concept Model
Find the creative trends popular within specific categories
Use personas to tailor ad creative
Use creative trends and user motivations to guide creative ad concept explorations
Develop over 200 mobile app ad concepts for mobile games, dating apps, mobile streaming apps, fintech apps, and subscription apps

DOWNLOAD OVER 200 MOBILE APP AD CONCEPTS WHITEPAPER NOW

Section 2: Increase Paid Social Creative Success

Using Our Ad Concept Model

Our Ad Concept Model is a collaborative communication framework designed to organize and track creative development. The model creates lanes for a creative team to explore while eliminating unfocused ideation that doesn’t align with your target personas, motivations, or trends. Each ad concept model supports 30-50 ideas for each app category by pairing creative trends with user motivations.

Here’s how we use it:

Using these steps, we’ll show you how we create dozens of persona-led ad concepts efficiently and effectively within our Ad Concept Model. Every app category or game sub-genre can leverage a unique combination of distinct emotional triggers and creative trends to attract users.

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Start with your internal data on what creative is working best already, then go deep on what’s working for competitors. Use Facebook Ad Library to see every ad currently running on their ad network. For implied success metrics, you can use Mobile Action, SensorTower, or AppAnnie competitor libraries. AdRules, our SaaS platform analyzes 3.5 million videos and is updated daily. Your goal is to get a broad view of what creative is working and what isn’t across the category. Identify the creative trends you’re seeing and segment those trends. Consider these like fashion – they keep changing and going in and out of style.

Depending on the app category, some creative trends may include:

An app overview focused on overall user experience and/or specific features
An app overview using tips and quizzes
Testimonials and reviews from users
Influencers and celebrities delivering the primary message
Social connection, social media, and chatting
Achievement opportunities like level progression and mastery
Vignettes featuring short scenarios or stories

Step 2: Identify user motivations and target personas

Before building out a matrix for a particular set of ad concepts, identify different user motivations driving your target personas and break down those motivations by underlying values, desires, and behaviors.

Depending on the app category, some user motivations may include:

Excitement
Connection
Expertise
Success
Escape
Creation
Learning
Access
Simplification
Discovery

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

Map identified motivations to creative trends within the category to develop and iterate on different concepts. In the empty model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept. User motivations appear along the horizontal axis and trends appear along the vertical axis.

Step 4: Test and Learn

While not all creative trends will work persuasively with each motivation, expand concepts even further by targeting specific personas within each pairing. Integrating performance data, competitive analysis, and UX, you can develop a bespoke creative strategy targeting behaviors, triggers, and preferences through individual concepts.

Step 5: Optimize and Iterate

We’ve learned why it can be hard to beat your control video. But a constant stream of fresh creative concepts and smart, iterative testing means we can beat the algorithmic odds. Once you have a winner, then resize, localize, and scale.

Why use a model like this?

Consumer Acquisition’s Ad Concept Model ensures we always have new creative concepts to stay ahead of creative fatigue. We’ve systematized the process so we know what works, why it works, and how to do more of it. From niche to mainstream, our creative concepting model means our clients get reliable top-performing creative in the most cost-efficient and scalable way.

Each of the following ad concept models supports 30-50 ideas for each category by pairing creative trends with user motivations. Across five top app categories, get inspiration from over 200 ad concepts to develop and test.

DOWNLOAD AD CONCEPT MODEL SUMMARY NOW

Section 3: Gaming Mobile App Ad Concepts

Because game genres are so varied, we’ve compared fashion games to sports games to show the distinction between categories. The creative trends for these two gaming audiences are notably different from one another while sharing triggers and motivations.

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, here are ad creative trends we’re seeing for mobile sports games:

Gameplay and game overview that showcase graphics and players (Home Run Clash, NBA 2K, Boxing Star)
Distance or performance challenges for viewers to propel an object to reach a target (Baseball Boy, Slap Master)
Competition videos dramatize head-to-head competition between rival players or teams. (Darts of Fury, Home Run Clash)
Noob vs. Pro videos displaying bad and good gameplay (Darts of Fury, Mini Golf King)
Real player footage replacing game characters and gameplay (Tennis Clash, Sniper Arena, Draft Kings)
Cinematic techniques like slow-motion and camera pan utilizing game characters (Johnny Trigger, Mr. Bullet, Sniper Arena, Tennis Clash)

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, here are ad creative trends we’re seeing for fashion and style simulation games:

Choosing what’s next from the player POV to direct narrative while interacting with the game’s characters
Game trailer/overview that showcases user experience, core objectives, and other game features.
Fashion and style challenges
Using social media or texting to convey the narrative or primary message
Character focus using countdowns, origin stories
Vignettes featuring short character scenarios or stories
Achievement opportunities like level progression and mastery of a game
Success vs. Fail gameplay contrasting experienced and amateur players

Step 2: Identify user motivations

General Gaming User Motivations

Here’s how sports game creative trends appeal to user motivations:

Real player footage and cinematic techniques provide immersion, fantasy, and excitement
Distance challenges and Noob v. Pro videos appeal to mastery, competition, power, and fantasy
Player rivalries appeal to competition, mayhem, action, challenge, power, and fantasy
Gameplay and controller overlays appeal to immersion, excitement, challenge, and competition
Augmented gameplay provides social appeal and story immersion
Team creation scenarios appeal to creativity, customization, strategy, and making decisions

Here’s how fashion game creative trends appeal to user motivations:

Choosing what’s next appeals to self-expression, progression, and escapism
Fashion and design challenges appeal to self-expression and escapism
Using social media or texting appeals to social connection
Focusing on character stories and vignettes appeal to discovery, relaxation, and escapism
Achievement opportunities and Success vs. Fail gameplay appeals to expertise, power, and progression

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

Sports Game Creative Concepts

Create videos that incorporate statistics into the gameplay:

Overlay graphics to show the distance of tape measure shots and challenge viewers to play
Overlay stats graphics on characters, challenging viewers to beat their opponent
Appeals to players motivated by competition, power, challenge, excitement

Create a countdown of featured players in the game:

Showcases animation style, range of players, and stats
Style graphics like collector cards
Spark curiosity about who is (or is not) included
Appeals to players motivated by completion, surprises, competition, community, and power

Add trash talk over gameplay:

Showcases gameplay and graphics alongside subtitles
Appeals to players motivated by competition, community, being on a team, mayhem, interacting

Feature gameplay with emoji overlays and talk bubbles to communicate emotions:

Humanizes and adds humor
Showcases game graphics
Appeals to players motivated by community, being on a team, interacting, fantasy, and surprises

Intercut gameplay with real footage, so that it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s the game:

Showcases game graphics and simulation
Appeals to players motivated by immersion, fantasy, action, discovery

Re-create the feel of a famous announcer calling a legendary game with gameplay and voice over:

Creates emotional “what if” scenarios
Engages viewer’s curiosity
Highlights the passion of sports fans
Appeals to players motivated by community, being on a team, immersion, fantasy, action, discovery

Create videos using cinematic techniques and voiceover to up the emotional ante of the game:

Showcases game graphics
Utilizes nostalgic sports documentary feel
Appeals to players motivated by community, being on a team, immersion, fantasy, action, discovery

Create side-by-side videos of good (Pro) versus bad (Noob) gameplay:

Shows the difficulty of the game
Highlights both “wins” and “fails”
Appeals to players motivated by competition, power, challenge, excitement

Create a sing-along music video of gameplay with a famous sports chant:

Most chants are in the public domain
Showcases graphics and gameplay
Appeals to players motivated by community, being on a team, immersion, fantasy

Fashion & Style Games Creative Concepts

Create ads based on choosing what’s next:

Use diverse characters and situations
Offer multiple quick choices
Use popular themes like jealousy, cheating, hooking up, fantasy, and revenge makeovers

Insert player into the narrative:

Have character interact directly with the player
Use meters to rate player responses
Feature simple situations, not complex narratives
Use popular themes like what to wear, hooking up, fantasy, and revenge makeovers

Fashion & Style Challenges:

Event-based fashion choices like what to wear on a date
Revenge-based makeovers from being rejected by a character
Male makeovers based on rejection or aspiration
Self-acceptance makeovers reject perfection in favor of body positivity
Design a perfect date by choosing the right movie, food, etc.
Hyper-customization including avatar skin tone, facial features, room design, etc

Feature gameplay with emoji overlays and talk bubbles to communicate emotions:

Humanizes and adds humor
Showcases game graphics
Appeals to players motivated by community, being on a team, interacting, fantasy, and surprises

Create side-by-side videos of good (Pro) versus bad (Noob) gameplay:

Shows the challenges
Highlights both “wins” and “fails”

Create gameplay videos that explain the experience in detail:

Detail benefits of playing (customization, escapism, social connection)
Explore live-action to differentiate from category
Feature influencers or players discussing the game
Explore CG concepts to differentiate from category

Section 4: Dating Mobile App Ad Concepts

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Top competitors in the mobile app dating space include Tinder, Hinge, Skout, Clover, Match, Plenty of Fish, OKCupid, and Coffee Meets Bagel. Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, dating app creative trends we’ve identified include:

App Overview: Overview of the app that showcases features and user experience
App Content: Captured content and screen grabs from the app
Testimonial: Focused on a user’s review and/or experience of the app
Influencers: Utilizing influencers and/or celebs to deliver the primary message
UGC: Content a user would upload to social media regarding the app
Tips & Quizzes: Communicating features or benefits through advice or quizzes

Step 2: Identify user motivations

Dating app ad creative perfectly illuminates how persona-based creative concepts appeal to the unique motivations of different users, from long-term romance to casual connections.

Dating App User Motivations

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

Focus on success stories to appeal to users seeking love, authentic connections, and validation:

Show a dating journey
Highlight real user testimonials
Use high-quality photography to show happy couples
focus on one-to-one attention

Highlight app features by inserting the user into the experience:

Have user choose from actual profiles
Simulate chat with potential dates
Have user set up a mini profile

Highlight app features for users seeking casual connections:

Model fast onboarding
Reveal “new singles” in the area
Prompt users with “See More” to tease a surplus of profiles to access

Focus on the app experience to highlight ease of use:

Rotate through dating profile photos with minimalistic UI
Use captured content and screen grabs to communicate the interaction process
Rotating through a swath of potential users

Leverage faux testimonials and UGC-style videos:

Use direct address toward the audience and text overlays to look like native content
Use screenshots of personal messages to show dating experience
Show newness and popularity of the app

In the model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept. This dating app model supports over 30 creative concepts for streaming apps by pairing six trends with six user motivations.

DOWNLOAD OVER 200 MOBILE APP AD CONCEPTS WHITEPAPER NOW

Section 5: Streaming Mobile App Ad Concepts

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Top competitors in this space include Netflix, Hulu, Philo, Pluto TV, Sling, Starz, SyFy, Vudu, Shudder, FXNow, AT&T TV, BET Now, Paramount Network, Crackle, Disney+, Maimovie, TikTok, Uplive: Live it Up, Replika: My AI Friend, Roku, Youtube TV, and HBO Now.

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, broad concepts and trends we see for streaming apps include:

Movie Trailers: Videos with movie trailer style content, featuring one or multiple titles. (Starz, Shudder, BET Now)
Promoting Exclusive Content: Videos or images promoting exclusive or original content. (Netflix, HBO Now, TikTok)
Special Offers: Videos or images with special offers. (Hulu, Starz)
Range of Programming: Videos or images touting breadth of content. (Philo, Pluto TV, Vudu)
App Overview: Videos or images focused on the workings of the app, including exclusive services. (Vudu, Maimovie, Replika)

Step 2: Identify user motivations

Streaming apps and mobile content services range from hard-to-find content to broad appeal favorites, pay-per-view to subscription. While different mobile content services may focus on specific user interests, there are universal user motivations for content and streaming services that drive their fast-growing popularity across all categories.

Streaming App User Motivations

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

In the model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept and we’ve included a sample set. This ad concept model supports over 40 creative concepts for streaming apps by pairing seven trends with six user motivations.

Compare the app experience, price, and other factors against other apps or games. Here’s what to do for viewers interested in the following:

Discovery Seekers: use a new content comparison
Access Seekers: use a content library comparison
Value Seekers: use a cost comparison

Showcase features and user experience through screen grabs from the app.:

Convenience Seekers: highlight ease of use to get to the content fast
Deal Seekers: highlight promos or discounts
Discoverers and Access Seekers: new releases and a variety

Use UGC and testimonials to highlight content and user experience:

Highlight ease of use to get to the content fast
Show what it’s like to discover a new favorite
Highlight niche and hard-to-find content

Section 6: Fintech Mobile App Ad Concepts

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Top competitors in this space include: Acorns, Fisher Investments, Lending Tree, The Penny Hoarder, Northern Trust Wealth Management, Dave: Banking for Humans, Current: The Bank for Modern Life, Coinbase, Crypto.com, M1 Finance, Finimize, Kabbage: Small Business Loans, DOSH, Edward Jones, Edelman Financial Engines, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, myFICO, YNAB, Mint, The Balance, Personal Capital, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Wealthsimple, Robinhood, Nerdwallet, Stash, Earnin, Motley Fool, WalletHub

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, FinTech ad creative trends we identified included:

App Overview/Feature Benefit: An image or video that communicates overall user experience and/or specific features. (Dave, Current, Coinbase, M1 Finance, Finimize, Edward Jones, Credit Karma, many others)
App Overview/Tips & Quizzes: Communicating app features and/or benefits through advice or quizzes. (Fisher Investments, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Persona Capital, Penny Hoarder, Nerdwallet)
Testimonial: Focused on a user’s review and/or experience of the app. (Penny Hoarder, Dave, M1 Finance, Dosh, Credit Karma, YNAB, Personal Capital, Wealthsimple, Robinhood, Earnin)
Influencers: Utilizing influencers and/or celebrities to deliver the primary message. (Personal Capital)
Promotional: Contests, promotions, gift cards, and other rewards for using and/or downloading the app. (Lending Tree, Current, Coinbase, Crypto.com, M1 Finance, Robinhood)
Current Events/Topical: Having to do with recent news or impactful events. (Lending Tree)
Social Connection: Involving people connecting on social media or via text. (Dave, Finimize, Earnin)
Meme: Comedic text on an image, often building on something that’s already viral. (Credit Sesame)

Step 2: Identify user motivations

FinTech and Financial App User Motivations

From milestone birthdays to selling a house to job changes, there are many motivational triggers that drive people to use fintech apps.

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

In the model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept and we’ve included a sample set for a first-time homebuyer below. The expanded ad concept model supports almost 50 creative concepts for streaming apps by pairing eight trends with six user motivations.

Create concepts that focus on the overall site experience, as well as specific features:

Appeal to different financial triggers (home buying, job change, retirement, college, etc.)
Try copy tied to a positive emotional benefit rather than fear-based messaging (e.g., “Retirement? You got this.”)

Feature advice and/or quizzes:

Communicates key benefits/features by engaging with the user
Appeal to different financial triggers (home buying, job change, retirement, college, etc.)
Explore a diverse range of user representations
Explore refined illustration in addition to portraits

Feature user and media reviews:

Written reviews are easiest to produce
Can test versions that feature independent media reviews and user reviews
UGC testimonials are a simple way to review the site
Explore individual user profiles

Utilize celebrities or influencers to promote the features:

Inset or split-screen, combining influencer with site graphics
Full-screen influencer testimonial, before cutting to app use and end card
Can also work with static images/quotes from the endorser

Create a promotion where visitors to the website can register to win money or other prizes:

Creates an incentive to visit the site
Prizes could include:
- money for retirement fund
- Help with house down payment
- Pay off of a credit card
- Free financial planning from a fiduciary for a year

Create concepts that leverage social platforms:

Texting can be a good way to tell narrative stories in an inexpensive, easy-to-produce format

Section 7: Subscription Mobile App Ad Concepts

Step 1: Analyze competitor and creative trends within your genre/category

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, creative trends we’ve identified for mobile subscription apps broadly include:

App Overview: An image or video that communicates overall user experience
Key Feature: Focus on the specific benefits of a core feature
Testimonial: Focus on a user’s review and/or experience
Animated Text: Kinetic typography or motion graphics
Visually Compelling: Focus on arresting photography
Brand: Focus solely on brand messaging

Step 2: Identify user motivations

Mobile app subscription services range from weekly food boxes to productivity tools to fitness trackers. Borrowing from the value propositions of software-as-a-service, mobile subscription services promise an ongoing value for a recurring payment. While different mobile subscription categories focus on specific user interests, there are universal user motivations for subscription services that drive their popularity across all verticals. Below, we’ve outlined high-level motivational triggers for a mobile app subscriber. The included motivations are specific to the mobile app subscription model itself, not an individual category such as fitness or productivity.

Subscription Mobile App User Motivations

Step 3: Map competitive trends to user motivations to guide creative concept development

Our ad concept model supports nearly 40 creative concepts for mobile subscription service apps by pairing six trends with six user motivations.

Showcase features and user experience through screen grabs from the app:

Convenience-seekers, highlight ease of use, fast set-up, and support
Deal-seekers, highlight promos or discounts
Discoverers and access seekers show new products and features

Use testimonials to show subscriber experience:

Highlight ease of use to get products fast
Show what it’s like to discover a new favorite
Highlight niche and hard-to-find products

Use arresting photography to differentiate:

Show exclusives and limited editions
Highlight niche and hard-to-find products
Highlight community spaces and social connection

Section 8: Staying Ahead of Mobile App Ad Concepts

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.

Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to discuss how we can help you stay ahead in 2022.

DOWNLOAD OVER 200 MOBILE APP AD CONCEPTS WHITEPAPER NOW

Programmatic Best Practices: Dynamic Creative Optimization

Posted on February 8, 2022March 7, 2022 by Lian

We now offer Programmatic through Brainlabs! To discuss programmatic best practices and the benefits of adding programmatic to your marketing mix contact us at Sales@ConsumerAcquisition.com.

Programmatic Best Practices

Dynamic Creative Optimization

Dynamic advertising has become a standard tool for data-driven marketing. As a result, dynamic creative optimization (DCO) is a critical capability to drive higher performance. DCO leverages machine learning for real-time media buying to deliver the best possible creative at the right time. For example, customize and change ads in relation to a user’s past behavior or current situation. Also, personalize individual components of an ad in real-time.

Here’s how to make the most of your programmatic campaigns with dynamic creative optimization.

Think Beyond Display

Programmatic is not one specific ad format or channel. While display advertising is often a default choice, other programmatic opportunities include:

YouTube
Podcasts
Streaming audio
Homepage takeovers
Linear and Connected TV
Email
Native
Digital out-of-home (DOOH)

Programmatic media buying can happen wherever your audience is, so consider your target personas and how they engage with media. As you test and optimize, specific channels will emerge as winners for different audiences and stages along the customer journey.

Meet the Moment

Test and optimize every component of your ad to meet your audience exactly where they are. Rotate text, colors, imagery, buttons, and calls to action to identify high performers. In addition, use eye-catching formats like carousels to showcase meaningful content and products with engaging functionality. Also, use external data sources like weather or local trends to align your ads with what your audience is experiencing at the moment.

Customize for Every Stage

Increase relevance and personalize messaging for each stage of the customer journey. Programmatic can drive engagement by meeting the needs of a user at different points of the funnel. Some examples include:

Top of Funnel: Reach and Recall

Increase brand awareness by leveraging engaging creative and interactive experiences.

Connected TV lets a user explore an experience in a highly immersive way.
YouTube captures interest while a user is already engaged.
DOOH drives measurable awareness by geofencing key events and screens and leveraging device ID retargeting.
Direct buys with relevant partners educate consumers and earn their trust.
Audio advertising, via YouTube or Private Marketplace, adds an essential touchpoint in the consumer’s purchase journey. This allows the brand to connect with listeners at different points during their day.

Mid-Funnel: Contextual

Educate the user with informative and persuasive content. Show them how you will meet their needs. Also, show how a product or service aligns with their interest, values, and motivations. In addition, leverage native video and display to get first-party data through traditional onsite metrics. Examples include duration, page depth, time on page, and bounce rate. First-party data is also obtainable through channel performance metrics like shares, clicks, and CTR.

Bottom of Funnel: Conversions

Establish and nurture your customer base. Display and native ads are most efficient as they evolve from educating to inspiring action. Here you can capture bottom-funnel metrics such as transactions, installs, ARPU, and LTV.

Retain and Re-engage

Programmatic video, display, and rich media help build a loyalty loop, so retarget users and promote the brand contextually.

Keep Your Team Focused on the Bigger Picture

DCO saves time and resources. The algorithms assemble and test ads that are most likely to resonate with your audience at a faster rate. As a result, your team maintains visibility on data across all channels and can focus on higher-level strategy.

How Programmatic Advertising Can Help

Consumer Acquisition has been acquired by digital marketing agency Brainlabs in an exciting move to expand our capabilities. In this next stage of growth for Consumer Acquisition, we are thrilled to bring Brainlabs’ strengths in SEO, paid search, and programmatic advertising to our clients. Brainlabs’ portfolio of clients includes Mars, Samsung, Walmart Canada, Formula 1, Adidas, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and F5.

Programmatic advertising is an invaluable medium for you to learn about your online audience. It will also help inform your broader marketing strategy and performance. A rigorous testing plan is central to our data-led approach. This includes testing every element of your programmatic set-up from the audience to creatives and placements. In addition, it’s supported by granular reporting and bespoke programmatic analysis tools that enable a better understanding of performance. Thus, helping you to drive the most value for your brand. Our approach is underpinned by first-party data and activated across the latest formats in audio, CTV, and DOOH. Contact us to discuss best practices and how programmatic can help you reach your 2022 marketing goals.

January 2022 Mobile App UA & Creative Roundup

Posted on January 25, 2022March 4, 2022 by Lian

January 2022 Mobile App UA & Creative Roundup

Our January 2022, Mobile App UA & Creative Roundup brings you expert guidance on the UA trends we will be watching in 2022, our latest Case Study featuring CGI for Wooga’s Switchcraft, and top-performing ad creative for dating apps on TikTok versus Facebook.

Brian Bowman, our CEO, was also a guest on data.ai’s Game Changers podcast where host Chris Uglietta and Brian discussed how to efficiently develop an A/B test ad creative in light of Apple’s IDFA tracking deprecation. Watch the first episode of the three-part series below.

UA and Creative Trends in January 2022

First-party Data to NFTs: See the UA Trends We’re Watching

Mobile app advertisers are adapting to the evolving ad ecosystem. See the impact of IDFA loss and understand the A/B testing implications of automated buying. See how mobile-first companies are improving mobile app ad trends in 2022.

[Case Study] Wooga’s Switchcraft Gets CGI Makeover

Read our Case Study to see how we developed a 30-second CGI game trailer, 50 original concepts, and over 150 videos for Switchcraft to bring high-value players to the game.

TikTok vs Facebook: Who Has The Better Dating Ads?

With the season of love upon us, dating app creative shows how persona-based creative appeals to the unique motivations of users. To understand motivation-driven advertising, check out this article!

UA Media Buying Model: Facebook, TikTok, & Google App Advertisers

Structure your media buying with proven best practices using our Media Buying Model. Any mobile app can leverage distinct UA strategies and campaign parameters to develop a robust testing harness.

Ad Concept Model: Beat Facebook Creative Fatigue

It is possible to beat Facebook creative fatigue and consistently find new winning ads. Our Ad Concept Model is designed to systematize creative development and leverage user motivations to customize ad creative in a simple, repeatable framework.

Wooga’s Switchcraft Gets CGI Makeover

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. — Nathalie Wood, Marketing Manager at Wooga

To compete against Gardenscapes, Small Town Murders, or Lily’s Garden, casual games studio Wooga needed compelling ad creative for their first story-driven puzzle match-3 game, Switchcraft. With a unique painterly 2D art style, Switchcraft features a dramatic relationship-driven storyline through diverse characters and magical gameplay. Nuanced character rigging and fluid animation were required to bring their evocative art style to life alongside 3D cinematics that combined realism with 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. We developed and tested ad creative that focused on different aspects of the game including themes of love, mystery, drama, or magic. And game mechanics of match-3 puzzles, spellcasting, and narrative choices.

Read our Case Study to see how we helped Switchcraft bring high-value players to the game.

Consumer Acquisition is now a part of Brainlabs

Consumer Acquisition has been acquired by digital marketing agency Brainlabs in an exciting move to expand capabilities for both existing and future clients. In this next stage of growth for Consumer Acquisition, we are thrilled to bring Brainlabs’ strengths in SEO, paid search, and programmatic display advertising to our clients.

Brainlabs’ portfolio of clients includes Mars, Samsung, Walmart Canada, Formula 1, Adidas, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and F5. Get more details on Brainlabs core services or contact us to discuss how these new capabilities can help you reach your 2022 goals.

data.ai Game Changers Video Series

Consumer Acquisition is thrilled to have partnered with data.ai for their new Game Changers video series. Brian Bowman talked with host Chris Uglietta about IDFA impact in a 3-part series you can watch here. Get expert analysis on:

How IDFA loss is impacting traffic quality, lookalike audiences, and onboarding flow
How to efficiently develop successful ad creative in a post-IDFA world
Post-IDFA best practices for creative A/B testing for Facebook, TikTok, and Google

We Are Hiring!

Are you creative, collaborative, data-driven, and approach every day with a growth mindset? Then we want to hear from you!

We are hiring across all departments for fully-remote positions. Check out this interview with Director of User Acquisition, Ariel Neiman to learn what it’s like to work at Consumer Acquisition.

Direction: Junior Creative Director (Global – Remote)

Editing After Effects / Animator (Global – Remote)

Engineering: Product Manager (Global – Remote)

Marketing

Strategy

Creative Strategist (Global – Remote)

User Acquisition

Consumer Acquisition in the News in January 2022

VentureBeat | Brainlabs acquires social ad creative studio Consumer Acquisition

Markets Insider | Brainlabs acquires social ad creative studio Consumer Acquisition

Ad Exchanger | The Point Of Personalization; United Talent Agency Buys MediaLink

The Wise Marketer | UA Formula to Beat Facebook Creative Fatigue: Consumer Acquisition’s Ad Concept Model

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 Hot Tips and Updates for February 2022

Posted on February 1, 2022March 7, 2022 by Lian

Get insider details on fresh TikTok UA tactics including:

App Retargeting
TikTok Instant Page
iOS14 SKAN Multi-Ad Group Feature
ACO Upgrade
Sneak Peek! Hashtag Behavior Targeting
TikTok Media Buying Model

TikTok UA Hot Tips and Updates

To help UA and creative teams adjust to the evolving ad ecosystem, we’ve compiled the latest updates and guidance for TikTok UA campaigns. TikTok For Business has introduced several new features to enhance their advertising capabilities, so UA teams have some great new tools to try out. And if you’d like expert TikTok 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.

App Retargeting

Re-engage users that already have an app installed on their device based on a postback from MMP. Then, optimize toward specific events. TikTok App Retargeting also supports Traffic (CPC) and Conversion (oCPC/oCPM) objectives.

For gaming apps, TikTok retargeting can engage and bring back inactive players and improve retention among existing players. E-commerce apps can feature specific promotions and timely products or discounts. In addition, utility apps can re-engage through new services and features.

TikTok Instant Page

According to TikTok for Business, TikTok Instant Page is a “lightweight native landing page within the app that loads up to 11 times faster than standard mobile pages.”

The easy-to-build pages are customizable with videos, images, carousels, and buttons to explore a product or service without leaving TikTok. TikTok reports that optimizing towards conversions that occur on your Instant Page can drive up to 40% lower cost per action. Or, use the TikTok Pixel to enhance delivery optimization on an external site.

iOS14 SKAN Multi-Ad Group Feature

TikTok has made it possible to run two ad sets within one app install dedicated campaign. This includes up to 22 active ad groups. Therefore, offering more flexibility. Optimize the same objective for both ad groups. Individual ad groups can be paused but not deleted unless the entire campaign is deleted. All SKAN metrics will be available at the campaign, ad group, and ad level. Although, reporting at the ad group level is not shared with the advertiser’s MMP.

Two ad groups: SKAN conversions reported at the ad group level are modeled based on first-party ad engagement signals. Thus, using statistical methods. Modeling is applied at the ad group level.
One ad group: SKAN metrics will be the same at the campaign and ad group level and are not modeled.
Ad level SKAN metrics: Available when running multi-ad group dedicated campaigns; ad level metrics are modeled.

TikTok ACO Upgrade

Automated Creative Optimization (ACO) got an upgrade! Previously, an ad group was limited to one version of ad copy, one CTA, and up to ten videos. Now ACO offers five ad copies, dynamic CTA, and up to 30 videos.

Sneak Peek- Hashtag Behavior Targeting

Our UA team recently began testing new hashtag behavior targeting. The highly-qualified audience targeting seems promising, but longevity remains to be seen. Here’s a peek at the feature in action.

TikTok Media Buying Model

Our Media Buying Model uses a matrixed approach to systematize best practices for user acquisition campaign development. Any mobile app can leverage a unique combination of distinct UA strategies and campaign parameters. This will develop a robust testing harness for ongoing mobile campaigns across social platforms, including TikTok. The entire matrix is tailored to a respective ad network and operating system constraints.

Below is a sample Media Buying Model for TikTok. Geographies, languages, and bid types are all modified based on our client’s needs. In order to meet specific goals at the intersection of strategies and parameters, structure each campaign accordingly. Here are trends we’re seeing in testing:

Creative: UGC creative is critical
Behavior Audiences, Interest Categories, Interest Keywords: Identify audiences to feed scale campaigns. Bridge volume of a broad and precision of LAL
Lookalikes, Time Zone Targeting, Broad Top Demo: Increase KPI performance
Behavior Audiences: Test video and creator interaction
Interest Keywords: Specific targeting but a limited scale
Time Zone Targeting: Broad targeting with dayparting splits

TikTok Creative Testing Recommendations

TikTok’s A/B testing capability is rapidly evolving, use Facebook Android if you can.
Test only two creatives at a time, due to two split audiences
Broad targeting recommended keeping CPMs low
Each ad set must spend at least $20/day
Shorten Split Tests set to run for 7 days
Optimization for Clicks, Installs, or In-App Events
Bidding: Cost Cap Bidding, Lowest Cost Bid (recommended)
Test Standard Ads and Spark Ads (Organic)
Create and test musical iterations using the TikTok Video Editor

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.”

Want better results from TikTok UA?

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

More Creative Trends

Hiring for User Acquisition!

Posted on January 27, 2022March 7, 2022 by Lian

Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs is Hiring for User Acquisition!

Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs is in an exciting growth stage and looking for world-class User Acquisition experts to join our team!

Here’s why this job is so great:

Work with world-class clients: Disney, Zynga, Rovio, NBA, Roblox, EA, Playtika, and many others
Work on many social ad platforms managing +6 budgets: Facebook, TikTok, Google, Snap & Apple Search Ads
Join a team that has been fully remote for 8 years with optional offices in these amazing cities: New York City, Austin, Toronto, London, Manchester, São Paulo, Sen Sabastian, Hong Kong, and Singapore
New product offerings such as SEO, Paid Search and Programmatic through our parent company, Brainlabs
Expansion of services to Brainlabs’ clients: Capital One, Mars, Formula 1, The Weather Company, iRobot, and many others
New job growth opportunities and global mobility with over 1,000 employees across 15 countries and rapidly growing

Don’t just take it from us! To better understand what makes us unique, we interviewed one of our very own UA rock stars.

Hear from Ariel Neiman, Director of User Acquisition, on what it’s like to work at Consumer Acquisition. Ariel has been with the company for almost 3 years and has been promoted twice to help lead the UA team’s success. Some of her favorite parts about her job include being fully remote, the coaching and support she’s received from her manager, and the big clients and brands she works with. When Ariel isn’t working, you can find her taking a new class, exploring a nearby town, or snuggling her cat.

Why work for us? Below are just some of the many benefits and perks we offer employees!

UA Team Job Openings:

Dating App Creative Trends

Posted on January 18, 2022September 21, 2022 by Lian

Whether your mobile app is fintech, fashion, or fitness, understanding user motivations is critical for a successful user acquisition campaign. With the season of love upon us, dating app ad creative perfectly illuminates how persona-based creative concepts appeal to the unique motivations of different users.

Get an analysis of high performing ad creative for top dating apps
Explore varied user motivations for dating apps
Discover dating app creative trends for TikTok compared to Facebook
Compare successful Hinge and Plenty of Fish ad creative

From long-term romance to casual connections, dating apps put matchmaking in your pocket. To see what’s bringing people together, we’ve analyzed creative trends and user motivations for dating apps, with a focus on Hinge and Plenty of Fish. Using data from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, we compare what ad creative is working for dating apps right now.

As part of our creative process, our Ad Concept Model helps creative teams build on creative trends and motivations within an app category or mobile game genre to develop new concepts. Below, we’ve shared our Ad Concept Model for dating apps as a tool to explore different concepts for target user personas at the intersection of trends and user motivations. See how different user motivations directly inform creative concepts for successful dating apps ad creative.

Analyzing Dating App Creative Trends

Top competitors in the mobile app dating space include Tinder, Hinge, Skout, Clover, Match, Plenty of Fish, OKCupid, and Coffee Meets Bagel.

Competitive research reveals which creative trends are currently working best across social platforms. To identify trends, Facebook Ad Library lets marketers see every ad currently running on their ad network. TikTok For Business surfaces top-performing ads by installs, engagement, and reach. Marketers can also use Mobile Action, SensorTower, or AppAnnie competitor libraries for additional insights.

Based on information from Facebook Ad Library, TikTok For Business, and MobileAction, dating app creative trends we’ve identified include:

App Overview: Overview of the app that showcases features and user experience
App Content: Captured content and screen grabs from the app
Testimonial: Focused on a user’s review and/or experience of the app
Influencers: Utilizing influencers and/or celebs to deliver the primary message
UGC: Content a user would upload to social media regarding the app
Tips & Quizzes: Communicating features or benefits through advice or quizzes

On TikTok in the past thirty days, Hinge and Plenty of Fish have run several top-performing category ads that leverage these trends. Successful ads are measured by installs as a campaign objective.

Creative Trends on TikTok

Hinge TikTok ads almost universally use faux testimonials and UGC-style videos. This approach uses direct address toward the audience, text overlays, and looks like entirely native content. In contrast to Hinge’s UGC ads, Plenty of Fish high-performing TikTok ads focus on the app experience and features rotating dating profile photos with minimalistic UI. Captured content and screen grabs from the app help communicate the interaction process while rotating through a swath of other potential users.

Creative Trends on Facebook

Facebook and Instagram ads for Hinge reveal a different angle for their audience. These ads feature romance and long-term relationship goals through their tagline “The dating app designed to be deleted.” One high-performing Facebook ad ironically shows a profile of a person who confesses to being “weirdly attracted to people who aren’t on social media.”

Ads here also use UGC in a notably different way than respective TikTok UGC ads: messages are screenshots within a social media post to showcase the meta-commentary.

Plenty of Fish ads on Facebook and Instagram are similar to their respective TikTok ads. These ads focus on the app experience, profiles en masse, newness, locality, and the promise of “more.”

Identifying Dating App User Motivations

As consumer marketing has grown up, we’ve learned there is no perfect Pepsi, but there are perfect Pepsis for particular palates; the same goes for products in any market. Before building out a matrix for a particular set of ad concepts, we identify different motivations driving our user personas and break down those motivations by underlying values and desires. Below we’ve included motivational triggers for dating app users.

Ad creative for Hinge compared to Plenty of Fish illuminates how different concepts can appeal to different user motivations.

Users seeking love, authentic connections, and validation respond to the success messaging of Hinge, along with the high quality of the imagery, the brand promise, and the focus on one-to-one attention.

Users seeking casual connections or the excitement of discovery respond to the Plenty of Fish promise of fast onboarding (not “a million questions”), and “new singles” in the area. Even the “See More” prompt teases a surplus of profiles to access.

Creating Dating App Ad Concepts

To develop and iterate on different creative concepts, we map identified motivations to creative trends within the category. In the empty model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept, supporting nearly 40 concepts by pairing six trends with six motivations. While not all creative trends will work persuasively with each motivation, we can expand our concepts even further by targeting specific personas within each pairing. Based on personas, we develop a bespoke creative strategy targeting behaviors, triggers, and preferences.

The proposed ad concept model acts as a foundation for an iterative creative process that can be customized and extended to develop endless ad concepts for an app, website, or service. By building a scalable infrastructure for creative ideation, we provide unique lanes for creative teams and media buyers to explore ideas. The model also acts as an archive of knowledge to ensure we are always optimizing what we’ve learned.

Based on the high-performing dating app ads outlined above:

Hinge TikTok ads use the creative trend of UGC and the motivations of validation, trendiness, and excitement.
Hinge Facebook ads use the creative trends of App Content and UGC with the user motivations of love, authentic connection, brand trust, and excitement.
Plenty of Fish ads on TikTok and Facebook use the creative trend of App Content with the user motivations of casual dating, ease of use, convenience, speed, and discovery.

Media Buying Model

As a complementary tool to our Ad Concept Model, our Media Buying Model uses a similar matrixed approach to systematize best practices for user acquisition campaign development. Any mobile app can leverage a unique combination of distinct UA strategies and campaign parameters to develop a robust testing harness for ongoing mobile campaigns across social platforms.

In its most generic state, our Media Buying Model looks like the matrix below, prior to building out a mobile app user acquisition strategy. The entire matrix is tailored to a respective ad network and operating system requirements and constraints. Geographies, languages, and bid types are all modified based on the client’s needs. Each campaign is structured to meet specific goals at the intersection of strategies and parameters. For in-depth tactics by channel, including benefits and limitations for Facebook Android vs. Facebook iOS SKAN, TikTok iOS, and Android, see our full Media Buying Model here.

Want better results from UA?

Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com.

Check out our creative work:

Creative Trends

2022 Mobile App Advertising Trends to Watch

Posted on January 4, 2022March 4, 2022 by Lian

2022 Mobile App Advertising Trends to Watch:

First-Party Data
Multi-Channel Portfolios, SDKs, DSPs, and Media Mix Modeling
Contextual, Persona-Led Advertising
Focus On the First 24 Hours
Multi-Platform Capabilities
Direct-to-Consumer and Alternative Payments
NFTs and Blockchain
Creator Ecosystems and UGC
The Metaverse

Jumping into 2022, mobile app advertisers are better prepared for the evolving advertising ecosystem than they were last year. We can now quantify the impact of IDFA loss and understand the A/B testing implications of automated buying and privacy restrictions. Based on public comments, IDFA impact is generally being accepted as the new normal, with lower-level setting and margin compression due to the complexity of targeting and measurement on iOS. Mobile app businesses are acclimating and many are growing within these new constraints. For the global mobile game market, Newzoo predicts a compound annual growth rate of +11.2 percent by 2021. Similarly, GlobalData estimates the mobile gaming industry will record a CAGR of 11% by 2030.

Based on conversations with our clients and leading industry experts, +11% CAGR is a moderate estimate. However, many speculate that emerging trends may be under-indexed and could increase market growth upwards of 20%. We are excited to see how mobile-first companies are improving and innovating in real-time to address advertising ecosystem challenges.

From first-party data to NFTs, here are the successful strategies and user acquisition trends we’ll be watching in 2022.

2022 Mobile App Advertising Trends

First-Party Data

Companies that build their own identity systems tied into behavioral dynamics and layered with contextual advertising do not need to rely on third-party visibility. For valuable first-party data, mobile app companies with the resources are wise to build ad platforms alongside or in tandem with their publishing platforms. Setting up native experiences allows for control of tracking, measurement, and analysis. Similarly, social platform-based experiences, such as games on Snap and TikTok, provide native attribution tracking and analysis.

Multi-Channel Portfolios

Companies will need to enhance their iOS acquisition portfolios beyond Facebook and Google, and expand volume from SDK Networks (Applovin, Unity, IronSource, Vungle) and DSPs. A true multi-channel approach should also include YouTube, TikTok, and Snap. As portfolios grow, complexity grows, requiring robust media mix modeling and reliable attribution analysis.

Contextual, Persona-Led Advertising

As reliance on upper-funnel campaigns increases, ad creative optimized to appeal to discreet personas is the most efficient lever for sustained profitable user acquisition. Without deterministic tracking, motivation-based, persona-led ad creative is critical to attracting high-quality top-of-funnel installs.

Focus On the First 24 Hours

To help with SKAN restrictions after install, the first 24-48 hours of app usage should identify consumers that indicate a propensity to monetize. We recommend streamlining and instrumenting your onboarding flows and events to capture these early monetization signals. With persona-led creative paired with onboarding events, the algorithms will learn what changes to make to deliver better audiences.

Multi-Platform Capabilities

Just as consumers have come to expect omnichannel shopping experiences, gamers will increasingly expect console-to-mobile flexibility and consistency. With global 5G adoption estimated to hit one billion subscriptions in 2022, mobile games can leverage higher download speeds for higher fidelity gameplay. Companies building their own identity systems can provide consistent experiences and analytics across platforms. Simultaneously taking advantage of alternative purchasing mechanisms outside of the App Store. Apple’s official App Store Review Guidelines states, “apps that operate across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscriptions, or features they have acquired in your app on other platforms or your web site, including consumable items in multi-platform games, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app.”

Direct-to-Consumer and Alternative Payments

As the industry-shaking lawsuit of Epic Games v. Apple continues to play out in the appellate courts, developers should plan for alternative purchasing mechanisms outside of the App Store. If Apple is required to allow metadata buttons and external links for payments, developers can increase revenue by 30 percent as they eliminate App Store commissions. By offering direct-to-consumer billing options, app developers can also decrease IAP costs for users.

NFTs and Blockchain

Through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), mobile gaming companies will have a massive market opportunity. From digital plots of land to rare gear, NFTs built into core gameplay loops have the potential to drive significant in-game purchases. When tied to player motivations, NFTs can appeal to completionists, collectors, customizers, status-seekers, and strategists.

Creator Ecosystems and UGC

User-generated video continues to drive meaningful engagement on social platforms. As platforms increase interactive video capabilities, that engagement will only increase. Building out creator ecosystems that support UGC has the added value of providing first-party data through native experiences.

The Metaverse

Adjacent to and often overlapping with creator ecosystems is the Metaverse. It is a persistent, virtual, connected, social space that is emergent and speculative. Second Life was prototypical and popular contemporaries include Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. Immersive environments and the communities that grow within them also present significant opportunities for monetization, user-generated content, contextual advertising, and first-party data.

Stay Ahead of Mobile App Advertising Trends

Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com to discuss how we can help you stay ahead in 2022.

Wooga’s Switchcraft Case Study

Posted on January 11, 2022September 21, 2022 by Lian

Wooga Switchcraft Case Study: CGI Game Trailer and Ad Creative

No matter your budget or your IP, in the current mobile advertising ecosystem your best-performing Facebook ad has about ten weeks before creative fatigue sets in. 85-95% of new creative concepts fail to outperform your best ad and finding your next winner takes 20-50 new original concepts. In the face of IDFA loss and media buying automation, finding high-quality top-of-funnel users is critical for profitable user acquisition.

Our Ad Concept Model targets valuable users through tailored motivational drivers paired with creative trends. This process yields fresh creative concepts for ongoing testing while maintaining advertising profitability at scale. For our client Wooga, we developed over 50 new ad concepts, over 150 video ads, and the official 30-second CGI game trailer for their popular mobile game Switchcraft.

View the Wooga Switchcraft Game Trailer

Created by Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs

Here’s how we helped bring new players to Wooga Switchcraft through thumb-stopping ad creative and a magical, cinematic game trailer.

Challenge

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.

Switchcraft gameplay combined match-3 puzzles, progressive narrative choices, and spellcasting minigames. Nuanced character rigging and fluid animation would be required to bring their evocative, painterly art style to life alongside 3D cinematics that combined realism with comic-book aesthetics.

Solution

Using our Ad Concept Model, we systematize creative development and UA targeting so our clients get reliable top-performing creative in the most cost-efficient and scalable way. These are the steps within the model:

Analyze competitor and creative trends to build on what’s working
Collaborate with client to identify user motivations and target personas
Create concepts at the intersection of trends and motivations
Test to learn what works and document process to ensure knowledge transfer
Optimize to do more of what works and iterate

Analyzing Creative Trends

Researching what creative is working and what isn’t across the category helps identify creative trends to build on. As a narrative-based match-3 mobile game with magical gameplay mechanics, there were many popular creative trends to build on for Switchcraft. Some Match-3 creative trends included:

Puzzles: Locks & Gates and other puzzles that challenge users to free a game character (Fishdom, Gardenscapes, Homescapes, many others)
Picker Videos: 3D or 2D situations with pickers, often resulting in disastrous fails. (Township, Sweet Escapes, Manor Cafe, many others)
Hidden Items: Videos or still images that contain hidden items the user must find. (Meow Match, June’s Journey)
Design Challenges: Tasks that must be completed within an allotted time or budget. (Design Home, Sweet Escapes)
Real Player Gameplay: Split screen featuring a player and gameplay. (Jelly Juice)
Female-Centered Vignettes: Women overcoming adversity and men behaving badly in soap opera situations. (Lily’s Garden, Choices, Vineyard Valley, My Home: Design Dreams)
Choose Your Adventure: Series of situations where you choose between two actions. (Choices, Episode)
Game Controller: Picker that mimics a game console, guiding character through levels. (Candy Crush, Hustle Castle)
Lifestyle and Gameplay: Showing lifestyle footage and gameplay that matches image (Toon Blast, Farm Hero Saga)
Gameplay + Side Character: Gameplay elements leave the screen to interact with characters (Candy Blast Mania, Candy Smash Mania)
Mixing Gameplay with Narrative: Storybook narration, Coloring book style (Bubble Witch Saga)
3D effect: Characters “floating” above gameplay (Farm Heroes Saga)
Incorporating Game to Solve a Problem: Using gameplay to find the key to escape a room (Candy Smash mania)

Some Romance and Narrative creative trends included:

Choosing what’s next from the player POV to direct narrative while interacting with the game’s characters
Game trailer/overview that showcases user experience, core objectives, and other game features
Fashion and style challenges
Using social media or texting to convey the narrative or primary message
Character focus using countdowns, origin stories
Vignettes featuring short character scenarios or stories
Achievement opportunities like level progression to unlock more of the story
Success vs. Fail gameplay contrasting experienced and amateur players

Identifying User Motivations

Creating Concepts

We map identified motivations to creative trends within the category to develop and iterate on different concepts. In the empty model below, each box represents a different ad creative concept, supporting nearly 50 concepts by pairing eight trends with six motivations. While not all creative trends will work persuasively with each motivation, we can expand our concepts even further by targeting specific personas within each pairing. Based on personas, we develop a bespoke creative strategy targeting behaviors, triggers, and preferences.

Results

Nathalie Wood, Marketing Manager at Wooga said:

“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.”

Breaking out game mechanics and themes, we created and tested ad creative that focused on different aspects of the game. Individual concepts focused on themes of love, mystery, drama, or magic. Or, game mechanics of match-3 puzzles, spellcasting, and narrative choices.

Want better results from UA?

Email us at sales@consumeracquisition.com.

Check out our creative work:

Creative Trends

Brainlabs Acquires Social Ad Creative Studio Consumer Acquisition

Posted on December 16, 2021June 2, 2022 by Lian

Press Release: Brainlabs acquires Social Ad Creative Studio Consumer Acquisition.

Digital marketing agency Brainlabs has acquired global social advertising agency and creative studio, Consumer Acquisition.

The transaction is Brainlabs’ fourth acquisition this year and its second in North America as the agency continues to expand its capabilities for both existing and future clients.

Brainlabs and Consumer Acquisition have a shared culture of driving measurable client success through testing, tech, and talent. The introduction of Consumer Acquisition’s services expands Brainlabs’ social advertising capabilities to include a creative studio, fully-managed paid social services, and SaaS tool, AdRules. This move will enable Brainlabs to offer clients multiple creative executions within app download campaigns, closing the gap between creative and digital performance.

Reporting to Jeremy Cornfeldt (Brainlabs’ CEO, North America), Brian Bowman (CEO & Founder, Consumer Acquisition) will deliver Consumer Acquisition’s products to new and existing clients globally in his new role as SVP-Global App Marketing. Leveraging the experience of senior executives Brian Kanaga, Mike Merrell, BJ Zeltner, and Lian Amaris, Consumer Acquisition will become Brainlabs’ in-house creative studio for app marketing campaigns and managed mobile user acquisition services. Consumer Acquisition has deep knowledge of mobile-first sectors, such as gaming and direct-to-consumer, and in partnership with Brainlabs, will expand their expertise to support clients across all sectors.

Founded in 2013, Consumer Acquisition is headquartered in California and operates via a globally distributed remote workforce. For three consecutive years, the company has been included in the Inc. 5000 and San Francisco Business Times Fast 100 for fastest-growing private companies. They have managed $3.5 billion in creative and social ads spend for top-charting mobile apps and web-based performance advertisers, including Roblox, Wooga, Zynga, Glu, Rovio, and Jam City. Their proprietary advertising analytics platform AdRules provides workflow automation, real-time business intelligence, and creative research from 3.5 million video ads across social channels. With expertise across Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Apple Search Ads, Consumer Acquisition is known for its unparalleled commitment to profitable advertising, rigorous A/B testing, optimization processes, and blockbuster storytelling for mobile app advertisers.

Brainlabs was founded in 2012 with a mission to become the best and biggest digital marketing agency in the world. The Brainlabs approach is built around testing, tech & talent – a model that has helped the business grow from 1 to 750 people, placing 1st in Deloitte’s Tech Track Fast 50 and 4th in the Financial Times fastest-growing companies. Brainlabs is backed by private equity firm Livingbridge as part of an accelerated growth strategy and as of today, the agency’s footprint spans Europe, North America, APAC, and LATAM.

Daniel Gilbert, CEO of Brainlabs, commented:

“I am so delighted to welcome Consumer Acquisition into Brainlabs. Their best-in-class approach to social creative is built around testing, technology & talent – much like Brainlabs! Creative prowess is a vital new string to Brainlabs’ bow and their expertise in mobile advertising makes me a very ‘appy’ guy”.

Brian Bowman, Founder of Consumer Acquisition, added:

“In this next stage of growth for Consumer Acquisition, we are thrilled to bring Brainlabs strengths in paid search, strategy, branding, programmatic advertising, and data science to our clients. We look forward to contributing to the success of Brainlabs clients through our world-class creative strategy, mobile media buying expertise, and Hollywood storytelling.”

For further information please contact: angus.macgowan@brainlabsdigital.com

Consumer Acquisition Acquired by Brainlabs

Posted on December 16, 2021April 15, 2022 by Lian

Consumer Acquisition has been acquired by Brainlabs.

A message from Brian Bowman, Consumer Acquisition Founder & CEO

Consumer Acquisition has been acquired by digital marketing agency Brainlabs in an exciting move to expand capabilities for both existing and future clients. Brainlabs was founded in 2012 and has since grown to 700 people across the UK, North America, APAC, and LATAM. In 2019, Brainlabs secured investment from private equity firm Livingbridge to support an accelerated growth strategy. Since then, they have developed a global presence and acquired several agencies in the UK and North America.

In this next stage of growth for Consumer Acquisition, we are thrilled to bring Brainlabs’ strengths in strategy, SEO, paid search, branding, programmatic advertising, and data science to our clients. Similarly, we look forward to contributing to the financial success of Brainlabs clients through our world-class paid social creative strategy, mobile media buying expertise, and Hollywood storytelling.

Our commitment to our clients remains our most important priority.

Consumer Acquisition will continue to deliver on our promise of rigorous A/B testing, relentless focus on creative optimization, and blockbuster storytelling for mobile app advertisers. In addition, we will continue to be a reliable source for mobile app industry trends, providing practical guidance for user acquisition and creative teams. Most importantly, we will continue to help mobile app advertisers remain profitable during an unprecedented era of change.

We extend our gratitude to our clients and are excited for the shared opportunities ahead.

For more information, please see our joint press release with Brainlabs here. To check out samples of our creative, click the play button below.