GAME CHANGER
WINNING STRATEGIES FOR SCALING
MOBILE GAMES ON FACEBOOK
Successful Advertising Playbooks from
Pocket Gems, Elex, and More
Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
Mobile game developers have an
unprecedented growth opportunity
on Facebook.
$44.2 billion. That’s how much revenue mobile games
are projected to generate by 2018. This skyrocketing
revenue isn’t even close to its full potential, as just 62%
of the US population will play mobile games by that
same year, according to eMarketer.
Profit-driven advertising on Facebook has become
a critical strategy for today’s most successful game
marketers. Growth marketing teams that can most
effectively launch large-scale burst campaigns,
consistently acquire high-value users, and monetize
existing titles achieve the highest levels of success at
scale.
As Facebook has proven to be one of the most effective
acquisition and monetization channels for game
developers, those who master campaign management,
measurement, and optimization will have a powerful
advantage over the competition.
Mobile Gaming Revenues Worldwide, by Device,
2014-2018
billions
$44.2
$40.4
$12.9
$35.5
$12.8
$30.0
$24.5
$11.2
$9.4
$7.4
$17.0
2014
Smartphone
$24.4
$20.6
2015
2016
$27.6
2017
$31.3
2018
Tablet
Note: numbers may not add up to total due to rounding
Source: Newzoo, "The Mobile Gaming Landscape 2015 and the Power
Users Who Shaped It," Dec 22, 2015
202568
www.eMarketer.com
Already, many of today’s leading game developers
rely on Nanigans advertising automation software to
help them meet and exceed revenue growth goals on
Facebook and beyond. This guide highlights four of
those innovative companies, and the winning strategies
employed by their in-house advertising teams.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
2
HOW ELEX POWERED A
12X SURGE IN MOBILE GAME GROWTH
Elex is a leading mobile game developer in China, and has made large-scale Facebook
advertising a core strategy for growing revenues and expanding its loyal customer base.
Elex’s top game, Clash of Kings, has consistently ranked among Google Play’s top five games
by daily revenue in more than 80 countries around the world.
To replicate the success of Clash of Kings with its new Magic Rush mobile game, Elex chose
to use Nanigans advertising automation software to dramatically grow the game’s user base
while improving ROI on a global scale. How did Elex achieve 12X growth for Magic Rush in
just four months?
PROFITABLY ACQUIRING NEW USERS AT SCALE
While Elex’s in-house marketing team had a goal for scaling
mobile app installs through Facebook advertising, they needed
to achieve that scale in a strategic and sustainable way.
Maintaining consistent performance—as measured primarily
by cost-per-install (CPI) and downstream revenue—was
a critical factor in defining the success criteria. ‘Scale +
performance’ was the name of the game.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
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Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
To achieve its ambitious goals for Magic Rush on Android, Elex launched a worldwide Facebook ad campaign,
leveraging Nanigans software to manage, measure, and optimize the entire process. To promote Facebook’s
mobile app install ads with interest targeting and lookalike audiences, Elex utilized a range of features in
Nanigans’ end-to-end solution.
Improved efficiency with bulk ad creation
Lower risk of under-performing ads
Elex saved time and reduced the risk of costly errors by
automating the creation and management of thousands of
different ad creative and audience combinations.
By activating Nanigans’ stop loss protection, Elex
automatically paused ads with poor performance before
they could negatively impact bottom-line aggregate ROI.
Granular performance control at scale
Smarter promotion of top creatives
With Nanigans’ audience override tools, Elex targeted and
set different CPI goals for each geographic market, affording
them tighter control over costs and efficiency, while still
enabling large-scale growth.
Elex automated ad creative testing through Nanigans to
ensure that only the image and copy combinations that
drove the most valuable Magic Rush game installs were
promoted at scale.
IDENTIFYING CREATIVE THAT DRIVES PERFORMANCE
Elex utilized Facebook’s mobile app install ads in both the standard (single-image) and carousel format. The
Singapore-based Nanigans Customer Success team advised Elex that in addition to using automated creative
testing, they should frequently refresh creative concepts to avoid ad fatigue and identify winning strategies.
Elex’s in-house creative team activated new creatives almost every week, with text overlays customized to each
geographic audience segment.
“We found that a highly customized
text overlay and game logos
were integral to improving our
CTRs on Facebook’s mobile app
install ads. Nanigans enabled us
to continuously iterate and test
these creatives while optimizing
performance on a global scale.”
JULIA ZHAO
Digital Marketing Optimizer, Elex
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
4
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
ACHIEVING OUTSTANDING RESULTS
Starting small and growing Facebook ad spend consistently and efficiently through Nanigans, Elex achieved
impressive returns on a massive scale after just four months.
12X
growth in daily
app installs
20%
improvement in
cost-per-install
10X
scale in daily
Facebook ad spend
2%
average CTR across
all geographies
11X
more countries
targeted
“Nanigans software can bulk create thousands of ads and then manage them individually
towards a different end goal. The predictive algorithms enabled us to achieve our KPIs
consistently every day for four months, while scaling in a sustainable fashion.”
STEVEN LEE
Digital Marketing Team Lead, Elex
After achieving such strong performance using Nanigans to promote Magic Rush on Android, Elex’s in-house
marketing team made the strategic decision to also manage all iOS campaigns through the software.
Success with Magic Rush is just the beginning for Elex. The company continues to work closely with its Nanigans
Customer Success team to build on the strong partnership to date. There is ample opportunity for future growth
of Magic Rush and Elex’s full game catalog:
 Amplifying acquisition campaigns on new channels, including Instagram and Twitter, for expanded reach and
incremental growth
 Ramping up reengagement campaigns to complement acquisition efforts
 Activating Nanigans’ mobile SDK to fuel predictive revenue optimization in real-time
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
5
HOW POCKET GEMS SCALED CAMPAIGNS 500%
WITH WINNING AD CREATIVE
Mobile game advertisers often have low cost per install
(CPI) and strong return on ad spend (ROAS) targets for
their campaigns. High click-through and conversion rates
are the key to achieving this ideal outcome—and creative
plays an important role.
The talented in-house advertising team at Pocket Gems
knows that finding the right creative can make all the
difference in mobile advertising campaign success. With
Nanigans advertising automation software, they are able
to iterate, test, scale, and measure the return on ad spend
that different creatives generate, quickly and efficiently.
THE BENEFITS OF KEEPING IT FRESH
Pocket Gems debuted its “Choose Your Own Story” mobile
game, Episode, in 2014, presenting players with thousands
of animated stories where their choices matter.
In order to keep user activity steady over time, Pocket
Gems has leveraged its in-house creative team to invent
and design fresh image concepts and videos. When
the game developer launched a mobile app install ad
campaign featuring a specific image taken from a new
Episode theme, performance exploded on Facebook.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
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Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
This creative concept struck it big!
2% CTR
50% CVR
40-50% DAY 2 YIELD
The single-image mobile app install ad performed
well in terms of engagement, and users who
installed the app made a significant number of ingame purchases in just two days.
TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
The ability to track and analyze data is crucial to optimizing performance. By utilizing Nanigans’ real-time tracking,
Pocket Gems monitored the revenue driven from the new ad on Facebook, and was able to easily adjust budgets
accordingly. Aware they had a hit on their hands, Pocket Gems quickly scaled daily spend on the mobile app
install ad campaign by 500%.
Meanwhile, automated creative testing in Nanigans ensured that top-performing images like the one pictured
above remained active while underperformers were paused down automatically.
ITERATION AND EXPANSION
Savvy advertisers know how to take a
good ad and run with it.
After seeing the huge success of its
initial mobile app install ads using
a single static image, Pocket Gems’
in-house advertising team decided
to expand Nanigans’ automated
creative testing to an additional ad
unit. They applied the top-performing
concept and other romance-related
images to Facebook’s interactive
carousel ad format.
Carousel mobile app install ads are perfectly suited to a narrative-based game like Episode. Dropping images into
Facebook’s scroll-friendly template, Pocket Gems was able to illustrate story arcs and entice users to find out
what would happen next.
Performance from the carousel mobile app install campaign was again impressive, with Day 2 Yield for the top
creative reaching 60%. After confirming that carousel ads could bring in high-value users, Pocket Gems iterated
on similar stories, allocating 73% of their Facebook ad spend to carousel concepts in one day.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
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Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
THE STORY CONTINUES
The ability to easily identify high-performing users and monitor their behavior
isn’t just important for campaign optimization; it also provides mobile
developers with a glimpse into what their best audience finds most engaging
about a game.
Pocket Gems believes that its creative resonates so well because it tells a
story, reflecting a sense of romance and drama that appeals to Episode’s core
demographic, while simultaneously reflecting the choice-based gameplay
within the app. With Nanigans’ powerful creative testing automation and inapp revenue attribution, the mobile game developer is able to tailor its ad
campaigns precisely to player interests, while maximizing return on ad spend.
Armed with the knowledge that their most valuable users prefer romantic
storylines, Pocket Gems can continue to align new concepts with the original
image that led to success, and apply the insights gained from advertising
Episode to other titles—keeping the cycle of improved performance going.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
8
HOW SCOPELY CREATED A PROVEN PLAYBOOK
FOR UNBEATABLE MOBILE GAME ADVERTISING
Regardless of team size or genre, most mobile gaming
companies will go through the same three stages when
launching a title—from burst campaigns to monetization to
a focus on user retention. For app developers with in-house
advertising teams, hitting targets consistently throughout
these three phases depends on access to advertising
automation software that is flexible enough to accommodate
goal pivots and robust enough to provide the integration
necessary for performance analysis and optimization.
Since July 2014, touchscreen entertainment brand Scopely
has rapidly adopted Nanigans software features to assist
in uncovering audience insights and optimize its Facebook
campaign performance. Here’s how the gaming company has
worked in tandem with Nanigans and Facebook to launch
mobile games like Disco Bees, Slots Vacation, and Dice With
Buddies, maintaining growth through the life cycle of these
and other popular titles.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
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Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
PHASE 1: ACQUISITION
Burst campaigns are key when a game first launches. Without sufficient customer
acquisition, a new title will flop in app stores and fail to achieve enough momentum
to monetize. In April 2015, Scopely planned and executed the global game launch of
Yahtzee, a heavily coordinated acquisition effort involving campaigns with dozens of
partners across hundreds of relevant apps, mobile web, Scopely’s own network of
players, and public relations efforts. Facebook was a key driver of new acquisition,
and Nanigans’ advanced optimization software tools and large-scale campaign
management workflow helped enable quick real-time decision making and strategic
bidding changes by Scopely’s acquisition team.
On Facebook, when Scopely first launched Yahtzee using mobile app install ads,
the focus was on driving large acquisition volume while keeping cost per install low
through oCPM bidding. With so much riding on early user acquisition, ensuring that
campaigns attracted new installs quickly was a priority. Leveraging Creative Tester—
an automated Nanigans tool that takes the guessing out of testing new creative
and copy combinations—Scopely was able to analyze performance data, report
on results and rotate through ads based on their ROI analysis of best performing
creative assets.
By bulk creating and managing top-performing ads for all geographies and
leveraging Nanigans optimization algorithms, Scopely was able to drive massive
volume for Yahtzee at their CPI targets, resulting in Yahtzee becoming the #1 Game
on Google Play.
PHASE 2: MONETIZATION
As soon as a user base has been built up and acquisition has stabilized, savvy digital
marketers know it’s time to shift the objective to yield. After the initial launch of
Scopely’s popular title Slots Vacation, the gaming company focused heavily on driving
the most profitable installs available. Using data gleaned from the Nanigans SDK
during Slots Vacation’s growth stage, Scopely applied dynamic Revenue Optimization
parameters to its Facebook campaigns—in this case, optimizing towards and hitting
short-term yield targets by dynamically changing Facebook bid rules.
Having identified specific relevant audiences, Scopely’s acquisition managers
were also able to reap further benefits from a performance standpoint by setting
separate yield goals for key audiences with Audience Override Tables, a Nanigans
tool for controlling variables at the most granular level (e.g. audience/demographic
targeting).
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
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Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
PHASE 3: RETARGETING
Once it’s used to look at install rates during the acquisition phase, the Nanigans
SDK can also be used to look at downstream events like when a particular cohort
opens an app, when a user reaches a particular level, or spends a certain amount
of money. In the third phase of a game title’s life cycle, these metrics serve for
retargeting acquired customers who have slowed or ceased in-app activity.
Facebook’s Custom Audiences functionality helps gaming companies like Scopely
reach out to lapsed users and keep interest up long after launch by marketing new
game features and exciting live events.
For a mobile gaming title with millions of installs, there is still an opportunity to
drive more volume and concentrate on boosting the number of Daily Active Users.
Eligible, ready to engage players (active or lapsed) are just an ad campaign away.
It’s easy for mobile gaming developers to get caught up in the excitement of a burst campaign, but that’s just
the beginning of the battle for ROI. Operational workflow, downstream event monitoring and performance
optimization are all important components of a healthy game launch, not just in the first few weeks but the
lifetime of a title.
With versatile advertising automation software and an investment in mastering data-driven marketing, mobile
gaming companies like Scopely are in prime position to deliver engaging gameplay experiences across the globe.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
11
HOW IGG HIT ROI GOALS FOR LORDS MOBILE
LAUNCH WHILE SCALING AD SPEND 80X
I Got Games, or IGG, is a renowned developer and publisher of online games across mobile,
PC, and browser platforms. 300 million people worldwide have played IGG's games, from
arcade and action genre games like Castle Clash to strategy games like Clash of Desert. While
the company is well known in Asia, IGG has gained global recognition in recent years by
extending its chart-topping games to more players worldwide and localizing titles in fifteen
different languages.
SETTING A NEW GAME UP FOR SUCCESS
Driving IGG’s global expansion and providing the company a
competitive advantage is its strategic and data-driven in-house
marketing team. Leveraging Nanigans advertising automation
software, this team recently launched IGG’s newest real-time
strategy game, Lords Mobile, to multiple geographic markets
with great results:
 Scaling spend 80X by the fourth week and meeting ROI
goals while increasing install volume over three months
 Using software-enabled learnings and optimizations to
increase click-to-install conversion rates by more than 40%
between the first and fourth months of the campaign
 Driving installs at 20% lower cost and achieving nearly 2X
the ROI of other mobile app install ad formats using video
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
“The Nanigans platform
and the exceptional support
team in Singapore have
been instrumental in Lords
Mobile's success. 'Set and
forget' campaigns that
auto-optimize creatives and
targeting have saved us a lot
of time and boosted ROI.”
EUGENE KONASH
Marketing Director, IGG
12
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
THE GOAL
While game launches are challenging, the best game companies in the world understand
that their initial user acquisition campaigns present a critical opportunity to capitalize on
early profitability gains by reaching users that generate the greatest customer lifetime
value. This is particularly true during a global game launch, where multiple different
geographies and audience attributes present unique challenges and opportunities for
granular campaign optimization.
Knowing this, IGG’s marketing team set out in early 2016 with a refined Facebook campaign
strategy that centered on hitting key audience monetization milestones. These targets
included 7, 14, 30, and 90-day return on ad spend (ROI) goals, all while adhering to
specific cost per install (CPI) constraints. Nanigans software enabled IGG’s team to quickly,
efficiently, and intelligently test, measure, optimize, and scale their ad budgets to reach
these goals within and across multiple different markets.
THE STRATEGY
Targeting
To attract new gamers, IGG looked to prior successful game
launches to empower early success by building Lookalike
Audiences based on similar genres of games IGG had
developed and launched in the past.
Additionally, their marketing team leveraged Interest and
Broad Targeting on Facebook. Nanigans granular and
flexible real-time reporting interface enabled IGG’s team to
monitor the audience attributes generating conversions and
early monetization so as to maximize campaign impact.
Creative
Throughout the course of the campaign, IGG experimented
with different Facebook mobile app install ad formats,
including image, carousel, and video ads. With strategic
testing, they discovered that video mobile app install ads
delivered 20% lower cost per install and 2X higher ROI than
other ad formats.
As the team tested these ad types using Nanigans, they
focused on determining which attracted the most valuable
audiences. They also ensured that creative assets were
adapted for each particular geography.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
13
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
THE SOLUTION
Nanigans profit-driven advertising automation enabled IGG’s in-house marketing team to save
significant time in campaign setup, bidding, and optimization—freeing them to focus more
heavily on marketing strategy.
Regarding this strategy, IGG found several aspects of Nanigans software critical to their
profitable game launch:
Advanced Workflow Automation
Creative testing automated rapid and efficient
testing for IGG's team to quickly understand the
audience and creative combinations resonating
and generating conversations with players.
Bulk ad creation enabled IGG to replicate ad
creative that was performing well and clone
successful campaigns to new markets.
Customizable Reporting
Custom reports that could be easily saved and
shared allowed for more streamlined day-to-day
campaign maintenance.
Real-time reporting and analytics provided the
data necessary to drive creative refresh.
Predictive Optimization
Cohort analysis and maturity curve functions
helped to identify purchase trends of new users
and set the correct attribution window.
Value-based bidding maximized return on ad
spend by optimizing on downstream, revenuegenerating actions within the game
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
14
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
THE RESULTS
Using Nanigans advertising automation software over a four-month period, IGG's in-house
marketing team achieved impressive business results.
80X
INCREASE IN AD SPEND
WHILE MEETING ROI GOALS
40%
INCREASE IN CLICK-TOINSTALL CONVERSION RATES
9%
LOWER COST PER INSTALL
THAN THE INITIAL GOAL
Look-back windows for monetization were a key piece of IGG’s strategy, enabling the team to
understand which timelines (7, 14, 30, or 90) delivered maximum ROI potential. While this is a
complex strategy, Nanigans intuitive features enabled IGG to:
 Scale ads with higher monetization yields with no restriction on CPIs
 Control CPIs with 'max bid' features
 Bid down or stop ads with lower yield
LESSONS LEARNED
Go Beyond the Industry Standard
Typically, Tier 1 countries are key to global game launches, but analysis from the Nanigans
Analytics team revealed to IGG that placing additional emphasis on less saturated markets
had potential to deliver more cost efficient game installs at a comparatively high ROI.
Capitalize on a Game's Unique Maturity Curve
With Nanigans' cohort analysis tool, IGG was able to understand that 7 day ROI was highly
correlated with the long-term profit margin they aimed to achieve after 90 days or longer.
This insight allowed IGG to optimize their campaigns accordingly toward this earlier lifecycle
milestone.
Understand the Ad Formats that Inspire Action
Mobile app install ads are available in multiple formats, and IGG dedicated time to analyzing
which formats drove the most revenue-generating action from their prospective players.
With video leading the way, IGG adopted a strategy of rapidly testing video clips with
Nanigans software. Testing revealed that a singular battle scene drove the highest returns.
IGG incorporated these learnings into as many new iterations of their ads as possible.
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
15
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
NEXT STEPS
The initial success of the launch of Lords Mobile is just the beginning for IGG. Continuing to
leverage Nanigans advertising automation software, IGG’s marketing team plans to:
 Extend the reach of its user acquisition campaigns to new channels, such as the MoPub
mobile ad exchange
 Scale profit-driven campaigns to five key new countries by combining lookalike modeling
with Nanigans value-based bidding and optimization
 Intelligently test new ad types, such as carousel mobile app install ads with video, by
building on early learnings from other similar ad types
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
16
Game Changer: Winning Strategies for Scaling Mobile Games on Facebook
Nanigans empowers game advertisers to acquire high-value
users faster and more efficiently, across channels and at scale
For game developers across genres—from action-adventure and strategy to casino and
sports—Facebook advertising can be a powerful engine for revenue growth. Nanigans arms
marketing teams with sophisticated advertising automation software, so they can scale user
growth and more effectively monetize their full catalog of games.
OPTIMIZE ADS TO REACH AND ENGAGE HIGH-VALUE USERS
Measure and optimize every opportunity for in-game monetization with a profit-driven approach to
advertising across digital channels. From ad impression to in-game purchase, maximize ROI for user
acquisition and remarketing.
Measure Downstream
Purchase Events
Activate In-Game Insights for
Real-Time LTV Optimization
Eliminate Risk of Inefficient
or Wasted Ad Spend
Identify which in-game actions signal
the greatest revenue potential and
feed that data into machine learning
optimization for more high-value users
Customize conversion and behavior
tracking for more strategic bidding using
a powerful yet lightweight mobile SDK,
with corresponding website pixels
Employ creative testing and stop loss
protection to automate budgeting
efficiency, always allocating ad spend
where lifetime returns are greatest
MAXIMIZE REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES AT SCALE WITH ADVANCED AUTOMATION
Build and iterate on high-performing campaigns with data-driven workflow automation designed for scale. With the
industry’s most transparent and actionable reporting tools, maintain granular performance control while unlocking
ROI on a global scale.
Iterate on Successful Ads
and Audiences in Seconds
Test strategically and scale rapidly
with a flexible campaign structure
built on reusable elements—including
creatives, audiences, and more
Exercise Complete Control of
Performance at Scale
Gain 100% Visibility into
Real-Time Returns
From a burst campaign focused on user
growth to LTV-driven monetization,
optimize to unique performance goals
for any global audience segment
Make smarter decisions by analyzing
cohorts, maturity curves, and true ROI
through a highly customizable pivot
table interface or reporting API
Ready to take your Facebook advertising to the next level with Nanigans?
Request a Demo
Nanigans | Profit-Driven Advertising Automation
17
Nanigans advertising automation software empowers in-house marketing teams to
grow the revenue impact of their digital advertising. More than $600M in annualized
ad spend is managed through Nanigans software by commerce companies
worldwide that rely on Nanigans as a strategic lever of customer growth and revenue
generation for their companies.
Offered as Software-as-a-Service, Nanigans features multichannel programmatic
media buying, predictive revenue optimization, and real-time business intelligence
across today’s most valuable digital channels.
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[email protected]
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