Over the last two years, hyper-casual games have evolved from a handful of niche apps to a dominant force in mobile gaming. From just a couple of studios to tens or even hundreds in 2019, the industry has seen a significant shift, both in terms of users and resources.
To effectively capture this growing audience, developers are increasingly turning to automated creative solutions to create playable ads that enhance user acquisition strategies.
Strong ad creatives can tell a good story
With the hyper-casual market growing at such a fast pace, it’s only a matter of time before the market gradually matures. With intensifying competition, making your app stand out is becoming increasingly challenging. So what are your options?
Because ad-based monetization is key for their survival, it is essential for hyper-casual games to create playable ads that effectively convey the game's simplicity and ease of play. In other words, your creatives need to tell a good story and they need to answer one crucial user question: “Why should I play your game?”
Creative strategy analysis: 3 key things to do first
Before designing ad creatives, you need to focus on three main areas that will ensure you get the most out of your creatives.
1. Identity your game’s key selling points
If your game shares similarities with other games on the market, find the elements that set it apart—be it the core gameplay or art style—then focus on those elements instead and make sure they stand out in your creatives.
2. Analyze your target audience
You probably have a certain target group when creating a game, but you need to dig a little deeper into cultural or regional nuances. Incorporate these insights into your ad creatives to create customized and impactful.
3. Be consistent
When it comes to distribution channels, be mindful that each channel has its own strengths and weaknesses. Stay aligned with your chosen channel, and ensure your creatives accurately reflect the actual game. Remember: if the content presented in the ad creative does not match the game itself, the user experience will be negative and conversion rates will suffer as a result.
Use psychology to your advantage
There are three factors to consider when making the right ad creative: content, presentation, and psychology. You’ve got your content because it’s based on your game, you’ve got the presentation because you figured out your distribution channels, but what about the psychological element?
Even as technology advances, human motivations and desires tend to stay the same. This is where psychology comes into play: by using certain “hooks”, you can create powerful, performance-focused playable ads that stand out in a competitive market.
Cognitive Closure: Your brain is wired to get answers and solve problems as quickly as possible. Therefore, you need to make sure your ads feature clear, concise steps that show how to achieve the goal, so players can immediately understand the gameplay and its reward. This clarity helps satisfy the mind’s need to “close the loop” and encourages deeper engagement.
Opinion Leader: It is widely known just how important influencers are online. Featuring a trusted figure in your creatives (visually or as audio commentary) to showcase the game and teach users how to play it, is surprisingly effective. This is because people tend to follow expert opinions or early adopters.
Earworm Effect: There are two vectors that can affect your ad creatives: visual and auditory. For audio, try using catchy, memorable music that can stay with your audience well after the ad finishes. In video, synchronizing video imagery with audio rhythms can also have a significant positive impact, so try pairing these two vectors.
Herd Effect: We naturally trust something once it’s validated by others. If other people use a certain product, then it must be good (“if an app is on the top 10 charts then it’s gotta be good!”). This is why you can use user ratings or reviews, as selling points in the creatives. Also, the herd effect includes another powerful motivator: the fear of missing out; if others are enjoying this game, I have to give it a try!
Creative tips for playable ads
According to Mindworks, playable ads tend to outperform traditional video ads. In fact, playable ads can achieve twice the CTR and three times the IVR compared to regular video campaigns. Not only that, by leveraging automated creative solutions, you can create playable ads that stand out and drive stronger ROI. Here are some tips from Mindworks on how to optimize your playable ads:
1. Provide clear guidance: Simplify your gameplay, give users tips if they’re stuck, and make sure the objective is evident so they know exactly what to do.
2. Multi-step outcome: Your creative should accomplish three things: it should have a clear objective, your demo should have a proper tempo, and the user should receive positive visual/audio feedback for completing the level.
3. Enhance user feedback: Incorporate eye-catching visuals and sound effects, so players receive instant feedback on their actions.
4. A/B testing visuals: test different themes or skins, difficulty, BGM, etc., then analyze performance based on factors like audience segment, region, or seasonality. Iterate to find what resonates best with your target users.
5. Custom CTAs: customized Call-To-Action buttons that talk about the core selling point of the game.
6. Control the demo duration: Try to show as much of the game in as short a time as possible. The demo can’t be too long (the ideal duration is between 10 and 40 seconds), so play around with the demo duration to find the sweet spot.
7. Control the demo difficulty: Track completion rates and adjust difficulty levels so that most players can get the full demo experience.
The hyper-casual market is growing and with it, so are the challenges that publishers are facing. Strategic, well-crafted ad creatives—particularly playable ads—can make a significant impact on your UA campaigns and generate strong returns.
By combining automated creative strategies with psychology, proper user targeting, and consistent branding, hyper-casual developers can create playable ads that capture attention, encourage installs, and ultimately boost ROI. And rRemember: if you are going to use playable ads (which we recommend using), take advantage of their customizability and use data to tweak them until you find the sweet spot.
If you want to take your campaigns to the next level with innovative, engaging playable ad creatives, don't hesitate to contact the Playturbo team to see Playturbo in action. Don’t forget to also follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates and insights! 
