How Mindworks Playable Ads Helped Lilith Games' AFK Arena Double Its CVR
As the ad competition increases, both in terms of volume and quality, many mobile publishers and advertisers are finding it increasingly challenging to cut through the noise and reach their audiences. Simulation games (also known as SLGs) like AFK Arena are no exception.
The user acquisition (UA) effectiveness coming from standard banners and video ads has declined, forcing advertisers to look into other formats - creatives with higher conversion rates and stronger UA capabilities.
Lilith Games, a leading mobile developer focusing on midcore and hardcore games, was facing such UA challenges with their hit title AFK Arena and decided to partner with the Mindworks Creative Studio in order to find a solution. Let's take a look at how we tackled this challenge and the results we got.
Doubling conversion rates with playable ads
How do you improve your UA efforts in a challenging market and stand out from your competition? We worked together with Lilith Games to get an answer and we decided on the best way to achieve these goals: 2D playable ads.
In order to make the game attract high-quality users and improve conversions, we took an in-depth look at the game's core features and its target users' preferences. Using this information, we created the following 2D playable ad:
AFK Arena playable ad built by the Mindworks Creative Studio
The 3 creative strategies behind our success
What were the key strategies that helped us boost AFK Arena's UA efforts and improve its CVR? Let's take a look:
1. Focusing on main selling points and showcasing the game's design. AFK Arena's stunning artwork and design represent some of the game's core features. This is why we focused on highlighting them by featuring some of the game's best moments and combining them with interactive elements for a smooth, interactive, and immersive gameplay experience.
2. Continuous interactivity and lower level difficulty. To ensure we maximize engagement, we gave players the ability to interact with the ad by killing enemies through swiping motions. At the same time, we decided to lower the difficulty to reduce the barrier to entry and get players interested in trying the game.
3. Improving player feedback throughout the ad experience. In order to make the playable ad more enjoyable, we added captivating visual and sound effects, making the player attacks feel significantly more powerful and enjoyable.
The results
The 2D playable ad we produced for Lilith Games' AFK Arena was officially launched in September 2021. Thanks to continuous optimization efforts, we were able to make our playable ad one of the game's best-performing creatives. Let's take a quick look at some key results generated by our playable ad:
By doubling the conversion rate and almost doubling the number of installs, we were extremely happy with the results we were able to get from the playable ad we produced. In fact, our playable ad was AFK Arena's best-performing creative for 2 consecutive months according to Sensor Tower.
"We are more than proud to see the power of our playable ads in action, thanks to our rich experience in high-quality creative production," said Stella Zhu, Mindworks' Creative Director.
"By combining our Dynamic Creative Optimization technology with Mintegral's UA capabilities, we are able to help advertisers acquire premium users at scale, boosting their ROI and retention rates. At a time when high-quality creatives are key to mobile growth, we believe the Mindworks Creative Studio has the skills and tools to help advertisers take their campaigns to the next level."
We work with hundreds of mobile advertisers around the world, including Voodoo, TapNation, TokyoTsushin, Crazylabs, Come2us, FunPlus, Topgames, NetEase, and Lilith Games. If you're looking for high-quality creatives to help you reach your audience, then make sure to contact the Mindworks team today!
