User Acquisition Strategies to Scale Your Games

User acquisition (UA) is a pivotal component of game marketing, essential for attracting and retaining new players. It involves a comprehensive array of strategies designed to convert prospects into loyal users, driving both immediate downloads and long-term engagement. This article explores various user acquisition strategies, common challenges, and actionable tips to help you effectively scale your games.

What is User Acquisition?

User acquisition (UA) in the gaming industry refers to strategies and actions taken to attract new players to a game, moving beyond just downloads to focus on attracting engaged users likely to generate revenue. Effective UA involves understanding the game’s target audience and leveraging data-driven insights to optimize marketing campaigns. This often includes channels like social media, search engines, and in-app advertisements, along with creative approaches tailored to appeal to specific player demographics.

For instance, platforms like Meta and TikTok provide robust opportunities for reaching broad or niche audiences with tailored messaging, while Google Ads can offer diverse placement options. Tools and platforms have become increasingly sophisticated, despite a lack of data due to newer privacy policies and regulations. The best UA teams adopt advanced data modeling techniques to handle privacy restrictions on data collection, especially on iOS.

Effective UA often starts with soft launch campaigns to validate the game’s potential with a sample audience, keeping resource investments manageable until a strong proof of concept is established. Once a game gains traction, UA efforts scale with specialized tools and cross-functional collaboration between growth and product teams to fine-tune the experience, ensuring that marketing and in-game experiences are aligned.

Effective User Acquisition Channels

With recent shifts in the digital advertising landscape, it’s critical to understand which channels are effective for capturing and retaining users. This section outlines some of the most impactful UA channels for game developers today and offers insights into each.

Primary User Acquisition Channels

First-Party Platforms

Major platforms such as Google, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), and TikTok remain foundational for UA due to their large user bases and extensive targeting capabilities. Meta and TikTok are particularly effective for broad-reach campaigns that target diverse audiences. Comparably, Google’s UAC (universal app campaigns) requires turning over the majority of targeting to google algorithmic, in exchange for massive scale. Many teams begin their UA campaigns here due to the platforms’ data transparency and extensive user engagement metrics.

Rewarded Video Networks

Platforms like IronSource, Unity Ads, and AppLovin offer rewarded video placements, which incentivize users to watch ads in exchange for in-app rewards. These channels are particularly effective for driving high retention rates, as it aligns with users’ gaming behavior. Rewarded video networks have streamlined their algorithms, making it easier to reach high-quality users without excessive ad spend.

Apple Search Ads

Apple Search Ads are useful for targeting iOS users and capturing high-intent users already searching for similar games in the App Store. While limited in scale compared to other channels, Apple Search Ads can yield high-quality installs with an effective keyword targeting strategy due to the high relevance to user searches, making them a valuable addition to an iOS-focused UA strategy.

Emerging Channels and Trends

Cross-Platform and PC Marketing

While mobile remains the dominant platform for broad-based games, there is a growing opportunity for cross-platform UA. Cross-platform games marketed on PC channels can find success in reaching players who prefer the desktop gaming experience. One critical consideration is developing a platform-native creative strategy when developing cross-platform. The experience with an advertisement is very different on each platform, and it’s necessary to match the creative experience with the platform your player is engaging on.

Creative Strategies Tailored to Ad Networks

Network specific creative strategies are vital, especially for TikTok, where trends and native aesthetics are rapidly evolving. Teams that focus on bespoke, high-engagement creative for TikTok generally experience stronger performance. In contrast, Meta tends to favor more evergreen content, which can be repurposed across different campaign phases.

Strategic Considerations in User Acquisition

Reducing Volatility in Early-Stage Campaigns

UA teams are encouraged to rely on large, stable platforms like Meta or TikTok during early campaign stages to minimize traffic volatility. Google’s network, while powerful, can introduce variability due to the wide range of placements, potentially complicating data collection and analysis for initial UA metrics.

Data Science and Modeling for Improved Targeting

With the deprecation of IDFA, UA teams have turned to probabilistic modeling and data science to retain targeting precision. Investing in data resources, whether through internal data science teams or third-party platforms, is increasingly crucial for maximizing UA efficiency.

Key User Acquisition Strategies

Successful user acquisition strategies involve a combination of precise targeting, creative development, and platform optimization. Below are some of the key strategies game marketers should be using to drive effective user acquisition.

1. Build the Right Marketing Mix and Master the Specifics

One of the first steps in developing an effective UA strategy is selecting the right platforms. The main platforms for UA in gaming include Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, Google, Rewarded Video / SDK Networks (Unity, ironSource, AppLovin) and, to a lesser extent, Snapchat and Apple Search Ads. Mastering these platforms is crucial, as they offer large, diverse audiences and advanced targeting features that help marketers reach the right users.

Each platform has distinct features and user behaviors, and developers must tailor their ads to fit the platform. For instance, TikTok and Meta require unique creative assets that align with each platform’s format and audience expectations. TikTok often needs higher turnover in creative material to match trends, while Meta provides broad demographic reach, ideal for scaling campaigns with more evergreen creative content that doesn’t need constant refreshing.

2. Take Advantage of Rewarded Video and In-App Ads

Rewarded video ads and in-app ad networks, like IronSource and AppLovin, play a significant role in UA. Rewarded video ads provide users with incentives for engaging with the ad, creating a win-win by giving users value while increasing ad engagement. In-app ads can also reach users within the game ecosystem, enhancing the overall reach and engagement rate of the campaign.

These ads are particularly effective because they are not only engaging but also targeted. Game developers can use these networks to focus on specific user segments that are more likely to convert into paying users.

3. Focus on Incrementality in Campaigns

Incrementality testing is crucial to ensure that UA campaigns are genuinely adding value rather than cannibalizing organic activity. By using control groups (users who do not see the ads) and target groups (users who do see the ads), developers can assess the true impact of UA efforts on metrics like average revenue per user (ARPU) and conversion rates. This approach allows developers to maintain a healthy balance between organic and paid growth, maximizing the campaign’s effectiveness without eroding organic reach.

4. Optimize Creatives for Different Platforms and Audiences

Creative development is a pillar of successful UA strategies. Creatives should be tailored not only to each platform but also to the user’s journey stage. For example, targeting new users might involve showcasing exciting aspects of the game, while retargeting campaigns can focus on highlighting new updates, levels, or in-game incentives. This method ensures that the creative assets remain relevant and engaging, catering to users’ interests at each stage of the user journey.

For UA, developers often utilize a mix of video, interactive ads, and static images. Videos perform well as they offer a more immersive experience, while static images might be more effective on platforms with limited video support, like certain news and weather apps.

5. Include a Soft Launch and Scenario Planning

A soft launch is critical for every new game. It provides the opportunity to gather data and catch issues with a game’s infrastructure, game mechanics, UA funnel, and monetization strategies.

When a game transitions from soft launch to global release, scenario planning becomes essential. This involves creating different growth scenarios based on data gathered during the soft launch. Developers typically create “mid,” “bull,” and “bear” cases to forecast UA investment returns, such as return on ad spend (ROAS) and cost-per-install (CPI), to determine the potential for profitable scale.

Once a game has proven its viability in the soft launch phase, scaling the UA campaigns requires aligning UA efforts with overall marketing efforts, including press coverage, influencer partnerships, and other forms of external engagement, to boost visibility.

6. Emphasize Cross-Team Collaboration

Finally, a cross-team approach is essential to integrate UA, creative, and product development efforts. For instance, collaboration between the growth and product teams can ensure the game addresses UA-driven feedback on user retention or monetization potential. By making sure teams work side by side, game studios can adjust their strategies to be more effective in engaging users and improving the in-game experience, ultimately leading to higher retention and lifetime value (LTV).

Practical Tips for Scaling Your Game

Scaling a game successfully involves a blend of data-driven strategies and creative experimentation. Below are some practical tips for efficiently scaling your game.

1. Focus on Sustainable Growth

Sustainable growth in user acquisition (UA) has become more critical as privacy regulations and algorithmic changes impact traditional UA approaches. Focusing on sustainable strategies that maximize ROAS ensures that marketing investments align more closely with revenue generation. Rather than pursuing high-risk, high-volume user acquisition tactics, the industry is shifting toward a refined approach that emphasizes profitability and long-term user engagement. This shift requires creative innovation and a data-driven mindset, allowing marketing teams to collaborate more effectively with product and development functions to maximize sustainable returns.

2. Embrace a Testing Mindset

Experimentation is fundamental in identifying what works best in your campaigns. Testing different creatives, call-to-action (CTA) phrases, and even initial game experiences can provide critical insights. For example, testing tutorial formats and in-game incentives can reveal which formats lead to better early-stage engagement. Different tutorials, intro levels, and feature presentations should be tested to determine what resonates most with your target audience. Aim to tailor these tests to reflect both casual and core players, as behavior may vary significantly between these segments.

3. Set and Monitor Campaign Budgets

Determining the right budget during a soft launch and adjusting it post-launch is vital to avoid over-investment or undershooting growth potential. During soft launch, it’s essential to start with a lean budget focused on gathering average user behavior, avoiding heavy targeting optimizations that could skew results. Aim for a minimum viable budget that allows you to capture meaningful user data without inflating performance expectations. After validating initial KPIs, progressively increase the budget to determine optimal spend levels for broad reach while maintaining profitability.

4. Optimize Campaigns Based on Retention and Monetization Metrics

Optimizing campaigns requires understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) such as retention, average revenue per user (ARPU), and lifetime value (LTV). For instance, in the soft launch phase, monitor short-term retention (day 1, day 7) to assess initial engagement, then transition to monetization KPIs for further optimization. Utilize events like tutorial completions as signals for ad networks to fine-tune targeting toward users who are more likely to stay and spend.

5. Iterate on Creative Content to Maximize Engagement

Creative iteration is critical for sustaining user engagement. Creatives that mimic user-generated content (UGC) have shown to be cost-effective and often yield high returns. Adapt your ads to reflect platform-specific trends — like TikTok’s trending styles — to appeal to the organic nature of these platforms. Prioritize evergreen creatives that can be easily adapted across platforms to extend their lifespan and reduce production costs.

6. Increase Discoverability Through ASO and SEO

Effective ASO and SEO strategies can enhance your game’s discoverability, attracting both organic and paid users. For ASO, optimize your app’s title, description, and keywords in the store, ensuring that the visuals align with the brand and appeal to your target audience. SEO can complement ASO by improving search engine visibility. Creating optimized landing pages or game-related content can draw additional traffic to your app. Focus on long-tail keywords that reflect user intent and create supplementary blog content or guides that enhance organic reach.

7. Utilize Analytics for Continuous Scaling

Leverage data from user acquisition, in-game behavior, and engagement funnels to make informed decisions. Scenario planning — considering low, medium, and high outcomes — can aid in forecasting budget needs and setting realistic scaling goals. By simulating different scaling scenarios, you can better allocate resources, adjust budget distributions, and set expectations with your team and stakeholders. Adhering to fundamental growth mindset principles will equip your team with a strategic roadmap for scaling – balancing creativity with data analysis to drive sustainable growth.

Important Gaming Trends

The gaming industry is in a period of transformative growth, driven by advancements in technology, shifts in consumer behavior, and an increasingly competitive marketplace. This section explores some of the significant trends reshaping the gaming landscape, offering insights into how developers and marketers can leverage these changes to stay ahead.

1. Cross-Platform Gaming

One of the most significant trends is the rise of cross-platform gaming. As the lines between mobile, console, and PC gaming blur, developers are increasingly creating games that can be played across various devices. This shift is driven by consumer demand for flexibility, as players want to enjoy gaming experiences on the go, on a couch, or at their desk without restrictions. For developers, cross-platform releases maximize the addressable market, ensuring that games reach a broader audience across devices.

2. The Rise of User-Generated Content (UGC)

User-generated content (UGC) has emerged as a powerful force in gaming, providing players with the ability to create, share, and experience custom content. UGC is becoming a cornerstone for engagement and retention, as it allows gamers to personalize their experiences and fosters a sense of community and ownership. This trend is particularly advantageous for marketers, as it offers a steady stream of organic, authentic content that resonates with audiences on social media platforms.

3. The Rise of New Technologies: AI, AR, VR, Web3

Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain (Web3) are radically transforming gaming experiences. AI is enhancing everything from game development to marketing optimization, while AR and VR promise immersive experiences that blend the digital and physical worlds. Web3, although still in its nascent stages, has the potential to decentralize gaming economies and introduce novel monetization methods. Each of these technologies holds disruptive potential, promising to reshape not only gameplay but also the way games are monetized and marketed.

4. Democratization of Game Development

As game development tools become more accessible and affordable, smaller studios and individual creators can now bring innovative ideas to market. This democratization has led to a surge in indie games that often prioritize creativity and niche appeal over big-budget production. The rise of indie games is driving diversity within the industry, offering players fresh and unique experiences that differ from mainstream AAA titles.

5. A Shift Toward More Sustainable Monetization Models

With rising production and distribution costs, sustainable monetization has become a critical focus. While in-game purchases and ad monetization remains popular, there has also been a shift toward monetization models involving subscriptions, battle passes, and the like. There’s also an increasing emphasis on user-friendly, transparent revenue models. This trend aligns with a shift in consumer sentiment, as gamers become more selective and expect value and fairness in exchange for their spending.

Key takeaways

In the rapidly evolving landscape of user acquisition, staying agile and informed is critical for driving growth and engagement in gaming. Successful UA strategies require a blend of precise targeting, creative innovation, and data-driven insights, all tailored to an increasingly fragmented audience across platforms. From leveraging rewarded video ads to integrating sophisticated data models for privacy compliance, the strategies discussed offer a robust foundation for game developers to acquire high-quality users and scale sustainably.

As technology and consumer behavior continue to shift, UA teams that embrace cross-functional collaboration, constant iteration, and a long-term growth mindset will be well-positioned to capture new opportunities and adapt to industry trends. Ultimately, effective user acquisition is not just about driving installs; it’s about creating a meaningful, engaging experience that transforms players into loyal, revenue-generating fans.

If you need help scaling your game, reach out to Upptic today to see how we can help!