CONSTRUCTING KILLER ADS

This month’s blog post is all about the art of creating ads! With the help of our Marketing Coordinator, Baran, we’ll be going over how to choose your best visuals, budgeting and tips on choosing the best messaging! Ready? Let’s get into it!!

 

DEFINING YOUR AUDIENCE

Identifying the right audience can be challenging, particularly during the game development phase, when there's no existing player base to analyze. A good starting point is to benchmark competitors or games similar to yours. Analyze their communities and interests, seeking common ground among them. While this doesn't guarantee finding the perfect audience, it provides a solid foundation to build upon.

TIPS ON HOMING INTO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

  • Analyze your competitor’s website traffic and social media channels

  • Create “lookalike” audiences

  • Conduct A/B tests to refine your strategy

  • Identify your product’s unique value proposition

  • Analyze your competitors website and social media channels

  • Use google analytics to understand your users (i.e. age, gender, location and pages with the most views)

  • Test different messaging and advertising channels to gauge audience response and optimize your approach

 

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ADS (+ HOW DO WE USE THEM?)

”Old-school ads, like display, search, and video, are at the core. Let's start with display ads, my go-to type in my daily job!”

Display ads are the most common form of digital advertisement when it comes to social media marketing. Given that, if you're looking to push your brand or product on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, you'll need some catchy text, a clear Call-To-Action, and an image that really speaks to your audience.

Video ads such as pre-rolls, are also great for getting your brand in front of the right users. We’ve found that they're best for visibility and making the initial contact with users, rather than driving immediate sales.

Lastly, let's talk about search ads. Simply explained, it involves placing ads within search engines (ex. Google, Yahoo) by buying the most effective keywords (through research, testing and optimization) so that when users make searches using these keywords, your ads appear in the sponsored sections. Although very effective, search ads can get pricey, so keep an eye on Google's keyword tools, aim for lower competition words if costs start rising to continuously manage and optimize your campaigns.

 

WHAT MAKES AN AD POP?

It can be surprising to see what makes an ad truly stand out. The best way to discover this is through A/B testing different texts, videos, and pictures to gauge their appeal to viewers.

You might initially dislike a visual or wording personally, but suddenly, you find yourself inclined to use that same asset everywhere because it delivers the desired Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs share quantifiable measurements used to evaluate a digital ad's overall long-term performance.

 

TIPS ON CHOOSING THE BEST VISUALS

  • Utilize Google Ads, as its algorithm conducts A/B tests on various assets and offers clear results

  • Continuously test new assets

  • Remember that what succeeds on one platform may not necessarily succeed on another. Like videogames, the meta can change quickly, so stay up to date.

 

WHERE TO POST YOUR ADS!

We quickly realized that Reddit is one of the most important social media channels for promoting a PC game. Gaming subreddits are among the largest on the platform, offering us easy access to reach gamers who match our target market.

When we began using RedditAds, our goal was to reduce the CPC (cost per click), as our game is multiplayer, and acquiring the right users at a low cost is crucial.

CPC is a metric that determines how much advertisers pay for the ads they place on websites or social media, based on the number of clicks the ad receives.

 

HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS IN ADS (+ BEST STRATEGIES)

Measuring the success of an ad can be a bit of a puzzle, and it mostly depends on the goal you're aiming for.

If your aim is to sell a product or service, lean into campaigns that focus on the Cost Per Click. The goal here is to drive as many clicks as possible to your website or online store, with the hope of boosting sales. But it's not just about racking up clicks; it's also about getting quality users who are likely to take the action you're after.

The Cost per View is another metric that’s mostly used for video ads. When you're pushing your brand on platforms like YouTube, the goal is to decrease your CPV while ensuring your videos are still hitting the mark with your target audience.

”One of the top performance metrics is Cost per Install. It's similar to Cost per Click, but you're paying for each download you reel in. In the gaming realm, it's especially handy for mobile and F2P games! As for Triple A games already benefiting from brand recognition, opting for CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is the way to go, adjusting it to reach the widest audience for the lowest cost.”

 

That about wraps up this month’s blog post! Hope this has helped you navigate the crazy world of ads and gives you some inspo for your next round! If you’ve got comments, drop ‘em down below or continue the conversation on our Discord!

 

To stay up to date on all things NO LOVE LOST, be sure to check out our STEAM page and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

 

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Vivian YenComment