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How AI-Generated Ads Boost +15% eROAS in x2 Casual Games
Dominoes & Spades Success
Discover how Appodeal's AI capabilities helped NewPubCo unlock record-breaking growth and profitability with creative innovations.
Table of Contents
The Success
NewPubCo, the developer behind the successful mobile games Dominoes: Classic Dominoes Game and Spades: Classic Card Game, faced a creative bottleneck in producing high-quality ad creatives to fuel their user acquisition campaigns.
By leveraging AI-generated characters and A/B testing, some of their ad creatives achieved unprecedented results:
Spades
Dominoes
eROAS Growth
Spades
Dominoes
Up to +8%
Up to +15%
Retention Rate (D7)
Spades
Dominoes
Achieved 15%
Surpassed +17%
Profitability (D730)
Spades
Dominoes
Significant revenue boost
Sustained revenue
The integration of AI tools not only reduced the time and cost of creative production but also enabled extensive A/B testing to optimize ad performance. Appodeal’s Growth Platform ensured these creatives reached their full potential by seamlessly integrating real-time bidding, data-driven insights, and advanced segmentation.
As a result, NewPubCo experienced exponential install growth, superior profitability, and remarkable retention rates on major ad networks, setting a new standard for performance marketing in mobile games.
The Challenge
Overcoming Creative Roadblocks and Underperforming Metrics
Despite the dedication and creative ideas generated, NewPubCo’s team faced significant challenges in producing high-quality ad creatives at scale, which stifled their ability to compete effectively in a saturated market.
NewPubCo was struggling with several pain points that many small and medium-sized game studios encounter. While their games were already enjoying moderate success, they lacked the tools and resources to optimize user acquisition (UA) campaigns and drive higher revenue.
Below, we dive into the key difficulties they were experiencing before partnering with Appodeal.
The Creative Bottleneck
Producing impactful ad creatives was a recurring challenge for NewPubCo’s team. Their creative ideas often remained unrealized due to time constraints and limited budgets. Without access to advanced tools or streamlined workflows, creating unique and visually appealing ads was both expensive and inefficient.
This issue was compounded by the need to test multiple concepts across different demographics to identify what resonated best with their audience.
Metrics with Margin for Improvement
Before leveraging Appodeal’s solutions, the performance metrics for both games painted a less-than-ideal picture:
Install Growth:
Dominoes: Growth was limited, with an install rate that barely reflected their marketing spend. The lack of compelling ads meant they couldn’t capture enough attention to scale effectively.
Spades: Struggled even more, with an install rate significantly below industry benchmarks for casual games.
eROAS (Estimated Return on Ad Spend):
With eROAS values below 75% for Dominoes and 60% for Spades, NewPubCo was not recouping its investment in UA campaigns, limiting their ability to reinvest in growth.
Profitability (D730):
Profits were stagnant, with both games generating far less than their potential due to suboptimal ad targeting and weak creative appeal.
Retention Rate (D7):
Retention rates were notably low for Dominoes and Spades. This indicated that while some users installed the games, they were not staying engaged.
The Solution
Empowering Growth Through Automation, AI, and Expert Guidance
When NewPubCo partnered with Appodeal, they unlocked a transformative approach to ad creative production.
By leveraging AI tools, Appodeal empowered the studio to create unique, high-performing ads that resonated with their audience, setting new benchmarks for creative efficiency and campaign effectiveness.
Here’s how the solution was implemented step-by-step:
1. Revolutionizing Creative Production with AI
Appodeal’s guidance helped NewPubCo integrate advanced AI image generation tools in their workflows to produce ad creatives with unprecedented speed and quality:
AI-Driven Character Design: Using tools like MidJourney, NewPubCo generated a range of characters tailored to their audience demographics. The Fisherman character, for instance, was designed specifically to appeal to users aged 45 and above in the United States.
Iterative Concept Generation: AI enabled NewPubCo to quickly produce multiple creative iterations. This streamlined the process of testing different themes, visual elements, and narrative angles without the traditional constraints of budget and time.
Creative Tweaks by Experts: Appodeal’s creative team made minor adjustments to the AI-generated concepts, ensuring that the final ads were polished and aligned with the studio’s brand identity and campaign goals.
While this solution worked effectively for both Dominoes and Spades, we’ll focus on examples from Dominoes: Classic Dominoes Game for clarity and consistency.
Below is a collage showcasing some of the AI-generated ad creatives tested for Dominoes:
AI Creative 1
AI Creative 2
AI Creative 3
AI Creative 4
2. Setting Up AI Ads Across Networks
Once the AI-generated creatives were ready, Appodeal assisted in seamlessly integrating these ads into various ad networks and DSPs:
Multi-Network Deployment: The ads were set up across multiple networks, including DSPs and major platforms, to maximize reach and performance. This multi-channel approach ensured that the creatives reached diverse user segments effectively.
Network-Specific Optimization: Appodeal’s tools tailored the ad setup to align with the best practices of each platform. For example:
- DSPs: Enabled precise targeting for high-quality users.
- Social Platforms: Adjusted creatives for format-specific performance, such as video engagement on mobile devices.
A/B Testing Integration: With Appodeal’s optimization features, NewPubCo tested the performance of different creatives on various networks. Metrics like click-through rates (CTR), engagement, and conversion were analyzed to identify top-performing ads.
Below is the winning Fisherman ad creative that set the benchmark for future campaigns:
Winning AI Creative
3. Connecting With UA Automation
To complement the AI-driven creative success, Appodeal introduced its UA automation tools:
Real-Time Adjustments: Campaign performance was monitored in real-time, enabling the automatic reallocation of budgets to the most effective networks and creatives.
Data-Driven Insights: Appodeal provided NewPubCo with granular performance data, helping them understand how different audience segments responded to the AI-generated ads.
4. Support Through the Accelerator Program
NewPubCo also benefited from the strategic expertise offered by the Appodeal Accelerator Program:
Expert Guidance: Industry professionals provided actionable feedback on creative strategies and campaign setup.
Custom Roadmap: A tailored plan was designed to help NewPubCo scale their campaigns and optimize their ad network performance.
Learning Resources: The program equipped the studio with tools and insights to sustain long-term success.
This way, Appodeal’s solution transformed NewPubCo’s creative production process, enabling them to produce high-quality, engaging ads that resonated with their target audience.
The Results
The results speak for themselves:
Retention rates climbed up to 17%, and eROAS saw double-digit improvements as Appodeal’s tailored approach unlocked the potential of AI-driven ad creatives.
The success of Appodeal’s solution wasn’t just about volume; it was about precision. By identifying and scaling the top-performing ad creatives—such as the Fisherman concept—NewPubCo was able to maximize the impact of its campaigns for both Dominoes: Classic Dominoes Game and Spades: Classic Card Game.
This section explores the standout metrics achieved by each game through focused deployment of the winning creative.
Dominoes: Classic Dominoes Game
For Dominoes, the Fisherman ad creative emerged as the clear winner, outperforming all other concepts during testing. Once scaled across networks, its success drove remarkable results.
Retention Rate (D7):
Improved to a steady 17%, marking a notable increase from the pre-Appodeal rate of 10%.
The trend chart highlights retention growth over months, with the winning creative consistently outperforming prior campaigns.
eROAS (effective Return On Ad Spend):
Grew by 12% on average across networks, with certain months showing peak performance due to ongoing campaign optimization and real-time adjustments.
Monthly performance data in the chart demonstrates how scaling the top creative amplified returns across all major ad networks.
Profitability (D730):
Long-term revenue projections surged as the Fisherman creative generated high-quality installs that converted into sustained profits.
The profitability chart illustrates steady growth after the creative was scaled.
Spades: Classic Card Game
The Fisherman creative was also adapted for Spades, delivering significant improvements, though the scale of growth differed from Dominoes.
Retention Rate (D7):
Retention climbed to 15%, reflecting the winning creative’s ability to draw in users who engaged with the game over time.
The retention trend chart shows a gradual upward curve as the top creative was deployed and scaled across networks.
eROAS (effective Return On Ad Spend):
eROAS increased by 8%, with steady improvements as campaigns focused on high-value ad placements featuring the Fisherman.
Profitability (D730):
Revenue forecasts showed solid growth, driven by installs from high-performing ad networks. Scaling the winning creative ensured profitability remained consistent across the board.
Charts That Prove Success
The Fisherman creative’s dominance is clear, with install volumes consistently surpassing benchmarks post-Appodeal intervention.
By honing in on the top-performing AI-generated ad creative and scaling it strategically across networks, NewPubCo unlocked remarkable growth for both Dominoes and Spades. Install rates surged, retention solidified, and long-term profitability soared, underscoring the power of Appodeal’s AI-driven and data-backed approach.
Achieve your app’s potential with Appodeal. Join today and let us turn your top creatives into record-breaking success stories.
Spades: Classic Card Game
by NewPubCo, Inc
Downloads
4M+
Reviews
33k+
Score
4.1
NewPubCo's Spades is a captivating word game that keeps players glued to their screens. Designed with engaging gameplay mechanics and appealing aesthetics, it caters to a diverse demographic, primarily women and men aged 45 and above.
Spades is loved by users in the United States, where it has gained massive popularity, but its appeal spans various international markets.
Spades is loved by users in the United States, where it has gained massive popularity, but its appeal spans various international markets.
Dominoes: Classic Dominos Game
by NewPubCo, Inc
Downloads
15M+
Reviews
250K+
Score
4.7
Get ready to master one of the best classic Dominoes games on your mobile device! With Dominoes at your fingertips, take a refreshing break anytime, anywhere! Our Dominoes app is the ultimate choice of fun board games for players like you from all over the world! Time to place the spinner and master the iconic, classic Dominoes All Fives, Block, or Draw Domino!
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