An example of how to build a Facebook gaming campaign for your indie game.

1. Using Facebook
and Instagram for
Gaming
CASE STUDIES

2. 70
Millio
n
289
Million
1.5 Billion
400
Million
300
Million
380
Million
Why Facebook and Instagram?
1 in 5 mobile minutes is spent on the platforms
https://leveragenewagemedia.com/blog/social-media-infographic/

3. 1.59 BILLION
people on Facebook
each month
1 BILLION*
people on WhatsApp
each month
1 BILLION
people on Groups
each month
800 MILLION
people on Messenger
each month
400 MILLION
people on Instagram
each month
1+ BILLION
People on Facebook every day
100 MILLION
hours of video watched per day
19 MILLION
people connected via
internet.org
50 MILLION
small businesses
using Pages

4. Facebook Audience Insights allows for a deeper understanding of your
customers core target interests
Women
aged
30+
Candy
Crush
Saga
25.2m
Tasty
15.9m
Adele
14.9m
Candy Crush Saga
Men
Candy
Crush
Saga
16.6m
Cristiano
Ronaldo
10.7m
Leo
Messi
9m
Primary audience
Interests
Secondary audience
Interests
70m - 80m monthly active people300m - 350m monthly active people

5. Women
aged
30+
United
States
70m -
80m
United
Kingdom
10m -
15m
Canada
7m - 8m
Candy Crush Saga
Men
United
States
9m - 10m
United
Kingdom
2m - 2.5m
Canada
900k-1m
Primary audience by
Region
Secondary audience by
Region
70m - 80m monthly active people300m - 350m monthly active people
Facebook Audience Insights allows for a deeper understanding of your
customers core target interests

6. How the selected audience accessed Facebook in the last 30 days, based on user activity and environmental data.
We can monitor how many users are cross platform
Women
aged
30+
Men

7. Awareness
& Acquisition
Engagement &
Maximising Value
Measure & Optimise
1 2 3
3 step process for New Game

8. Awareness
& Acquisition

9. Ad Types
Photo and
Carousel
App Install Video Cinematics

10. Ad Placements: Reach your audience across devices
Ad placements are places where your ads can appear on Facebook and Instagram.
Desktop News Feed Mobile News Feed
Right Column on Desktop

11. Games are a highly visual medium. Highlight exciting game features, characters, and gameplay using ads
with images. It can be utilised from a very early stage as an experimentation tool to test character design and
visual trends that are appealing to your audience.
Using Photo and Carousel for early stage awareness
Photo Ad Carousel Ad

12. When Game Insight developed X-Mercs, they experimented with their creative to target several
different custom audiences and discovered that ad's featuring aliens were the top performers, and
they eventually selected this creative for the game’s official global launch.
Business Case: Photo and Carousel Ad
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/game-insight-x-mercs

13. When King ran tests to understand the value of carousel ads for Candy Crush Soda Saga, it made a sweet
discovery: the new format was significantly increasing game installs, at a lower cost.
1.4X
more Android installs
32%
lower cost per install
(Android)
24%
higher click-through
rate (iOS)
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/king
Business Case: Photo and Carousel Ad

14. August of 2015, video ad impressions have grown roughly 10x after we enabled autoplay for video App Ads in December
2014
Using Video to demonstrate the best features of the game, like a trailer or action scene.
Retargeting from a video with photo or carousel
allows for further story telling and drives installs.

15. To promote the launch of Jurassic World™: The Game, the game developer worked with its agency to test different
types of video mobile app ads on Facebook, resulting in 26% lower cost per thousand impressions (CPM).
30%
Higher yield for video
ads than photo ads
26%
Lower effective CPM
for video ads than
photo ads
36%
Lower cost per daily
active user for video
ads than photo ads
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/ludia-games
Business Case: Video Ads

16. A lightweight video, also known as a Cinematic, is an attention-grabbing way to show a gaming
narrative or storyline using static images with just a hint of motion.
Using Cinematic creative is a fantastic way to tell the story within one image

17. The mobile game developer creatively used lightweight video ads to showcase its high-quality game
design, and achieved 60% more daily installs and 20% lower cost per install for its mobile strategy
game Invasion.
60%
More daily installs
after implementing
new creative strategy
20%
Lower cost per install
after running
lightweight video ads
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/tap4fun-2
Business Case: Cinematic Ads

19. The Brazilian gaming startup company made use of Video Ads and Carousel format ads on
Instagram to find players with a strong likelihood of making purchases in its "Praia Bingo" game.
15x
Return on ad spend
from campaign
7x
Higher Lifetime
Value of players
220k
Unique users per
month
throughout the world
Age
23-35
Discovery of younger
demographic than
expected
Business Case : Instagram
https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t39.2365-6/12601302_1722730387940750_555284138_n.pdf

20. Retention & Engagement

21. Using App Install Ads
App
Install
Linked to
App Stores
Then to
download and
play
Play
Install Now

22. Facebook’s range of creative ad formats and superior targeting tools helped the
Greek gaming company cost-effectively drive app installs on a massive scale.
72%
of total Greek digital
audience reached via
mobile
4X
increase in app
installs
32%
lower cost per install
14%
higher click-to-
conversion rate
Business Case : Instagram

23. As your game grows on the Canvas or Mobile,
you will be able to find key players who are engaging with your game.
This is Clare; she plays around 4
hours a day while she is commuting
to work, she pays around $3 a
month through In-App purchase
Facebook allows you to find players who are just like Clare with
Lookalike targeting

24. 2.2X
Higher revenue per
install when lookalike
audiences were used
3X
Higher payer
conversion when
lookalike audiences
were used
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/proficient-city
Proficient City, together with its Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) Glow Digital Media, used Facebook to
promote its game, Wartune, in English-speaking countries and saw a 25% higher return on ad spend than
previous campaigns.
Business Case: App install Ads

25. Creative events within the game, try to encourage activities that reward the gamer on using different platforms as a
way to self-promote the mobile version.
Use events within the game to track progress using the Facebook’s SDK or a Pixel.
New Game
Gameplay
Level 5 achieved Level 20 achieved Level 30 achieved

26. 1
2
Install Now
Install Now
Understand your target audience and deliver creative that is specific to their interests
Use lookalike
Use Engagement Ads to
re-engage valuable usersFind high value customers
High In-App purchase
Heavy user

27. Measurement &
Optimisation

28. Play Now Play Now Play Now
Use Engagement Ads to retarget high-value customers
This is where you can use new creative that will re-engage the customer

29. 3X
Return on ad spend in
2 months
9,000
New mobile installs
daily from social
channels
https://www.facebook.com/business/success/proficient-city
Nordeus used Facebook’s mobile and desktop app ads to re-engage with previous players and boost in-
game sales.
Business Case: Engagement Ads

30. Understand your target audience and deliver creative that is specific to their interests
Use Photo and Carousel
to test creative and
awareness
Use video for app
download
Use cinematic for re-
engagement
Custom Audience
1
2
Install Now
Lapsed high value
players
High value
players who are
item collectors
Use hidden items to
reengage

31. 600,000 Players
$5 Per Install/ Canvas engagement
$3 Million Initial Investment
New Game What does success look like?

32. New Game
media plan
for Canvas
and Mobile
Create custom audiences from Existing
Game activity and use Audience Insights
to gain insight in to the New Game
Audience
Test creative on a small audience with
Photo Ad and Carousel
Launch Video and Cinematic with
supporting
Photo Ad and Carousel
Use lookalikes to target high
value customers
Use Engagement Ads to retarget high
value customers
Creative RefreshOptimise and ScaleMonitorSet Up
Learn from existing creative to develop
new creative that will engage mobile
users.
Launch Video, Cinematic with supporting
Photo Ad and Carousel.
Use existing lookalikes to target
high value customers who are also
on mobile
Use Engagement Ads to retarget
high-value customers
Desktop
Mobile

33. New Game
media plan
for Canvas
and Mobile Create custom audience and use insights
from Existing Game audience
Test creative on a small audience with
Photo Ad and Carousel
Launch Video and Cinematic with
supporting
Photo Ad and Carousel
Use lookalikes to target high
value customers
Use Engage Ad to retarget high value
customers
Creative RefreshOptimise and ScaleMonitorSet Up
Learn from existing creative to develop
new creative that will engage mobile
users.
Launch Video, Cinematic with supporting
Photo Ad and Carousel.
Use existing lookalike's to target
high value customers who are also
on mobile
Use Engage Ad to retarget high-
value customers
Desktop
Mobile
Branding
$500,000
Direct Responce
$2.5 Million

34. 250,000 Players
$2 re-engagement
$500,000 Initial Investment
What does success look like?
Existing
Game

35. Existing
Game
media plan
Creative RefreshOptimise and ScaleMonitorSet Up
Use lookalikes to target high-value
customers.
Use new creative with the Engagement
Ad to retarget
high-value customers
Use Insights to find new marketing possibilities;
Instagram allows access to customers who may
not be on Facebook.
Review existing target customers and
find insights or a shift in consumer
interests to enhance targeting

36. Existing
Game
media plan
Creative RefreshOptimise and ScaleMonitorSet Up
Use lookalikes to target high-value
customers
Use new creative with the Engage Ad to
retarget
high-value customers
Use Insights to find new marketing possibilities;
Instagram allows access to customers who may
not on Facebook.
Review existing target customers and
find insights or a shift in consumer
interests.
Re-engagement
$500,000

37. Questions?