Opening is Key
First 1-5 secs are vital. A creative can usually be between 15-30 secs long so there’s a lot to fit in and not a lot of time to fit it all in. You need to grab the user’s attention, you need to show off your game and you need to make the whole package appealing. We’ve seen that users have made their decision on converting, based on the videos they’ve seen, by the time 5 secs has passed so make it count.
Be Crystal Clear
Game mechanic and goal should be easy to understand. The hyper-casual audience is the broadest one out there. Everyone who has a phone, whether they have played a game or not, is a potential user. But to get them, they have to understand what is being shown. Add instructional copy, a hand animation, if a tap mechanic is not immediately obvious, add a big button that says TAP!
Looks Can Kill
Literally, games have failed early tests because they just don’t look good. Make sure colours are vibrant, key elements are visible with good levels of contrast, camera angles are clear and not putting the user too far from the action or making the action not visible enough. Most of the time creative teams don’t have control over the footage and some of these changes can be made in post. However if you work with a developer or a studio, they want their game to be as much of a success as you want your creative to be so don’t be afraid to feedback, they’ll appreciate it.
Testing is King
A UA guru once told me “No testing, no growth” And this is true for your creatives. Test every concept, every idea, everything. You don’t know what the next big creative trend will be, 5-6 years ago it was trailer type creatives, then gameplay focused creatives took over, now we are seeing a shift to motivational-based creatives and higher production values. Don’t follow the next curve, be ahead of it.
Not Everyone’s a Winner Baby
Strategy, bids, test audiences, geos, heck the game itself are all just one of a myriad of reasons why a creative might not be successful. If it was that easy to make a creative that achieved all key metrics all the time, all games would be hits! So take it on the chin, don’t get disheartened, use failure to fuel your creativity and move on to the next attempt.
