Creative optimization in mobile game UA with creative-level attribution is a game changer. UA in mobile gaming is more competitive than ever. Rising costs, privacy policies, and evolving player behaviors, mean marketers must maximize the efficiency of every dollar spent. Our solution? Optimizing creatives with creative-level tracking and attribution.
Creative optimization isn’t just about A/B testing a few different ads and picking the winner. The real power comes from leveraging creative-level tracking and attribution. This enables marketers to understand exactly which creative elements drive engagement, installs, and in-game actions.
Why creative optimization matters in UA
Creatives are the front line of UA. It is how you capture attention, spark interest, and influence a player to install. But the challenge is knowing which creatives work best for which audiences and why. After the deprecation of IDFA on iOS, the visibility is limited to a campaign level, and it is not reported in real-time.
We are left to rely on high-level metrics like CTR (click-through rate) and IPM (installs per mille), but these don’t tell the full story. What if a creative has a high CTR but low ROAS? What if an ad drives installs but attracts low-value players? This is where creative-level tracking and attribution change the game.
How creative-level tracking works
Creative-level tracking breaks down performance at the most granular level, allowing marketers to attribute installs and post-install behaviors to specific ad creatives. This means that you now have the visibility and capability to:
- Track performance of individual ad creatives across different platforms
- Attribute installs and in-game behaviors to specific ad variants
- Identify winning creative elements (hook, gameplay, USPs, CTAs, etc.)
- Optimize spend by shifting budget toward high-performing creatives in real-time
Scaling UA with creative-level tracking
Let’s take a real-world case study of a mobile game studio using Audiencelab to refine their UA strategy. A mid-sized hyper-casual developer was struggling with retention despite high install rates. By analyzing creative-level data, we discovered that their best performing ad in terms of ROAS actually had worse CTR than others. Additionally, the drop off rate after 3 seconds of video was at 80%.
We started by taking that gameplay creative as the ad, then come up with a hook that gets the user to stay longer, to then stay long enough to watch the ad and convert. There are many strategies for choosing a hook, we’ve seen all kinds of different approaches across multiple genres. Our strategy was to match the hook with the gameplay to keep the concept coherent, but by piquing the interest of the viewer.
After some testing we found a winning combination for a hook and an ad that yielded +34% more ad views (over 3s) and 5x the CTR.
Key benefits of creative-level attribution
Better budget allocation
Shift spend toward creatives that not only drive installs but also retain high-value players.
More precise A/B testing
Move beyond basic tests to understand exactly which elements impact different user segments.
Faster iteration cycles
Quickly identify underperforming creatives and refine messaging for better results.
Improved LTV predictions
Use attribution data to predict which creatives drive long-term revenue.
Want to get started with creative-level attribution on Audiencelab? Let’s talk!
