Rewarded UA: Strategies to Achieve Mobile Gaming ROAS

Welcome to Part 2 of the Rewarded User Acquisition series! If you missed Part 1, where we covered Winning Rewarded UA Strategies for 2024 and Beyond, we encourage you to check it out for a comprehensive introduction to rewarded user acquisition. In this article, we dive into effective rewarded user acquisition strategies designed to drive loyal players and maximize ROAS for mobile gaming advertisers. Whether you’re looking to engage high-value users or scale your mobile game campaigns, this guide provides actionable insights to help you succeed in 2024 and beyond.

Evolution of Rewarded User Acquisition Campaigns

As mobile app marketing gained widespread popularity, rewarded user acquisition campaigns via Offerwalls and rewards programs were often focused on cost per install (CPI) campaigns. These campaigns aimed to drive high volumes of app installs, improving App Store rankings, install metrics, and other basic performance indicators. However, this focus on high volume often led to higher churn rates since return on ad spend (ROAS) was not a key consideration.

Today, ROAS has become the primary focus of rewarded user acquisition campaigns. This shift first emerged with the rise of the cost per engagement (CPE) model, where users are rewarded for completing deeper in-app actions, such as reaching a particular level in a game. Over time, rewarded UA strategies have further evolved, with multi-reward CPE campaigns becoming the norm. Multi-reward CPE campaigns incentivize users with increasing rewards as they achieve milestones, promoting longer-term engagement, increasing the likelihood that a user becomes a loyal player, and ultimately delivering strong ROAS. 

Types of Rewarded Traffic 

Before diving into specific rewarded user acquisition strategies and considerations for mobile games, it’s essential to understand the three primary types of rewarded traffic today:

• Offerwalls: Offerwalls are among the most popular rewarded ad units in the industry, integrated into thousands of platforms across various verticals, including gaming, utility, entertainment, shopping, social media, and more. Offerwalls enable advertisers to capture the attention of highly engaged users across numerous apps and websites, driving Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) with a performance marketing model.
• Rewards Programs: Rewards programs work similarly to well-known loyalty programs like Starbucks’ loyalty program. However, the key difference is that these programs are used to promote other brands, connecting them to targeted users and rewarding those users in exchange for their time. Like Offerwalls, rewards programs typically focus on driving ROAS through a performance marketing model. 
• Rewarded Video: Rewarded video is another widely used rewarded ad unit, especially in the gaming vertical. Rewarded video provides an effective solution by rewarding users for watching a short app trailer, after which advertisers can track installs and measure ongoing performance. 

For the purpose of this article, we’re focusing on rewarded UA strategies for Offerwalls and rewards programs. 

Why Rewarded User Acquisition? 

Rewarded UA is a key strategy for gaming companies in the growth or maturity stages. Unlike traditional paid ad strategies, such as those using Google or Facebook, rewarded UA provides access to untapped audiences and offers deep engagement through campaigns like multi-reward CPE. These campaigns drive high ROAS by fostering player loyalty and sustaining engagement over extended periods. With multi-reward CPE campaigns, gaming companies can reward players for continued engagement, leading to higher lifetime value (LTV) and long-term success. 

In addition, as CPI prices continue to rise on traditional paid ad formats, rewarded UA has become an increasingly complementary marketing strategy. According to MY.GAMES, creator of popular mobile games like War Robots, rewarded UA through offerwalls can account for 10-15% of their marketing budget — measured in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — delivering positive ROI with a relatively short pay back period. 

Is Your Game Ready For Rewarded User Acquisition? 

Not all games are a fit for rewarded user acquisition campaigns. As mentioned, rewarded UA campaigns are best suited for gaming companies that are in the growth or maturity stages. In the early stages of a game, it’s essential to establish and optimize baseline metrics across the funnel through organic user acquisition strategies and close-to-organic methods, such as search or social ad campaigns. 

To ensure campaign success, it’s crucial to track key metrics like Day 1, Day 7, and Day 30 retention/ROAS. With an optimized funnel and target ROAS metrics established from these organic efforts, your game will be ready for promotion through rewarded user acquisition. 

For games that have reached the growth or maturity stage, rewarded UA becomes a powerful strategy to drive loyal players and grow your revenues. By tying together retention data and ROAS goals, you can leverage rewarded UA to fuel sustained growth and long-term success. 

ROAS & Payback Period: How Your Game Monetizes Matters

Before we dive deeper into constructing a multi-reward CPE campaign, it’s essential to understand how your game’s monetization model impacts both ROAS and payback periods.

For games that rely solely on in-app purchases (IAPs), the payback period is typically longer, ranging from 6 to 12 months, due to the time it takes for players to make significant purchases. In contrast, games that monetize through in-app ads often experience a much shorter payback period of around 1-2 months, as ad impressions generate quicker revenue streams.

However, games that utilize a hybrid monetization strategy, combining both IAPs and in-app ads, often see the shortest payback periods and the highest ROAS. The combination of immediate ad revenue and longer-term IAP engagement allows for a more balanced and sustainable monetization approach, enabling games to recoup costs faster while maximizing revenue potential. 

Thinking Through Long-Term ROAS

Assuming that you have established some D1, D7, and D30 retention and ROAS from organic and close-to-organic traffic sources, you can project similar ROAS goals with a multi-reward CPE campaign. Rewarded traffic can potentially accelerate ROAS due to the deeper, immediate user engagement it provides. 

Additionally, rewarded campaigns offer a unique opportunity to boost long-term ROAS through sustained user interaction. By leveraging Offerwalls or rewards programs, you can foster continued engagement, driving higher lifetime value (LTV) and maximizing your returns over a longer period of time, such as 6+ months. 

How to Structure Your Multi-Reward CPE Campaign

Multi-reward CPE campaigns should be structured based on your existing user data to maximize results. Identify when players become loyal, how they engage with your game and monetization features over time, and how long they remain engaged. 

Using this data, you can define key milestones for your rewarded UA campaign. Ideally, a rewarded UA campaign should take a user through an engaging progression, with rewards increasing as they reach milestones, such as level 5, 10, 20, 50, and beyond. Start with easier events that motivate players to play your game, leading them towards more valuable, long-term events that result in player loyalty. 

For apps with IAPs, offer rewards or cashback for initial IAPs. Once users make their first purchases, they’re more likely to continue spending as they progress through your game. 

Multi-reward CPE campaigns also allow you to set specific criteria, like rewarding users who achieve milestones within a certain amount of time, such as reaching a milestone within 5 days of starting the game. This can help accelerate payback periods and boost initial ROAS. 

Finally, focus on long-term player engagement by offering increasingly higher rewards for more challenging events. This approach funnels down to the most dedicated players, maximizing revenue from those who are deeply invested in your game. 

Determining Payouts For Multi-Reward CPE Campaigns

It’s important to price your multi-reward CPE campaigns competitively. If your overall payout is too low, the campaign may deliver minimal results. On the other hand, if your payouts are too high, your ROAS and payback period will be impacted. It’s important to balance your events against the total payout to ensure a successful rewarded campaign.

Here is an example campaign, based on live campaigns, that helps visualize how a successful multi-reward campaign could look with a total payout of $250:

Of course, this is just an example, and payouts can vary dramatically based on each individual game and its key metrics. It’s not uncommon for multiple games from the same studio to have significantly different payout structures. By working closely with your Offerwall provider or rewards program, you can find an ideal pricing model that suits the specific goals of your game(s). 

Optimize Your Multi-Reward CPE Campaigns

Once you’ve launched your campaign, it’s essential to closely monitor your key metrics and make adjustments as needed.

First, fraud is a major issue that can impact your campaign’s success. To combat fraud effectively, start with the right tools and a trusted mobile measurement partner (MMP). Solutions like AppFlyer’s Protect360 offer sophisticated fraud detection to help advertisers identify and block fraudulent activity.

Next, ensure that you’re attracting enough volume to your campaigns. If your campaign events are too difficult for users to achieve early on, they may disengage, leading to low spend and ultimately poor campaign results.

On the other hand, if you’ve selected events that are too easy, your ROAS, retention, or payback metrics may suffer, requiring further adjustments. Finding the right balance of event difficulty and total number of events often requires some initial testing to attract loyal players. It’s common for player progression in multi-reward gaming campaigns to follow an exponential decay pattern, with fewer players reaching each subsequent event.

By working closely with your Offerwall partner or rewards program, you can continuously optimize your campaign to achieve ROAS at scale.

Challenges To Keep in Mind With Rewarded UA 

When executed successfully, rewarded UA campaigns can drive significant return on ad spend over an extended period. However, there are some common pitfalls to keep in mind:

1. Fraudulent Users: Like other ad formats, rewarded campaigns can attract fraudulent users, which can negatively impact your ROAS metrics. When working with an Offerwall or rewards program, it’s crucial to understand how they combat fraud. Additionally, using a third-party fraud detection solution offered through your Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) can further help protect your campaign.

2. User Churn After Rewards: Once rewards run out, some users may inevitably churn. To mitigate this, keep a close eye on Lifetime Value (LTV) and other key metrics to convert as many users as possible into loyal players. This way, you can evaluate ROAS on a longer-term timeframe, aiming for 200-300% or more over several months of gameplay.

3. Attracting Low-Quality Users: Rewarded campaigns can sometimes attract users who are only interested in the rewards. It’s essential to understand how each Offerwall or rewards program addresses user quality to ensure you’re attracting high-value, engaged players.

Wrapping Up Your Rewarded UA Strategy

When executed correctly, rewarded user acquisition offers a powerful way to drive Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and foster long-term player engagement for mobile games. By structuring your multi-reward Cost Per Engagement (CPE) campaigns based on existing user data, you can create an event progression that encourages users to become long-term players.

Balancing payouts, optimizing events, and closely monitoring payback periods are essential to ensuring your campaigns remain profitable. While continual optimization is crucial in the early stages, ongoing adjustments will help maintain volume and profitability.

Finally, work closely with your Offerwall partners or rewards programs to track key metrics and scale your campaigns over time. With the right approach, rewarded UA campaigns can become a major driver of growth and long-term revenue for your game.

Stay tuned for the next part of our rewarded UA series! 

If you’re interested in learning more about how Adscend Media can help your mobile game with multi-reward CPE campaigns through a combination of our Offerwalls and first party rewards program, contact us.