In just 30 days, rewarded UA helped them hit their 6-month performance targets — and then some.

Campaign Objectives

The studio had ambitious goals:

• Launch a rewarded UA campaign to acquire Android and iOS users in the U.S.
• Hit key ROAS milestones:
  • Day 1: 12%
  • Day 7: 45%
  • Day 30: 100%
  • Day 180: 130%
• Achieve user retention targets:
  • D1: 45%
  • D7: 25%
  • D30: 12%
  • D90: 5%
  • D180: 1%
• Reach at least a 4–5% unique in-app purchase rate

Our Rewarded UA Strategy

With our proprietary ad tech and data-driven funnel design, Adscend launched a custom rewarded UA strategy built to deliver both scale and monetization. Here’s how we did it:

• Targeted value-driven users via offerwalls and first party rewarded placements

• Rewarded key funnel events 

• Used behavioral insights to trigger high-ROAS actions and purchases

The result: a user base that not only installed the app, but engaged deeply, monetized quickly, and continues to monetize. 

Rewarded UA Results (30 Days)

ROAS Success

• 161% ROAS on Android

• 163% ROAS on iOS

That’s 60%+ above the studio’s Day 30 ROAS goal — all in the first month.

Monetization Performance

• 23% Unique Purchase Rate (Android)

• 27% Unique Purchase Rate (iOS)
  (Crushing the 5% goal and showing that rewarded UA drives paying users)

Retention Metrics

• 12.6% 30-Day Retention, beating the target of 12%

(Download the full rewarded UA case study)

Why Rewarded UA Works

This campaign proves that rewarded UA is far more than a top-of-funnel tool. When executed with intent, it delivers high-retention users, drives IAPs, and hits ROAS milestones ahead of schedule.

Rewarded UA aligns incentives for users, advertisers, and publishers — creating a performance loop that drives real results.

Ready to Scale with Rewarded UA?

Whether you’re launching a new app or scaling an existing one, a smart rewarded UA strategy can help you:

• Acquire loyal users

• Maximize IAPs and ad revenue

• Hit performance goals fast

Let’s talk about your next rewarded UA campaign

The post Crushing ROAS Goals: How Rewarded UA Delivered 162% D30 ROAS for This Game Studio appeared first on Adscend Media Blog | Unlocking Insights: Offerwalls and Rewarded Ads.

In the rapidly evolving fintech landscape, acquiring new users isn’t just about numbers — it’s about building trust, fostering engagement, and driving meaningful actions that lead to long-term retention and growth. Over the past few years, interest rate hikes by central banks worldwide have significantly impacted fintech companies. These economic changes have led to a slowdown in venture capital funding and shifts in consumer behavior. As a result, fintech companies have increasingly moved towards tighter budgets focused on profitability. Additionally, fintech companies have grappled with increasingly saturated advertising channels that have driven up customer acquisition costs (CAC) significantly.

Enter rewarded user acquisition (UA), a performance marketing strategy that enables fintech companies to cost-effectively acquire engaged users who contribute to a higher return on ad spend (ROAS) over time. By offering users incentives, rewarded UA not only attracts new users but also encourages deeper engagement and loyalty, effectively addressing the challenges of high CAC and low LTV. 

In this article, we’ll explore how fintech advertisers can leverage rewarded UA to overcome industry-specific challenges and achieve more sustainable growth.

If you’re new to rewarded UA, please check out Winning Rewarded UA Strategies for 2024 and Beyond to familiarize yourself with the basics. 

What Are Good CAC and LTV Benchmarks for Fintech Companies?

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the fintech industry experienced a funding boom, with unprecedented amounts of capital directed toward acquiring new users. This influx of investment led to a significant increase in CAC, which remain high due to intense competition from both large fintech players and traditional banks expanding their digital offerings.

While each fintech company ultimately has its own unique CAC and Lifetime Value (LTV) metrics, it’s helpful to compare against industry benchmarks to gauge performance. Below is a benchmark of CACs by category leaders and acquisition channels for 2023: 

As a general rule of thumb, a healthy business shoulnad aim for an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3. An LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3 indicates that for every dollar spent on acquisition, you earn three dollars over the customer’s lifetime, ensuring profitability and sustainable growth.

If the LTV:CAC ratio is too low, consider the following strategies: 

• Lower CAC:

  • Utilize Performance Marketing Channels: Target cost-effective channels like rewarded user acquisition (UA) to reach engaged users.
  • Optimize Ad Sets and Creatives: Refine your messaging and visuals to improve ad effectiveness.
  • Explore New Channels: Test additional marketing channels to diversify your acquisition strategy, including organic/viral methods like SEO and referral programs. 
  • Address Funnel Drop-Off Points: Analyze where users disengage and optimize those stages to improve conversion rates.

• Increase LTV:

  • Reduce Churn: Increase ad spend on marketing channels/sources that have higher LTV and reduce spend on marketing channels/sources that have lower LTV. In addition, implement retention strategies such as personalized messaging, rewards programs, or fast customer support.  
  • Upsell Additional Services: Offer complementary products or premium features to increase customer spend. 
  • Adjust Pricing Strategies: Consider value-based pricing or tiered subscription models to boost revenue.
  • Refine User Targeting: Focus on acquiring high-value customers that meet your ICP and are more likely to utilize your services extensively. 

If your fintech’s CAC is already below industry averages but the CAC:LTV ratio is less than 3, it’s best to focus on increasing LTV. Conversely, if your CAC is high relative to industry benchmarks, refining your marketing strategies to reduce CAC should be a priority.

Why Rewarded UA Drives Fintech ROAS 

Rewarded user acquisition (UA) is a powerful performance-based marketing strategy that enables fintech companies to pay only for specific user actions. By focusing on meaningful engagement rather than impressions or clicks, rewarded UA allows you to optimize key performance indicators (KPIs) cost-efficiently, ultimately boosting your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) with less on-going optimization effort. 

Optimize Marketing Budget Towards Active Users

In traditional advertising campaigns, such as Google Ads, marketers invest significant resources in optimizing text, images, videos, keywords, and other ad params to lower the cost per acquisition (CPA). This process often involves continuous adjustments and will still result in paying for clicks or impressions that don’t convert into active users. While Google Ads provides extensive reach, it doesn’t guarantee engagement from the users who matter most to your fintech business.

Rewarded UA changes this dynamic by allowing you to set specific criteria for what constitutes an active user—such as completing an account registration, verifying identity, and making an initial deposit. You only pay when users meet these predefined actions, ensuring that your marketing budget is spent exclusively on acquiring users who are more likely to deliver long-term value. This performance-based approach can lead to a lower CAC and a higher LTV, maximizing your ROAS. 

Demographic Synergy

Rewarded UA platforms attract users who are tech-savvy, financially motivated, and open to exploring new digital solutions—traits that align closely with the target demographics of fintech companies. 

This demographic synergy means your marketing efforts are more likely to reach individuals who are not only interested in financial products but also willing to engage deeply with innovative services. By tapping into this receptive audience, you increase the likelihood of acquiring users who will actively utilize your fintech solutions, thereby enhancing engagement and boosting LTV.

Lowering CAC and Increasing LTV

By leveraging rewarded UA, fintech companies can reduce their CAC. Since you incur costs only when a user completes a desired action—such as downloading your app, signing up, and making an initial transaction—you eliminate spend on users who show no real interest. This efficiency leads to lower overall acquisition costs.

Moreover, rewarded UA helps increase LTV by attracting users who are more likely to remain engaged with your platform. Offering the right reward encourages users to explore more features of your app or service, fostering loyalty and increasing their lifetime value. For example, a fintech app might offer rewards for users who not only make a deposit but also set up a recurring deposit. This strategy not only secures new users but also promotes ongoing engagement, directly impacting LTV.

By continually refining your rewarded UA campaigns—adjusting incentives based on user behavior—you can concentrate on attracting high-value users who contribute more revenue over time, thus maximizing your ROAS.

Building the Right Rewarded UA Campaign for Your Fintech Company

Designing the right rewarded user acquisition (UA) campaign is crucial for maximizing your fintech’s growth and return on ad spend (ROAS). Among the various campaign formats, Cost Per Engagement (CPE) campaigns stand out as the most effective for fintech companies. CPE campaigns allow you to pay only when users perform specific, valuable actions, ensuring that your marketing budget directly contributes to meaningful user engagement and revenue generation.

Single-Reward CPE Campaigns

Single-reward CPE campaigns focus on a action or a single set of required steps you want users to complete. For fintech companies, this action could be:

• Signing Up for an Account: Attracting new users to your platform.
• Completing KYC Verification: Ensuring compliance and security.
• Making an Initial Deposit: Jumpstarting user engagement with your financial services. The user is rewarded after the initial deposit. 

Advantages:

• Simplicity: : Easy to implement and track, allowing for quicker campaign launch. 
• Focused ROI Measurement: Directly link marketing spend to a specific KPI.
• Cost-Effective for Specific Goals: Ideal for campaigns with a singular objective.

When to Use:

• Launching a new app or feature where immediate user action is desired.
• Driving a specific metric that is critical to your growth strategy.

While single-reward campaigns are effective for targeting specific actions, multi-reward CPE campaigns can take user engagement to the next level by encouraging continued interaction.

Multi-Reward CPE Campaigns

Multi-reward CPE campaigns involve setting multiple payable actions, creating a pathway that encourages users to engage more deeply with your app or service.

Examples of Actions:

• First Reward: User signs up and completes KYC verification.
• Second Reward: User makes an initial deposit of a specified minimum amount.
• Third Reward: User sets up a recurring deposit or savings plan.
• Fourth Reward: User refers friends or shares the app on social media.
• Fifth Reward: User upgrades to a premium subscription.

Advantages:

• Initial Event Payout Can Be Decreased: Reduce the initial event payout and increase the deeper event payouts to increase LTV:CAC. 
• Enhanced User Engagement: Encourages users to explore and utilize more features.
• Higher Lifetime Value (LTV): Promotes sustained interaction, increasing the revenue per user.
• Stronger Brand Loyalty: Builds a lasting relationship through ongoing rewards.

When to Use:

• Fostering Deep Engagement: Ideal when your goal is to encourage users to engage with multiple features over time.
• Increasing LTV: Use when aiming to boost the average revenue per user through continued interaction.
• Building Brand Loyalty: Effective for establishing a loyal customer base that actively promotes your app.

Key Considerations:

• Calculate Potential ROI: Weigh the cost of multiple rewards against the expected increase in user LTV.
• Optimize Rewards: Ensure that rewards are enticing but financially sustainable.
• Monitor Performance: Regularly analyze campaign data to adjust strategies as needed.

Balancing Costs and Returns

While multi-reward CPE campaigns may involve higher overall costs due to multiple payouts, the long-term benefits often outweigh these expenses. By:

• Continuously Re-engaging Users: You foster habits that lead to regular app usage.
• Increasing Revenue Streams: Encouraging users to engage with certain features boosts LTV.
• Reducing Churn Rates: Engaged users are less likely to abandon your app. 

Selecting the appropriate CPE campaign type depends on your fintech’s specific goals and resources. Single-reward campaigns are excellent for targeting specific KPIs, while multi-reward campaigns are ideal for fostering deeper engagement. By carefully designing and continuously optimizing your rewarded UA campaigns, you can significantly improve your ROAS and drive sustainable growth.

Example Rewarded UA Fintech Campaigns 

At Adscend Media, we’ve delivered impactful results for fintech companies across various sectors, including investment, banking, cryptocurrency, payments, lending, and more. Below are several example rewarded UA campaigns modeled on actual initiatives that have generated significant results for our partners.

Well Known Bank

A well-known bank can deploy a single-reward CPE campaign to reward users who open a specific type of checking or savings account with a minimum deposit. In this case, the bank already has significant brand loyalty and extensive reach through other marketing channels that reinforce their messaging and support a clear Lifetime Value (LTV). By incentivizing account openings with a reward, they can efficiently acquire new customers likely to engage with their services.

Emerging Neobank

An emerging neobank can deploy a multi-reward CPE campaign to reward users for multiple actions:

1. First Action: Open a checking or savings account with a minimum deposit to earn a reward.
2. Second Action: Apply for and open a specific credit card offered by the bank.
3. Third Action: Spend at least a specified amount (e.g., $500) on the credit card within a certain period.
4. Fourth Action: Open a certificate of deposit (CD) account.

This multi-reward CPE campaign helps foster brand loyalty by encouraging users to engage with multiple financial products and services offered by the neobank.

Cryptocurrency Platform

A cryptocurrency platform can deploy a single-reward CPE campaign to reward users who open an account and make a minimum deposit. To take it a step further, a multi-reward CPE campaign can further reward users for additional actions, such as making their first trade on the platform.

By incentivizing these actions, the platform encourages users to actively engage with trading features, increasing user retention and transaction volumes.

Financial Planning Platform

A financial planning platform (e.g., investment planning, budget planner, money tracker, net worth tracker) can deploy a single-reward CPE campaign to reward users who subscribe to a free trial or paid subscription. With a multi-reward CPE campaign, the platform can further encourage interaction by rewarding users for:

• Second Action: Engaging with core features like setting up budgets or financial goals.
• Third Action: Linking financial accounts to the platform.
• Fourth Action: Continuing the subscription beyond the trial period.

In a world of short attention spans, this approach increases the likelihood that users become and remain paid subscribers by showcasing the platform’s value more effectively.

Payment/Money Transfer App

A payment or money transfer app can deploy a single-reward CPE campaign to reward users who:

• Set up an account.
• Complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
• Add initial funding.

With a multi-reward CPE campaign, they can further reward users for:

• Second Action: Referring a friend who also completes the same actions.

This strategy not only increases user engagement but also leverages network effects to grow the user base cost-effectively.

Insurance Platform

An insurance platform can deploy a single-reward CPE campaign to reward users who purchase a particular type of insurance plan offered by their platform. By offering incentives for plan purchases, the platform can attract new customers and encourage them to explore additional insurance products and services.

These examples showcase just a few ways that single-reward and multi-reward CPE campaigns can be tailored to meet the unique goals of various fintech companies. We understand that every business has its own specific objectives and challenges. That’s why at Adscend Media, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach.

Choose The Right Partner 

While rewarded user acquisition offers significant benefits for fintech companies, it also presents unique challenges—particularly concerning compliance and fraud. Financial firms often view rewarded traffic with caution due to strict regulatory requirements and the risk of fraudulent activities. Choosing the right partner is essential to navigate these challenges effectively and maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS).

Navigating Compliance Challenges

Fintech companies must adhere to stringent regulations such as Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies, and data protection laws like GDPR and CCPA. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and damage to your brand’s reputation. It’s crucial to ensure that rewards are structured in ways that comply with these financial regulations and that users’ identities are verified appropriately. 

Mitigating Fraud Risks

Fraudulent activities like fake account creation, bot traffic, and reward abuse can undermine your campaign’s effectiveness and inflate acquisition costs. Trusted incentivized traffic platforms utilize sophisticated fraud detection tools and secure tracking systems to identify and prevent such activities. By ensuring that rewards are only granted to genuine, high-quality users, you maintain the integrity of your user base and maximize your ROAS.

Test Rewarded UA

In today’s competitive fintech landscape, leveraging rewarded user acquisition strategies is an essential component of a successful marketing plan. By understanding and optimizing your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV), implementing effective single-reward or multi-reward Cost Per Engagement (CPE) campaigns, and partnering with the right experts, you can significantly enhance your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). As the industry continues to evolve, staying ahead with innovative marketing approaches will position your fintech company for long-term success. 

Contact us today to discover how Adscend Media can help your fintech company leverage rewarded UA campaigns to drive ROAS and achieve sustainable growth. With our proven track record and industry expertise, we’re ready to partner with you to navigate the complexities of rewarded user acquisition and propel your fintech business forward. 

The post Drive FinTech ROAS with Rewarded UA appeared first on Adscend Media Blog | Unlocking Insights: Offerwalls and Rewarded Ads.

Incentivized traffic, also known as rewarded traffic, can be a powerful user acquisition channel, delivering higher engagement rates and conversions for advertisers across industries such as finance, gaming, apps, gambling, AI, e-commerce/retail, market research, subscriptions, health, telecom, and more.

While incentivized and rewarded traffic are often used interchangeably, some differences lie in the ad units deployed and the specific user engagement they drive, making the distinction important to understand. 

What is Incentivized Traffic?

Incentivized traffic refers to users who are driven to take specific actions, such as signing up for a service, completing a survey, or making a purchase, in exchange for a reward. This reward can be anything from discounts, free products, or in-app currency to more tangible rewards like gift cards. Advertisers use this user acquisition (UA) marketing channel to attract users quickly by offering incentives that encourage immediate engagement with their product or service, ultimately drive return on ad spend (ROAS). 

Over the years, incentivized traffic has occasionally faced criticism due to concerns about the quality of user engagement. However, it’s important to recognize that this traffic source has often helped advertisers achieve specific objectives at critical moments. For example, during the early days of app marketing, incent traffic was commonly used to drive a high volume of app installs. This rapid user growth strategy aimed to boost app rankings in the charts, which in turn generated more organic traffic.

At that time, incentivized advertising was highly effective for achieving its intended goal: to increase visibility and downloads. However, as app store optimization (ASO) algorithms evolved, it became clear that these low-cost installs often resulted in lower user engagement rates. Since the primary goal at that point was rapid growth rather than sustained user activity, this trade-off was acceptable. 

Today, incentivized traffic has evolved significantly. The focus has shifted towards acquiring high-quality, engaged users, aligning with the goals of more sophisticated advertiser campaigns. Generally, most of these campaigns are also performance-based, where advertisers only pay for specified actions. As a result, this rewarded UA channel now plays a more strategic role in helping advertisers attract the right users who are likely to remain active and engaged over the long term. 

What is Rewarded Traffic?

Rewarded traffic is often used interchangeably with incentivized traffic, as both involve users taking specific actions in exchange for a reward. However, if we get more nuanced, rewarded traffic often refers to ad units like rewarded video. In a typical rewarded video ad, users engage with a short video—commonly an app trailer—in exchange for a small reward, such as extra lives in a game. In this case, the reward is granted solely for watching the video, and the user may optionally choose to install the app afterward based on their interest.

For advertisers using rewarded video, they often operate on a cost per install (CPI) basis, where the installs are driven more by user interest rather than direct incentives. This results in installs that more closely resemble typical paid traffic sources, which has been a major driver for the popularity of this ad format. It’s also worth noting that rewarded video tends to work particularly well for mobile gaming advertisers. 

While rewarded video is a highly successful format, other types of rewarded traffic include offerwalls, survey walls, and rewards programs. For these formats, the campaign structure is critical to the advertiser’s success. However, it’s also important to recognize that the quality of rewarded traffic is influenced by more than just the campaign mechanics. How users are sourced, the targeting methods, and the publisher or ad platform’s ability to deliver the right user to the right ad—while minimizing fraud—are crucial factors in determining traffic quality.

Ultimately, the key difference between rewarded and incentivized traffic lies not just in the ad format itself but in how these campaigns are structured. Rewarded video ad campaigns are distinct from formats like offerwalls and rewards programs, but the targeting and sourcing strategies play an equally important role in driving meaningful results for advertisers.

Rewarded Ad Units & Successful Campaigns

Choosing the right type of ad campaign for each rewarded ad unit is crucial for maximizing ROAS (return on ad spend) for advertisers. Below is a brief overview of different rewarded ad units and incentivized traffic sources, and how campaigns should be structured to drive success:

Offerwalls

Offerwalls are a popular type of rewarded ad unit deployed across publisher apps, websites, and games. They allow users to browse a selection of offers and choose the ones they are most interested in, earning rewards such as in-app currency for their participation.

Offerwall ad campaigns are typically structured using a cost per action (CPA) model. Today, cost per engagement (CPE) and multi-reward CPE campaigns have become the most prominent campaign type due to their ability to generate high and sustained user engagement, delivering significant ROAS for advertisers.

Survey Walls

Survey walls operate similarly to offerwalls but focus on market research. They allow users to access a wall of targeted surveys within publisher apps and websites. As users complete surveys, they are rewarded with in-app currency or gift cards.

Survey wall campaigns typically reward users only for surveys they successfully complete, not those they simply begin. Given the growing demand for market research, this strategy has gained popularity, especially for brand research initiatives.

Rewards Programs

Rewards programs provide advertisers with access to first-party users through loyalty initiatives. These programs work similarly to well-known loyalty systems, such as McDonald’s, but are used to promote other brands. They connect advertisers with targeted users, rewarding them for their time and engagement.

Similar to offerwalls, rewards programs typically employ a performance marketing model like CPE and multi-reward CPE campaigns, aiming to drive ROAS. Since these users are first-party, rewards programs offer more opportunities for customized ad campaigns, allowing for greater personalization and targeting precision.

Rewarded Video

Rewarded video is another type of rewarded ad unit, commonly deployed across mobile gaming platforms. Users watch short video ads, often app trailers, in exchange for small rewards, such as extra lives in a game.

This ad unit works best with a cost per install (CPI) model and is particularly effective for mobile gaming advertisers, where user interest and engagement levels are generally high.

Rewarded and Incentivized Traffic—Two Sides of the Same Coin

While rewarded and incentivized traffic can be segmented by certain types of ad units and performance models, they ultimately serve the same purpose: driving user acquisition through strategic rewards. Both approaches are built on the idea of offering something of value in exchange for user action, whether that’s watching a video, completing a survey, or engaging with a loyalty program. 

The key takeaway is that the real difference between these two lies in the campaign structure, rather than in the traffic type itself. Advertisers seeking high-quality, engaged users can find success with any of these rewarded or incentivized traffic sources by ensuring that their campaign is tailored to their specific goals.

As user acquisition channels continue to evolve, rewarded and incentivized traffic will remain a powerful marketing channel for advertisers across industries. By understanding the nuances of each and aligning them with the right performance-based models, advertisers can acquire loyal users, maximize engagement, and ultimately drive ROAS. 

Interested in learning more about how rewarded user acquisition can help drive ROAS for your brand? Contact us.

The post Rewarded vs. Incentivized Traffic: What’s The Difference? appeared first on Adscend Media Blog | Unlocking Insights: Offerwalls and Rewarded Ads.

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.

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