When you’ve taken a take a look at among the most profitable UA campaigns not too long ago, you’ve in all probability heard about survivor.io. The zombie recreation exploded with a robust TikTok advert marketing campaign and rose to the highest of the charts. 

About survivor.io

Survivor.io was launched on July twenty first, 2022, by the Singaporean firm Habby. Over the previous few months, it bought over 50 million downloads and over $100 million in income. The sport took the #1 slot throughout iOS and Android on August 12 within the US and held it for a few weeks.

This recreation is taken into account a roguelike survival recreation the place the aim is to outlive in opposition to waves of zombies. That will help you, you should purchase upgrades on your characters, which led the video games to earn 500k USD/day from IAP (in-app buy) in keeping with Matej Lancaric. 

The ASO artistic technique

The ASO technique is fairly comparable between each shops for survivor.io. Surprisingly, the sport positive aspects a ! within the App Retailer title.

There are additionally extra screenshots on the Play Retailer than on the App Retailer. The App Retailer itemizing web page solely has 5 screenshots, and there are 3 extra ones for the Play Retailer itemizing web page which appear to be easy captures of the sport.

Every screenshot underlines a characteristic of the sport, with one character on the entrance and color-coded CTAs. The usage of ! offers a way of dynamism and urgency, in addition to constructing pleasure.

The sport captures within the background of the screenshots are extra targeted on motion. The prominence of the colour purple is clearly linked to action-packed moments of the sport. It stands out from the grey background. The primary screenshot places an emphasis on the problem (which comes again for the third one, exhibiting potential gamers they must defeat bosses). 

The second screenshot is extra targeted on personalization, it exhibits customers that they will have a customized expertise, even in a roguelike recreation by exploring talent and weapons combos and determining what works greatest for them. 

It’s an effective way to make the most of gamer motivation, and be sure that everybody will discover what they’re searching for in your recreation. 

Issues swap up for the preview movies, the video is in panorama mode for the Play Retailer, to take full benefit of the YouTube reader whereas it stays in portrait for the App Retailer. 

The Play Retailer model begins with the primary character preparing for battle, the main target is on the character and his equipment. They’re constructing the video to be like an motion film trailer. Whereas the App Retailer model is much less targeted on motion and exhibits off extra of the zombie preventing aspect.

Survivor.io can be taking advantage of in-app occasions (and promotional content material) in each shops. It is a nice alternative, ASO sensible as a result of in-app occasions are linked with a lift in conversion and natural visitors. They’re a fantastic ASO instrument that ought to positively be taken benefit of.

From recreation updates, to new beauty gear availability, IAE means that you can present how alive your app or recreation is and to cut back churn charges. 

A UA technique targeted on TikTok

Survivor.io’s success got here from their guess on TikTok as a UA instrument. They spent the biggest quantity of their advert price range on TikTok, making it their primary UA platform and inundating the social community with recreation advertisements.

This guess on TikTok clearly served them nicely, serving to the sport rise to the highest of the charts in a number of nations. When the TikTok marketing campaign was launched, a lot of the video creatives have been quite simple, targeted on display screen recordings of the sport with typically a voice-over and/or some overlaid textual content.

The primary aim was clearly to make use of TikTok’s algorithm and advert platform to achieve a related viewers and make them extra conversant in the sport by rising its visibility. This did work, folks turned accustomed to seeing the sport and model consciousness rose exponentially.

A lot of the voiceovers and texts have been about constructing a way of group in addition to mentioning the personalization features of the sport. Narrators would usually point out seeing one other individual enjoying the sport and being appalled at their weapon of alternative. 

This creates a way of belonging to a gamer group, interacting in a roundabout way with different gamers and evaluating methods. The truth that the actor can be judging the opposite individual’s decisions is a subdued approach of underlining personalization. It implies that every participant can have a novel gaming expertise as a result of their decisions (whether or not or not it’s weapons, equipment, or techniques) will really have an effect.

Banking on the UGC artistic pattern

Now, survivor.io’s creatives are extra diversified, and similar to each advertiser on TikTok, they’re began to incorporate UGC advertisements of their roster.

Most of those play on the humorous aspect, or totally different types of native TikTok content material. Within the advert just under, a mom is interacting together with her two youngsters whereas selling survivor.io. The range of influencers/actors in these UGC advertisements exhibits that survivor.io is focusing on a large viewers.

UGCs or UGC-like advertisements are the most important advert pattern on TikTok proper now, it’s no shock that everybody is investing in it, particularly profitable video games. Enjoying on TikTok-like content material helps advertisements really feel extra real, they are going to stand out much less on customers’ For You pages. 

That is TikTok’s golden rule: don’t make advertisements, make TikToks. And survivor.io adopted that recommendation for its newest slew of TikTok advertisements. These UGC advertisements seem like common TikTok content material, there’s one with a faux avenue interview (one thing that works very well on the platform), and the mother advert above is a direct wink to all of the household and mother influencers on the app. 

This advertising and marketing technique is clearly working for the zombie recreation, whose success in each shops for the previous few months has been spectacular.