From click to commitment: a D30 strategy

• Supersonic experts emphasise a unified approach as acquisition and retention must work together.
• Early engagement drives loyalty optimising D1, D3 and D7 retention sets the stage for stronger day 30 performance.
• Live ops keeps players hooked, regular events, challenges and rewards maintain interest and encourage sustained play.

This is a contributed article by several experts at Supersonic from Unity: Alex Blumkin, senior manager, growth. Kobi Romano, senior product designer and Paz Shabtai, senior technical project/program manager. 

Engaging mobile game players requires more than just a download; it demands a strategy that fosters long-term loyalty. Recognising that a significant number of new users may churn within the first 30 days, the focus must shift to optimising that critical initial period.

To truly maximise LTV (lifetime value), a unified UA (user acquisition) and retention strategy is essential – siloed efforts simply won't cut it. The key to D30 optimisation is acquiring engaged users from the start and nurturing them into loyal, long-term players.

The power of the unified approach

LTV hinges on the delicate balance between acquisition cost and retention rate. Higher retention justifies increased UA spending, and strategically sourced UA drives better retention.

But the feedback loop must be faster. Early retention metrics, particularly D1, D3, and D7, are powerful predictive signals of long-term success. By monitoring these early indicators, you can dynamically optimise UA campaigns, focusing on user quality and engagement potential in near real-time.

UA: Acquiring engaged players

Transform your UA mindset: it's not about simply acquiring installs, but rather attracting engaged players. 

Show it, don’t fake it - Your ad creatives become your first filter. They must accurately portray the core gameplay loop to attract the right users, avoiding the trap of misleading visuals that lead to short-lived installs and frustrated players. Hooking high-value users requires more compelling creatives. 

Hook high-value users - On a similar note, short playable ads simply don't cut it anymore. Instead, design interactive playable ads that offer a deeper gameplay experience. Longer playables with more clicks can significantly boost engagement, increase conversions, and improve D30 ROAS. Give players a genuine feel for your game's mechanics and long-term appeal before they download.

Give UA networks time to work - Forget short-term D0 or D1 optimisation windows that can paint a misleading picture. Instead, extend your optimisation windows to D7 or even D28 to allow UA networks more time to identify and target truly engaged players.

This patience translates to significantly improved long-term growth and better overall performance, thanks to stronger user retention.

Tap into emotional engagement - Don't overlook the potential of incentivised UA channels. These channels involve advertising on external apps that reward users for playing your game. This strategy offers a unique way to reach value-driven players who are actively seeking rewards and are more likely to engage with your game over time.

Finally, consider expanding your reach with hybrid campaigns. Don't limit yourself to solely optimising for ad revenue or IAP revenue. Instead of optimising just for one thing, aim for both with a hybrid campaign approach.

This strategy reaches a wider, more diverse audience, bringing in players with high IAP potential alongside those more likely to engage with ads. By blending different approaches, the goal is to find high-quality users whose value grows over time, leading to improved D30 ROAS and sustainable revenue streams.

Retention: Nurturing players through day 30

Adapt to evolving motivations - Players are initially drawn in by the core promise of your game, but basic mechanics alone won't sustain their interest long-term. Continuously analyse player behaviour data to identify points of potential churn. For instance, add layers to the original mechanics to keep the game challenging, engaging, and rewarding. This keeps them from losing interest.

Craft live ops that click - Player patterns can inform when to organically integrate live ops to align with your game’s DNA and keep players hooked. If engagement dips at certain points in time, try adding gameplay incentives to reignite interest and boost engagement.

Effective live ops pave the way for sustained player satisfaction and boost retention well beyond D30 by focusing on creating experiences that fuel this drive. Quests are one of the most effective live ops tools for boosting retention that also encourage players to complete game-related activities.

The consistency advantage - Consistency is key to turning your game into a long-term habit that becomes part of a player’s life. The key to success is creating recurring live ops events that players love and look forward to, reinforcing the habit with clear reminders and cues.

Remember that habits aren’t fatiguing if they’re fun, so UX becomes critical for success.

D1-D30 and beyond - Appeal to different levels of engagement by building from the ground up. To create a higher D30 retention, you need a higher D14 retention rate.

To create that, you need a higher D7 retention, and so on. Consider the live ops suite for your game and offer daily bonuses/challenges, 48 or 72-hour tournaments, and weekly quests/calendars/collections.

Without a solid short-term retention, D30 optimisation has a slim chance to work. This approach requires a robust data framework and analytics to guide your decision making at every step of the way.

Acquiring mobile game users is costly; retaining them is crucial. By acquiring engaged players and continuously optimising the game experience to foster lasting loyalty, developers can extend player lifecycles beyond the critical D30 window and drive sustainable scale and growth.