Kooapps x Snake.io

The Objective

In recent years, mobile games have become incredibly popular, with millions of people looking to create and view new content around their favorite games. Mobile gaming studio and publisher Kooapps wanted to build on this wave and promote its flagship game "Snake.io" (available on App Store and Google Play), which first took the world by storm in 2016, to more gamers in the United States.

With more than 100 million downloads worldwide, "Snake.io" has touched the hearts of many through its simplicity and nostalgia, as it closely resembles the old-school classic "Snake," the first game many of us played on our mobile phones. For this campaign, Kooapps wanted to increase brand awareness across the US while driving mobile app installations. With its thriving gaming community, popularity of video game content and suite of tailored advertising solutions, TikTok was the ideal platform to achieve this goal.

The Solution

Viral videos are one of the top ways to reach the masses on TikTok. This is where the TikTok Creator Marketplace comes into play. Leaning on TikTok Creator Marketplace's community of TikTok-savvy creators and easy-to-use platform for creator collaborations, Kooapps identified two TikTok creators whose content fit the brand's aim to create a variety of promotional content for "Snake.io."

The videos were short and sweet—creators included a brief yet comprehensive introduction of the game, along with useful tips and reviews. What's more, the content was aligned with each creator, ensuring the videos blended well with their existing content. For instance, as "Snake.io" offers in-game skins from the popular anime Naruto, it collaborated with a top creator who specialized in Naruto-related content on TikTok to promote the game. He encouraged viewers to join him, utilizing his influence and authentic content to engage his target audience. This was a crucial move as TikTok's community values content relevancy and actively engages with content that resonates with them. As such, both "Snake.io" and the creators simultaneously benefited from the seamless and collaborative experience.

To further boost app installations and maximize reach, videos from both creators were amplified as ad creatives through App Install campaigns. Kooapps chose to use Spark Ads, a native In-Feed Ad display format that allows businesses to boost content posted by creators. Snake.io's campaign targeted a broad audience in the US market—although the creatives were also used in other markets worldwide as well—and employed a cost cap bidding strategy.

The Results

Gamers were certainly intrigued by the combination of their favorite creators and a classic arcade game. Within two weeks, Kooapps observed a 67% increase in installations of "Snake.io" in the US market, and achieved a cost-per-installation that was 50% and 10% lower than the bids placed for the iOS14 and Android campaigns, respectively. The account-highest recorded click-to-install rate was 52%, suggesting highly matched expectations from ad content and the app store.

When it comes to gaming, Kooapps’ slew of titles is a source of timeless fun. Its strategy to gain further foothold in the gaming community through TikTok produced success that can be built upon in later campaigns. This includes seeking micro-influencers to actively promote other games and increase installation rates during key in-game event days. Most importantly, creating a sense of camaraderie among gamers is the key to leveling up.