8 Ball Pool

The objective

Scaling performance by re-engaging lapsed players

Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool is one of the world’s most popular mobile sports games, offering real-time 1v1 matches, tournaments, and seasonal content to millions of players worldwide. With a hybrid monetization model driven mainly by in-app purchases, long-term revenue depends heavily on the ability to retain and re-engage high-value users.

Miniclip had been advertising on TikTok for several years with strong performance on acquisition campaigns. As the platform matured, so did the opportunity to unlock greater value from existing users.

The solution

Reactivating lapsed users through custom audience segmentation and AEO

The brand turned to TikTok’s retargeting solutions to re-engage lapsed players and increase the frequency of in-app actions. To support Miniclip’s re-engagement goals, TikTok implemented App Retargeting campaigns optimized for in-app events (AEO).

The creative strategy combined in-house assets with UGC-style content sourced through TikTok One (TTO), enabling the publisher to scale high-performing creatives specifically tailored to drive re-engagement.

Creatives were built specifically to resonate with past users, focusing on gameplay highlights, new features, and event-based content that reflected what returning players would find most compelling.

Campaigns were timed to coincide with seasonal updates and limited-time offers, ensuring relevance and urgency for reactivation.

The results

TikTok retargeting delivers significant performance gains across both platforms

The retargeting campaign outperformed both other retargeting platforms and traditional new-user acquisition efforts. On iOS, D7 ROAS was 2.7x higher (+169%) compared to other retargeting channels, while on Android, it was 1.4x higher (+44%).

Compared to acquisition campaigns across TikTok and other platforms, iOS D7 ROAS was 2.3x higher (+126%) and Android D7 ROAS was 1.5x higher (+48%).

In terms of cost efficiency, TikTok retargeting achieved a 54% lower cost per re-attribution - defined as lapsed players who returned to the game without needing to reinstall - across iOS and Android compared to other retargeting channels, and a 43% lower cost per re-attribution compared to the average CPI of new user acquisition campaigns.