Brutally Honest #95 by Matej Lancaric

Hey, FAM! What’s up?

?? Drink talk

Big reveal! This is the first of the two panels I moderate early next week in London. It’s going to be awesome. Join us at PGC on Monday.

Co-founder of 2.5 gamers, but most importantly UA consultant! hehe…

??Tip of the week

What to do when you see one creative getting the majority of spend?

This is a pretty common problem on Meta & TikTok quite often. I don’t see this as a problem if the creative is performing well. This could happen as you can see on the screen above. One creative performed well for 4 weeks, but then slowly started to fade off. And the problem is here!

You start to be in this weird limbo mode where the creative is okay, not great, but not terrible. I usually do this:

• check 5 days of data
• look at the performance
• look for 3 consecutive days of decline
• kill!

Remove the creative to let other creatives get the spend and explore performance.

?? Dr. Doom is not amused

One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!

"After one year ActiBlizz is returning to China. Since they broke the 15-year partnership with Netease last year, they are getting there back with, you guessed it, Netease ??, and it will take 6 more months to "work together with NetEase to rebuild domestic teams and run a test on their new servers." New overlords at Microsoft probably couldn't keep up with the 4D chess here and appreciate this outstanding move by Bobby, I would not have done it better myself as Dr.Doom ????"- Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/83191/blizzard-teams-up-with-netease-once-more-ahead-of-china-return/)

??? “Ha-ha” moment

Because life is too short to be serious.

?? two & a half gamers #94

Another live review is here! In this episode, we review Pocket Champs with special guest Arthur from Madbox. We discuss the game's background, initial impressions, core gameplay mechanics, progression systems, matchmaking, key features, monetization & UA strategies. Highlighting the importance of strategic decision-making in gear selection and the balance between player input and automated gameplay. Overall, Pocket Champs is praised by Jakub for its engaging gameplay and robust economy. We discuss the use of interstitial ads and the clever design features of rewarded video placements. (Felix is surprised by calling out his BS - as teased on Friday!) The estimated ad revenue and ECPMs are analyzed and the conversation concludes with an assessment of the game's creatives and future plans for improvement. In this conversation, Arthur discusses Madbox's game production philosophy and the importance of purposeful feature integration. He emphasizes the need to find features that make sense and enhance the overall player experience, rather than simply copying from other games. Arthur also highlights the passion and creativity required in game design. Tune in for more:

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Sneak peek at what you get for your support:

Stay Ahead in UA for 2024: My Top 43 Tips Revealed

I’ve decided to share all the top learnings from 2023. All those made the most impact on my UA ops! It’s quite a lot of learnings so buckle up & enjoy"! How to do a proper UA & Creatives review? Channel performance Campaign structure/campaign type (AAA vs regular)

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33 creative ideas to boost your User acquisition!

Matej Lancaric

Are you ready to embark on a journey that will revolutionize your user acquisition game? Welcome to a world where innovation meets imagination, where every click counts and every impression leaves a lasting mark. In this exclusive paid newsletter, I'm about to share with you a treasure trove of creative concepts that will supercharge your user acquisition campaigns.

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Hybrid casual UA playbook - Real data inside!

Another month, another newsletter filled with hybrid casual Tips and tricks only for paid subscribers! Over the past few years, hybrid-casual games have become increasingly popular on mobile, with 5 billion downloads in 2022, a 3% increase from the previous year.

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?? Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

Today was a good day.

Hey hey, so I know you are on vacation, but we need to talk about the upcoming paid UA test on social.

Eeh, yeah could we maybe talk when I am back home? Which is next week?

No no no, this is super important to figure out now. We have to test ASAP.

Okay then. Let’s talk, I will make myself available.

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okay so we need a battle plan for our paid efforts. When do you think you can send it? Today?

I will work on that when my daughter is in bed tomorrow..

Here you go … let’s start ASAP.

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Hey. Have you had a chance to see the plan?

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Hello? Any updates?

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Hey, I see you are active in the other Slack channels. Any comments?

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Yeah, so we need to pause the cooperation because we were not aligned and it took a long time for you to send me the plans...

What the actual f…

Today was a good day.

?? Quote of the week

“I love you guys!“ Paolo, LinkedIn comment

Pocket Champs Live Review!

?? Level up yourself

I launched a YouTube Channel. I'm putting a ton of energy into creating valuable content that I think you'll like. Check out the latest stuff, and give me a like and subscribe.

??? Gaming blast from the past

What did you play when you were young?

?? Before you go

Ask Matej AI a question. It’s actually quite good!

People say we are crazy, but we are just asking the important question.

?? Fun starts here

We are opening up a Slack channel for everybody. It is the most inclusive slack for all of the gaming industry. Female, male, non-binary, juniors, mid-level, seniors, vendors, developers = EVERYBODY! We are waiting for you ??

Feel free to join here!

??Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!

Please do me a favor and share this with someone in your network who you think would benefit from the insights and brutal honesty. It would mean a lot to me!

Take care, everyone! See you next Thursday!

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