User Acquisition Insights with Jane Poon

In this series of articles, UA managers will answer 6 questions to share their insights on UA and industry trends.

Jane Poon is a Senior User Acquisition Specialist at Jam City, one of the top-50 gamemakers of the past year. Jam City recently celebrated its tenth anniversary of creating games and has created hit titles including Panda Pop, which has achieved more than 120 million downloads.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the apps you’re managing?

Jam City has a vast portfolio of top-tier games such as Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Disney Emoji Blitz, and Cookie Jam. During my time in Jam City, I’ve had the pleasure and opportunity to work on various different genres from RPG, match-3, as well as casual casino and narrative. I currently lead Cookie Jam, Cookie Jam Blast, and Vineyard Valley.

2. How do you approach UA for each gaming vertical you’re acquiring users for?

UA is an ongoing process of acquiring new users through different marketing channels. Success is dependent on understanding which type of users will be engaged within the app. Choose the right marketing platform for the app and build a competitive UA strategy during cross-vertical acquisition – no matter which vertical and genre you are buying for. Buyers need to define the targeted audiences that make the most sense for the game, along with a goal of how to maximize the potential ROI specific to the game.

3. What is your criteria for testing new UA channels, and what are your requirements for onboarding a new partner?

Aside from the MMP integration, transparency for traffic and placements, and post-installs optimization, the ultimate criteria for testing a new channel is to be able to perform and deliver results.

When onboarding a new partner, it’s important to work with the network to see whether the inventory fits the demographic targeting for our games – as well as the algorithm successfully delivering and capturing the proper audiences to achieve our performance targets.

4. Do you see that some formats deliver better results, thanks to the mechanics of the format?

As the mobile industry continues to grow year over year, we’ve found that there really is no specific or best format to deliver better results. This is especially true considering that there are constantly new targeting capabilities and features that could also alter UA performance.

I recommend that the best way for marketers in the industry to improve their performance is to have a diverse thinking mindset that constantly tests new hypotheses as well as methodologies that could be turned into measurable performance-driven campaigns.

5. How important is rewarded advertising in your user acquisition strategy?

adjoe’s rewarded ad unit Playtime is a unique format compared with a lot of other rewarded formats from other networks. The ad format allows users to earn in-app currency by installing and playing third-party games.

This type of ad unit can keep users more engaged and offer a better overall user and app experience. As networks become more and more sophisticated, they begin to have equal footing in terms of performance, and I think that’s why we value rewarded channels in our UA strategy.

6. Is there something that we should be looking out for in the coming months?

We’re going to increase our production of top-tier creatives, expand our UA efforts across different channels and GEOs, and shift our focus to how we can make iOS 14 work.

Additionally, we are excited about the launch of our new match-3 game – Disney Pop Town. Be on the lookout for Jam City this year, as there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing our ads with a fresh new take.