Using competitor intel to optimize your game ad creatives

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MarketIQ helps bridge this gap by offering clear insights into what’s working across formats, platforms and more. UA Managers get the metrics they need for data-backed decisions, and Game Marketers get insights on trends and creative strategies to keep campaigns fresh and engaging.

As competition is fierce, marketers are hyper-focused on ROAS and want metrics that deliver high-performing campaigns without wasting spend. MarketIQ makes this easier by allowing them to efficiently compare ad performance, analyze top creatives, and spot trends across networks, cutting down on time spent but keeping results high. Additionally, the need for creative inspiration and access to data that shows how different creatives capture attention has been inaccessible to most. With MarketIQ, you can dive into leading creative examples and understand what users respond to, shaping ads that are both targeted and impactful.

There is not just one correct way to use MarketIQ – through exploring the tool, you will find numerous ways to leverage the powerful insights this platform provides. But if you are just getting started and looking for guidance, consider this your ultimate guide to exploring what works and what does not in the mobile game advertising realm.

Developing and operating a game is no different from running a business. And as such, you naturally have competitors–whether you know of them or not. Using MarketIQ will help you look under the cover of your competition’s advertising strategies and outsmart them in the best possible way. With this in mind, the two use case scenarios that we are exploring today are:

• I know my competition and want to perform better than them
• I need help understanding the competitive landscape for my game

Let’s jump right in; here is your 101 guide to optimizing your creatives:

Know your competition like the back of your hand​

To understand how your competitors behave in the advertising space, replicate the following steps (scroll below the text for visual clues):

1. Navigate to the search bar and type the game name you are looking for. Depending on the platform, you will see an option for iOS and/or Android (you can switch platforms as you continue exploring). Click the one you want to examine and add it to your Favorites (
   
   ) so you can revisit it easily.
2. After selecting your game, you are automatically directed to Creative Insights, which show you all creatives across all ad networks and regions. In this overview, you can see the total number of ads that your competitor is running across all regions, their types (playable, video, or image), as well as a high-level overview of ad platforms and KPIs.
3. There are many ways to use the filtering and sorting options to find exactly what you need. Let’s say you want to distribute your game to Canada, your preferred creative type is video, and you want to target the English-speaking Canadian population. Simply input these values into the filters and hit ‘OK’. The results show how your competitor advertises their game in this region, using video to appeal to their English-speaking audience. You can now sort the results based on discovery time, ad duration, impression estimate, or a specific engagement metric – whichever metric you are expecting or looking to improve.
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   Note: Remember there is also a time stamp indicating the period you’re exploring. If you do not see any results, it is possible that your competitor isn’t/wasn’t advertising in the selected periods. Try adjusting the period to further past. If you still do not see any results, it is likely that your competitor does not cover this region. While you might see this as an opportunity, we suggest exploring other competitor and genre performances in the region–maybe the Canadians don’t want to play your game at all.
4. Now that you have found the results that you’re looking for, let’s see what valuable data each of the ad snippets includes. To open the card, simply click on the Detail button represented by a paper icon (
   
   ). You are now looking at insights from one particular advertisement. Here you can learn about the ad’s lifecycle, the platforms on which they are running, format specifications related to playable ads, copy, and more.
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   This information allows you to gauge the ad’s effectiveness: for example, ads with extended lifecycles can indicate strong performance, so similar tactics may be worth exploring. By analyzing format specs, you can get a clear sense of how competitors engage users—whether through interactive elements, specific calls to action, or targeted visuals. Additionally, understanding platform usage provides a roadmap for budget allocation across networks like TikTok or Facebook, helping you to decide where to invest based on observed engagement. Also, copy and format choices are invaluable for creative inspiration and trend alignment.

Note: You can achieve similar results by searching for an entire publisher rather than individual games, giving you access to the full portfolio of your competitor for a comprehensive view of their strategies and creative approaches.

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This analysis allows you to improve your ad creatives by leveraging such competitor insights. For example, as UA Manager, you want to launch a playable ad campaign for an upcoming game. By using MarketIQ to analyze a competitor’s top-performing playable ads, you can see which interactive elements, visual styles, and calls to action drive the most engagement. If the competitor’s ad uses bright visuals and quick onboarding steps to hook users early on, this insight can guide you to adopt similar tactics in your campaign.

MarketIQ’s regional filtering also allows you to view ad performance by country, helping to shape creatives to fit local preferences and cultural understandings. For instance, if data shows that video ads with localized language perform well in certain markets, you can create region-specific videos with messaging and visuals that resonate more deeply with that audience. This approach goes beyond guesswork, allowing you to craft engaging ads that appeal to the audience.

Explore who you’re competing against and be better​

In the previous section, we explored conducting an ad analysis of your competitors. But what if you do not know who your competitors are (yet) or want to find out about more players in the competitive space? MarketIQ offers an easy way to do so:

1. Firstly, navigate to the Image & Video tab, located in the Creative Gallery sub-menu.
2. Next, using filters, you narrow down your search. Let’s say you developed a animal-themed puzzle game that you want to advertise to in Canada. Your basic filters should be set as followed:
   Industry > Game > Puzzle;
   Game Theme > Animals;
   Country/Region > Canada.
3. You can now browse a rich gallery of creatives that companies use to advertise similar games. You can further sort these ad by discovery time, ad duration, impression estimate, campaign goal or specific engagement metrics.
   At the bottom of each snippet you will find game’s title and publisher that developed the game.

This methodology is a smart way to discover competitors you may not yet know, providing you with a broader view of the competitive landscape. By setting filters tailored to your game’s theme, region, and genre, you can quickly identify studios advertising similar games and gain a clear sense of who your direct competitors are. MarketIQ then allows you to explore these competitors’ ad strategies in-depth. This approach helps you analyze their creative tactics, offering valuable insights to refine and optimize your own ad creatives.

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With MarketIQ, optimizing your ad creatives becomes straightforward and effective. By using competitor intelligence, you can analyze top-performing creatives, spot successful strategies, and adapt proven tactics for your campaigns. Whether you know your competitors or are discovering new ones, MarketIQ provides the tools to explore ad lifecycles, engagement metrics, and format choices across regions. This insights uplifts UA managers and game marketers to create ads that resonate with target audiences, maximizing engagement and delivering a competitive edge.

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All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be diving deeper into specific use cases and how to get the most out of key features in handy guides, available right here on our blog.

Save 70% with our early bird offer​

To celebrate the launch, we’re offering an exclusive 70% discount on all MarketIQ plans. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a competitive edge at an unbeatable price. Available now, until it’s not.