Exceeding Nexon's CPX and ROAS goals with retargeting
Taking Maplestory M's ROAS to the next level
Nexon is a company engaged in the production, development and operation of online games and Virtual Worlds. Nexon currently has more than 50 live games on multiple platforms including mobile available in more than 190 countries.
Back in 2019, Nexon kicked off our collaboration by sharing their live event stream with us via their MMP, Adjust. Since then, Remerge has run in-app retargeting campaigns for more than half a dozen Nexon titles – one of which being MapleStory, a role-playing game which first launched on PC in 2003, then later as a mobile app in 2016 by the name of MapleStory M.
The challenge
Nexon asked us to improve ROAS for MapleStory M in South Korea, on both iOS and Android. From there, we defined our two main KPIs as 'ROAS D7' and 'cost per reattribution' (CPX). Read on below to find out how we exceeded their goals.
The strategy
We focused our retargeting efforts on users with 7 days of inactivity. We then further segmented users into groups according to the number of purchases they'd previously made, which allowed us to deliver tailored ads for each segment.
Through experimentation, we found that the best-performing ad formats were banner ads and native ads – as well as video ads which our in-house creative team resized to ensure maximum impact.
Throughout the process, our intelligent algorithms automatically optimized the bid prices to buy the best in-app ad placements, as cost effectively as possible. We also manually reviewed and optimized the campaigns on a weekly basis to ensure all KPIs were being met.
The results
Having exceeded their performance goals on both iOS and Android, Nexon decided to scale their monthly ad spend for MapleStory M by 800% within their first year of working with us.
Android
→ 52% cheaper CPX than the client's target
→ 138% higher ROAS than the client's target
iOS
→ 59% cheaper CPX than the client's target
→ 51% higher ROAS than the client's target
