How to convert online games offers in China with ExoClick
In this article we will show you how to convert online games offers in China with ExoClick’s Chinese premium traffic sources. China is one of Asia’s most important economies and has the largest online user base in the world, two-thirds of which play games online. So much so that this GEO’s online game industry in China has now become one of the largest worldwide in terms of both number of users and revenue, which offers to advertisers plenty of opportunities to convert their online games offers in China using ExoClick’s premium traffic sources. Here are a few Chinese gaming market projections from Statista:
– Revenue in the online game industry in China is projected to reach US$6.11bn in 2023, showing an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 5.67%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$7.62bn by 2027.
– The number of users is expected to amount to 0.38bn users by 2027, with a user penetration of 25.5% in 2023, expected to hit 26.2% by 2027.
– In global comparison, most revenue will be generated in online game industry in China (US$6,114.00m in 2023), with an average revenue per user (ARPU) projected to amount to US$16.40 in 2023.
As you can see, the numbers speak for themselves! Itching to start promoting your games offers and making the most of this highly profitable market? Now, to find out how to convert online games offers in China, let’s look at some network stats and expert tips to help you find the best devices, ad formats and strategies to promote your games offers campaigns in China with our Chinese premium traffic sources!
The alternative to consoles: Mobile, desktop or tablet?
One of the reasons why online games offers in China have become so popular is because they can be easily accessed from any device, whether it is desktop, mobile, or tablet. This makes them a very easy and stress-free source of entertainment that people can enjoy during their work commute, lunchtime, at night relaxing at home after work, or whenever and wherever they are.
So, which device is the most popular? Let’s look at the impressions breakdown per device from the ExoClick Network for online games campaigns in China:
As we can see, mobile takes the biggest share when it comes to online games advertising campaigns, making it a key format when thinking about how to convert online games offers in China. This is probably because, according to App Annie Intelligence, People in China spend a daily average of 3 hours on their phone. From these 3 hours, nearly 1 (a 33%) is spent playing the thousands of popular online games in China. As we pointed out earlier on, portable devices such as mobile make it easier for end users to connect and play from wherever they are. Also, mobile phones are more affordable than laptops or expensive consoles. Still, in order to reach all audience types and because some online games are actually best enjoyed on a wider screen, it is a good idea to test out all devices when setting up your campaigns.
Best ad formats to promote in China using ExoClick’s Chinese premium traffic sources
Continuing on you can find the CTR breakdown for the 7 best performing ad formats from the ExoClick Network to help you discover how to convert online games offers in China:
7 best ad formats to promote in China: Let’s start with Video ads!
As you can see on the table above, video formats offer high CTRs – they are more engaging, can be passively watched and are very visually compelling – Finding the best best Video advertising traffic in China can help you showcase your product telling a story that will catch your audience’s eyes instantly! Video formats are especially powerful within the gaming vertical because games are a highly visual medium, and Video allows you to attract your potential gamers showing your game’s best features with very compelling and engaging animations: Gameplay, character design options, premium options and other exciting experiences that your game has got to offer.
Here are the CTRs for the main 3 Video formats, per device:
#1 In-stream Video ads: The ad is shown to the viewer right before they watch a video of their choosing on a publisher’s site. This format features a skip ad button, allowing the end user to close the ad after 5 seconds, which creates the opportunity to make a big impact during the very first seconds of the advertising.
#3 Outstream Video ads in China: Triggered wherever the publisher has placed the ad zone on their site, to become part of the user journey. It is unobtrusive and appears as part of the user’s journey, opening up and playing as the end user scrolls down a page.
#3 Video Slider Video ads: The ad slides in on the bottom right of the screen as a publisher’s site opens, catching the end user’s attention instantly, especially when used with strong and eye-catching visuals.
Fullpage Interstitial
Here are the CTRs for the Fullpage Interstitial format, per device:
Fullpage Interstitials (FPI) are large full page format responsive ads that appear over the site and cover the whole screen. The ad is triggered in between a page load and shown to the end user. They are more eye-catching than other formats, truly capturing users’ attention and avoiding ‘banner blindness’. FPIs are a rich media ad format so you can use a static image or MP4 video, giving you extra flexibility to test out different creative strategies – You could test out, for instance, gameplay videos against striking static images of the main character with their battle outfit and see what works best.
FPI is a great alternative to the Popunder, since Popunders get blocked by Google. This is one of the reasons that more and more publishers are using FPI ad zones instead. This Chrome audience is a highly valuable traffic source for a large range of offers and the FPI is the only way to reach this audience.
Native
Here are the CTRs for the Native format, per device:
Native ads are designed to look exactly like the content of a website they are being placed on. They consist of:
– A 300x300px image which will appear like a content thumbnail such as a video screenshot, article or editorial.
– A short title with a catchy headline (max. 50 characters)
– A short description (max. 90 characters) to expand on your catchy title
– A Brand name (max. 30 characters) to ensure quality clicks as the end user knows it is an ad.
Native ads work best when paired with editorial style landing pages, which also means that you can get really creative! Your landing could contain blog-like content such as 5 expert tips for game play, a selection of profiles of your game’s characters, an article highlighting some features of your game… The trick is to not go for the hard sell, but rather offering fun and informative content about your game.
Native ads offer huge volumes and low bidding prices, so it is perfect for testing offers – For instance, you could pair them up with other ad formats to run retargeting campaigns.
Banner ads
Here are the CTRs for the Banner format, per device:
By using Banner ads you can access RDAs, which is a Banner that automatically adapts size, format and appearance to fit any standard IAB Banner display ad placement. RDAs are created automatically from your uploaded assets: Images, videos and texts (title, description and brand), then the ExoClick platform combines and adjusts them so that the final ad creatives fit all of the following Publisher Banner display ad zone specs:
160×600
300×100
300×250
300×500
728×90
900×250
RDAs are great because they save you time: With one simple image and text asset, you can bid for multiple ad zones, which also means more exposure across RON and premium traffic sources for your ad and more creative possibilities. Also, you can play with more test data to evaluate and optimize your campaigns. For example if you only have creatives for 300×100 banners and only run campaigns for these sizes, by using RDAs, you automatically have different display sizes that you can also test
Push notifications
Here are the CTRs for the Push Notifications format, per device:
This ad format consists of an image or icon (720x480px) on the left and text on the right: Title (max. 50 characters) and Description (max. 90 characters). The user clicks on the Push Notification ad and is taken to the advertisers landing page. The ad fades in over the publisher site’s content, making it really eye-catching to end users.
Tip! 1: You can further boost your campaigns with Direct Links on Chinese social media gaming groups. Remember: Some social media channels are banned in China, so your ads will be appearing on some alternatives that are allowed in China, like WeChat, Weibo, Youku, and similar.
Tip! 2: Also test out Menu Tabs, which are ads that are displayed within the Menu or Navigation Tab of a website, which is a highly visible position, as well as a one of ExoClick’s Chinese premium traffic sources ad placements. Also, within ExoClick’s admin panel it is very easy to find the correct vertical for your offer, since all Tabs on our network are labeled with a contextual vertical. Read more about Menu Tab ads here.
Tips to promote your online games offers in China!
Continuing on there are a few exclusive tips that will give you the key to success on how to convert online games offers in China:
Tip! Know your audience: Gamers, especially in Asian culture, are highly visual people who also enjoy cartoons, comics and animated shows. Also, a lot of them enjoy Cosplay and dressing up like their favorite characters. Oh, and of course, they absolutely adore games, comics and animation related merch. All of these are elements to bear in mind when designing ad creatives to reach these audiences using our Chinese premium traffic sources, especially if your game has got the style of a specific popular comic or cartoon – Be careful, though: Although it is great to reference, always be mindful of not falling into Copyright infringement!
Tip! Target female players on mobile: 45.6% of Chinese mobile gamers are female, and as some studies have revealed, they are more likely to make in-app purchases, which is the reason why mobile games target female players. The 3 most popular online games in china are Honor of Kings, Anipop and Onmyoji, which are multiplayer battle and puzzle popular online games in china.
Tip! Showcase your characters: Introduce the different characters featured in your game. Show the character customization process, their best catch phrases, powers, statistics, or their interaction with other characters. You could also show an end user playing as one of the characters who is facing a multi-choice situation in the game, then asking the viewer directly “What would you do?” or “Who would you choose?” with the CTA to the game landing page or App store.
Tip! Culture: Standards like “dignity” or “prestige” are deeply ingrained in Chinese culture. If your game is about historic Chinese heroes, ancient kings, pop and cinema stars or people climbing the social ladder, it is a good idea to translate the values of gaining face and achieving status in your ad creative and copy.
Tip! Douyin (The Chinese TikTok) style: although TikTok is banned in Mainland China, they have their own video apps, with Douyin being the most popular one. The good news? The style of Douyin’s user generated videos are extremely similar to TikTok! If you are promoting your game with video ads, make your ads look like #GamingTips videos, opinions and reviews compilations, influencer style, or even compilations of the characters doing TikTok-style dances. Reaction videos are also very popular – Show users playing the game and reacting to it in a fun and exaggerated way.
Tip! Language: There’s a total of 302 spoken languages in China, including Standard Mandarin, Min Chinese, Wu Chinese, Cantonese (Yue) and Jin Chinese. Make sure to have your ads translated especially for your target audiences. Also, especially if you are using push notification ads, remember to use dynamic tokens for regional targeting to reach specific locations. These tokens could be by city, region and country. For instance, you could use the {city} token in your ad texts to attract localized users in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, etc.
Tip! Tap into popular culture: The most watched TV show genre in China are soap operas, such as Ode to Joy and My Sunshine. If your game is a dating simulator and has some skins and clothing items in the style of these shows, let the audience know in the ads.
Tip! Use Smart Bid: Smart Bid is ExoClick’s new campaign pricing model and automated bidding feature which uses machine learning to analyze your campaign data and automatically determine the optimal price in real-time. Its goal is to guarantee you a profitable campaign and save you time by automatizing testing and optimizing processes. Read more about this new feature here!
Tip! Download our Gaming Guide! The very last one of our tips to promote your online games offers in China! – want more creative tips on promoting your online games offers in China and worldwide? Download our Ultimate Guide to online games offers now!
Conclusions: How to convert online games offers in China
… Or maybe you need a few more tips on how to promote your online games offers in China from our experts? If you need any more information about our high quality ad formats and Chinese premium traffic sources, or need some help promoting your games offers in China or anywhere else in the world, make sure to get in touch with your account manager or our Customer Success team!
