AdMob Case Study: Whack em All

Goal
Whack ‘em All is a simple, yet truly addictive, iPhone app where moles and other pesky critters are whacked by the user. Created by James and Connie Bossert, Whack ‘em All is a fun family game designed to appeal to all ages.

The goal of their ad campaign was to help consumers discover Whack ‘em All and get ranked in the Top 25 of the App Store. It is critical to get ranked because it allows users browsing the App Store to easily find and download your application.

Whack ’em All is available as a free, ad supported version and as a paid version without ads. The campaign focused on driving downloads of the free app and gave avid users the ability to upgrade to the paid version.

Solution
James and Connie focused their advertising on the first week after launch. They ran text ads that allowed users to click straight to the App Store download page throughout AdMob’s iPhone network of more than 1,000 apps.

The campaign utilized AdMob’s Download Tracking service to measure the number of downloads generated as a result of each ad. This allowed them to optimize their campaign spend based on the actual downloads of their application, not just impressions or clicks.

They tested five different ads and targeting options throughout the campaign. They found iPod touch users were 50% more likely to download the game than iPhone users, so they refocused their efforts on the iPod touch and adjusted their campaign spend accordingly. In aggregate, 19% of users who clicked on the ad downloaded Whack ‘em All.

Results
AdMob drove more than 5,000 downloads in the first three days after Whack ‘em All entered the App Store, more than half of the total downloads of the game in this critical period. In total, AdMob generated more than 20,000 downloads of the game worldwide over the course of the campaign.

Just two weeks after launch, Whack ‘em All surpassed their goal and reached the Top 15. In total, Whack ‘em All has been downloaded more than 800,000 times.

Peak statistics

• >30,000 daily sales
• #1 family game
• Top 15 overall free app
• Top 10 game app

“AdMob advertising helped Whack ‘em All break through the clutter of the App Store and become the #1 family app.”
- James Bossert, Founder,  Whack ‘em All

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