A presentation I gave at GDC Shanghai with a ton of information on Facebook Advertising. I also attempt to answer the question - how much do I need to pay to get 1 Million players to my game?

2. Who Am I?
 CEO @ AdParlor
 We deliver over 300,000 new
users every day for the largest
game developers in the world

3. Agenda
 Fundamentals of Facebook advertising
 How any ad Network makes money – eCPM
 CTR and CVR why they matter
 Average CPA Rates in certain countries
 Factors that effect pricing
 How much does it cost to get to 1M users?
 Rising cost of user acquisition
 Changing market conditions

4. Fundamentals of Facebook
Advertising

5. Fundamentals of Facebook
Advertising

6. Some Basic Terms
 CTR - Click Through Rate
 CVR - Conversion Rate
 CPM - Cost per 1,000 impressions
 eCPM – Effective cost per 1,000 impressions
 CPC – Cost per click
 CPA – Cost per acquisition
4 Clicks from 10,000 Impressions = 0.04% CTR
2 Installs from 4 Clicks = 50% CVR
4 Clicks * $0.30 CPC = $1.20 Cost
$1.20 Cost / 2 Installs = $0.60 CPA

7. Ad Server Fundamentals
 Any ad network wants to choose the ad with the highest
eCPM.
o This is true for Facebook and amplified by their focus on user
experience.
 A high CTR means you can buy cheaper clicks
 A high CVR means you get more conversions for those
clicks
 Generally Facbook Gaming ads
o Have a CTR between 0.04% and 0.14%
o Have a CVR between 40% and 60%

8. The Importance of CTR
Difference in eCPM based on the CTR [hold CPC bid constant]
Impressions CTR Clicks CPC Bid eCPM
1,000 1.00% 10 $ 0.50 $ 5.00
1,000 0.10% 1 $ 0.50 $ 0.50
1,000 0.05% 0.5 $ 0.50 $ 0.25
1,000 0.01% 0.1 $ 0.50 $ 0.05
Difference in CPC bid based on the CTR [achieve $1.00 eCPM]
impressions CTR Clicks CPC bid eCPM
1,000 1.00% 10 $ 0.10 $ 1.00
1,000 0.10% 1 $ 1.00 $ 1.00
1,000 0.05% 0.5 $ 2.00 $ 1.00
1,000 0.01% 0.1 $ 10.00 $ 1.00

9. Seeing the Effect on Facebook

10. The Importance of CVR
Difference in eCPA based on the CVR [holding cost constant]
Cost Clicks CVR Conversions eCPA
$ 5,000.00 10,000 40.00% 4,000 $ 1.25
$ 5,000.00 10,000 50.00% 5,000 $ 1.00
$ 5,000.00 10,000 60.00% 6,000 $ 0.83
$ 5,000.00 10,000 70.00% 7,000 $ 0.71

11. Factors That Effect CPA Rate
 Country Targeting
 Creative
 Target Market
 Flow from click to conversion
 Application Saturation
 Market Conditions
 Desired Volume

12. Looking Deeper Into Some Factors
Country Creative
Country CPA
United States $ 0.75
Canada $ 0.65
Hong Kong $ 0.55
Taiwan $ 0.45
Malaysia $ 0.20
Desired Volume
 You CANNOT discuss price unless you discuss
volume. Some advertisers pay $0.50 CPA one day and
$2.00 the next day depending on desired volume

13. A Bit More About Countries
Country Facebook Targetable Game
Country Population Population Players
United States 312,038,00 133,550,860 44,766,580
United Kingdom 61,792,000 23,668,560 7,787,380
Canada 34,350,000 14,717,921 4,933,540
Australia 22,559,000 7,887,360 2,768,160
TOTAL 430,739,000 179,824,700 60,255,660

14. How Much Does It Cost To
Get 1 Million Users?
 I cannot answer this question unless I know
o Within what time period?
o What is your games appeal?
o How big is your target market?
o Are you counting viral users?

15. Here Are Some Averages
Genre Spend to get to 1M Users Average CPA
HardCore $ 1,472,027.99 $ 1.47
Casual $ 863,819.30 $ 0.86
Virtual World $ 596,907.12 $ 0.60
 Assumptions
o Time period ~ 6 months
o Traffic is ~70% English Speaking
o Open to both M/F 18+

16. Little War 小小战争
Total traffic :
 300K Users Grand Chinese-
speaking Area
75,871
Total spend: 137,978
 158K USD 151,547 Just in Thailand
CPA:
 $0.52 USD In North America
Campaign length:
 Four Months

17. DDtank
Total traffic :
All time Conversions:
 315K Users
United States
United Kingdom
Total spend: Australia
Canada
 305K USD South Asia
Europe
CPA:
 $0.97 USD
Campaign length:
 Three Months

18. MOW 帝国文明
Total traffic :
All time Conversions:
 150K Users
United States
United Kingdom
Total spend: Canada
 275K USD 15,708
15,540
CPA:
 $1.83 USD
118,086
Campaign length:
 Three Months

19. Rising Cost of User Acquisition Over Time
Game is Saturated and CTR/CVR drop – pay more per user
“Once you’ve acquired the majority of the early adopters, CPIs in
a particular market can increase by 3-5x from your Day 1 CPI!
Fortunately, this change doesn’t happen overnight. Refreshing
creative, creating a compelling message, and refining your target
audience are the best ways to combat application saturation”
– John Marsland,
Acquisition Manager

20. Changing Market Conditions

21. Thank You
Hussein Fazal – CEO AdParlor
Hussein.fazal@adparlor.com
@hussein_fazal