Microdramas Platform Achieves 400% User Growth Through CTV Strategy
Discover how a microdramas platform achieved unprecedented growth by adopting a full-funnel CTV user acquisition strategy, redefining the landscape of digital marketing for entertainment apps.
Key Facts
- Achieved 400% user growth in 6 months, indicating strong market demand for microdramas.
- D0 ROAS exceeded targets by 50%, revealing effective monetization of newly acquired users.
- 87% improvement in CPI suggests optimized ad spend and better user targeting strategies.
- Localized creatives delivered 59% higher ROI, highlighting the importance of culturally relevant content.
- Established a scalable CTV strategy, indicating a strategic shift towards diversified user acquisition.
Summary
Summary
A leading platform in the microdramas space faced rising acquisition costs and sought to expand its user base beyond mobile channels. By implementing a phased connected TV (CTV) strategy powered by audience signals, the platform achieved a 400% growth in user acquisition over six months while maintaining a stable cost per acquisition (CPA).
Background
The customer is a prominent player in the entertainment industry, specializing in microdramas—short, vertically filmed episodes designed for mobile consumption. Before deploying the CTV strategy, the company relied heavily on social and mobile channels for user acquisition, which limited its ability to reach new audiences and acquire high-value users.
Challenge
The primary challenge was to diversify the acquisition strategy to attract users with strong retention and monetization potential. Rising costs in traditional acquisition channels made it difficult to scale efficiently, prompting the need for a more effective approach to reach higher-value users.
Solution
The company, in collaboration with its agency MadHouse, launched a phased test-and-scale CTV strategy using The Trade Desk platform. The campaign began with an always-on CTV initiative in the U.S. to establish reach and performance benchmarks. As the campaign progressed, the team refined their targeting based on audience and content signals, structuring ad groups by demographics and viewer motivations. They created theme-based campaigns and utilized Kokai’s AI-driven capabilities to optimize audience targeting and improve performance.
Results
The campaign resulted in significant outcomes, including:
- A 400% growth in user acquisition over six months while maintaining a stable CPA.
- A first-day return on ad spend (D0 ROAS) that exceeded targets by more than 50%, with peak performance reaching 3-4 times the target levels.
- An 87% improvement against cost per install (CPI) targets. Additionally, localized creatives with English subtitles outperformed dubbed versions, yielding a 59% higher ROI and nearly three times the install rate of benchmark creatives.
Key Insights
The deployment demonstrated that expanding beyond traditional mobile acquisition channels can unlock new audiences without sacrificing efficiency. Aligning audience strategy with content affinity and utilizing AI for audience optimization can enhance both acquisition efficiency and business results. This approach also established a framework for global expansion, allowing the platform to scale into new markets effectively.
Customer Testimonial
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Entities Mentioned
Companies
Technologies
Key Concepts
Definitions
- microdramas
- Short, vertically filmed episodes designed for mobile-first consumption, often featuring AI-driven storytelling.
- CTV
- Connected TV, a digital television that connects to the internet and allows users to stream content.
- D0 ROAS
- First-day return on ad spend, measuring revenue generated within a user's first 24 hours after installing a mobile app relative to media investment.
- CPI
- Cost per install, a metric used to measure the cost-effectiveness of acquiring new app users.
- audience optimisation
- The process of refining audience targeting to improve campaign performance and user acquisition.
Use Cases
- →Acquiring higher-value users through CTV campaigns
- →Testing audience segments for performance improvement
- →Structuring ad campaigns based on viewer motivations
- →Using AI for audience exploration and targeting
- →Scaling into new markets with a repeatable framework
- →Improving user experiences through targeted content
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main objective of the campaign?
The main objective was to diversify the user acquisition strategy and attract users with a higher likelihood of becoming long-term, paying customers.
How did the campaign measure success?
Success was measured by growth in user acquisition, improved monetisation potential, and the ability to maintain efficiency while scaling.
What role did CTV play in the strategy?
CTV served as both a brand-building and performance channel, connecting upper-funnel exposure with measurable lower-funnel outcomes.
What were the results of the campaign?
The campaign achieved a 400% growth in six months, exceeded D0 ROAS targets by over 50%, and improved CPI by 87%.
How did audience optimisation contribute to the campaign?
Audience optimisation allowed the team to refine targeting, identify high-value segments, and improve overall campaign performance based on live data.