If I were in your shoes, the very first thing I’d do is take my single best-performing Meta ad and run it on Applovin. So much of the game is just finding out if the platform holds an incremental audience for your brand, and this is the fastest, lowest-effort way to get that signal without building a whole new strategy from scratch.
In the first week, my only goal would be getting that test live. As the guys on Ecommerce Playbook, Taylor Holiday and Richard Gaffin, keep saying, you can’t get caught in analysis paralysis. I’d set up the campaign on Applovin’s Axon platform, use the ad credits that Sean from OPERATORS mentions to de-risk the budget, and let it run. Crucially, I’d take the advice of Ross Correia from the Up Arrow Podcast and set the campaign to optimize for a valuable, down-funnel action like a purchase. He pointed out that this is one of the biggest unlocks for driving profitable installs, not just downloads. You can piggyback off your web conversion campaigns, which makes it incredibly powerful.
Once that test shows a positive signal, I’d move into month one with a focus on scaling. This is where I'd start thinking about new assets. I wouldn't start from zero, though. I'd listen to what Cathy Sun said on OPERATORS and focus on increasing creative volume and variation. I’d take that single winning Meta ad and create five or ten different versions of it to see what resonates. This is where you can really lean into Creative Testing. I’d also start exploring the interactive ad formats that feel more native to the gaming environment.
Throughout this, I would actively ignore the pressure to build a perfect, game-specific ad from day one. Start with your proven winner to prove the concept, then invest. I’d also ignore the temptation to kill the campaign if the ROAS isn’t incredible on day three. The platform uses a 7-day click optimization window, so you need to give it time to find your customers.
The biggest trap is chasing empty installs. It’s easy to get a low Cost Per Install, but if none of those users ever buy anything, you’re just lighting money on fire. The goal is a high return, not a low cost. This is why you have to optimize for revenue from the very beginning. As the Ecommerce Playbook episode “Is AppLovin Actually Incremental?” makes clear, the goal is to find valuable new customers, not just rack up download stats.