How to Set up and Optimize ROAS Campaigns in Unity Ads

In this post, our partners at Unity Ads guide us through the ins and outs of Unity Ads ROAS campaigns, addressing key questions from Tenjin clients. We cover the various campaign types, strategies for successful setup, and proven optimization techniques to boost performance. Whether you’re new to Unity Ads or a seasoned user, this article will provide valuable insights and strategies to elevate your ROAS campaigns.

Understanding your Campaigns Goals for Unity ROAS Campaigns

Before you embark on your Unity Ads ROAS campaign journey, it’s crucial to define your goals and objectives. This will not only help you select the right campaign type but also guide your optimization efforts. 

Some common goals you might consider include:

• Soft Launch Testing: Is your goal a soft launch? Maybe you have just developed a new game and you want to prototype it and see how your users are reacting to different triggers in the gameplay.
  
• Creative Testing: Unity Ads provides a comprehensive set of tools for this step to determine which ad creatives, videos, or playable assets perform best to improve your overall marketing strategy.
  
• User Acquisition: Acquiring a specific number of new users for your app or game.
  
  Analyze delivery metrics: At other times, you might be asked to analyze your delivery metrics i.e. how well the videos you are currently using are converting the audience to install your app.
  
  Spend within target KPI: Another approach is to spend as much as possible within a target KPI set by the advertiser to maintain performance at scale. 

By clearly defining your goals, you can then choose the appropriate Unity Ads campaign type and optimization strategies to achieve the desired outcomes.

Navigating the Unity Ads ROAS Campaign Types

Unity Ads offers a diverse portfolio of campaign types, each designed to cater to different marketing objectives. 

We can break-down the portfolio of tools into Scale Tools and Performance Tools.

Scale Tools

Install Campaigns with Static Bidding: These campaigns allow you to set a fixed cost-per-install (CPI) target, optimizing towards acquiring users at or below your desired CPI.

Install Campaigns with Automated Bidding: These campaigns utilize dynamic bidding to optimize towards the maximum bid you set, aiming to acquire as many users as possible within your daily budget. Usually this is helpful for soft launches. 

Creative Testing Campaigns: These campaigns enable you to A/B test different ad creatives, such as videos or playable assets, to determine which perform best and improve your overall marketing strategy.

Performance Tools

• ROAS Optimized Campaigns: These campaigns are optimized towards return on ad spend (ROAS), allowing you to acquire users who are more likely to generate revenue or engage with your app. You should always match and proof these campaigns towards your actual goal.
  
• Retention Optimized Campaigns: These campaigns focus on acquiring users who are more likely to return to your app and engage with it over time.
  
• Event Optimized Campaigns: These campaigns are designed to acquire users who are more likely to perform specific in-app events, such as making an in-app purchase or reaching a certain level.

Depending on your app’s monetization model and the specific goals you’ve set, you can choose the appropriate campaign type to optimize your user acquisition efforts.

Campaign Optimization Signals for Unity Ads ROAS Campaigns

Understanding when and how to optimize your campaigns is important. However, at times it is hard to understand how your campaign is actually performing. Unity advises that you should use a set of indicators (as in the image below) to see what matches your current circumstances. 

Tools and Reports in Unity Ads for Measuring ROAS Campaigns

In the material above, we have spoken about the different campaign optimization signals and indicators. But besides the insight cards and budget alerts, you can find these indicators in the following tools: 

In the video at the start of this post, Unity’s expert Egor Ershov takes you through each of the tools in detail. 

How to Get Started with Unity Ads ROAS Campaigns

Once you’ve determined your goals, it’s time to set up your Unity Ads ROAS campaigns for success. Here are the key steps to follow:

Choosing the right ROAS Campaign type

ROAS Campaigns optimize towards the value of a particular user rather than the probability of the user to install the campaign, as with Install Campaigns. It is complicated to understand which ROAS Campaign variation you should run. You should always check your monetization model and the genre of your game. 

As a rule of thumb, you can refer to the list below to identify the right campaign type:

Additionally, you should have a look at the Unity Ads knowledge center to check when your campaign is actually becoming eligible for you to start different ROAS campaigns for the same game. Make sure you always look at the same cohorted day and not the relative historical look back. 

All of the information above actually comes from your MMP. 

Setting up Post-Install Event Tracking in Your MMP

Unity Ads ROS campaigns rely on data from your mobile measurement partner (MMP), such as Tenjin, to optimize towards revenue and engagement metrics. Ensure that you have properly set up the data connection between Unity Ads and your MMP, following the guidelines provided by your MMP.

Here is what the process looks like step-by-step for Tenjin for both IAP and Ad Revenue data:

Creating a ROAS Campaign

Actually creating the ROAS Campaign is simple. You can follow the steps from the image below. 

Unity expert Egor Ershov dives deeper into this topic in the video above. Watch the full session for valuable insights and strategies.