What is user acquisition?

The loop is simple to say. Buy some users, measure what they do, then spend more where users are worth more than they cost.

Example: Tidewater Games launches Harbor Blocks. It spends a test budget across two channels. After 30 days, the first channel’s installs cost more, but far more of those players reach level 40, so the studio moves budget there. The cheaper install was the worse buy.

• Cost. CPI or CPE, by channel.
• What users do. Who opens the app, who reaches a level, who buys.
• Return. Revenue from a group of users divided by what they cost, often called ROAS.
• Source of truth. One count across channels, often from an MMP, since each channel’s own report grades its own work.

Ad networks show ads to people who didn’t ask, so they reach a lot of users at a price set by auction. Rewarded channels pay users to try the app, so they bring volume and work best when you pay for deep steps. Affiliates and newsletters recommend the product, which brings smaller numbers with more interest. Most teams test several rather than picking one in advance.

Advertisers can start a campaign themselves and pay at install, a percent of each sale, or per level or in-app event, with test events free. You see each channel’s conversions and cost under a code that stays the same over time. Games have their own page: mobile games. First steps: Advertisers: launch your first campaign.