BETIFY.FUN
UX/UI, A/B Testing, Digital Marketing, User Onboarding
Developing an effective ad campaign for a cryptocurrency casino simulator startup
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Overview
Betify.fun is an upcoming virtual casino game app that runs on cryptocurrency. For their recent relaunch, the client wanted to expand its’ audience with new promotional material for social media apps like Instagram, Facebook, and web pop-ups. With a brand identity to follow, my team was asked to develop an effective ad campaign measured by A/B testing and user engagement.
THE PROBLEM
How might we design ad campaigns that attract the right audience, drive user engagement, and effectively compete in the virtual casino market?
PROCESS BREAKDOWN
Research
USER GROUPS Who must we design for?
Prior to the design process, we studied the possible users for whom our ads would target. From examining the app and speaking with our client, these are the major potential user groups we identified:
USER DATA
To pinpoint more context about these user groups and see where the connections lie, we did further research and discovered these key findings about the consumers:
SURVEYS
The user research revealed to us that our surveys should target predominantly males aged 21-35. We sent out a survey to 13 participants to measure their thoughts on general advertisements. To compare different types of ad features, the survey also featured side-by-side ads for participants to choose between. The results can be summarized as follows:
Based on blind testing and direct responses, the target audience for BETIFY.FUN are drawn to the promotions within an ad, its' visual aesthetics, and a personal curiosity of the company.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS How do other companies do it?
To strengthen our ideas and identify potential improvements for our designs, we examined the two of the leading gambling apps in 2024: Fanduel and DraftKings.
Our analysis of their advertisements showed that they tailor their ads to the platform, using flat cartoon designs on apps like Snapchat and realistic mockups for billboards. It’s a smart way to reach different audiences, but it does sacrifice brand consistency, which our client is set on keeping uniform. Still, it's a successful tactic to keep in mind for when we design for multiple platforms.
Analyze
USER PERSONAS
To humanize the data and sum up different user stories, we developed the following user personas to keep in mind during our design process.
FEATURE ORGANIZATION
We knew our client wanted two potential ad deliverables for us to pitch and test. But before dividing them, we pinpointed the specific aspects these ads would all need to have. From our research, it was clear our ads would need:
SKETCHES
Next, we organized all these ideas into some wireframes. This helped us identify where we could introduce moving elements and decide between different effective casino assets.
Design
These initial sketches were then transferred into navigable prototypes to A/B test:
Ad Campaign 1
The first direction takes a realistic approach, featuring real casino elements like cards, phone mockups, and tangible products to replicate a physical casino for physical gamblers. This approach particularly targets newcomers to crypto and maintains the flashy, high-energy Vegas vibe that appeals to them.
Ad Campaign 2
These designs are flat and minimalistic, reflecting the aesthetic preferences we found in our user surveys. We anticipated these ads to attract a younger audience as it softens the gambling aspect, making the app feel less like a serious casino app and more like an innocent game, which may help reduce hesitation around the involvement of money.
Interactive Web Pop-ups
These ads have playable spin wheels to mimic the "Spin the Wheel" game to reveal an (inevitable) promotion. Between the two, we test physical deck of cards with online crypto coins, and a dimensional call-to-action pop-up vs. a flat one to compare designs for effectiveness.
Test
In our A/B testing, we measured users by their time spent on the ads, as well as the amount of users who successfully downloaded the app. We averaged the results to see the following:
Google Adsense
Facebook Ads
On average, the ads from Ad Suite 2 retained more attention from participants. We then measured the percentage of users who successfully engaged with the ad in any way, or downloaded the app.
On average, the flat designs of Creative Suite 2 performed more effectively in the onboarding process to BETIFY.FUN.
Conclusion
RESULTS
We found that the most impressionable approach to marketing Betify.fun with our tested users was Ad Suite 2. After our client pitch, we discovered a 78% increase in engagement to Betify.fun.
REFLECTION
I had a lot of fun with this client project, considering it was my first real experience of balancing client objectives with ethical standards in advertising practices. Our team was brought to make decisions that were too manipulative and morally questionable, and mellowed it down by advertising ourselves as a responsible gaming app instead. We realized that by helping our client expand to a younger audience, we were targeting people our ages (19-21), who are impressionable, new to financial independence, and are still at the cusp of gambling exposure. Designing dark patterns for those who can very easily fall for them may have influenced the intensity of our dark pattern designs.
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