Years ago while working in user acquisition at one of the largest casual games companies, we made a classic marketing mistake. We assumed that our most popular games—like Solitaire and Mahjong—would naturally be the best candidates to attract new users. After all, if a game is already popular, it should be a no-brainer to market it, right? Well, not exactly.
We poured our efforts into marketing Solitaire, confident that it would reel in new players. But to our surprise, it barely moved the needle. Despite Solitaire’s massive popularity among our existing users, it just wasn’t grabbing the attention of the fresh faces we wanted to bring in. That’s when we decided to shake things up a bit. Instead of doubling down on our top performers, we took a closer look at some of our less popular games—like Wheel of Fortune.
Now, you might think that a big brand like everyone's favorite Wheel would be a sure thing, but at the time, it wasn’t exactly setting our player base on fire. In fact, it was one of the least played platform games.
But here’s where the plot twist comes in: when we started marketing Wheel of Fortune, it was a hit! New users flocked to it, and—here’s the kicker—once they were hooked, many of them started playing Solitaire and our other games, too. It was like a marketing domino effect.
So, what’s the moral of this story? Sometimes, the road less traveled (or in this case, the game less played) can lead to the biggest wins. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for user acquisition. By thinking outside the box and giving some love to the underdogs in your product lineup, you might just find yourself with a lot more players—and a lot more success—than you expected.