Building and Running a Mobile Game's Entire Growth Engine

Frank's Football Studios had a live mobile game, Foxy's Football Islands, but no one running marketing. I joined as their first marketing hire, built their entire growth function from nothing, and run it day to day: the strategy, the paid ads, the social content and creative, the app-store presence, the analytics, and the brand. And it works. I moved ad spend off cheap installs that churned and onto real players in the US, one of the most expensive markets in the world to win, at $1.21 each, and those players stick, with day-one retention running around 20%, above the studio's target and better than the players who find the game on their own. Within weeks, the founder also had me directing the creative team, running player testing, and helping shape the product itself.

Challenge

The game was live, but growth had stalled and the marketing budget was leaking. No one owned marketing, and there was no way to tell what was actually working.

• Ad money was being wasted. Earlier campaigns chased the cheapest possible installs, which brought in low-intent players from low-cost regions who churned almost immediately.
• Nothing was measured. No tracking, no real analytics, no view of what a player cost or where new players dropped off, so spending decisions were guesswork.
• Players were not sticking. The real problem was never named: the game could pull in installs, but too few players came back, and that, not a shortage of installs, was what capped growth.
• No marketing engine at all. Social channels sat dormant and inconsistent, the app-store listings were never set up to be found, and there was no content, no creative pipeline, and no brand to speak of.

Approach

Find the real problem first

Before spending another dollar, I audited everything: the ad accounts, the analytics, the app stores, and every social channel. The finding changed the plan. Getting installs was never the issue, keeping players was. I got the founder aligned on fixing that first, so the budget would stop pouring into a leaky bucket.

Buy better players, waste less budget

I cut the cheap, low-value regions that had been draining the budget and refocused on the US, a Tier-1 market where players are far more valuable, and far more expensive to win. Before committing real money, I proved the approach on a small one-week test of about $350: it brought in US players at $1.21 each who stayed at a higher rate than players who found the game on their own. I tested a warm, character-led ad against an aggressive one, and the warm version won at less than half the cost (2.1x cheaper), so I led with it. When that ad later wore out and costs spiked, I caught it quickly and refreshed the creative instead of throwing more budget at a tired ad.

Run the content and creative engine

Paid ads are only as good as the creative behind them, so I run the studio's content and creative engine too. I own the content calendar across the game's social channels, write the copy, and brief and direct the creative team, the video editor and the key visual artist, on every piece, from social posts to ad creative to the game's tournament trailer. I also rewrote both app-store listings around the words players actually search and gave the brand one consistent identity, so the game shows up, looks like a real product, and always has fresh creative to test.

Make every dollar measurable

I built the measurement side from scratch, so for the first time the studio can see what each campaign costs, which players stay, and exactly where new players drop off in their first minutes. Spending decisions are now based on data instead of hunches.

Go where growth needs me

Growth does not stop at marketing, so neither do I. I run rounds of player testing and feed the findings straight back into improving the game, I shape release priorities with the team, I localized the full game into Spanish and Portuguese to prepare its next markets, and I own the growth roadmap for what comes next. Hired to run marketing, I now also direct the creative team and have a hand in the product itself.

Results

This is an active engagement. Here is what is built and the early signal so far, as of June 2026.

• Ad spend now buys players who stay. US players come in at around $1.21 each and return at roughly 20% on day one, above the studio's target and better than the players who arrive on their own, a sharp turn from the cheap installs that used to churn.
• A whole growth function, built and run end to end. The studio went from no marketing and no measurement to a full growth engine, strategy, paid ads, content and creative, app-store, analytics, and brand, all built and run by its first and only marketing hire.
• A content and creative engine that ships. A steady content calendar across the game's social channels, copy and creative briefed and directed in-house, and a sharper store presence, so the game gets found and looks the part.
• A stronger product, ready to scale. Structured player testing is improving the game itself, the full game is localized into Spanish and Portuguese for its next markets, and there is a clear growth roadmap for what comes next.
• Trusted with more. Hired for marketing, I was pulled into directing the creative team, player testing, release planning, and the product roadmap inside the first month, and the founder now has an efficient, measurable path toward where he wants to take the company.

Client Feedback

"What a massive impact. Honestly, I've not known anybody make such an impact, and I've been around quite a few years."

Francis Fox, Founder, Frank's Football Studios

Scope of Work

Growth strategy and marketing audit, target-market and budget planning, paid user acquisition, app-store optimization, content strategy and copywriting, social media and content calendars, creative direction (briefing and directing the video editor and key visual artist), analytics and tracking setup, player retention and funnel analysis, plus player testing, release-planning input, game localization, and ownership of the growth roadmap.

Tools Used

Meta Ads Manager, Google Analytics 4, Firebase, Google Play Console, App Store Connect, Branch, Trello, Canva