Running a successful paid media campaign in the games industry isn't just about budget it’s about giving algorithms the right fuel to learn, test, and convert. Whether you are gearing up for an Early Access launch, a major beat, or a evergreen sale, having the right creative assets and platform permissions ready before launch day prevents bottlenecks and maximizes your return on ad spend (ROAS).

At Green Man Gaming, our marketing team operates on a test-and-learn philosophy. By feeding ad platforms a diverse mix of static and video assets, we can quickly identify what resonates with players and scale winning creative.

Working alongside your brand content plans our performance marketing global activations capture gamers intent and turn that into actions = WISHLISTS and GAME SALES

Here is our guide for publishers and developers on how to prepare your raw files, structure your creative variants, and align your targeting strategy for peak performance.

1. The Golden Rule: Share Raw Files Early & Prepare Your Landing Page

Files;

While our in-house designers can build out full suites of resized and localized ad units, we can only move as fast as the raw materials we have on hand. Providing clean key art, layered PSDs, vector logos, and uncompressed gameplay/trailer footage upfront allows our team to generate the variations needed for A/B testing without waiting on external turnaround times.

The more assets we can prepare the better we can test and learn together - targeting different creatives to different cohorts of gamers to get better results.

Landing page optimisation;

A well optimised Steam page (or any store) will help to minimise wastage from any paid media, influencer and advertising campaigns.

The Green Man Gaming page mirrors your Steam page, we use the same copy, tags and creatives so make sure it's on point at the point of release and if you do optimise it after release make sure you let your account manager know so that they can update the Green Man Gaming store page too!

See our full guide on how to optimise your Steam landing page here.

2. Tailor Your Targeting to Your Storefront Destination

Where you send traffic dictates how you should buy media.

• Driving Traffic to Steam: Because third-party storefronts like Steam do not allow external tracking pixels, automated campaigns like Google Performance Max (PMax) struggle to optimize, they lack the conversion data needed to learn what a "buyer" looks like. For Steam product pages, Standard Search and Display campaigns are your best bet. Search captures high-intent players immediately, while Standard Display lets you target curated audience lists of players who bought similar titles.
• Driving Traffic to the Green Man Gaming Store: When driving traffic to a storefront where our tracking pixel is active, Google Performance Max shines. PMax dynamically serves ads across Search, Display, YouTube, and Shopping feeds, using real-time conversion data to find high-converting players. Tip: Build a 6-to-7-day buffer into your launch timeline, as PMax requires 2–3 days to ramp up and roughly 4 days in its initial learning phase.

3. Master Paid Social Creative (Meta & X)

To capture attention across Facebook Feeds, Marketplace, Right Column, Video Feeds, and X (formerly Twitter), your creative needs to be built for mobile-first, sound-off scrolling.

Static Image Best Practices

• Build for A/B Testing: Always aim for at least two variants of your core sizes—1:1 Square (min. 1080 x 1080px) and 1.91:1 Landscape (min. 1200 x 630px). Test different leading key art or swap your Call-to-Action (CTA) overlay text (e.g., "Out Now" vs. "Play Early Access").
• Design for Small Screens: Always include your game logo to build instant brand trust, but provide clean, text-free versions as well. Placements like the Facebook Right Column or 1.91:1 mobile previews shrink images significantly, rendering overlay text unreadable.

Video Best Practices

• Hook Them in 3 Seconds: Try to keep social videos to a 15-second maximum (MP4 or MOV, under 1GB). Mention your brand or display your logo persistently in the corner within the first 3 seconds.
• Design for "Sound-Off": Assume players are scrolling on mute. Use bold kinetic text overlays for key selling points and burn subtitles into any voiceovers.
• Front-Load Your CTA: End with a clear splash-screen CTA, and if your video runs longer than 5–8 seconds, introduce that CTA earlier in the cut! always say the name and buy/wish list etc at the beginning and the end.
• Test Cinemagraphs: Beyond standard trailer cutdowns, consider creating looping visual assets (cinemagraphs). Subtle motion like flickering firelight, drifting smoke, or swaying foliage over static key art consistently drives high click-through rates on social feeds.
• Prioritize Vertical & Square: Deliver variants in 4:5 Portrait and 1:1 Square at 1080p or higher to maximize mobile screen real estate.

4. Feed the Google Performance Max Machine

Because PMax automates placements across Google's entire ecosystem, volume and variety are critical.

• Hit the 12-Image Benchmark: Provide at least 12 static images (JPG/PNG, max 5MB) spread across Landscape (1200 x 628), Square (1200 x 1200), and Portrait (960 x 1200). Split your CTAs 50/50 across the batch to let Google’s AI test which messaging converts best. Keep text minimal so they function cleanly as traditional display banners.
• Provide Text-Free Logos: Google pairs your logos dynamically with headlines. Supply a 1:1 Square Logo (1200 x 1200) and a 4:1 Landscape Logo (1200 x 300) using a clean icon or studio/publisher mark—never include taglines or text overlays inside the logo file.
• Respect the 10-Second Floor: Unlike social ads, PMax videos (MP4) must be between 10 and 15 seconds long (anything under 10 seconds will be rejected). Aim for up to 5 video variations across 16:9 Horizontal, 1:1 Square, and 9:16 Vertical formats, featuring both early and end-frame CTAs.

5. Set Up Platform Access Without Handing Over the Keys

Publishers often worry that running agency or partner-led ads means giving up control of their official social channels or mixing ad spend. Modern ad platforms solve this through partnership permissions meaning Green Man Gaming funds and manages the campaigns from our own Business Manager, and we never touch your organic posting. The benefit here is GMG can use their own data to target as they have the consent.

To get set up smoothly, have these IDs ready:

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram): Provide your Meta Business ID so we can establish an "On Behalf Of" relationship. Ads will appear to players as coming directly from your official game or studio page while leveraging our audience data.
• Reddit: Provide your Reddit Business ID so we can establish a Partnership to run ads using your official profile handle under our billing.
• TikTok: We can generate a quick QR code to request Spark Ad permissions, allowing us to boost your existing organic TikTok posts as paid ads without needing your login credentials.

Your Launch-Ready Asset Checklist

If you are planning an upcoming campaign with us, here is the minimum viable asset checklist we use to unlock every major placement while keeping a test-and-learn structure intact:

We will also provide templates for clients to provide copy variants for each platform or we can do it for you!

Here's some examples;

Static Asset Examples

1:1 Images (Square)

1.19:1 Images (Horizontal)

4:5 Images (Mobile)

Ready to Launch Your Next Campaign?

Getting your raw files and platform IDs organized early means your campaigns exit the learning phase faster and spend more time driving wish lists and sales.

We have 15 years experience in running performance marketing ads for the Green Man Gaming store and in this time have built up a lot of knowledge of what works best and what to avoid. We're happy to share that knowledge with our partners in order to create the most cost effective campaign possible no matter whether the budget is £1,000 to £100,000.

Get in touch with adele.simpson@greenmangaming.com to find out more about our marketing services options.