Written by: Mariana Fonseca, Editorial Team, DTCROAS
Key Takeaways
- e-Commerce customer acquisition costs have surged 40% as Meta CPMs and Google CPCs rise, so brands need new channels beyond crowded social platforms.
- Mobile gaming with Axon by AppLovin reaches over 1 billion users, with extended attention and fast purchase windows that signal strong buying intent.
- Paid social retargeting, SEO content marketing, and micro-influencer partnerships work together to balance top-of-funnel and mid-funnel acquisition.
- Automated email/SMS flows and referral programs keep marginal CAC near zero, while AI-based advertising personalization and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) lift conversion rates.
- Start your free Axon trial to diversify into mobile gaming and improve ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) with high-intent audiences.
1. Grow With Mobile Gaming Audiences Through Axon
Axon by AppLovin is an AI-based advertising platform that helps DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) and e-Commerce brands acquire new, high-value customers from mobile games. The platform reaches over a billion people worldwide across more than 100,000 mobile games, tapping into an audience that most e-Commerce advertisers still overlook.
How to Launch Your First Axon Campaign
Brands can launch on Axon with very little technical setup. Create an account through the invite-only signup flow, then upload existing 9×16 vertical video assets from Meta Reels or Stories. For Shopify stores, connect the pixel with a one-click installation. Set your campaign goal using ROAS or Cost Per Purchase (CPP) targets, choose target countries, and define your budget. Axon’s optimization engine starts learning and adjusting as soon as campaigns go live.
Real DTC Results From Axon Campaigns
Axon drove more than $1 million in incremental revenue and a 13% lift in new customer orders for HexClad, with 75% better cost per incremental conversion than their goal. Portland Leather achieved 65% higher ROAS than other social digital ad platforms, adding over 8,000 new customers in three months. These results reflect how quickly mobile gaming audiences move from exposure to purchase, with a large share of orders happening within the first hour after seeing an interactive.
New e-Commerce stores can use Axon Discovery Campaigns to focus on first-time buyers. These campaigns target users who have never interacted with the brand, with initial tests showing new visitor percentages more than doubling across multiple brands.
2. Paid Social Retargeting for Warm Audiences
Axon handles top-of-funnel acquisition in mobile gaming environments, while paid social platforms excel at re-engaging people who already know your brand. Acquisition costs on social channels have risen, yet well-structured retargeting campaigns still perform when you narrow audiences and refine creative.
Retargeting Steps and CAC Tradeoffs
Start by building custom audience layers that combine website visitors with lookalike audiences based on your highest-value customers. After defining these segments, create UGC-focused ad creatives that feature real customer testimonials and clear product demonstrations tailored to each audience. For users who added items to cart or purchased in the past, test dynamic product ads that show recently viewed or related products to capture intent efficiently. Median Meta Ads CPA across e-Commerce is $38.19, while TikTok cost per purchase for DTC e-Commerce ranges from $25 to $85. Social channels such as Meta and TikTok work best as supporting channels alongside mobile gaming and other acquisition sources, not as the only growth driver.
3. Build Compounding Traffic With SEO & Content
Search engine optimization creates a compounding traffic engine that lowers CAC over time. Unlike paid media, strong SEO performance improves as content gains authority and rankings rise.
Content Structures That Attract Buyers
Create content clusters around long-tail keywords such as “customer acquisition strategy for new e-Commerce store.” Publish product-focused guides that solve specific customer problems and highlight clear use cases. Add structured product data with detailed attributes so search engines can better understand and surface your catalog. Support these efforts with consistent publishing and internal links that connect related articles and product pages. SEO CAC often starts higher but declines as your library grows and rankings stabilize.
4. Accelerate Trust With Micro-Influencer Marketing
SEO builds long-term visibility, and micro-influencer campaigns add faster trust and social proof that support those search efforts. Micro-influencer partnerships usually deliver higher engagement and lower costs than macro-influencer deals, which makes them ideal for product education.
Work with creators who have 10,000 to 100,000 followers in your target demographic. Micro-influencers achieve up to 60% higher engagement rates than macro-influencers. Structure hybrid deals that combine modest upfront fees with 5% to 10% affiliate commissions on sales. Prioritize creators who produce authentic UGC that you can reuse in paid advertising. Influencer-generated content delivers roughly 30% lower CAC than brand-produced content, and UGC featured in ads achieves 4x higher click-through rates.
5. Scale Profitably With Email and SMS Flows
Email and SMS automation deliver the lowest marginal acquisition costs for repeat purchases and reactivation. These channels protect profitability as paid media costs rise.
Set up abandoned cart flows, post-purchase sequences, and win-back campaigns for inactive customers. Abandoned cart flows recover a portion of lost revenue, while segmented campaigns outperform broad blasts because messages match user behavior. Email/SMS has near-zero marginal CAC and consistently highest ROI among acquisition channels. Use behavioral triggers and tailored product recommendations to increase conversion rates from each send.
6. Turn Happy Customers Into a Referral Engine
Referral programs convert customer satisfaction into new buyers at very low CAC. These programs create acquisition loops that grow as your customer base expands.
Design rewards that benefit both the referrer and the new customer, such as store credit for one and a discount for the other. Add reliable tracking so you can attribute referral conversions accurately and avoid disputes. Provide shareable referral links and ready-to-use social assets that make sharing effortless. Referral programs often rank among the most cost-effective strategies, yet they still depend on strong product experiences and clear value that customers feel confident recommending.
While referral programs rely on existing customers, Axon helps you acquire new customers from mobile gaming audiences so your referral engine always has fresh fuel.
7. Personalize Shopping With Dynamic Recommendations
AI-based advertising personalization and product recommendations increase average order value and conversion rates by surfacing the right products at the right time. Relevant suggestions also improve the overall shopping experience.
Place recommendation modules on product detail pages, cart pages, and checkout flows. Use session behavior such as pages viewed, scroll depth, and time on page to guide which products appear. Add cross-sell and upsell blocks based on purchase history and browsing patterns. Dynamic product recommendations that respond to session behavior increase average order value while helping customers discover items that fit their needs.
8. Lift Revenue With CRO and A/B Testing
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) increases revenue from your existing traffic, which makes every acquisition channel more efficient. Even small conversion lifts can double revenue at the same traffic level.
Run tests on checkout flows, product page layouts, and call-to-action placement. Improve mobile experiences with simplified layouts and fast, secure payment options. Raising website conversion rates from 1% to 2% doubles revenue from the same traffic volume. Remove friction by clarifying shipping, returns, and guarantees, and add social proof where buyers hesitate. Mobile apps deliver 3 to 4 times the conversion rate of mobile web environments, which shows how critical mobile optimization has become.
9. Expand Reach With Partnerships and Affiliates
Partnerships and affiliate programs open access to complementary audiences while sharing acquisition costs. These relationships often produce stable CAC and predictable revenue.
Look for non-competing brands that serve similar customers. Plan co-marketing campaigns such as bundled offers, joint webinars, or shared email features. Build an affiliate program with performance-based commissions that reward partners for actual sales. Add wholesale partnerships that extend distribution while you keep control of brand positioning. Partnership and affiliate channels offer stable CAC and predictable revenue for emerging e-Commerce brands.
10. Measure Incrementality With Analytics and MMM
Analytics and incrementality testing form the foundation for every strategy in this list. Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) and structured experiments show which channels drive true growth instead of shifting existing demand.
Set up attribution tracking across all channels with platforms such as Triple Whale or Northbeam. Run holdout tests and geo-lift experiments to measure how much incremental revenue each channel adds. Use MMM outputs to adjust budgets toward channels with the strongest marginal returns. Haus GeoLift testing validated Axon’s incrementality for HexClad, confirming that Axon delivered new customers rather than cannibalizing other channels.
Explore Axon for incremental growth and diversify beyond saturated social platforms with mobile gaming audiences.
FAQ
How do I start using Axon for a new e-Commerce store?
New e-Commerce stores can start with Axon by creating an account and uploading existing 9×16 video content from social media campaigns. Install the Shopify pixel integration with one click, then launch Discovery Campaigns that target users who have never interacted with your brand. Begin with a modest budget, review early results, and scale based on performance as Axon’s optimization engine gathers data.
What makes Axon different from social channels such as Meta and Google for customer acquisition?
Axon reaches over a billion mobile gaming users who remain largely untapped by typical e-Commerce advertising. The platform delivers the extended attention spans mentioned earlier, far longer than the 1 to 2 second engagement window on social feeds. Mobile gaming audiences show strong purchase intent, with a large share of conversions happening shortly after ad exposure. Unlike social channels such as Meta and Google, Axon operates in an opt-in environment where users choose to engage with interactives in exchange for in-game rewards.
What are typical CAC benchmarks for Axon compared to other channels?
Axon often delivers lower CAC than major social channels while still driving high volumes of new customers. HexClad achieved 27% lower New Customer CAC through Axon compared to their largest paid social channel, and Portland Leather saw 2% better New Customer CPA. The performance-based model ties spend directly to measurable outcomes, and many brands see ROAS improvements soon after launch.
How quickly can I scale budgets on Axon?
Axon supports rapid budget scaling when performance is strong. For example, MAËLYS scaled to $200,000 in daily spend within one week while beating ROAS goals. Brands can increase budgets aggressively when campaigns hit targets, supported by predictive models that evaluate creative performance before serving high volumes.
What types of creative content work best for mobile gaming audiences?
Mobile gaming audiences respond well to longer-form video that uses the extended attention window effectively. Focus on storytelling that explains product benefits, highlights customer testimonials, and shows products in real use. Many top performers create content specifically for Axon’s interactives, although existing 9×16 videos from social campaigns provide a strong starting point for early tests.
The customer acquisition landscape in 2026 favors brands that diversify beyond a single channel. Sustainable growth comes from combining durable strategies like email automation and SEO with newer opportunities in mobile gaming and AI-based advertising personalization. Axon offers a meaningful new source of incremental growth by reaching untapped audiences with strong purchase intent. Test these strategies methodically, measure incrementality across channels, and scale the mix that delivers real business growth instead of recycled demand.
