How A1 increased Story engagement 8x and reached 95% of users with a gamified Stories campaign

We took a bold step by moving our Advent Calendar campaign from web to an in-app-only experience. With StoryfyMe, we were able to turn it into a daily experience for our users and achieved record engagement and participation.

To address low habitual engagement and limited interaction with in-app features, A1 launched a gamified Advent Calendar campaign powered by mobile-native Stories within the Mein A1 App.

The initiative consisted of 24 daily mobile-native Stories, each featuring:

• Visual content and a direct link to the daily sweepstake
• Daily participation opportunities, encouraging repeat visits and increasing chances of winning?
• Actionable CTAs via sweepstakes link
• Vertical, mobile-first format aligned with modern user behavior
• A phased rollout strategy (organic adoption first, auto-open amplification later)

For the first phase, Stories were presented without technical enforcement to test organic user adoption.

In the final 10 days, an auto-open feature was introduced to further increase exposure and scale reach.

This structured approach ensured:

• Natural user adoption before technical amplification
• Strong habit formation through daily repetition
• Measurable engagement through interactive elements

Rather than forcing visibility from day one, A1 validated content relevance first, then scaled.

Results

1. Reach & Penetration

• Monthly penetration peaked at 95%, reaching nearly the entire active in-app user base.
• During the initial organic phase, around one in four active users interacted with Stories daily - without auto-opening.
• After enabling auto-open, daily reach increased to around one in three users.
• Even after the campaign and auto-open period ended, Story interaction stabilized at a significantly higher level than before the initiative.

2. Engagement Growth

• Unique users engaging with Stories increased by more than 8x.
• Total Story views surged by +660% compared to the previous month.
• CTA clicks increased by more than 14x.
• Click-rate doubled, reaching 34%+ at peak.
• Interactive clicks (such as shares and other engagement actions) grew nearly 10x.

Stories were not passively consumed - they actively converted attention into measurable action.

Key Impact

Beyond campaign performance, the initiative delivered long-term strategic value:

1. Habit Formation

The 24-day structure successfully transformed Stories into a daily touchpoint, reinforcing repeat app visits and engagement behavior.

2. Permanent Engagement Lift

Even after the campaign ended and auto-open was disabled, engagement levels remained higher than before the campaign, at least in the short term

3. Validation of Stories as a Growth Channel

The campaign demonstrated that mobile-native Stories can:

• Scale to nearly the entire active user base
• Drive double-digit click rates
• Convert engagement into measurable actions
• Serve as a high-performance in-app communication layer

Stories evolved from a feature experiment into a strategic engagement lever within the Mein A1 App.

Conclusion

The Advent Calendar Stories campaign proves that gamified, mobile-native content can:

• Rapidly scale reach
• Multiply engagement
• Drive measurable user actions
• Increase daily app visits and user interaction during campaign periods

With penetration peaking at 95%, 8x user growth, 14x increase in CTA clicks, and a 34% click rate at peak, Stories established themselves as a powerful and scalable in-app growth engine for A1.

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