The State of App Performance Marketing 2017: Part 2 – User Acquisition Trends

In continuation to our previous post, this post will focus on the results of the survey. While last time, we discussed what the marketers think about themselves, their teams, and the key issue in marketing and in-app advertising; this time around, we will focus on user acquisition trends.

If you haven't had a chance to read this comprehensive report yet, download it now to learn what 800+ app marketers had to say about their strategy, priorities and innovative solutions to the biggest app marketing challenges.

Acquiring new users is undoubtedly important for app marketers, and we wanted to better understand how they approach it. We surveyed app marketers across industries to discover the what tactics being used to drive new users, channels that deliver the strongest performance, how budgets are being allocated, and what marketers think about ad networks for running UA campaigns.

User Acquisition Budget

• On the investment side, there is naturally a small range of monthly marketing support levels for apps. More than half of app marketers allocate less than $50K a month towards user acquisition campaigns.

CPI Still Rules Mobile App Media Buying

• In regards to user acquisition campaigns, CPI is still used by more than half of marketers as a preferred pricing model.
• 22% of respondents use CPA model as it offers advertisers more opportunities to increase their revenues while minimizing expenses. Since an advertiser pays only for a specific action in contrast to Cost-per-Click pricing models, ad fraud is much less likely to occur.

Video Ads Key To Acquiring High-Quality Users

• Acquiring high-quality users is always a welcome prospect for any app developer or owner. By high-quality, these are users that are guaranteed to become long-term patrons. One of the most powerful tools that app marketers have at their disposal is mobile video ads. 36% of them plan to invest in video over the next 12 months.

Criteria in Selecting Ad Network for Running UA campaigns

• User Quality, Transparency & Trust, and Account Management are the top three criteria that app marketers evaluate when selecting an ad network for user acquisition campaigns.

These are just a few of the many insights unearthed through the analysis of our survey. The report offers an eye-opening look at the challenges in 2017, and what lies ahead for the industry.

Download this special guide and see what challenges and opportunities may be in store for your app business!