App Marketing 2025... 5 things to follow

1. It’s all about creatives?

The importance of creative assets in User Acquisition (UA) continues to grow. With targeting capabilities becoming more limited, user targeting increasingly relies on the quality of creatives, making them a fundamental factor in campaign performance.?

Success in this area depends on balancing two key ingredients: quality and volume, to reduce ad fatigue and maximize the chances of identifying winning assets.?

• Quality: The ability to innovate and produce a variety of unique concepts.?

• Volume: The capacity to scale and iterate on these concepts to maximize reach and performance.?

Katie Jansen emphasized the importance of volume in creative production in AppLovin’s 2025 Predictions, a sentiment also echoed by Arun Srinivasan in Clarisight’s 2025 Top 5 Challenges projections. Both underline the critical role of scaling creative production to meet future demands.??

?? Key takeaway: Focus resources on creativity while ensuring that quality and originality are not overlooked. Once you have a solid concepting process in place, leverage technology tools to efficiently scale the volume??

2. Is Attribution Dead??

With SKAN, GDPR, consent requirements, and the looming Google Privacy Sandbox, the future of mobile attribution is a bit blurry.??

Key questions arise:?

1. Is data still reliable enough to inform meaningful decisions??
2. The changing role of MMPs: On iOS, for instance, MMPs primarily serve as intermediaries, with attribution handled by Apple.?
3. Attribution integrity: Ad networks and media channels increasingly manipulate attribution through practices like:?

• Multiplying impressions.?

• Auto-triggering clicks on videos.?

• Encouraging misclicks.?

• Adding multiple end cards to videos?

• Self-attributing networks (SANs), where attribution inherently favors the channel itself.?

If attribution no longer reflects user behavior accurately, this calls into question the very foundation of UA strategies.?

While Media Mix Modeling remains too complex as mentioned by Eric Seufert in his article about MMM failing. Incrementality testing is becoming essential, especially on iOS. I guess, Maor Sadra 's Incrmntl is a great example of this trend.

??? Key takeaway: Don't take the data at face value.?

1. Understand attribution flows and mechanics to grasp how your data is being triggered.?
2. Adapt your MMP and attribution setups?
3. Work on data modeling to build patterns that give a better understanding of your performance.?

3. AppLovin Challenges the Walled Gardens?

I’ve been working with AppLovin since 2012, back when I advertised ringtones and logos... good memories Luba Levit :)

Over the past 13 years, AppLovin has achieved impressive growth, particularly in the last five years through acquisitions (e.g., Adjust ), mobile gaming studios Lion Studios , and the success of MAX monetization platform.?

Now, AppLovin aims to expand beyond gaming, targeting e-commerce in 2025 – a massive market dominated by social platforms and Google. Rumors say that early tests in the US have shown promising results and coming soon to Europe...

With its track record of success and consistently growing stock value, AppLovin has the resources and expertise to gain significant market share in non-gaming verticals, thanks to its robust ecosystem and advanced algorithms.?

??? Key takeaway: non-gaming should prepare to expand beyond social media and Google – it’s coming.?

4. UGC – Low Cost & AI?

User-Generated Content (UGC) has emerged as one of the top-performing creative formats over the past year. Its popularity stems from being authentic, well-suited for social platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat), cost-effective, and quick to produce.?

Looking ahead, two key trends are shaping the future of UGC:?

1. Lower Costs:? UGC can be expensive. Only 10% of creatives, or less, are likely to perform well. With costs ranging from $50 to $500 per UGC (or more, depending on creators/profiles...), this can represent a significant portion of media investment. To succeed in UA, production costs must remain low to enable high volumes. As seen in 2024, costs are declining thanks to a growing pool of creators and the increasing role of AI.??
2. AI-Powered UGC:? AI has the potential to address key challenges in UGC production, including:?

• Cost reduction.?

• Overcoming iteration limits: Creators often work with a single language or produce limited versions.?

• Scalability: Traditional UGC production is time-consuming and labor-intensive, relying heavily on creators for briefs, negotiations, and revisions.?

Generative AI (GenAI) can mitigate these limitations. While fully AI-generated UGC remains in its infancy, by the end of 2025, a significant portion of UGC is likely to involve AI in some capacity.?

??? Key takeaway: Ensure you manage your creative production costs effectively and incorporate them into your performance metrics (ROAS or CPA calculations). Additionally, leverage AI to optimize and streamline the UGC production process for greater efficiency.?

?5. ChatGPT and AI Search Engines?

Google currently dominates the search engine market, covering 90% of global search queries – a near-monopoly.

However, the rise of ChatGPT and other AI-driven search tools in 2024 represents a tangible shift in this landscape.?While 2025 may not see a full transition, the future of search lies in Generative AI. This shift could fundamentally reshape search campaigns, which remain the gold standard for performance advertising. Potential changes include:?

• New platforms beyond Google and Apple Search Ads.?

• Innovative ad formats.?

• Advanced targeting models that go beyond keywords.?

• More qualified users with higher purchase intent, thanks to GenAI-driven insights.?

• New SEO and SEA strategies for GenAI search engines.?

??? Key takeaway: Don't miss the Gen-AI search train – it's moving fast. Establishing a strong presence early is crucial.?

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??Let’s regroup at the end of the year and see what happened??