Unleashing my crystal ball: 2023 app predictions

If you’re trying to place bets on where things are headed in 2023, I hope I can steer you in the right direction. As Apptopia’s CEO, I’m always looking at the mobile app industry and reviewing our data from a bird’s eye view, in order to identify trends. Here are just a few of the trends I see playing out in the new year:

1.?50% of ad spend will be devoted to app store search ads???

Due to privacy changes made by Apple and those coming from Google, we already know ad targeting is not as good as it used to be. Because of this, organic store search will become even more competitive than it is today, forcing paid search to become table stakes and operate just like the web search engines (Google/Bing) we all know and use every day.?

Now is probably a good time to reevaluate your ASO tool stack.

2.?Apps on your phone will unlock access, transactions, and experiences around you???

While most apps on your phone are there to be used on your phone, they will also start to act as a key to the real world. They will enable you to interact with the devices and environment around you. For example, rewards members of Dunkin’ might be able to go through the drive-thru without ever having to physically pay. Netflix subscribers might be able to instantly log in to their profiles on any smart TV they are within shouting distance of.?

Make sure your brand is leveraging technologies like Bluetooth, NFC, and QR codes, and experimenting with anything new that becomes available. Less friction provides a clear path to more market share.?

3.?Super apps will dominate fintech???

Comprehensive fintech apps that address any need a person has for managing their finances will succeed in 2023. As the economy changes, our needs change. For example, apps that specialize in stock trading may not survive. Fintech apps that also offer tools for?budgeting, loans, and checking accounts, in addition to stock trading, are well positioned for whatever the economy throws at them. Having to remember different logins and switching between multiple apps to manage one’s financial life is cumbersome, and people will look to simplify in 2023.?

If you’re in fintech, now is the time to build. In fact, super apps may come for other industries as well where there are multiple connected use cases.?Take travel, for example. People want to be able to browse and book their flights, hotel, activities, and last-mile transportation in one app while earning and managing rewards points in real time.

4.?Apps will pay people for using them???

Normally, the goal for a publisher is to entice users into spending their attention and/or money on the app, but with the lack of ability to hyper-target and track users on mobile, LTV matters more than ever. Maybe even more importantly, with the spreading?popularity of web3, people will demand ownership over their data. I believe more publishers and ad networks will incentivize users to share their data for payment. For example, an ad network might publish an app, offering certain cohorts of users micropayments for downloading the app, so it can better attribute install performance to their network.

5.?Consolidation of streaming platforms???

People ‘cut the cord’ to pay for only the streaming service(s) they wanted, but now there are too many large and niche streaming platforms. We went too far, and consumers do not like how disparate the experience has become. Services have started to?bundle together?to survive. Consumers will cut streaming platforms that are not well-rounded enough from their budgets. Smaller or niche streamers will continue to struggle with acquiring the right users. They will also realize the cost of original content is too high and team up with other platforms to share the studio costs and their first-party data.?

These larger streaming platforms will increasingly come to offer an advertising-supported tier to be seen as budget-friendly, but also to create their own advertising networks. For example, it would make sense for Vrbo to advertise on Netflix’s show,?The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals.

Agree? Disagree? Want to learn more? I’m happy to discuss any of these trends with you - just comment on this post.

All of us at Apptopia wish you a happy and healthy holiday season! Looking forward to sharing success with you in the new year.?

JK