LIFTOFF

Make it eight straight! Inc. once again honored Liftoff in its Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Every year since 1982, Inc. analyzes company data to compile its list of the 5,000 most successful companies in the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Inc. had this to say about the [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-makes-it-eight-straight-inc-5000-fastest-growing-private-companies-list-rankings/">Liftoff Makes It Eight Straight Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List Rankings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Make it eight straight!



Inc. once again <a href="https://www.inc.com/inc5000/2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">honored</a> Liftoff in its Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Every year since 1982, Inc. analyzes company data to compile its list of the 5,000 most successful companies in the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses.



Inc. had this to say about the Inc. 5000 2024:



 The Inc. 5000 class of 2024 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital, and seemingly intractable hiring challenges. Among this year&#8217;s top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate is 1,637%. In all, this year&#8217;s Inc. 5000 companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy over the past three years.



“One of the greatest joys of my job is going through the Inc. 5000 list,” says Mike Hofman, who recently joined Inc. as editor-in-chief. “To see all of the intriguing and surprising ways that companies are transforming sectors, from health care and AI to apparel and pet food, is fascinating for me as a journalist and storyteller. Congratulations to this year&#8217;s honorees, as well, for growing their businesses fast despite the economic disruption we all faced over the past three years, from supply chain woes to inflation to changes in the workforce.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Methodology</h2>



Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 through 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2023. (Since the period under review, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. Growth rates used to determine rankings were calculated to four decimal places. All honorees must pass Inc. editorial review. <a href="https://www.inc.com/inc-5000-methodology-how-we-selected-these-companies.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">See Inc.’s full methodology</a>.
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-makes-it-eight-straight-inc-5000-fastest-growing-private-companies-list-rankings/">Liftoff Makes It Eight Straight Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List Rankings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Make it eight straight!
Inc. once again honored Liftoff in its Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Every year since 1982, Inc. analyzes company data to compile its list of the 5,000 most successful companies in the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses.
Inc. had this to say about the Inc. 5000 2024:
The Inc. 5000 class of 2024 represents companies that have driven rapid revenue growth while navigating inflationary pressure, the rising costs of capital, and seemingly intractable hiring challenges. Among this year’s top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate is 1,637%. In all, this year’s Inc. 5000 companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy over the past three years.
“One of the greatest joys of my job is going through the Inc. 5000 list,” says Mike Hofman, who recently joined Inc. as editor-in-chief. “To see all of the intriguing and surprising ways that companies are transforming sectors, from health care and AI to apparel and pet food, is fascinating for me as a journalist and storyteller. Congratulations to this year’s honorees, as well, for growing their businesses fast despite the economic disruption we all faced over the past three years, from supply chain woes to inflation to changes in the workforce.”
Methodology
Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 through 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2023. (Since the period under review, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. Growth rates used to determine rankings were calculated to four decimal places. All honorees must pass Inc. editorial review. See Inc.’s full methodology.
The post Liftoff Makes It Eight Straight Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List Rankings appeared first on Liftoff.

Make it eight straight! Inc. once again honored Liftoff in its Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Every year since 1982, Inc. analyzes company data to compile its list of the 5,000 most successful companies in the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Inc. had this to say about the […]
The post Liftoff Makes It Eight Straight Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List Rankings appeared first on Liftoff.

Liftoff Makes It Eight Straight Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List Rankings

In the cutthroat landscape of consumer apps, developers constantly swim upstream to capture and retain valuable users. However, we noticed a trend among perennial chart-topping mobile apps: they prioritize audience engagement and retention. In this blog post, we explore these apps’ three key strategies to win the competition for user time and attention. 1. Implement [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/how-consumer-apps-are-winning-the-competition-for-time-and-attention/">How Consumer Apps Are Winning the Competition for Time and Attention</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

In the cutthroat landscape of consumer apps, developers constantly swim upstream to capture and retain valuable users. However, we noticed a trend among perennial chart-topping mobile apps: they prioritize audience engagement and retention. In this blog post, we explore these apps’ three key strategies to win the competition for <a href="https://liftoff.io/resources/webinar/competition-for-time-and-attention-enhancing-user-engagement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">user time and attention</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">1. Implement reward systems</h2>



A reward system is a feature that gives users benefits, such as points or coins, for completing desired tasks. Those points can then be used to take further action in the app. Reward systems drive what we call a “progression loop”—the rewards incentivize further engagement, allowing users to earn more rewards, driving more engagement.



In addition to boosting engagement, reward systems improve retention. Mobile apps can offer weekly or monthly tasks to keep users returning regularly.



Reward systems can be implemented across nearly any app vertical. We’ve even seen reward systems implemented in common utility apps, where users collect tokens for utilizing the main app features. They can then earn extra tokens for opening and using the app on consecutive days, building a “streak.” Users can then redeem tokens for gift cards, sweepstakes entries, or charitable donations.



Finance apps, especially in crypto, leverage reward systems. They integrate task-reward loops for financial management, helping to motivate users to complete financial tasks and ultimately drive higher user engagement.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="462" height="1000" src="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system.png" alt="Cryto.com reward system" class="wp-image-33494" style="width:auto;height:500px" srcset="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system.png 462w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system-139x300.png 139w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system-30x66.png 30w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system-300x649.png 300w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/crypto-com-reward-system-375x812.png 375w" sizes="(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /></figure>



Crypto.com’s reward system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">2. Build strong communities</h2>



Social status and community are strong motivators that encourage user engagement and retention. This is why apps that foster community through the app experience see stronger user affinity and higher lifetime engagement. But how can an app build a community that feels authentic to the user and the brand?



Creating a space for users to share user-generated content allows for self-expression, connection, and social status. It adds a social layer to existing content through the initial user-generated content uploaded to the community and the comments and engagement on each user post. This adds the benefit of saving on content creation resources because the community uploads the content and creates opportunities for additional engagement.



Team systems are another great way to capitalize on a user&#8217;s desire for social status and connection. To understand how team systems work, think about how your favorite fitness app adds a layer of competition and connection. Typically, users can join a team to compete against other teams and those within their team. Subfeatures like leaderboards, chats, and team-to-team competitions inspire user engagement and encourage user retention.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="462" height="1000" src="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature.png" alt="" class="wp-image-33495" style="width:auto;height:500px" srcset="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature.png 462w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature-139x300.png 139w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature-30x66.png 30w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature-300x649.png 300w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/strava-clubs-feature-375x812.png 375w" sizes="(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /></figure>



Strava builds community through its clubs feature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">3. Innovate how you monetize</h2>



Apps must transcend beyond basic <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2023-subscription-apps-report">subscriptions</a> if they’re truly interested in improving user lifetime value and driving more revenue. Adding elements of convenience or even <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/understanding-gamification-player-motivations-and-their-impact-on-mobile-ua/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gamification</a> to a subscription plan can help to make an app more engaging for your users and keep them coming back. For example, taking inspiration from the <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/how-mobile-app-developers-boost-engagement-with-season-based-systems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">season pass system</a> that is so popular in mobile games is a great way to drive user retention. With a season pass, for a user to get the most out of their subscription, they need to complete tasks or engage with the app, which boosts app engagement. Although all users get a limited number of benefits from a season pass, paying subscribers get exclusive perks. This means paying and non-paying users are incentivized to engage further with the app, and non-paying users are more likely to convert to paying users to unlock those extra benefits.



Season passes have immense potential in habit-building apps, such as those focused on education, wellbeing, and fitness, where they would naturally support user progression and sustained engagement. In education apps, a season pass could introduce weekly or monthly challenges that reward users with in-app currency, virtual badges, or exclusive content as they advance through different learning modules. Similarly, fitness apps could use a season pass to reward users for completing daily workouts, achieving specific fitness milestones, and participating in community challenges.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Wrapping up: The user engagement trifecta</h2>



Successful consumer app developers today constantly consider what motivates their audience and how their app features will satisfy those motivations. These three strategies—reward systems, community building, and innovative monetization—will help developers maximize their users&#8217; lifetime value.



As Head of Activations at GameRefinery, Christie Crable leverages Liftoff Intelligence’s comprehensive data to ensure Liftoff’s key partners stay ahead of trends and optimize their mobile apps for maximum success in the competitive market.
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/how-consumer-apps-are-winning-the-competition-for-time-and-attention/">How Consumer Apps Are Winning the Competition for Time and Attention</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

In the cutthroat landscape of consumer apps, developers constantly swim upstream to capture and retain valuable users. However, we noticed a trend among perennial chart-topping mobile apps: they prioritize audience engagement and retention. In this blog post, we explore these apps’ three key strategies to win the competition for user time and attention.
1. Implement reward systems
A reward system is a feature that gives users benefits, such as points or coins, for completing desired tasks. Those points can then be used to take further action in the app. Reward systems drive what we call a “progression loop”—the rewards incentivize further engagement, allowing users to earn more rewards, driving more engagement.
In addition to boosting engagement, reward systems improve retention. Mobile apps can offer weekly or monthly tasks to keep users returning regularly.
Reward systems can be implemented across nearly any app vertical. We’ve even seen reward systems implemented in common utility apps, where users collect tokens for utilizing the main app features. They can then earn extra tokens for opening and using the app on consecutive days, building a “streak.” Users can then redeem tokens for gift cards, sweepstakes entries, or charitable donations.
Finance apps, especially in crypto, leverage reward systems. They integrate task-reward loops for financial management, helping to motivate users to complete financial tasks and ultimately drive higher user engagement.




Crypto.com’s reward system.
2. Build strong communities
Social status and community are strong motivators that encourage user engagement and retention. This is why apps that foster community through the app experience see stronger user affinity and higher lifetime engagement. But how can an app build a community that feels authentic to the user and the brand?
Creating a space for users to share user-generated content allows for self-expression, connection, and social status. It adds a social layer to existing content through the initial user-generated content uploaded to the community and the comments and engagement on each user post. This adds the benefit of saving on content creation resources because the community uploads the content and creates opportunities for additional engagement.
Team systems are another great way to capitalize on a user’s desire for social status and connection. To understand how team systems work, think about how your favorite fitness app adds a layer of competition and connection. Typically, users can join a team to compete against other teams and those within their team. Subfeatures like leaderboards, chats, and team-to-team competitions inspire user engagement and encourage user retention.




Strava builds community through its clubs feature.
3. Innovate how you monetize
Apps must transcend beyond basic subscriptions if they’re truly interested in improving user lifetime value and driving more revenue. Adding elements of convenience or even gamification to a subscription plan can help to make an app more engaging for your users and keep them coming back. For example, taking inspiration from the season pass system that is so popular in mobile games is a great way to drive user retention. With a season pass, for a user to get the most out of their subscription, they need to complete tasks or engage with the app, which boosts app engagement. Although all users get a limited number of benefits from a season pass, paying subscribers get exclusive perks. This means paying and non-paying users are incentivized to engage further with the app, and non-paying users are more likely to convert to paying users to unlock those extra benefits.
Season passes have immense potential in habit-building apps, such as those focused on education, wellbeing, and fitness, where they would naturally support user progression and sustained engagement. In education apps, a season pass could introduce weekly or monthly challenges that reward users with in-app currency, virtual badges, or exclusive content as they advance through different learning modules. Similarly, fitness apps could use a season pass to reward users for completing daily workouts, achieving specific fitness milestones, and participating in community challenges.
Wrapping up: The user engagement trifecta
Successful consumer app developers today constantly consider what motivates their audience and how their app features will satisfy those motivations. These three strategies—reward systems, community building, and innovative monetization—will help developers maximize their users’ lifetime value.
As Head of Activations at GameRefinery, Christie Crable leverages Liftoff Intelligence’s comprehensive data to ensure Liftoff’s key partners stay ahead of trends and optimize their mobile apps for maximum success in the competitive market.
The post How Consumer Apps Are Winning the Competition for Time and Attention appeared first on Liftoff.

In the cutthroat landscape of consumer apps, developers constantly swim upstream to capture and retain valuable users. However, we noticed a trend among perennial chart-topping mobile apps: they prioritize audience engagement and retention. In this blog post, we explore these apps’ three key strategies to win the competition for user time and attention. 1. Implement […]
The post How Consumer Apps Are Winning the Competition for Time and Attention appeared first on Liftoff.

How Consumer Apps Are Winning the Competition for Time and Attention

The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically since the pandemic boom, with an enhanced focus on user privacy and rising costs posing formidable challenges for mobile marketers and developers alike. As a result, casual gaming apps have had to evolve rapidly to meet the market&#8217;s shifting demands, launching new subgenres, gameplay mechanics, and monetization strategies [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/the-casual-gaming-insights-mobile-marketers-need-to-know-in-2024/">The Casual Gaming Insights Mobile Marketers Need to Know in 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically since the pandemic boom, with an enhanced focus on user privacy and rising costs posing formidable challenges for mobile marketers and developers alike. As a result, casual gaming apps have had to evolve rapidly to meet the market&#8217;s shifting demands, launching new subgenres, gameplay mechanics, and monetization strategies to drive revenue and engagement.



The <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-casual-gaming-apps-report">Liftoff 2024 Casual Gaming Apps Report</a>, created with insights from GameRefinery and Liftoff ML-powered Accelerate, explores what’s changed in the casual gaming market over the last 12 months. It includes everything from the must-know trends and user acquisition tactics to a full rundown of user acquisition costs.



Don’t worry. We know your time is of the essence, so we’ve gathered the key facts from the report that app and mobile game marketers need to know.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Android is significantly cheaper for UA in casual gaming apps</h2>



Are you looking to drive down marketing costs? Based on the data we’ve gathered, we can’t imagine you’ll be the only one. Our <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2023-casual-gaming-apps-report">2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report</a> found that acquisition costs were steady at $0.98. This year’s report has a very different outlook, with acquisition costs doubling to $2.17 per install.



Much of this expense stems from iOS, where mobile marketers still contend with the challenges arising from Apple’s enhanced focus on user privacy. The average cost per install (CPI) for casual games on iOS between March 2023 and March 2024 was $4.83 per install, an increase of $2.50 compared to the same period a year prior.



However, there is some good news. It’s business as usual on Android, costing just $0.65 per install (around eight times less than iOS). But before you rush towards all things Google, just remember that iOS games enjoy a slightly higher average D7 ROAS at 5.9% (an 0.8% increase over Android).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">iOS acquisition costs increase between April and June</h2>



Acquisition costs on iOS are not only significantly higher than on Android, but they’re also more variable. Between March and May 2023, iOS acquisition costs spiked considerably, with April being the most expensive month of the year at $5.35 per install. Comparatively, prices fell in the latter half of the year, dropping as low as $4.20 per install in December.



On Android, costs held pretty steady throughout the year, although there was a slight bump in the latter half of the year, peaking at $0.81 per install in October and December. It’s worth noting that the opposite applies to D7 ROAS, with iOS hovering around 5.5% to 6% for most of last year, while Android saw much more fluctuation, peaking at 6.1% in July but falling as low as 4.2% in October.



These variations could be related to different promotions and events, especially given the vast number of mobile games incorporating <a href="https://www.gamerefinery.com/drive-up-your-revenues-with-seasonal-events/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seasonal content into their LiveOps strategies</a>. Regardless of the cause, mobile marketers should consider building bespoke campaigns for each platform to make the most of cheaper periods and plan their UA campaigns well before the holiday period to get a headstart.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">LATAM continues to exhibit the lowest CPI</h2>



One of the best ways to succeed in the crowded casual gaming market is to target the most economical regions. North America (NAMAR) might be popular, but it had the highest CPI last year at $6.78. In comparison, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) came in at around $1 per install, almost six times lower. Latin America (LATAM) came in even cheaper at just $0.44 per install.



However, there is one caveat. The regions with the lowest CPI offer the most negligible ROI. Looking at D7 ROAS, LATAM came in at 4.6%, while NAMER was notably higher at 6%. Arguably, EMEA and APAC offer the best middle ground, with a D7 ROAS of 5.3% alongside relatively low install costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Simulation players are the cheapest to acquire</h2>



The casual gaming market comprises various genres and subgenres, notably puzzle, arcade, lifestyle, AR/location, and hyper-casual. Some of these genres are much more popular than others, meaning that you’re likely to encounter drastically different costs depending on which you target.



Puzzle, lifestyle, and simulation are the three casual genres that drive the most perennial interest. Simulation games offer the lowest user acquisition costs at $1.77 per install, while lifestyle is almost double the price at $2.95. Puzzle is the largest segment of the casual market and averages around $2.23 CPI, offering a good balance between scalability and value.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Casual games drive installs across the board</h2>



Casual games continue to be the biggest driver of installs in other casual games at 91%. If we break this down further into specific casual genres, puzzle games take the top spot at 37%. In second place are <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/what-the-rise-of-hybrid-casual-games-means-for-advertisers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hybrid-casual games</a>, which are responsible for driving 29% of casual game installs. Finally, lifestyle and casual games take third place, driving 8% of installs.



A more surprising trend is that casual games are also the powerhouse behind <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2023-midcore-gaming-apps-report">midcore game installs</a>, with our sample showing that a staggering 74% of new midcore players discovered their games through ads within casual titles last year. Comparatively, other midcore titles drove just 10% of installs, while sports &amp; driving brought in 13%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Rising casual mobile game genres</h2>



Given the level of competition in the mobile market, it can take time for new titles to break through. All the more impressive, then, that these three dynamic new genres have recently managed to make their mark on the casual market:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>3D Match: Triple Match 3D founded the 3D match genre in 2022, and it’s since exploded in popularity. Based on <a href="https://www.gamerefinery.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GameRefinery</a> data, market share for 3D match games in the US iOS top 500 grossing grew from $2.95M to $15.25M between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023.</li>



<li>Mahjong Solitaire, a popular puzzle game in China that uses tiles rather than playing cards, has gained much traction on mobile. This gameplay motif began with Zen Match, released in 2021, but it’s been followed up more recently by Tile Busters and Tile Family—both of which entered the US top 200 grossing last year.</li>



<li>Hybrid-casual games are surging in popularity, with several titles breaking into the top-grossing charts. These games combine elements of midcore and casual games to create the ultimate blend of accessibility and long-lasting engagement. The added gameplay complexity also unlocks a broader range of monetization opportunities.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Emerging trends in casual gaming events</h2>



Live events are one of the biggest drivers of engagement among casual games, with exciting new content, items, and deals keeping players returning for more week after week. It’s hardly surprising that developers always look for new event types to retain players&#8217; attention. Here are three that stood out to GameRefinery:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Minigames (small side games that differ from an app&#8217;s usual gameplay mechanics) have become a staple in the LiveOps strategy of most casual games. One of the most popular minigames is the Digging Event, where players use tokens to dig through a grid to reveal hidden items and minor rewards. <a href="https://www.gamerefinery.com/struggling-with-ua-and-player-retention-in-a-post-idfa-world-minigames-are-the-answer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Minigame implementation is a great response to UA and player retention in a post-IDFA world</a>.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Social win streak events pit 100 players against each other in a race to clear levels without losing. Players are gradually eliminated from the event as levels are cleared, with only a talented few making it to the end to share a pool of rewards.</li>



<li>Partner events were <a href="https://www.gamerefinery.com/what-we-can-learn-about-liveops-from-the-2024-mobile-gamedev-award-winners/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pioneered by Monopoly GO!</a> and have appeared in many titles since. These events involve teaming up with friends or random players to complete tasks for shared rewards.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Casual gaming monetization trends</h2>



In addition to trying to innovate through new event types, mobile game studios are constantly experimenting with new monetization methods and IAP offers. Over the past year, three tactics in particular have picked up a lot of steam across the casual gaming market:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Pick-one bundles offer players a choice. They’re offered a selection of different bundles to choose from but are restricted to just one purchase. The catch is that there’s usually a bonus option to pick up all the bundles at once for a special discounted rate for an extra enticing saving.</li>



<li>Progressive offers present players with a string of deals that alternate between free-to-claim rewards and real-money purchases. Users can only claim the offers one after the other in their order of appearance. Out of the US top 25 casual games, approximately 70% have some form of progressive offer.</li>



<li>Engagement offers are a new, dynamic IAP format that rewards players for completing specific in-game tasks. Rewards include access to special offers, increased discounts, premium rewards, and additional content added to purchases.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Web stores spread to the casual games market</h2>



 Over the past couple of years, <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/can-you-unlock-more-and-spend-less-by-going-around-the-app-stores/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">many mobile apps have launched dedicated external stores on their websites</a>. While they require a bit more effort to access on the user’s part, these external stores offer exclusive bundles and discounts that you can’t get directly within the app. The benefit to developers is that, because these stores aren’t within the confines of iOS or Google Play, they circumvent any platform holder fees.



Previously, it was mainly midcore mobile games that featured external web stores. Still, we’ve encountered several casual games jumping on the trend, such as Scopely’s YAHTZEE With Buddies and Mattel’s mobile card games.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-casual-gaming-apps-report"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="535" src="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-1024x535.png" alt="" class="wp-image-33031" srcset="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-1024x535.png 1024w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-300x157.png 300w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-1536x803.png 1536w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-2048x1070.png 2048w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-72x38.png 72w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-900x470.png 900w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-1128x590.png 1128w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-564x295.png 564w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Casual-gaming-resource-4@2x-375x196.png 375w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>



<a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-casual-gaming-apps-report">If you enjoyed this post, download Liftoff’s 2024 Casual Gaming Apps report to learn more about the biggest mobile trends and monetization strategies →</a>
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/the-casual-gaming-insights-mobile-marketers-need-to-know-in-2024/">The Casual Gaming Insights Mobile Marketers Need to Know in 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically since the pandemic boom, with an enhanced focus on user privacy and rising costs posing formidable challenges for mobile marketers and developers alike. As a result, casual gaming apps have had to evolve rapidly to meet the market’s shifting demands, launching new subgenres, gameplay mechanics, and monetization strategies to drive revenue and engagement.
The Liftoff 2024 Casual Gaming Apps Report, created with insights from GameRefinery and Liftoff ML-powered Accelerate, explores what’s changed in the casual gaming market over the last 12 months. It includes everything from the must-know trends and user acquisition tactics to a full rundown of user acquisition costs.
Don’t worry. We know your time is of the essence, so we’ve gathered the key facts from the report that app and mobile game marketers need to know.
Android is significantly cheaper for UA in casual gaming apps
Are you looking to drive down marketing costs? Based on the data we’ve gathered, we can’t imagine you’ll be the only one. Our 2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report found that acquisition costs were steady at $0.98. This year’s report has a very different outlook, with acquisition costs doubling to $2.17 per install.
Much of this expense stems from iOS, where mobile marketers still contend with the challenges arising from Apple’s enhanced focus on user privacy. The average cost per install (CPI) for casual games on iOS between March 2023 and March 2024 was $4.83 per install, an increase of $2.50 compared to the same period a year prior.
However, there is some good news. It’s business as usual on Android, costing just $0.65 per install (around eight times less than iOS). But before you rush towards all things Google, just remember that iOS games enjoy a slightly higher average D7 ROAS at 5.9% (an 0.8% increase over Android).
iOS acquisition costs increase between April and June
Acquisition costs on iOS are not only significantly higher than on Android, but they’re also more variable. Between March and May 2023, iOS acquisition costs spiked considerably, with April being the most expensive month of the year at $5.35 per install. Comparatively, prices fell in the latter half of the year, dropping as low as $4.20 per install in December.
On Android, costs held pretty steady throughout the year, although there was a slight bump in the latter half of the year, peaking at $0.81 per install in October and December. It’s worth noting that the opposite applies to D7 ROAS, with iOS hovering around 5.5% to 6% for most of last year, while Android saw much more fluctuation, peaking at 6.1% in July but falling as low as 4.2% in October.
These variations could be related to different promotions and events, especially given the vast number of mobile games incorporating seasonal content into their LiveOps strategies. Regardless of the cause, mobile marketers should consider building bespoke campaigns for each platform to make the most of cheaper periods and plan their UA campaigns well before the holiday period to get a headstart.
LATAM continues to exhibit the lowest CPI
One of the best ways to succeed in the crowded casual gaming market is to target the most economical regions. North America (NAMAR) might be popular, but it had the highest CPI last year at $6.78. In comparison, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) came in at around $1 per install, almost six times lower. Latin America (LATAM) came in even cheaper at just $0.44 per install.
However, there is one caveat. The regions with the lowest CPI offer the most negligible ROI. Looking at D7 ROAS, LATAM came in at 4.6%, while NAMER was notably higher at 6%. Arguably, EMEA and APAC offer the best middle ground, with a D7 ROAS of 5.3% alongside relatively low install costs.
Simulation players are the cheapest to acquire
The casual gaming market comprises various genres and subgenres, notably puzzle, arcade, lifestyle, AR/location, and hyper-casual. Some of these genres are much more popular than others, meaning that you’re likely to encounter drastically different costs depending on which you target.
Puzzle, lifestyle, and simulation are the three casual genres that drive the most perennial interest. Simulation games offer the lowest user acquisition costs at $1.77 per install, while lifestyle is almost double the price at $2.95. Puzzle is the largest segment of the casual market and averages around $2.23 CPI, offering a good balance between scalability and value.
Casual games drive installs across the board
Casual games continue to be the biggest driver of installs in other casual games at 91%. If we break this down further into specific casual genres, puzzle games take the top spot at 37%. In second place are hybrid-casual games, which are responsible for driving 29% of casual game installs. Finally, lifestyle and casual games take third place, driving 8% of installs.
A more surprising trend is that casual games are also the powerhouse behind midcore game installs, with our sample showing that a staggering 74% of new midcore players discovered their games through ads within casual titles last year. Comparatively, other midcore titles drove just 10% of installs, while sports & driving brought in 13%.
Rising casual mobile game genres
Given the level of competition in the mobile market, it can take time for new titles to break through. All the more impressive, then, that these three dynamic new genres have recently managed to make their mark on the casual market:
3D Match: Triple Match 3D founded the 3D match genre in 2022, and it’s since exploded in popularity. Based on GameRefinery data, market share for 3D match games in the US iOS top 500 grossing grew from $2.95M to $15.25M between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023.
Mahjong Solitaire, a popular puzzle game in China that uses tiles rather than playing cards, has gained much traction on mobile. This gameplay motif began with Zen Match, released in 2021, but it’s been followed up more recently by Tile Busters and Tile Family—both of which entered the US top 200 grossing last year.
Hybrid-casual games are surging in popularity, with several titles breaking into the top-grossing charts. These games combine elements of midcore and casual games to create the ultimate blend of accessibility and long-lasting engagement. The added gameplay complexity also unlocks a broader range of monetization opportunities.
Emerging trends in casual gaming events
Live events are one of the biggest drivers of engagement among casual games, with exciting new content, items, and deals keeping players returning for more week after week. It’s hardly surprising that developers always look for new event types to retain players’ attention. Here are three that stood out to GameRefinery:
Minigames (small side games that differ from an app’s usual gameplay mechanics) have become a staple in the LiveOps strategy of most casual games. One of the most popular minigames is the Digging Event, where players use tokens to dig through a grid to reveal hidden items and minor rewards. Minigame implementation is a great response to UA and player retention in a post-IDFA world. 
Social win streak events pit 100 players against each other in a race to clear levels without losing. Players are gradually eliminated from the event as levels are cleared, with only a talented few making it to the end to share a pool of rewards.
Partner events were pioneered by Monopoly GO! and have appeared in many titles since. These events involve teaming up with friends or random players to complete tasks for shared rewards.
Casual gaming monetization trends
In addition to trying to innovate through new event types, mobile game studios are constantly experimenting with new monetization methods and IAP offers. Over the past year, three tactics in particular have picked up a lot of steam across the casual gaming market:
Pick-one bundles offer players a choice. They’re offered a selection of different bundles to choose from but are restricted to just one purchase. The catch is that there’s usually a bonus option to pick up all the bundles at once for a special discounted rate for an extra enticing saving.
Progressive offers present players with a string of deals that alternate between free-to-claim rewards and real-money purchases. Users can only claim the offers one after the other in their order of appearance. Out of the US top 25 casual games, approximately 70% have some form of progressive offer.
Engagement offers are a new, dynamic IAP format that rewards players for completing specific in-game tasks. Rewards include access to special offers, increased discounts, premium rewards, and additional content added to purchases.
Web stores spread to the casual games market
Over the past couple of years, many mobile apps have launched dedicated external stores on their websites. While they require a bit more effort to access on the user’s part, these external stores offer exclusive bundles and discounts that you can’t get directly within the app. The benefit to developers is that, because these stores aren’t within the confines of iOS or Google Play, they circumvent any platform holder fees.
Previously, it was mainly midcore mobile games that featured external web stores. Still, we’ve encountered several casual games jumping on the trend, such as Scopely’s YAHTZEE With Buddies and Mattel’s mobile card games.




If you enjoyed this post, download Liftoff’s 2024 Casual Gaming Apps report to learn more about the biggest mobile trends and monetization strategies →
The post The Casual Gaming Insights Mobile Marketers Need to Know in 2024 appeared first on Liftoff.

The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically since the pandemic boom, with an enhanced focus on user privacy and rising costs posing formidable challenges for mobile marketers and developers alike. As a result, casual gaming apps have had to evolve rapidly to meet the market’s shifting demands, launching new subgenres, gameplay mechanics, and monetization strategies […]
The post The Casual Gaming Insights Mobile Marketers Need to Know in 2024 appeared first on Liftoff.

The Casual Gaming Insights Mobile Marketers Need to Know in 2024

While Apple&#8217;s SKAN 4.0 has been around for nearly two years, adoption of the latest version of Apple’s SKAdNetwork framework remains surprisingly low. Our 2024 App Marketer Survey found that 35% of mobile marketers are unfamiliar with SKAN 4.0 despite improving campaign measurement and conversion values. So why the hesitancy? SKAN 4.0 has had a [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/webinar-recap-learning-about-source-identifiers-and-skan-skadnetwork/">Webinar Recap: Learning About Source Identifiers and SKAN</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

While <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/skadnetwork/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple&#8217;s SKAN 4.0</a> has been around for nearly two years, adoption of the latest version of Apple’s SKAdNetwork framework remains surprisingly low. Our <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-app-marketer-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2024 App Marketer Survey</a> found that 35% of mobile marketers are unfamiliar with SKAN 4.0 despite improving campaign measurement and conversion values.



So why the hesitancy? SKAN 4.0 has had a few teething problems since its release, including <a href="https://www.adjust.com/blog/skan-4-cv-reset-bug/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a notable bug</a> that caused conversion value issues, leading to names like <a href="https://www.adexchanger.com/mobile/meta-is-reverting-to-skadnetwork-3-due-to-a-bug-in-apples-attribution-tech/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meta rolling back to SKAN 3.0</a>. While these have since been resolved, transitioning to SKAN 4.0 requires significant changes to conversion models, data handling, and event configurations. These changes may not seem worthwhile to marketers who are satisfied with their current setup.



Yet, despite the relatively low adoption rate, Apple seems determined to move full steam ahead with <a href="https://www.singular.net/blog/skan-5-announced/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SKAN 5.0</a> and now the recently announced <a href="https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2024/10060/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AdAttributionKit</a>. But for mobile marketers who are hesitant to take the next step on their SKAN journey, where should they begin? Our Sales Engineer Alejandra Ugarte shared some answers with our friends at Singular in the recent <a href="https://lp.singular.net/ios-acquisition-deep-dive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2024 iOS Acquisition Deep-Dive</a> webinar. Here is a summary of her insights.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="540" src="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog.png" alt="Singular SKAdNetwork SKAN 4 adoption Liftoff blog" class="wp-image-33450" srcset="https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog.png 960w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog-300x169.png 300w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog-72x41.png 72w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog-900x506.png 900w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog-564x317.png 564w, https://liftoff.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/singular-skadnetwork-skan-4-adoption-liftoff-blog-375x211.png 375w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">SKAN 4.0 adoption data via Singular</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">SKAN and the source identifier</h2>



One of the big drawbacks of working with SKAN is <a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/how-apples-skadnetwork-4-0-release-could-affect-mobile-app-measurement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its limited view of performance</a>. During the webinar, Aleksandar Cvetković, Data Scientist at Webelinx, noted that SKAN only approximates revenue at the end of a measurement period rather than the “ground truth.” Be that as it may, Alejandra is optimistic about the change from a campaign ID to a source identifier introduced by SKAN 4.0.



The source identifier allows marketers to assign a unique source identifer to their ad campaigns. Analytics and reporting tools can then easily track these campaigns, unlocking useful data for optimizing campaigns.



Alejandra said: “Something that wasn’t immediately clear to me was that each partner has a different strategy for encoding the source identifier. So, if you’re trying to report on that, you will encounter some level of variation. The different digits will mean different things to different partners. In other words, it can be challenging to pull things together into a cohesive report if you’re not communicating with each of your partners.”



Alongside the source identifier, Alejandra also noted the importance of optimizing your conversion value mapping strategy by analyzing user behavior to determine the ideal window for locking conversion data. In today&#8217;s privacy-focused environment, advertisers need to maximize every available resource, and the optimal approach will vary depending on the needs of different mobile games/mobile apps and their user bases.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">What to expect from SKAN 5.0</h2>



When Apple announced SKAN 5.0 at WWDC 2023, the announcement generated excitement and confusion. What exactly will SKAN 5.0 offer in addition to what advertisers already have, and why are we already discussing SKAN 5.0 now when many mobile marketers have yet to adopt the earlier version?



According to Alejandra, SKAN 5.0 will offer insights into down-funnel activity for users targeted by UA campaigns who already have an app installed. This should allow conversion values to return without an install.



Alejandra said: “This will give us more value to our UA budgets because we’ll be able to see what new and existing users are doing after interacting with one of our ads. It was a huge miss for Apple not to include this from the start. It&#8217;s already hard to suppress existing users in SKAN, but on top of that, we weren’t getting any performance metrics on those we’d accidentally targeted after not being able to suppress them.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Key things to remember about SKAN 4.0 and 5.0</h2>



While the adoption of SKAN 4.0 still needs to catch up, we expect SKAN 5.0 to bring more features and benefits to the table. Advertisers who do make the jump will be able to leverage the system for campaign measurement and optimization.



For now, two key things to remember about SKAN are:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Configure your SKAN 4 conversion value mappings, and determine if it makes sense to lock windows early.</li>



<li>Speak to ad partners about how they plan to use source identifiers, as each partner will likely have a different strategy.</li>
</ul>



Alejandra added: “If you’re just getting started with SKAN, I’d recommend that you start by <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/skadnetwork/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reading up</a> as much as possible. The more information you have, the more data you have, the more informed decisions you can make.



“It’s also best to keep things simple to begin with. You are probably not going to get it perfect on the first go, but it&#8217;s important not to beat yourself up. As you iterate, you will improve your strategy.”



<a href="https://lp.singular.net/ios-acquisition-deep-dive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watch the full webinar</a> to learn more about SKAN and iOS user acquisition in 2024.
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/webinar-recap-learning-about-source-identifiers-and-skan-skadnetwork/">Webinar Recap: Learning About Source Identifiers and SKAN</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

While Apple’s SKAN 4.0 has been around for nearly two years, adoption of the latest version of Apple’s SKAdNetwork framework remains surprisingly low. Our 2024 App Marketer Survey found that 35% of mobile marketers are unfamiliar with SKAN 4.0 despite improving campaign measurement and conversion values.
So why the hesitancy? SKAN 4.0 has had a few teething problems since its release, including a notable bug that caused conversion value issues, leading to names like Meta rolling back to SKAN 3.0. While these have since been resolved, transitioning to SKAN 4.0 requires significant changes to conversion models, data handling, and event configurations. These changes may not seem worthwhile to marketers who are satisfied with their current setup.
Yet, despite the relatively low adoption rate, Apple seems determined to move full steam ahead with SKAN 5.0 and now the recently announced AdAttributionKit. But for mobile marketers who are hesitant to take the next step on their SKAN journey, where should they begin? Our Sales Engineer Alejandra Ugarte shared some answers with our friends at Singular in the recent 2024 iOS Acquisition Deep-Dive webinar. Here is a summary of her insights.
SKAN 4.0 adoption data via Singular



SKAN and the source identifier
One of the big drawbacks of working with SKAN is its limited view of performance. During the webinar, Aleksandar Cvetković, Data Scientist at Webelinx, noted that SKAN only approximates revenue at the end of a measurement period rather than the “ground truth.” Be that as it may, Alejandra is optimistic about the change from a campaign ID to a source identifier introduced by SKAN 4.0.
The source identifier allows marketers to assign a unique source identifer to their ad campaigns. Analytics and reporting tools can then easily track these campaigns, unlocking useful data for optimizing campaigns.
Alejandra said: “Something that wasn’t immediately clear to me was that each partner has a different strategy for encoding the source identifier. So, if you’re trying to report on that, you will encounter some level of variation. The different digits will mean different things to different partners. In other words, it can be challenging to pull things together into a cohesive report if you’re not communicating with each of your partners.”
Alongside the source identifier, Alejandra also noted the importance of optimizing your conversion value mapping strategy by analyzing user behavior to determine the ideal window for locking conversion data. In today’s privacy-focused environment, advertisers need to maximize every available resource, and the optimal approach will vary depending on the needs of different mobile games/mobile apps and their user bases.
What to expect from SKAN 5.0
When Apple announced SKAN 5.0 at WWDC 2023, the announcement generated excitement and confusion. What exactly will SKAN 5.0 offer in addition to what advertisers already have, and why are we already discussing SKAN 5.0 now when many mobile marketers have yet to adopt the earlier version?
According to Alejandra, SKAN 5.0 will offer insights into down-funnel activity for users targeted by UA campaigns who already have an app installed. This should allow conversion values to return without an install.
Alejandra said: “This will give us more value to our UA budgets because we’ll be able to see what new and existing users are doing after interacting with one of our ads. It was a huge miss for Apple not to include this from the start. It’s already hard to suppress existing users in SKAN, but on top of that, we weren’t getting any performance metrics on those we’d accidentally targeted after not being able to suppress them.”
Key things to remember about SKAN 4.0 and 5.0
While the adoption of SKAN 4.0 still needs to catch up, we expect SKAN 5.0 to bring more features and benefits to the table. Advertisers who do make the jump will be able to leverage the system for campaign measurement and optimization.
For now, two key things to remember about SKAN are:
Configure your SKAN 4 conversion value mappings, and determine if it makes sense to lock windows early.
Speak to ad partners about how they plan to use source identifiers, as each partner will likely have a different strategy.
Alejandra added: “If you’re just getting started with SKAN, I’d recommend that you start by reading up as much as possible. The more information you have, the more data you have, the more informed decisions you can make.
“It’s also best to keep things simple to begin with. You are probably not going to get it perfect on the first go, but it’s important not to beat yourself up. As you iterate, you will improve your strategy.”
Watch the full webinar to learn more about SKAN and iOS user acquisition in 2024.
The post Webinar Recap: Learning About Source Identifiers and SKAN appeared first on Liftoff.

While Apple’s SKAN 4.0 has been around for nearly two years, adoption of the latest version of Apple’s SKAdNetwork framework remains surprisingly low. Our 2024 App Marketer Survey found that 35% of mobile marketers are unfamiliar with SKAN 4.0 despite improving campaign measurement and conversion values. So why the hesitancy? SKAN 4.0 has had a […]
The post Webinar Recap: Learning About Source Identifiers and SKAN appeared first on Liftoff.

Webinar Recap: Learning About Source Identifiers and SKAN

After a spell of exponential growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile app marketing industry is projected to see more modest, sustainable growth in the next few years. But despite slowing overall growth, the industry is still far from predictable. Last year brought game-changing innovations in ML and generative AI, and we&#8217;re only beginning [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/2023-app-marketer-survey-announcement/">It&#8217;s Here! Liftoff&#8217;s Newest App Marketer Survey</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

After a spell of exponential growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile app marketing industry is projected to see more modest, sustainable growth in the next few years. But despite slowing overall growth, the industry is still far from predictable.



Last year brought game-changing innovations in ML and generative AI, and we&#8217;re only beginning to see their impact. As concerns over ID deprecation continued, classic measurement methods such as incrementality and media mix modeling made a comeback. At the same time, there was growing interest in alternative channels like CTV and out-of-home advertising.&nbsp;



But what do mobile marketing pros think about these new and ongoing challenges and innovations in their industry? Our second annual app marketer survey provides some preliminary answers by gauging marketer perceptions about the outlook for mobile advertising as we enter 2024.&nbsp;



Our survey covers campaign performance in 2023, expectations for ad spend in 2024, and the channels and ad tech innovations that are making a difference for them now. We compiled responses from marketers from top companies across different regions and app verticals.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Whether you’re running a one-person mobile marketing operation or managing a team with millions in ad spend, Liftoff’s 2024 App Marketer Survey offers a rare, must-have snapshot of what your mobile marketing peers are thinking.&nbsp;



For a detailed look, read the <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-app-marketer-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey results</a>. 



<div class="wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button" href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-app-marketer-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Get the Guide</a></div>
</div>



Survey highlights include:



<ul class="is-style-body-md wp-block-list">
<li>Marketer perceptions about overall performance in 2023, their KPIs, and their budget</li>



<li>The impact of MMM and what matters most when selecting a DSP</li>



<li>Perspectives on SKAN 4 and GAID changes</li>
</ul>



Read the survey in <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-app-marketer-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">English</a> or <a href="https://info.liftoff.io/zh-cn/2024-app-marketer-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chinese</a>.



<div style="height:31px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/2023-app-marketer-survey-announcement/">It&#8217;s Here! Liftoff&#8217;s Newest App Marketer Survey</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

After a spell of exponential growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile app marketing industry is projected to see more modest, sustainable growth in the next few years. But despite slowing overall growth, the industry is still far from predictable.
Last year brought game-changing innovations in ML and generative AI, and we’re only beginning to see their impact. As concerns over ID deprecation continued, classic measurement methods such as incrementality and media mix modeling made a comeback. At the same time, there was growing interest in alternative channels like CTV and out-of-home advertising. 
But what do mobile marketing pros think about these new and ongoing challenges and innovations in their industry? Our second annual app marketer survey provides some preliminary answers by gauging marketer perceptions about the outlook for mobile advertising as we enter 2024. 
Our survey covers campaign performance in 2023, expectations for ad spend in 2024, and the channels and ad tech innovations that are making a difference for them now. We compiled responses from marketers from top companies across different regions and app verticals.  
Whether you’re running a one-person mobile marketing operation or managing a team with millions in ad spend, Liftoff’s 2024 App Marketer Survey offers a rare, must-have snapshot of what your mobile marketing peers are thinking. 
For a detailed look, read the survey results.  
Get the Guide
Survey highlights include:
Marketer perceptions about overall performance in 2023, their KPIs, and their budget
The impact of MMM and what matters most when selecting a DSP
Perspectives on SKAN 4 and GAID changes
Read the survey in English or Chinese.

The post It’s Here! Liftoff’s Newest App Marketer Survey appeared first on Liftoff.

After a spell of exponential growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile app marketing industry is projected to see more modest, sustainable growth in the next few years. But despite slowing overall growth, the industry is still far from predictable. Last year brought game-changing innovations in ML and generative AI, and we’re only beginning […]
The post It’s Here! Liftoff’s Newest App Marketer Survey appeared first on Liftoff.

It’s Here! Liftoff’s Newest App Marketer Survey

As we look to the year ahead, the outlook seems optimistic for the mobile market. After a prolonged downturn, smartphone sales are expected to bounce back. Mobile gaming revenue is projected to increase by 4% YoY in 2024, marking a return to form after falling for the first time in over a decade. To top [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/take-your-mobile-marketing-to-the-next-level-with-liftoff-2023-reports-and-guides/">Take Your Mobile Marketing to the Next Level With Liftoff’s 2023 Reports and Guides</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

As we look to the year ahead, the outlook seems optimistic for the mobile market. After a prolonged downturn, smartphone sales are expected to bounce back. Mobile gaming revenue is projected to increase by 4% YoY in 2024, marking a return to form after falling for the first time in over a decade. To top it all off, according to our 2024 App Marketer Survey, mobile marketers are being allocated more generous budgets to help drive user acquisition while benefiting from emerging technologies like generative AI.
Of course, there are still many challenges ahead. Competition will remain fierce as app marketers compete for consumer attention, and many questions remain over how the industry will overcome further changes to privacy requirements.
That’s why it’s just as important as ever to keep up-to-speed with the state of the industry. If you’re not sure where to begin, you’ll find essential updates and exclusive first-party data on the most significant industry developments affecting mobile game and app marketers in the insightful reports and guides we released throughout 2023:
2023 Mobile Ad Creative Index
2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report
2023 Midcore Gaming Apps Report
The State of App Marketing for Subscription Apps
2023 Holiday Guide for E-Commerce Apps
2023 Guide to Supply Path Optimization
2024 App Marketer Survey
We’ll admit, there’s a lot here to wrap your head around, so much so that you might not know which report to tackle first. But don’t worry; we’ve summarized the key details in each report below.
2023 Mobile Ad Creative Index




Why read this: Our 2023 Mobile Ad Creative Index report has everything you need to know about the most prominent ad creative trends across five key app verticals: gaming, e-commerce, finance, entertainment, and dating & social.
Notable takeaways
The biggest takeaway here is that longer video ads have proven to be more effective than their shorter counterparts, with many mobile UA managers adding videos between 31-60 seconds long to their creative arsenal and seeing material performance gains. The report also found that playable ads remain the most cost-effective option for driving installs on gaming apps, with an average CPI of $1.31.
2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report




Why read this: Our 2023 Casual Gaming Apps Report is designed to help gaming advertisers and mobile game marketers get the best value out of their ad spend. It includes advertising cost and revenue benchmarks, an inside look at the mobile gaming genres driving the most installs, and details on all the must-know casual gaming trends (courtesy of GameRefinery).
Notable takeaways
We don’t want to spoil the full report. Still, some of the most significant findings include that simulation games offer the best deal for installs at $0.59, iOS users are three times more expensive than Android users to target for casual gaming apps, and hyper-casual games are evolving into “hybrid-casual winners.”
2023 Midcore Gaming Apps Report




Why read this: Based on over 30 billion impressions and more than 5.5 million installs, our 2023 Midcore Gaming Apps Report contains a comprehensive breakdown of essential ad cost and ROI benchmarks that mobile marketers thought they could only dream of. It also includes an overview of the highest-grossing midcore game on the US iOS market and information on the latest trends driving engagement in the midcore market.
Notable takeaways
Some of the most eye-opening findings include that October is the cheapest month to market midcore games, shooters are the most expensive midcore genre for user acquisition, and many publishers are launching external web stores for in-game purchases to get around Apple and Google’s store fees.
The State of App Marketing for Subscription Apps




Why read this: Our State of App Marketing for Subscription Apps report, created in collaboration with mobile marketing measurement platform AppsFlyer, reveals the key trends in the subscription app space.
Notable takeaways
The findings show that while user acquisition spending and non-organic installs have decreased (41% on Android and 30% on iOS), consumer spending on subscription-based apps has increased considerably in 2023 (35% on iOS, 22% on Android). Many users are now either subscribing to more services or absorbing price hikes to their existing subscriptions, providing app developers with a predictable monetization and revenue stream.
2023 Holiday Guide for E-Commerce Apps




Why read this: Our 2023 Holiday Guide for E-Commerce Apps breaks down seasonal changes in CPI and CPA across platforms and regions to help marketers get the best return on their seasonal ad spend.
Notable takeaways
Some of the most important findings include early to mid-October being the most economical time to target new users and CPA-purchase costs being more variable on iOS than Android. The guide also contains a hidden bonus from the experts at Liftoff’s Creative Studio, an overview of the best practices mobile marketers should follow over the holidays, such as gamifying seasonal promotions and sparking a personal connection with your target audience.
2023 Guide to Supply Path Optimization




Why read this: Supply Path Optimization (SPO) is a process of evaluating and reducing the number of intermediaries to offer advertisers more direct pathways to ad supply. Over the last few years, it’s become crucial to mobile marketing strategies. Even so, many advertisers still have many questions about how it works in mobile in-app advertising, and this is where our 2023 Guide to Supply Path Optimization comes in.
Notable takeaways
In this guide, we explain the basics of how SPO works in programmatic ad buying, discuss how it became so vital to advertisers in the first place, and highlight its many benefits, including reduced tech costs, enhanced performance, and improved inventory quality. 
2024 App Marketer Survey




Why read this: The past year has been eventful for mobile marketers. Advancements in ML and generative AI began to have a transformative impact on ways of working, ID deprecation has continued to draw concerns, and alternative channels such as CTV and out-of-home advertising have seen an unexpected growth in popularity. With all this going on, what will the future of mobile advertising look like?
Notable takeaways
To answer that question, we surveyed mobile marketing pros from companies worldwide to get their views on the past 12 months and produce the 2024 App Marketer Survey. You should check out the full report for the complete overview. Still, key findings include 60% of marketers chasing more aggressive KPI targets (and working with more partners to reach them) and over half of respondents only using an MMP’s attribution modeling.
Keep it locked to the Liftoff blog and follow us on LinkedIn to get the practical insight mobile marketing pros rely on →
The post Take Your Mobile Marketing to the Next Level With Liftoff’s 2023 Reports and Guides appeared first on Liftoff.

As we look to the year ahead, the outlook seems optimistic for the mobile market. After a prolonged downturn, smartphone sales are expected to bounce back. Mobile gaming revenue is projected to increase by 4% YoY in 2024, marking a return to form after falling for the first time in over a decade. To top […]
The post Take Your Mobile Marketing to the Next Level With Liftoff’s 2023 Reports and Guides appeared first on Liftoff.

Take Your Mobile Marketing to the Next Level With Liftoff’s 2023 Reports and Guides

It’s a new year for mobile marketers, which means a new set of challenges to overcome. Our Mobile Heroes have got you covered if you&#8217;re looking for guidance. Over the past 12 months, this global community of over 3,600 app marketers, monetization experts, and game developers spread across the mobile ecosystem have been sharing their [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/19-tips-and-tricks-from-liftoffs-2023-mobile-heroes/">19 Tips and Tricks From Liftoff’s 2023 Mobile Heroes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

It’s a new year for mobile marketers, which means a new set of challenges to overcome. Our Mobile Heroes have got you covered if you’re looking for guidance. Over the past 12 months, this global community of over 3,600 app marketers, monetization experts, and game developers spread across the mobile ecosystem have been sharing their best bits of mobile marketing advice with us, from how to design attention-grabbing creative to top-notch testing strategies and networking tips.
Below, we dive into some of our Mobile Heroes’ most insightful recommendations, bringing together the wisdom of knowledgeable industry experts like Janice Gao, Director of Growth Marketing at Big Fish Games, Paula Neves, Senior Product Manager at Zynga, and Winnie Wen, VP of User Acquisition at Jam City.
General mobile marketing wisdom
It doesn’t matter what your specialty is; these bits of Mobile Hero wisdom are something anyone in the industry could benefit from taking on board.
Trust your team
Mobile marketers have their work cut out, with UA costs rising and fierce competition. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to make life easier. Jam City’s Winnie Wen says one of the easiest mistakes to avoid is doing everything independently—put your faith in your team and work together to achieve results.
“One of the more challenging parts of our jobs is letting go and entrusting others to take on various projects and initiatives. I know my team is fully capable and will crush it, but it’s easy to stretch yourself too thin and try to tackle everything firsthand. That just simply isn’t feasible in today’s environment.” — Winnie Wen, VP of User Acquisition
Working with creators? Then embrace authenticity
With TikTok skyrocketing in popularity over the last couple of years, it’s no surprise that many mobile marketers have been turning to influencers to supercharge their UA campaigns. This can be an effective combo, but it’s important to note that you should embrace the same aesthetic when you work with UGC creators to make ads.
“UGC ads don’t need to feel like polished brand commercials. Instead, lean into the rough social media vibe that makes the creator seem trustworthy and familiar. It’ll lead to longer video completion rates and increased conversions.” — Nicole Danser, Senior Manager of Creative Strategy and Production, Influence, at Liftoff
Unlock the power of automation and AI
The advancements in generative AI and automation over the past year have turned these two technologies into hot topics among mobile marketers. The only thing is that many marketers still haven’t yet figured out how to utilize these tools to their full potential.
Harry Phillips, Creative Strategist at Product Madness, worked with ChatGPT itself to come up with a few ideas:





“One of the most significant advantages of using automation and AI in mobile marketing is the ability to personalize the user experience. By collecting data on users’ behavior and preferences, companies can tailor their marketing messages to specific audience segments, leading to higher engagement rates.”
“Predictive analytics can be used to analyze user behavior and predict which users are most likely to take a specific action. For example, a mobile game could use predictive analytics to identify users likely to make an in-app purchase and target them with special offers.”
“Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) is a process that uses AI to optimize the content of a marketing message in real time. This allows companies to test and refine their messages based on performance, leading to higher engagement rates and conversions.”
Tips to supercharge your creative
With so much competition on the market, throwing everything you’ve got into your ad creative can be tempting. These tips demonstrate the value of a considered approach that values simplicity above all else.
Keep your ads simple with the three Ws
Users spend hours browsing their phones every day and will naturally encounter hundreds, if not thousands, of different ads. Your ads must be simple and straight to the point to grab their attention quickly. Christian Gaitan from Banza makes this simple with three easy-to-follow guidelines.
Who am I speaking to? Make the name, log, and brand visible.
What am I saying? The message must be clear and concise, as in not too wordy.
Why should they listen to me? Calls to action should align with user expectations.
Create compelling visuals, copy, and CTAs
While keeping things simple is essential, you must also use impactful copy, visuals, and CTAs to get noticed. Lomit Patel from Tynker laid out some sound principles to follow:
Aim to achieve a seamless experience from the ad to the landing page. Website content should carry the same look and feel as the ad.
Use simple images that are easy for the eye to recognize. Never use images to fill space and ensure they visually communicate the copy.
Design your creative with clearly defined borders, which draws visitors’ eyes to the ad. The color scheme should also reflect your brand guidelines and landing pages.
Too much copy can be overwhelming, and most users won’t read it. Take your cue from billboards, which limit themselves to eight easily readable words.
Limit your typography to two fonts per ad and only bold vital information.
Update your funnel to improve CVR and ROI
Do you have an ad with excellent CTR, but needs help regarding its conversion rate (CVR) and ROI? According to mobile hero Thomas Hopkins, the likely issue is that you haven’t updated your funnel to capitalize on the users who have shown an interest.
“Imagine waking down the street and seeing an acrylic electric guitar that catches your eye. But when you enter the store, there are only traditional acoustic guitars. You’ll immediately turn around and walk out. This happens when your funnel does not align with your ad.” — Thomas Hopkins, Growthops.us
Highlight rewards and drive home your app’s value prop
One factor that helped Rei do Pitaco’s Performance Marketing Coordinator Pedro Lucina improve user acquisition was spotlighting rewards. Lucina states each business must present its key value or core benefit to the user. When allowed to experiment with creative, you should review how you highlight your main benefits, as you’ll likely see higher UA numbers if these haven’t yet been placed front and center.
Meaningful metrics and user motivations
Mobile marketers spend hours analyzing spreadsheets. Even so, seeing the forest (solution) for the trees (data) can sometimes be challenging. Thankfully, these tips highlight some areas where important patterns often go amiss.
Estimate for incrementality
Performance marketers maximize business volume metrics by matching efficiency and budget constraints. A business volume metric—revenue, gross margin, or active users—usually comes from an attribution model that uses a rule to split the total volume across different marketing channels. Unfortunately, attribution rules don’t fully explain what part of sales happens because of ads.
What can help, however, is having an estimate for incrementality, which is the volume that would vanish from your company’s total numbers if paid was turned off. For example, suppose attributed sales are above incremental ones. In that case, the actual CPA will be higher than what the company sees in its reports. — Guilherme Ude Braz, Marketing Senior Director at Mercado Libre
Overcome privacy regulations through user motivations
In the past, successfully managing a creative framework was highly dependent on understanding user data. Still, the changes to privacy regulations have restricted the level of information available to mobile marketers. Instead, results now hinge on knowing what motivates users to keep playing.
“Understanding demography and player motivations helps us develop in-game concepts that tie directly into what our users care about. What do they enjoy most about each level? What are the features that stand out most to each user? Those are the product aspects we should integrate into our thinking; it should be more than just marketing.” — Janice Gao, Director of Growth Marketing at Big Fish Games
Don’t forget about ARPU
“Tracking average revenue per user (ARPU) allows advertisers to identify the maximum CPI they can afford to pay for a user, compare revenue performance across different user segments, and improve monetization strategies accordingly. By monitoring changes in ARPU over time, advertisers can evaluate the impact of updates, events, promotions, or different tests on user buying behaviors and make decisions based on the increase in the revenue per user.” — Plamen Stefanov, User Acquisition Manager at Tactile Games
Consider targeting broader markets and regions
“Busy markets such as the US and Europe are first on the list for many mobile marketers but aren’t always the most economical options. LATAM represents an excellent opportunity for marketers as one of the largest single markets in the world, with a massive number of people purchasing on mobile in games, e-commerce, and other categories.
“However, marketers should be wary of the costs, as the quality of users can be lower in terms of value even though it’s cheaper. Don’t make apples-to-apples comparisons with other markets; factor in the quality of the user into performance analysis.” — Eduardo London, Head of Growth, International B2C, at Hopper
Never underestimate the value of testing
If there’s one thing our Mobile Heroes like to do above all else, it’s tests—and no, we’re not talking about a midterm exam. Testing and iterating have been the key drivers behind the success of many of our Heroes, and below, they explain some of their biggest takeaways.
Test to understand your target audience better
Understanding your user’s motivations is the key to long-term engagement. Work closely with your data analysts to look at data and understand why players are responding to certain features and updates in a certain way, then look at how you can put these insights to the test to improve the overall user experience.
“The data shows you what is happening but doesn’t always show you why. Sometimes, you need to do additional tests, like user tests, to show you exactly why the data is going that way.” — Paula Neves, Lead Product Manager at Zynga
Testing should be ongoing—never one-and-done
“As a best practice, you should A/B test different creative formats, messages, CTAs, images, or videos to determine the best-performing ads for the different target audiences at various stages of their customer journey. Iterate on the winning ads by creating slight variations, then rinse and repeat the tests on an ongoing basis.” — Lomit Patel, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Tynker
Enhance testing strategies using new products and tools
Natalia Simdianova, Head of Ad Monetization at ZiMAD, recommends digging into advanced bidding solutions to determine the best structure for your business and its A/B testing. She notes that while a hybrid waterfall setup (a traditional waterfall combined with an advanced bidding slot) can sometimes work for one network, it may not work for others. Try different configurations to find a win-win structure.
She also says: “To meet company KPIs, monetization managers must also use various analytics tools to find areas for optimization. The digital revolution has had a profound impact on our daily routine. We can now capture and process data in real-time—or close to it. Google Analytics, Firebase, and Looker Studio Analytics can offer insights into monetization issues.”
Define your process and test with a purpose
You must have a clear goal and process when testing ad creatives. Concepts are helpful because they define new ideas to test. When you find creative concepts that demonstrate success, focus on iteration—improving them by making small changes.
“When I first started working on creatives, I experimented with as many ad categories, formats, types, and visual elements as I could. After a few months of research and conversations with my colleagues, my team and I streamlined the process by dividing everything into concepts and iterations. This not only made the experience of working together more organized, but it also impacted campaign performance.” — Pedro Lucina, Performance Marketing Coordinator at Rei do Pitaco
Testing is key for UGC
Influencers can develop concepts that even seasoned brand marketers would never have conceived when given the freedom to do what they do best. According to Nicole Danser, Senior Manager of Creative Strategy and Production, Influence, at Liftoff, this is why testing is so important:
“Try out a few different styles of ads and types of creators at once—top performers will quickly emerge that will provide invaluable insights into how to iterate and improve. In addition, be open to testing new formats. Skit-style videos, dancing trends, and pointing to text boxes with an engaging beat drop all may seem unusual for UA, but give them a try. These styles are familiar to the average consumer, so their performance can surprise you.”
The power of partnerships
Teamwork is vital for success on mobile, and we’re not just referring to those colleagues sitting near your desk. Having the right ad partners behind you can transform your strategy into a record-breaking success. These tips show you how to get started.
Leverage your networking skills whenever possible
You should be prepared to communicate with all your mobile advertising sources, build relationships, and keep an open mind. Always be bold and learn something new from other professionals by asking questions and for more information.
“Building a robust network takes time, but there are plenty of social channels and networking opportunities to get in touch with people. To ensure success as a monetization manager in a dynamic environment, it is crucial to actively participate in panel discussions, register for webinars, and plan QBR (quarterly business review) calls with partners.” — Natalia Simdianova, Head of Ad Monetization at ZiMAD
Don’t underestimate the power of in-person meetings
Developing successful partnerships can lead to increased market share, expanded DAU and downloads, and better brand recognition, improving the bottom line—but this is often easier said than done. One of the best ways to develop good relationships with contacts is to put the time aside to meet in person. Attending industry events is an excellent way of doing this.
“If you’re struggling, the key thing to remember is that relationships take time. The COVID-19 pandemic put much more emphasis on Zoom, but I’d highly recommend meeting in person to build partnerships where possible. While you don’t need to share your life story, giving away some aspects of your personal life can also help make a connection outside of business.” — Gabby Bradford Pigott, VP of Partnerships at Candywriter
Proactively research your marketing partners
“Regardless of region, your first step as a marketer should be to find trusted partners. Be it CEOs, CMOs, or other marketer leaders, most people are happy to answer questions and give an honest response. However, it’s not enough to just rely on partners; always talk to other UA managers and get their thoughts about a specific partner or a new channel before laying out any formal agreements.” — Etienne de Guébriant, Chief Marketing Officer at Gazeus Games
Check out some of our insightful Guides and Reports for even more tactical advice to boost your mobile marketing strategy →
The post 19 Tips and Tricks From Liftoff’s 2023 Mobile Heroes appeared first on Liftoff.

It’s a new year for mobile marketers, which means a new set of challenges to overcome. Our Mobile Heroes have got you covered if you’re looking for guidance. Over the past 12 months, this global community of over 3,600 app marketers, monetization experts, and game developers spread across the mobile ecosystem have been sharing their […]
The post 19 Tips and Tricks From Liftoff’s 2023 Mobile Heroes appeared first on Liftoff.

19 Tips and Tricks From Liftoff’s 2023 Mobile Heroes

Liftoff is working with its partners to ensure compliance with all privacy policy changes happening in the app economy, including Google’s requirements related to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) and Apple’s Privacy Manifest requirements. GDPR compliance and Google’s Transparency and Consent Framework Since January 16, 2024, Google started requiring mobile app publishers to implement [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-privacy-changes-google-tcf-apple-manifest/">Adapting to Privacy Changes: Our Approach to Google&#8217;s Transparency Consent Framework and Apple&#8217;s Privacy Manifest</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

<div class="speechify-ipvczq">Liftoff is working with its partners to ensure compliance with all privacy policy changes happening in the app economy, including <a href="https://blog.google/products/adsense/new-consent-management-platform-requirements-for-serving-ads-in-the-eea-and-uk/">Google’s requirements related to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF)</a> and <a href="https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10060/">Apple’s Privacy Manifest</a> requirements.</div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">GDPR compliance and Google’s Transparency and Consent Framework</h3>



<div class="speechify-ipvczq">Since January 16, 2024, Google started requiring mobile app publishers to implement the Transparency and Consent Framework 2.2 (TCF) user consent for showing ads to users in the EEA and the UK.</div>
<div class="speechify-ipvczq">Liftoff Monetize will be working alongside the new consent flow via Google’s <a href="https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/9681920?hl=en">Additional Consent mode</a> (AC mode). For our Google-mediated publishers, we recommend following these two steps to be well-positioned for the upcoming changes:</div>



<ol class="wp-block-list" style="--speechifyclicktoplayelemcolor: #333333; --speechifyclicktoplayhighlightsentenceinfo: 38,3,807.7421875,19.8,38,27,10,19.8,44,27,84.96875,19.8,44,27,84.96875,19.8,124.96875,27,4.3125,19.8; background-image: paint(speechifyClickToPlay), paint(speechifyReadingNow); --speechifyclicktoplaysentencehighlightcolordark: rgba(204, 160, 80, 0.7); --speechifyclicktoplaysentencehighlightcolorlight: rgba(255, 200, 100, 0.7); --speechifyclicktoplaywordhighlightcolordark: rgba(204, 160, 80, 0.7); --speechifyclicktoplaywordhighlightcolorlight: rgba(255, 200, 100, 0.7); --speechifyreadingnowelemcolor: #333333; --speechifyreadingnowhighlightsentenceinfo: 789.8046875,75,45,19.8,38,99,645.2109375,19.8,679.2109375,99,39.8203125,19.8,38,123,155.3203125,19.8,679.2109375,99,39.8203125,19.8,38,123,155.3203125,19.8,189.3203125,123,4.3125,19.8; --speechifyreadingnowsentencehighlightcolordark: #374b64; --speechifyreadingnowsentencehighlightcolorlight: #E6E8FF; --speechifyreadingnowwordhighlightcolordark: #3a72e0; --speechifyreadingnowwordhighlightcolorlight: #B4BBFE; --speechifyreadingnowhighlightwordinfo: 679.2109375,99,39.8203125,19.8; --speechifyreadingnowhighlightwordclipinfo: 679.2109375,99,39.8203125,19.8;" data-speechifyclicktoplay-highlight="true" data-speechifyclicktoplay-no-background="true" data-speechifyreadingnow-highlight="true">
<li style="cursor: default;" title="">Make sure that you are using the consent management platform (CMP) that supports Google&#8217;s Additional Consent (AC) mode. Please reach out to your CMP to confirm this.</li>



<li>Ensure that you are sending user consent parameters via our GDPR API as described in Option 1 in our <a href="https://support.vungle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048572411-Advanced-Settings#gdpr-recommended-implementation-instructions-0-1">documentation</a>. This signal is needed for monetizing EEA and the UK users in compliance with the GDPR. If you have any questions about GDPR API, please feel free to reach out to our Technical Support <a href="mailto:tech-support@vungle.com">tech-support@vungle.com</a>.</li>
</ol>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Xcode 15 &amp; Apple Privacy Manifest</h3>



<div class="speechify-ipvczq">Since Fall 2023, Apple started alerting developers who do not include all requirements for <a href="https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10060/">Privacy Manifest</a> for their app and 3rd party SDKs via email. In May 2024, any developer app in violation of these requirements will not be accepted in App Store Connect. You can read more about Apple’s enforcement timeline <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://developer.apple.com/news/?id%3D3d8a9yyh&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1710179195552301&amp;usg=AOvVaw1gUBSS5U1rcsUbgr-GVBHl">here</a>. </div>



<div class="speechify-ipvczq">Upcoming Apple Privacy Manifest changes include: </div>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/privacy_manifest_files/describing_use_of_required_reason_api">Required reasons for APIs</a>: Component that needs to be included in the privacy manifest- certain API types (there are 5) will need to have a defined reason as to why they are being used.</li>



<li>Data usage categories/dictionary: <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/privacy_manifest_files/describing_data_use_in_privacy_manifests#4250555/">Apple has asked</a> app developers to add a ‘dictionary’ in the privacy manifest explaining the usage of specific categories of data that their app or third-party SDK collects.</li>



<li>Preventive blocking: <a href="https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/">External domains</a> must be declared as “tracking” or “non-tracking”- some may be blocked preemptively until a user provides consent.</li>
</ul>



<div>Liftoff’s SDK v7.3.1 includes Privacy Manifest support. Please download the latest SDK <a href="https://liftoff.io/monetize/vungle-sdk/">here</a> and include it in your upcoming app submission. SDK v7.3.1 uses xcode15 to report the two required reason APIs that we use in our own manifest file (Disk Space, User Defaults). This SDK version (or later SDK versions) will be required in your app submissions after May 1, 2024. Adapters will subsequently be certified and released by mediation.</div>
<div> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">&gt;<a href="https://liftoff.io/monetize/vungle-sdk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download the latest Vungle SDK&lt;</a></div>
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-privacy-changes-google-tcf-apple-manifest/">Adapting to Privacy Changes: Our Approach to Google&#8217;s Transparency Consent Framework and Apple&#8217;s Privacy Manifest</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Liftoff is working with its partners to ensure compliance with all privacy policy changes happening in the app economy, including Google’s requirements related to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) and Apple’s Privacy Manifest requirements.




GDPR compliance and Google’s Transparency and Consent Framework




Since January 16, 2024, Google started requiring mobile app publishers to implement the Transparency and Consent Framework 2.2 (TCF) user consent for showing ads to users in the EEA and the UK.

Liftoff Monetize will be working alongside the new consent flow via Google’s Additional Consent mode (AC mode). For our Google-mediated publishers, we recommend following these two steps to be well-positioned for the upcoming changes:





Make sure that you are using the consent management platform (CMP) that supports Google’s Additional Consent (AC) mode. Please reach out to your CMP to confirm this.




Ensure that you are sending user consent parameters via our GDPR API as described in Option 1 in our documentation. This signal is needed for monetizing EEA and the UK users in compliance with the GDPR. If you have any questions about GDPR API, please feel free to reach out to our Technical Support tech-support@vungle.com.





Xcode 15 & Apple Privacy Manifest




Since Fall 2023, Apple started alerting developers who do not include all requirements for Privacy Manifest for their app and 3rd party SDKs via email. In May 2024, any developer app in violation of these requirements will not be accepted in App Store Connect. You can read more about Apple’s enforcement timeline here. 




Upcoming Apple Privacy Manifest changes include: 





Required reasons for APIs: Component that needs to be included in the privacy manifest- certain API types (there are 5) will need to have a defined reason as to why they are being used.




Data usage categories/dictionary: Apple has asked app developers to add a ‘dictionary’ in the privacy manifest explaining the usage of specific categories of data that their app or third-party SDK collects.




Preventive blocking: External domains must be declared as “tracking” or “non-tracking”- some may be blocked preemptively until a user provides consent.





Liftoff’s SDK v7.3.1 includes Privacy Manifest support. Please download the latest SDK here and include it in your upcoming app submission. SDK v7.3.1 uses xcode15 to report the two required reason APIs that we use in our own manifest file (Disk Space, User Defaults). This SDK version (or later SDK versions) will be required in your app submissions after May 1, 2024. Adapters will subsequently be certified and released by mediation.

 

>Download the latest Vungle SDK<

The post Adapting to Privacy Changes: Our Approach to Google’s Transparency Consent Framework and Apple’s Privacy Manifest appeared first on Liftoff.

Liftoff is working with its partners to ensure compliance with all privacy policy changes happening in the app economy, including Google’s requirements related to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) and Apple’s Privacy Manifest requirements. GDPR compliance and Google’s Transparency and Consent Framework Since January 16, 2024, Google started requiring mobile app publishers to implement […]
The post Adapting to Privacy Changes: Our Approach to Google’s Transparency Consent Framework and Apple’s Privacy Manifest appeared first on Liftoff.

Adapting to Privacy Changes: Our Approach to Google’s Transparency Consent Framework and Apple’s Privacy Manifest

We are thrilled to announce the Vungle SDK is now IAB Tech Lab certified for Open Measurement (OM) SDK measurement across all ad formats. Developed by the IAB Tech Lab, the OM SDK is the mobile app ecosystem’s industry standard for third-party viewability measurement. It enables advertisers to collect viewability measurement for their campaigns via [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-upgrades-vungle-sdk-with-open-measurement-sdk-certification/">Liftoff Upgrades Vungle SDK With Open Measurement SDK Certification</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

We are thrilled to announce the Vungle SDK is now IAB Tech Lab certified for Open Measurement (OM) SDK measurement across all ad formats.



Developed by the IAB Tech Lab, the <a href="https://iabtechlab.com/standards/open-measurement-sdk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OM SDK</a> is the mobile app ecosystem’s industry standard for third-party viewability measurement. It enables advertisers to collect viewability measurement for their campaigns via any OM-supported measurement vendor in a standardized, industry-verified way.



We have been longtime supporters of the OM standard and are thrilled to upgrade our support to include native on SDK 7.1+ for Android and 7.2+ for iOS. You can begin running your OM-compliant fullscreen, banner, and native campaigns through the <a href="https://liftoff.io/exchange/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vungle Exchange</a> today!



<a href="https://support.vungle.com/hc/en-us/articles/22689021441947-Viewability-Tracking" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Check out our documentation or contact your account manager for more information  →</a>
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/liftoff-upgrades-vungle-sdk-with-open-measurement-sdk-certification/">Liftoff Upgrades Vungle SDK With Open Measurement SDK Certification</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

We are thrilled to announce the Vungle SDK is now IAB Tech Lab certified for Open Measurement (OM) SDK measurement across all ad formats.
Developed by the IAB Tech Lab, the OM SDK is the mobile app ecosystem’s industry standard for third-party viewability measurement. It enables advertisers to collect viewability measurement for their campaigns via any OM-supported measurement vendor in a standardized, industry-verified way.
We have been longtime supporters of the OM standard and are thrilled to upgrade our support to include native on SDK 7.1+ for Android and 7.2+ for iOS. You can begin running your OM-compliant fullscreen, banner, and native campaigns through the Vungle Exchange today!
Check out our documentation or contact your account manager for more information  →
The post Liftoff Upgrades Vungle SDK With Open Measurement SDK Certification appeared first on Liftoff.

We are thrilled to announce the Vungle SDK is now IAB Tech Lab certified for Open Measurement (OM) SDK measurement across all ad formats. Developed by the IAB Tech Lab, the OM SDK is the mobile app ecosystem’s industry standard for third-party viewability measurement. It enables advertisers to collect viewability measurement for their campaigns via […]
The post Liftoff Upgrades Vungle SDK With Open Measurement SDK Certification appeared first on Liftoff.

Liftoff Upgrades Vungle SDK With Open Measurement SDK Certification

Liftoff is proud to honor the outstanding contributions of mobile game studios in shaping the future of gaming. Now in its third year, the Mobile GameDev Awards highlight the importance of LiveOps events in enhancing user engagement and driving revenue growth. Learn more here!
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/announcing-the-2024-mobile-gamedev-awards/">Announcing the 2024 Mobile GameDev Awards</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Liftoff is proud to honor the outstanding contributions of mobile game studios in shaping the future of gaming. Now in its third year, the Mobile GameDev Awards highlight the importance of LiveOps events in enhancing user engagement and driving revenue growth.
<a href="https://info.liftoff.io/2024-mobile-gamedev-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learn more here!</a>
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/announcing-the-2024-mobile-gamedev-awards/">Announcing the 2024 Mobile GameDev Awards</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Liftoff is proud to honor the outstanding contributions of mobile game studios in shaping the future of gaming. Now in its third year, the Mobile GameDev Awards highlight the importance of LiveOps events in enhancing user engagement and driving revenue growth.
Learn more here!
The post Announcing the 2024 Mobile GameDev Awards appeared first on Liftoff.

Liftoff is proud to honor the outstanding contributions of mobile game studios in shaping the future of gaming. Now in its third year, the Mobile GameDev Awards highlight the importance of LiveOps events in enhancing user engagement and driving revenue growth. Learn more here!
The post Announcing the 2024 Mobile GameDev Awards appeared first on Liftoff.

Announcing the 2024 Mobile GameDev Awards

Successful mobile advertising has always relied on quality data, and generative AI programs are making it faster and easier for mobile marketers to leverage their data to improve the scale and speed of ad production and campaign optimization.&#160; AI tools from Bard to Midjourney are also changing how marketers design, test, and scale creatives. But [&#8230;]
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/webinar-recap-generative-ai-mobile-ad-creatives/">Webinar Recap: Generative AI in Mobile Ad Creatives</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Successful mobile advertising has always relied on quality data, and generative AI programs are making it faster and easier for mobile marketers to leverage their data to improve the scale and speed of ad production and campaign optimization.&nbsp;



AI tools from Bard to Midjourney are also changing how marketers design, test, and scale creatives. But how are the industry’s leading experts putting these tools to the test? And what advice can they offer to help those who are only starting to use these tools in their workflows? 



To find out, we gathered leading experts from the mobile advertising space for a <a href="https://liftoff.io/resources/webinar/gen-ai-mobile-ad-creatives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">webinar </a>moderated by Aidan Quest, Senior Director of Generative AI at Liftoff. We asked them to share their advice on the transformative applications of generative AI in mobile ad creatives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">How App Marketers Can Leverage Generative AI Technology</h2>



Generative AI tools are a great way to drive campaign performance. In addition to campaign and creative ideation, generative AI tools can be implemented into workflows to quickly test and iterate hundreds of ad creative concepts, helping to determine the creatives that best capture users&#8217; attention.&nbsp;



<a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/a-qa-with-product-madness-ayse-betul-eser-on-her-career-in-user-acquisition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Betul Ozdemir</a>, UA Manager at leading social casino operator <a href="https://www.productmadness.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Product Madness</a>, uses generative AI for ideation and testing. She thinks a key benefit of generative AI is testing and modifying existing video and hybrid creatives for programmatic channels. This saves money on having to A/B test multiple formats in the market. 



“With AI, we can predict which creative will be the winner with a small amount of money,” Ozdemir says. “After that test, we know which elements of the video are working, and we can iterate from those videos.”



Generative AI tools can also be a valuable asset to the creative production cycle, as Shamanth Rao, CEO of mobile user acquisition firm <a href="https://www.rocketshiphq.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rocketship HQ</a>, explains: 



“Researching and coming up with new ideas and analyses is something that I think is a less appreciated aspect of generative AI. It could be, ‘Hey, we run these ten scripts. Here&#8217;s the metric from the ten scripts. What can you infer from this?’ You would be surprised by what you come up with.”&nbsp;



Liftoff’s Aiden Quest highlights the vast pool of free learning and development resources available and how they can educate relative newcomers on the practical benefits of generative AI tools and how to implement them. A basic level of knowledge is required, especially on the prompting side, because AI output is only as good as the data that’s feeding it.&nbsp;



“I think from an organizational perspective, there are a lot of really great resources out there, from Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn. Organizations should try and get people more comfortable with this technology, and learning and development is a great place to start. Prompt engineering can be sort of a scary phrase, but all it means is asking good questions, which everyone is able to do.”&nbsp;



If you’re interested in further reading, check out <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/5-ways-to-boost-creative-performance-with-generative-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">5 ways to boost creative performance with generative AI</a>. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Using Generative AI to Test Ad Creative: Best Practice</h2>



One of the biggest benefits of generative AI in the mobile ad world is to test vast quantities of ad creative at scale. But what components of ad creative can be tested using generative AI? And how can you make sure these tests are efficient enough for the outcomes to deliver the performance you need for your campaigns?&nbsp;



According to Max Barer, Head of Creative Optimization at mobile marketing SaaS platform <a href="https://www.appsflyer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AppsFlyer</a>, the scale of mobile ad creative testing is ramping up. 



“Just think about how easy it is to produce hundreds of variations of the same creative while playing with text, buttons, colors, and backgrounds,” Barer says. “That&#8217;s so easy. And it creates a new bottleneck because the testing budgets eventually are limited.”&nbsp;



One of the easiest ways to avoid a potential bottleneck is by pre-testing the testing phases of your ad creative. This might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. It just requires clearly defined objectives and A/B testing across your various ad creatives to ensure only the best aspects of your creative are making it through.&nbsp;



Or, as Betul Ozdemir explains:&nbsp;



“Gen AI creatives are not very different than the other creative testing processes. But, when testing and iterating AI-denoted ad creatives, it&#8217;s essential to set a clear objective and define what you want to achieve with the ads. This might be higher CTR, higher increased conversion ratios, or higher loss.



“Also, it’s super essential to look at the scalability of the creative you&#8217;re producing,” Ozdemir continues. “So if the creative is not scaling in a BAU environment, it means that even though it is a winner, it is not a good ad.”&nbsp;



Rockship HQ’s Shamanth Rao believes it’s important to look beyond strict A/B testing and tap into other testing, such as hook tests, rather than just contact tests.&nbsp;



“Basically, we test 10 different hooks (the first three seconds) and see which one&#8217;s resonating—because 60 percent of people never get past your first three seconds,” Rao says. “So if you&#8217;re testing the entire concept, you&#8217;re not reaching most people. I&#8217;d rather we test the visual hooks first. I wouldn’t do a strict A/B test, because that would cost a lot. Let the algorithms dictate which creative is scalable.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">Ensuring Generative AI Ad Creative Stays On-Brand</h2>



Of course, when you’re using generative AI tools at scale, you need to make sure that any ad creative you’re producing adheres to brand guidelines and doesn’t infringe on IP. So, how can you make sure that’s the case?&nbsp;



Shamanth Rao uses a method he dubs ‘modularization,’ where certain aspects of ad creative, such as narrative elements, storylines, and visual cues, are treated as their own building blocks with separate approvals.&nbsp;



“We can iterate on those building blocks and get a lot of different creative spend easily,” Rao says.&nbsp;



AppFlyer’s Max Barer says that AI can actually be a good way of ensuring AI ad creative stays within guidelines if systems are being fed the right data. However, this would require implementing a custom GPT as part of an AI gateway, which ensures compliance with the GPT&#8217;s usage limits. Your custom GP can also be used to enforce other brand guidelines, such as tone of voice, in creative copy.&nbsp;



“You can teach AI your own data, like brand and style guidelines and other elements affecting creative. This can be a gateway or not a gateway because you still want to rely on that. You have a brand and an IP to protect.”



This makes it easier to filter out outliers or ad creative that isn’t considered ‘brand safe’.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading is-style-title-md">How App Marketers Can Find Success with Generative AI </h2>



There’s great potential in the growing popularity of generative AI tools within app marketing, so many clients of ad networks and performance marketing agencies will likely be using these tools themselves.&nbsp;



With that in mind, how can app marketers deliver the best value to their clients and differentiate themselves?&nbsp;



The answer, according to Liftoff’s Aiden Quest, is reliable data. After all, data is the one thing that’s truly bespoke to companies. A lot depends on how companies collect and use their data, and generative AI tools and machine learning products are only as good as their data inputs. Gathering this data now and thinking about how it can be used in the future is one of the easiest ways for performance marketers to stay ahead in a fiercely competitive marketplace such as app marketing.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Do the work now to get your data ready for these future models that can leverage a higher amount of data or a wider amount of signal with multimodal models and things like video,” Quest says. “Think strategically about what data you have that you use daily that helps differentiate you from the market; how can you package that data together in a way that the models will be able to ingest them even now or in the future?”&nbsp;



AppsFlyer’s Max Barer agrees.&nbsp;



“Data is key, and automation is key. You need to prepare your processes to streamline the cycle. It&#8217;s an infinite loop. It&#8217;s a flywheel of producing creatives, testing, running them in production, collecting data, analyzing, getting insights, and feeding that loop back again. And that&#8217;s the way to win. The process should be automated.” 



If you’d like to learn more about using generative AI for mobile ad creative, <a href="https://liftoff.io/resources/webinar/gen-ai-mobile-ad-creatives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">watch the full webinar on demand</a>.
The post <a href="https://liftoff.io/blog/webinar-recap-generative-ai-mobile-ad-creatives/">Webinar Recap: Generative AI in Mobile Ad Creatives</a> appeared first on <a href="https://liftoff.io">Liftoff</a>.

Successful mobile advertising has always relied on quality data, and generative AI programs are making it faster and easier for mobile marketers to leverage their data to improve the scale and speed of ad production and campaign optimization. 
AI tools from Bard to Midjourney are also changing how marketers design, test, and scale creatives. But how are the industry’s leading experts putting these tools to the test? And what advice can they offer to help those who are only starting to use these tools in their workflows? 
To find out, we gathered leading experts from the mobile advertising space for a webinar moderated by Aidan Quest, Senior Director of Generative AI at Liftoff. We asked them to share their advice on the transformative applications of generative AI in mobile ad creatives.
How App Marketers Can Leverage Generative AI Technology
Generative AI tools are a great way to drive campaign performance. In addition to campaign and creative ideation, generative AI tools can be implemented into workflows to quickly test and iterate hundreds of ad creative concepts, helping to determine the creatives that best capture users’ attention. 
Betul Ozdemir, UA Manager at leading social casino operator Product Madness, uses generative AI for ideation and testing. She thinks a key benefit of generative AI is testing and modifying existing video and hybrid creatives for programmatic channels. This saves money on having to A/B test multiple formats in the market. 
“With AI, we can predict which creative will be the winner with a small amount of money,” Ozdemir says. “After that test, we know which elements of the video are working, and we can iterate from those videos.”
Generative AI tools can also be a valuable asset to the creative production cycle, as Shamanth Rao, CEO of mobile user acquisition firm Rocketship HQ, explains: 
“Researching and coming up with new ideas and analyses is something that I think is a less appreciated aspect of generative AI. It could be, ‘Hey, we run these ten scripts. Here’s the metric from the ten scripts. What can you infer from this?’ You would be surprised by what you come up with.” 
Liftoff’s Aiden Quest highlights the vast pool of free learning and development resources available and how they can educate relative newcomers on the practical benefits of generative AI tools and how to implement them. A basic level of knowledge is required, especially on the prompting side, because AI output is only as good as the data that’s feeding it. 
“I think from an organizational perspective, there are a lot of really great resources out there, from Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn. Organizations should try and get people more comfortable with this technology, and learning and development is a great place to start. Prompt engineering can be sort of a scary phrase, but all it means is asking good questions, which everyone is able to do.” 
If you’re interested in further reading, check out 5 ways to boost creative performance with generative AI. 
Using Generative AI to Test Ad Creative: Best Practice
One of the biggest benefits of generative AI in the mobile ad world is to test vast quantities of ad creative at scale. But what components of ad creative can be tested using generative AI? And how can you make sure these tests are efficient enough for the outcomes to deliver the performance you need for your campaigns? 
According to Max Barer, Head of Creative Optimization at mobile marketing SaaS platform AppsFlyer, the scale of mobile ad creative testing is ramping up. 
“Just think about how easy it is to produce hundreds of variations of the same creative while playing with text, buttons, colors, and backgrounds,” Barer says. “That’s so easy. And it creates a new bottleneck because the testing budgets eventually are limited.” 
One of the easiest ways to avoid a potential bottleneck is by pre-testing the testing phases of your ad creative. This might sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. It just requires clearly defined objectives and A/B testing across your various ad creatives to ensure only the best aspects of your creative are making it through. 
Or, as Betul Ozdemir explains: 
“Gen AI creatives are not very different than the other creative testing processes. But, when testing and iterating AI-denoted ad creatives, it’s essential to set a clear objective and define what you want to achieve with the ads. This might be higher CTR, higher increased conversion ratios, or higher loss.
“Also, it’s super essential to look at the scalability of the creative you’re producing,” Ozdemir continues. “So if the creative is not scaling in a BAU environment, it means that even though it is a winner, it is not a good ad.” 
Rockship HQ’s Shamanth Rao believes it’s important to look beyond strict A/B testing and tap into other testing, such as hook tests, rather than just contact tests. 
“Basically, we test 10 different hooks (the first three seconds) and see which one’s resonating—because 60 percent of people never get past your first three seconds,” Rao says. “So if you’re testing the entire concept, you’re not reaching most people. I’d rather we test the visual hooks first. I wouldn’t do a strict A/B test, because that would cost a lot. Let the algorithms dictate which creative is scalable.” 
Ensuring Generative AI Ad Creative Stays On-Brand
Of course, when you’re using generative AI tools at scale, you need to make sure that any ad creative you’re producing adheres to brand guidelines and doesn’t infringe on IP. So, how can you make sure that’s the case? 
Shamanth Rao uses a method he dubs ‘modularization,’ where certain aspects of ad creative, such as narrative elements, storylines, and visual cues, are treated as their own building blocks with separate approvals. 
“We can iterate on those building blocks and get a lot of different creative spend easily,” Rao says. 
AppFlyer’s Max Barer says that AI can actually be a good way of ensuring AI ad creative stays within guidelines if systems are being fed the right data. However, this would require implementing a custom GPT as part of an AI gateway, which ensures compliance with the GPT’s usage limits. Your custom GP can also be used to enforce other brand guidelines, such as tone of voice, in creative copy. 
“You can teach AI your own data, like brand and style guidelines and other elements affecting creative. This can be a gateway or not a gateway because you still want to rely on that. You have a brand and an IP to protect.”
This makes it easier to filter out outliers or ad creative that isn’t considered ‘brand safe’.
How App Marketers Can Find Success with Generative AI 
There’s great potential in the growing popularity of generative AI tools within app marketing, so many clients of ad networks and performance marketing agencies will likely be using these tools themselves. 
With that in mind, how can app marketers deliver the best value to their clients and differentiate themselves? 
The answer, according to Liftoff’s Aiden Quest, is reliable data. After all, data is the one thing that’s truly bespoke to companies. A lot depends on how companies collect and use their data, and generative AI tools and machine learning products are only as good as their data inputs. Gathering this data now and thinking about how it can be used in the future is one of the easiest ways for performance marketers to stay ahead in a fiercely competitive marketplace such as app marketing.  
“Do the work now to get your data ready for these future models that can leverage a higher amount of data or a wider amount of signal with multimodal models and things like video,” Quest says. “Think strategically about what data you have that you use daily that helps differentiate you from the market; how can you package that data together in a way that the models will be able to ingest them even now or in the future?” 
AppsFlyer’s Max Barer agrees. 
“Data is key, and automation is key. You need to prepare your processes to streamline the cycle. It’s an infinite loop. It’s a flywheel of producing creatives, testing, running them in production, collecting data, analyzing, getting insights, and feeding that loop back again. And that’s the way to win. The process should be automated.” 
If you’d like to learn more about using generative AI for mobile ad creative, watch the full webinar on demand.
The post Webinar Recap: Generative AI in Mobile Ad Creatives appeared first on Liftoff.

Successful mobile advertising has always relied on quality data, and generative AI programs are making it faster and easier for mobile marketers to leverage their data to improve the scale and speed of ad production and campaign optimization.  AI tools from Bard to Midjourney are also changing how marketers design, test, and scale creatives. But […]
The post Webinar Recap: Generative AI in Mobile Ad Creatives appeared first on Liftoff.