Building a solid user acquisition strategy

How to create and execute a successful UA strategy for your mobile app

You can have the best app in the world, but without a solid app user acquisition strategy, you’ll struggle to succeed in the hyper-competitive mobile app industry. People need to be able to discover your app, and getting listed in the Apple or Google app store isn’t going to be enough.

The first step in building a successful mobile app business is user acquisition, or UA. UA can be accomplished in various ways—paid and/or organic—but the goal is to attract new users and get more users to install your app at the lowest possible cost. Essentially, it’s about building an audience through strategic marketing efforts.

Beyond actually acquiring new users, an important focus for any UA campaign is creating a positive ROI: You want the revenue your new users generate to be greater than your user acquisition costs.

The importance of mobile app user acquisition is obvious: Apps can only be successful if they have users. What’s less obvious is that quality matters as much as quantity. That’s because you only want to acquire users who will keep your app installed and continue using it. So, a user acquisition strategy for mobile apps should focus on targeting the right users, aiming to be “ROI positive” in your campaigns. The ultimate goal is to grow your app and propel it to the top of the charts.

UA is also important given the competition in almost every app category. Since your user acquisition ads may be the first interaction potential users have with your app or brand, it’s your opportunity to make a splash and really stand out.

It would be great if you could meet user acquisition goals with organic and word-of-mouth campaigns alone, but that’s not typically the case. (In fact, a common misstep many marketers take is over-investing in social media ads at the expense of in-app advertising.) 

Even if the buzz around your app drives a massive spike in installations at launch, it’s not likely to carry your business forever. Running UA campaigns consistently is the best solution to keep the revenue flowing and your app store rankings high.

Successful campaigns fuel your user acquisition strategy. A UA campaign usually involves a strategic combination of paid advertising across digital and mobile channels, organic traffic from search engines and social media, and app store optimization.

Paid media campaigns for UA are typically run through different mobile ad networks. These networks enable developers and studios to run their ads within other apps. With its huge audience and easy targeting options, social media advertising has also been very popular for acquisition campaigns. Developers can also take advantage of their own apps to cross-promote.

Analytics and ongoing optimization are also important to measure and maximize the success of a UA campaign. After all, advertising is an investment in the growth of your app business, so you’ll want to make sure you’re seeing the returns you’re expecting. A successful user acquisition strategy looks at a number of KPIs, including the apps in which ads appear, the cost of acquiring new users, and the lifetime value (LTV), along with the average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) of the users they acquire.

Having an attribution model that works for you is equally important. In addition to hitting your KPIs and knowing your campaigns are effective, it’s helpful to know which channels and which ad creatives are driving the most installs. That way, you can invest more in the channels that work best.

Know your audience

Do you know who your users are? For a successful UA campaign, you’ll need to understand the people interested in your app. Are they predominantly men or women? Are they within a particular age range? Do they live in a specific part of the world, near cities? Do they like sports or cars, or sports cars? Are they early birds or night owls? You’ll need to know these essential details to target your campaigns effectively. The more you know about your audience, the more effectively you can target your campaigns. The better you target your campaigns, the more optimized your budget will be.

If you’re not positive about your audience demographics, it’s smart to earmark a small portion of your budget for testing before launching an entire campaign. Don’t just “trust your gut:” Challenge it, and be sure the user acquisition platform you’ve chosen can source that data.

Prioritize working with partners that provide the audience scale and technology to improve your odds of success, including UA platforms that leverage AI for advanced targeting. This helps marketers to better understand their audiences and target the users who are most likely to download (and keep) their mobile apps. 

AppLovin’s Daniel Tchernahovsky put it like this in a recent PocketGamer interview:

The goal of any business is to acquire as many users as possible that engage with the app and yield a profit. In the past, a UA manager spent most of their time on manual work to ensure they hit specific short-term results like a 10 percent ROAS on day 7 (D7) because that number indicated a high likelihood of profitability in the long run.

Today, the priority is to understand user behaviour. For example, a cohort of users with a 1% return on the first day and an 8% return on the 7th day is likely to be more profitable in the long run than a cohort with 5% on day 1 and 10% on day 7, given how much more growth the first cohort shows.

AI delivers data and insights like this to UA managers, who can now dedicate more time and energy to understanding their different audience segments and building predictions for each. The combination of better algorithms, which give more control, and better user segmentation, which yields better growth, means that UA managers and developers can achieve profitability more quickly.

Test your UA campaigns and learn what really works

Testing is an important component of any marketing campaign, and UA is no exception. Testing is critical to optimizing your UA strategy, enabling you to make informed, data-driven decisions about your campaigns and your business.

We recommend regularly A/B testing your marketing campaigns so you know what’s working and what isn’t. It is the best way to gain insights into what’s resonating, where, and why. It’s also the only way to understand which campaign elements need optimization.

The easiest way to get started is to have a hypothesis. For example, which ad do you instinctively think is performing best? Then, create a test to find out if you’re correct – even if you “know” you’re right!

Next, divide your test audience into two segments and then change one variable: It could be a single word in the text, the background image, or even the time of day that you’re running the ad. It could be different audiences, like men versus women or Gen Y versus Gen Z. But it’s critically important to test only one variable at a time; otherwise, how will you know which variable impacted the results?

Finally, set a timeframe for your test, maybe a week or two, and let it run. Be sure you’re driving enough traffic to your test to achieve a statistically significant result! (Not sure? Use this calculator.)

When the time is up, analyze the results carefully. How much of an impact did your test have on the conversion rate? Did one creative or segment dramatically outperform another? You’d be amazed at how much difference the color of a button, the words on that button, or the expression on a model’s face can make when it comes to conversions. You may learn some interesting things about your audience, too. Many assumptions have been proven wrong as a result of well-run A/B tests.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are the metrics you monitor to ensure your user acquisition strategy is effective, to track your goals, and to help you get the most out of your budget. By tracking your KPIs, you’re able to optimize the performance of each campaign and ultimately measure the success of your user acquisition strategy. If you’re new to UA, you may not know which metrics are important enough to track, so here are some important ones to consider:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): CAC, or user acquisition cost for apps, is a business metric used to understand how much it costs to acquire a customer. CAC is the total sales and marketing costs to gain a new customer over a specified time. Understanding this cost helps businesses make budgeting decisions when attracting new customers.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): CPA or cost per action is an advertisement measurement and pricing model primarily used in mobile user acquisition campaigns and other performance marketing. These campaigns allow advertisers to choose a user’s action within the mobile app to measure and only pay for users who take that action. Actions can include registrations, reaching the next level, milestones, etc. With those actions defined, advertisers pay when the user sees the in-app ad, installs the app, and completes the predefined action.
• Lifetime Value (LTV): LTV may be the most important KPI to track. It’s a metric that predicts the profit you’re likely to gain from an average user over the period they have your app installed. It’s particularly important because it will help determine how much you can invest in UA campaigns to optimize profitability.

LTV isn’t for newly launched apps since it can’t be calculated until you’ve reached critical mass with your user base. However, once you’re able to figure out your user LTV, you’ll know who your most valuable users are, so you’ll be able to target prospective users more effectively. You’ll also be able to budget better and begin tracking other metrics that empower you to optimize your UA campaigns more effectively.

A few other important KPIs to take into consideration as you optimize campaigns:

• Cost Per Event (CPE): CPE is an important metric because it offers deeper insight into user behavior than clicks or views. It focuses on specific in-app actions and the associated costs – like registering, completing a tutorial, or making a purchase – allowing you to align your campaigns with business goals, optimize spend, and ensure you’re paying for meaningful interactions. 
• Cost Per Purchase (CPP): Relevant for apps offering in-app purchases (including e-commerce apps), CPP measures the amount users pay for each purchase made as a direct result of seeing or interacting with your ad.
• IAP ROAS: What, now? IAP ROAS stands for “in-app purchase return on ad spend.” As the name indicates, it’s only relevant for apps that offer in-app purchases. In UA campaigns, it’s a way to measure how effective you are at acquiring users who generate revenue by making purchases within your app, whether those are subscriptions, virtual trophies, skins, developer tools, or something else.
• Ad-based ROAS: AD ROAS, or advertising-based return on ad spend, is relevant for ads that rely on advertising for monetization. With respect to UA campaigns, it measures how effective you are in acquiring users who engage with in-app ads.
• Total ROAS: Here, you’re just measuring the return on ad spend. In other words, ROAS delivers a view of the revenue generated from the advertising spend. Unlike ROI (return on investment), which considers all business costs in relation to profit, ROAS is laser-focused on revenue generated from ads compared to the cost of advertising.

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Hear how FOMO Games’ Traffic Escape topped the charts with the help of AppDiscovery.

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No matter what app you promote, the right creative is critical. Don’t just select the ads you like best — try a few different designs and formats (budget permitting), A/B test them rigorously, and then relentlessly optimize to find the ideal frequency, localization, and more.

There are a few different mobile ad formats to choose from, so here’s a quick overview to help you understand each one:

• Video ads: Take over the entire mobile screen with engaging, high-quality video. Use compelling narratives to hold users’ attention and interest. 
• Rewarded video ads: Typically used within mobile games, these ads drive engagement by allowing users to watch videos in exchange for in-app rewards.
• Playable ads: Allow users to preview your app with this interactive format incorporating gaming mechanics. 
• Native ads: These are stealthy creatives that match the look and feel of an app’s native experience. They are typically interstitial or video, and their seamlessness promotes engagement.
• Rich media: Engage users with interactive and dynamic ads incorporating multimedia elements like images, audio, video, and interactive features.
• Display: Taking a page from “traditional” digital media, static and rich media formats, including banners and interstitials, also work in mobile apps.

Video	Rewarded Video	Playable
Native	Rich Media	Display

With over five million apps available for download, the trickiest part of user acquisition is getting found. When users search for apps in your category, you want them to see yours first. App Store Optimization (ASO) is the key to being discovered and it plays an important role in any user acquisition strategy. Like search engine optimization (SEO), ASO relies on keywords and descriptions, but it’s slightly different. Optimization expert Neil Patel recommends you focus on the following factors in your optimization efforts:

• App name and title
• Keywords
• Description
• Subtitle
• Total number of downloads
• Ratings and reviews

You’ll have more control over some of these than others, but here are a few best practices to consider as you begin your ASO efforts.

Pick a short, descriptive name and title for your app

The name and description are important elements of ASO, so take your time to ensure you get them right. You want something that clearly shows users what your app does and the problem it solves, all at first glance. 

Some great examples include “Strava: Run, Ride, Swim.” “Calm: Sleep and Meditation.” “Twitch: Live Game Streaming.” These titles and descriptions are concise, keyword-laden, and very clear.

Choose relevant keywords

Do your homework and figure out which keywords are most relevant to your app — but also which have less competition. The less competition, the more easily and cost-effectively you can achieve a higher ranking. Again, think like your users: Which terms would they use to find an app like yours? Any time you invest in research will pay off.

Have a great icon

Your icon should be … well, iconic! Think about some instantly recognizable ones you know, like Snap, Spotify, or Evernote. What will your app’s emblem be?

Write a concise, accurate description

A compelling description of your app in the store is critically important. Write a brief, but solid description of your app’s benefits and features, incorporating keywords carefully and strategically. Use active, exciting words, focusing on what the user will get out of your app and the problem it solves for them. Add bullets to make it easier to read, too.

Pick the store category that makes the most sense

Don’t be idealistic, and don’t pick a less popular category because you’ll have less competition. It’s smarter to select the appropriate category for your app. You want the users who need your app to find it easily, so put yourself in their shoes and think about where they’d start their search.

Include screenshots and videos

Show off your meticulously designed app and how it can quickly and conveniently solve your users’ problems. Be sure to upload images of the right size at the required resolution. Since the stores give you 8-10 images to work with, use them as a storyboard to guide your users through the app.

Advertising apps on TV? It sounds unconventional, but the 2024 Creative Trends report from SparkLabs revealed that many advertisers and brands succeeded in growing their users by adding CTV to their campaigns. The channel proved effective for both gaming and non-gaming apps. The most successful ads were a tutorial or explainer style using live-action actors or influencers to tell their stories.

Consider testing CTV for your campaigns – it could be an effective addition to your user acquisition strategy.

Cost Per Install (CPI), a vital user acquisition KPI, was impacted by the release of iOS 14 in 2020 and iOS 14.5 in 2021. The updates focused on consumer data protection, allowing users to limit or fully opt out of data tracking on their devices. Before iOS14.5, 70% of users had tracking enabled by default. When Apple released iOS 14.5, 96% of US users opted out, leaving marketers with dramatically reduced visibility into their success metrics.

With limited visibility, marketers struggled with attribution. Tracking individual installs and understanding which channels drove the most conversions became challenging. Marketers also lost access to the user-level data that enabled successful targeting. These factors combined made campaigns less efficient and more expensive. Marketers had to rethink their UA strategies from start to finish. Advertisers and app marketers received some relief via SKAdNetwork, an API developed by Apple in 2018 that allows them to track direct installs without compromising a user’s privacy. Direct install attribution data is measured and ensured through SKAdNetwork—usually by an MMP on behalf of an advertiser. However, they did have to start exploring new channels to broaden their campaigns and acquire new users.

Achieving your target ROI is the goal of any campaign. In UA, you want to make sure you’re acquiring enough high-value users to justify your investment and, ideally, generate enough revenue to increase your UA investment and scale up.

It’s all about driving sustainable growth. For any app business, this entails steadily increasing your user base, growing your app-based revenue through an effective monetization strategy, and reinvesting in UA. While this never gets to a “set it and forget it” level of ease, there are ways to streamline the process. 

• Diversify your channels: Don’t put all your UA eggs into one basket. In-app mobile advertising is the most direct route to engaged users, and it should play an important role in your strategy. But, as mentioned earlier, the most effective UA strategies include multiple channels, including search engine marketing and optimization, organic and paid social, traditional display, CTV, and more (or less), depending on your audience. So – yes, in-app is an important channel, and you’ll almost certainly benefit from it, but it’s definitely not the only one. 
• Track and measure: If you’re new to the app world, aim to establish user Lifetime Value (LTV) and your target Cost per Acquisition (CPA). Once you’ve settled on these numbers, it will be much easier to determine which of your UA campaigns and channels are performing the best. Continue to optimize your campaigns, investing more in what works and less (or nothing at all) in what works less well. 
• Optimize your onboarding: Even the best UA campaigns won’t retain users. If you want to get the most out of your UA efforts, ensure your app onboarding is intuitive and easy. Make sure users can figure out how to use your app easily. (Note that retention rates factor into app store rankings, ultimately impacting user acquisition.)
• Prioritize retention: Once you’ve onboarded users, keeping them engaged is essential. Regardless of what kind of app you’re offering, create personalized experiences for users. Give them a reason to come back and open your app every day. Push notifications and text messages may be helpful. In-app purchases and rewarded video support both retention and monetization efforts. And of course, AI can play an important role in retention by creating customized user experiences that keep users engaged.
• Focus UA on high-value users: Once you know who your high-value users are (after establishing your LTV)  and understand their unique attributes, you can target your UA campaigns to find more users like them.

User acquisition doesn’t start when you launch your app and end a month later. Attracting new users and keeping revenue flowing is an ongoing process. There are lots of moving parts, lots of strategies and channels to consider, and lots of datasets to manage. The most successful UA strategies will include a lot of testing to discover and validate your target audience, more testing to ensure you’re investing in the right channels, and then even more testing to confirm your creatives and calls to action are working.

Having a solid platform to support your user acquisition strategy is also helpful. AppLovin offers exactly what you need to discover new users, maximize monetization, improve ROI, and expand your business.

AppDiscovery is AppLovin’s user acquisition platform, powering AI-optimized campaigns for the world’s leading apps and brands.