Remarketing fuels 35% of app marketing conversions according to a new report by AppsFlyer

Remarketing gains traction between 2019 and 2020 with 10% increase in adoption rates as a third of apps with allocated marketing spend include it in their marketing toolbox

SAN FRANCISCO – June 11, 2020

AppsFlyer, the global attribution leader, today released its first remarketing report; The State of App Remarketing 2020 Edition. As app stores become increasingly crowded, and app marketers find it more difficult to gain the attention of users and drive conversions, remarketing has proven to be a reliable engagement tactic, growing even faster than user acquisition. Globally, 30% of apps now run remarketing campaigns, while in the U.S. the data shows that marketers are adding more remarketing to their mix with an 18% rise, as overall adoption grew 12% this year.

“Global adoption of remarketing continues to grow, rising more than 10% since 2018, proving that it is an effective tool for marketers,” said Shani Rosenfelder, Head of Content & Mobile Insights, AppsFlyer. “With most apps losing 95% of their users within the first 30 days of install, it is no wonder that 35% of app marketing conversions nowadays result from remarketing; driving better retention and more revenue. We still see an opportunity for growth, particularly among gaming apps, which have plenty to gain from remarketing.

Notable US Insights

  • Multiple verticals are leaning into remarketing. Photography apps increased remarketing campaigns by nearly 250% from 2019 to 2020. Shopping is another vertical that has embraced remarketing, with the adoption rate increasing by 25% in a year, and the remarketing share surging 35% from 2018 to 2020 to reach no less than 65% of conversions.
  • Owned media remarketing increased 60% from 2018-2019. Owned media allows marketers to bring users back at almost no expense, which has contributed to its rise.
  • Almost 4 in every 10 apps running remarketing have a share of remarketing that exceeds 30%.
  • Remarketing helps drive paying users. Within lifestyle, apps running remarketing had a 130% higher rate of paying users. Among hardcore games apps, a 298% leap in revenue has been generated by paying users exposed to remarketing.
  • Low adoption despite high performance shows a missed opportunity for gaming apps. In casual and midcore gaming, the adoption rate is only 7-8%, while performance of apps that run remarketing is significantly better (at least 60% uplift in retention and 105% jump in share of paying users).

“As marketers recognize the importance of engagement, remarketing is becoming more crucial than ever to their success, buoyed by the fact that remarketing has shown resilience amid COVID-19,” said Doug McMillen, Vice President, Enterprise Strategy, AppsFlyer. “With this report, marketers have insight into the benefits and opportunities around remarketing, and how to leverage it for maximum impact.

The Coronavirus Effect

In order to account for the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the State of App Remarketing: 2020 Global & US Trends report looked at two different time frames: a year-over-year comparison of January and February 2018-2020 prior to the outbreak and lockdown, and pre-COVID-19 data from the end of February through April 2020, when lockdowns became the standard in the United States.

The report does not cover the travel vertical, where remarketing has always been in heavy use, since COVID-19 dramatically affected installs and engagement for travel apps, making comparisons difficult.

Largely, COVID-19 has not slowed down the remarketing trend in the US, instead often increasing the practice. In fact, lockdowns caused a jump in app installs, which in turn has led to increased remarketing pushes.

Key COVID-19 US Insights

  • As lockdowns began, paid remarketing conversions jumped 35%, and owned jumped 31%.
  • During this period many verticals found remarketing success, particularly shopping apps, which saw owned conversions increase almost 50%.
  • Paid media remarketing conversions also surged, rising more than 30% in April.

For more information on the impact Coronavirus is having on the app market, visit AppsFlyer’s regularly-updated report: The Coronavirus Impact on App Installs and Marketing Budgets.

Methodology

The State of App Remarketing: 2020 Global & US Trends from AppsFlyer is an anonymous aggregate of proprietary global data from 11 billion non-organic app installs across 20,000 apps, and 7 billion remarketing conversions. Of this, 1.1 billion non-organic app installs across 12,000 apps, and 800 million remarketing conversions, were specific to the US.

About AppsFlyer

AppsFlyer, the global attribution and marketing analytics leader, empowers marketers to grow their business and innovate with a suite of comprehensive measurement solutions. Built around privacy by design, AppsFlyer takes a customer-centric approach to help 12,000+ brands and its marketplace of 8,000+ technology partners make better business decisions every day, while delighting their end-users.

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