Boosting app engagement with retargeting: Proven tactics for games and beyond
Jenny Lin is the director of business development EMEA at Mintegral.
User acquisition is omnipresent on any app marketer’s to-do list. Without a steady stream of new users to replace those who drop off, any app will inevitably wither and fall off the vine. And those drop-off numbers make for scary reading.
According to Braze and Business of Apps, the average app loses 77% of its daily average users within the first three days after install, so refreshing the pot is essential.
However, the best app marketers know that there is more than one way to boost user numbers, and it is not all about reaching out to people unfamiliar with the app or the brand behind it.
In fact, retention may be the silver bullet. And, for that, retargeting enables app marketers to put the app in front of people who are already familiar with the brand, have shown some interest in it, or the company behind it, or who may even have installed it on their phone, but have long forgotten it exists, let alone used it.
The best app marketers know that there is more than one way to boost user numbers.
For the app marketer, these users represent much warmer prospects than the new users typically targeted in user acquisition campaigns. For example, retargeted users tend to convert at higher rates.
Research from mobile measurement provider (MMP) Adjust shows that retargeting campaign users have an overall 152% higher engagement rate than new user acquisition campaigns over 30 days. Retargeting campaign users also make 37% more revenue events in the first 30 days than new user acquisition campaigns.
Retargeting campaigns, in essence, use identifiers to pinpoint users who have previously installed an app and then expose them to ads re-promoting that app when the user is going about their online business.
In e-commerce terms, it’s the ad you might see on a news site for a pair of jeans you were looking at yesterday. Or, in gaming terms, the ad you see for a game when you’re playing another one.
With the introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework in 2021, it suddenly looked like retargeting was going away. By its implementation, audience identifiers essential for retargeting had largely gone away. However, according to MMP AppsFlyer, users are warming to app tracking, with increasing numbers allowing apps to track their activity.
With the introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework in 2021, it suddenly looked like retargeting was going away.
That means that if you have a large enough cohort, a retargeting campaign can still work effectively on iOS. Particularly if you use block lists to enforce frequency caps or refrain from advertising to existing active users altogether to reduce impression waste.
Lost in the conversation of ATT’s impact has been the ongoing performance of retargeting campaigns on Android devices.
According to Backlinko and Semrush, these account for over 70% of handsets worldwide and remain unaffected by ATT. Thus, for many marketers operating today, retargeting remains an effective tool on Android devices.
So, how do you choose the right retargeting partner to work with?
How to pick your retargeting partner
Choosing the right partner to work with is key to making a success of your retargeting campaigns. Here are some factors to consider:
1. Pay for outcomes, not impressions
Look for a partner who charges on a “per action” basis, such as cost-per order, rather than upper-funnel metrics like CPC (cost-per-click) or even CPM (cost per thousand impressions) that many retargeting companies use.
That way, no matter how many people see your ad or even click on it, you only pay when it results in a sale or a download, ensuring you maximise your budget.
2. Demand efficiency and scale
Some retargeting partners can drive efficiency, while others can offer scale. Ideally, your chosen partner should provide both, spending your budget in the most effective manner and knowing where to spend it to reach the maximum number of users.
3. Service on your terms
A good partner should be able to offer you the level of service you need to run successful campaigns. You might be an experienced marketer who prefers a self-service model to be more efficient.
Choosing the right partner to work with is key to making a success of your retargeting campaigns.
Or you may like a managed service with an account manager to take the issues off your plate. Make sure you know what level of service your investment will deliver and that you’re comfortable with that level of support.
4. Creative freedom
The best retargeting partners give you the freedom to utilise the ad formats you want to use. They will also allow you to regularly update your creatives at will, keeping your campaigns fresh in order to maximise user engagement.
Working with the right partner, retargeting can give your UA campaigns a significant boost, with conversion rates significantly outgunning those for campaigns targeting people completely new to the brand.
If you’re targeting Android users, retargeting is a no-brainer, and it can still be effective on iOS if you have a large enough cohort to go after. If it’s something you’ve never looked at before, set aside a test budget as part of your next campaign to see for yourself how effective it can be.
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