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Insights, benchmarks, and trends from today’s top grossing app developers
App Install Marketing Survey
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Survey Respondents
Responses are from publishers located around the world from a variety of company sizes. These publishers have a wide range of DAU, from niche audiences to millions of avid users.
Compared to 2021 results, UA teams have gotten bigger. In 2022, 30% of respondents have teams greater than five members while last year it was only 18%. A significant portion said they are the sole UA person at their company.
All figures are drawn from Digital Turbine’s online research among mobile app publishers, developers, and UA marketers via an online questionnaire. The survey garnered a total of 142 respondents globally during Q1 and Q2 2022.
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See what we learned
Adaptation
Budgets
Performance
37%
Working with the same partners as before
Working with less partners for iOS UA
Digital Turbine’s App Install Marketing Survey (previously from AdColony) was distributed globally and garnered responses from 140+ mobile publishers. The survey asked respondents 28 questions regarding their strategies and results for user acquisition. Topics include SKAdNetwork, budget allocation, most effective methods, and UA campaign plans for 2022.
Headquarters Location
North America
Latin America
Europe, Middle East, Africa
Asia-Pacific
25%
27%
5%
43%
UA Team Size
1
4-5
2-3
6-9
10+
20%
35%
21%
14%
10%
2021
2022
2%
Never
11%
Not often
14%
At least
once a month
16%
At least once
every two weeks
35%
At least
once a week
22%
More than
once a week
Eat fast food
more publishers have adopted SKAdNetwork this year.
How many publishers have adopted Apple's SKAdNetwork?
25%
UA Marketers Adapt to Apple’s Privacy Changes
Do not plan on using SKAAdNetwork
Not yet, but we plan to soon
Yes
are working with less partners for iOS UA
43%
have not changed their UA spend allocation
36%
are not concerned at all about opt-in rates
36%
SKAdNetwork Hold Outs
Those who do not plan on using SKAdNetwork
of campaign budgets on iOS run as SKAdNetwork campaigns
(on average)
42%
Do publishers work with ad networks/UA methods on iOS that do not support SKAdNetwork?
iOS continues to be very crucial for UA marketing. While many publishers are willing to work with companies that support alternative methods,
most UA marketers still utilize SKAdNetwork.
50.4%
49.6%
Yes
No
Working with the same partners but adopted new channels
Working with more partners for iOS UA
A combination of the extended prep time and the versatility of the industry allowed developers to better adjust to Apple’s privacy changes.
Since the rollout of SKAdNetwork, UA marketers have been...
Channels with increased spend after the launch of SKAdNetwork
How concerned are developers with opt-in rates?
Apple Search Ads was already growing in popularity and was seen as a safe bet by developers since its a required stop for every app install.
38%
37%
32%
30%
20%
19%
17%
15%
12%
Apple Search Ads
Web to app
Ad networks
Emerging platforms
(TikTok)
Walled gardens
(Google, Meta, Snap)
Influencer marketing
Nothing has changed in my spend allocation
Programmatic UA
(DSPs)
Other
Opt-in rates are still a concern for a majority of publishers but it has lessened since last year. Most respondents have shifted from being very concerned to being moderately concerned.
Prior to iOS 14.5, predictions had opt-in rates as low as single digits but that has mostly not been the case.
26%
3%
11%
26%
34%
Very concerned
Slightly concerned
Moderately concerned
Not concerned at all!
Neutral
UA Channels: Budgets and Effectiveness
How do these channels rank in terms of budget allocation (on average)?
1st
Video Ads
2nd
Display Ads
3rd
Search Ads
(Apple, Bing, Naver, Google)
4th
Free App Networks
5th
Cross Promotion
6th
Out of Home
7th
Native Ads
8th
TV/CTV/OTT
9th
Offer Walls
10th
On Device Solutions
(Apple, Bing, Naver, Google)
76%
57%
32%
29%
20%
6%
Ad Network
Self-Serve
Ad Network Managed Account
Programmatically
Third Party Partner or Agency
Direct Publisher Deals
Other
The consolidation wave in adtech is one of the reasons behind fewer UA marketers having direct publisher deals in 2022.
Most Effective UA Methods
Video and display ads are still considered to be the most effective app install methods while Apple Search Ads have surpassed other search ads this year.
51%
46%
41%
37%
34%
33%
28%
25%
24%
23%
18%
17%
15%
9%
8%
Video
Full-Screen
Video
Social
Video
In-Feed
Network Display
(banner, interstitial, rich media)
Display
Social
Apple Search Ads
Other Search
(Bing, Naver, Google, etc)
Free App Networks
On-Device Solutions
Cross Promotion Platforms/
Partners
Native Ads
Podcasts
Offer Walls
(Incentivized)
Television/
CTV/OTT
Out of Home
(Billboards, posters, etc)
How effective are these ads at achieving campaign goals?
of respondents say
rewarded video ads
are effective
64%
of respondents say
playable ads
are effective
48%
say they are very or
extremely effective
40%
say they are very or
extremely effective
25%
Tracking Campaign Performance
of respondents track views as well as clicks for install attribution
79%
Google Analytics is the most used tool to track performance, but Appsflyer had a significant share increase compared to last year's results.
Google Analytics
46%
Appsflyer
Adjust
Excel/Google Docs Spreadsheets
In-house Custom Tools
Branch
(Meta)
Singular
42%
27%
19%
18%
11%
11%
77%
For the past few years, price has been the most important to developers in terms of evaluating ad network and UA campaign performance. This year more developers regard the quality of acquired of users as more important.
Quality of acquired users
(LTV, RoAS, etc.)
Price
(CPI, CPC, CPCV, etc)
Targeting capabilities
(geo, device, audience, demo, etc)
Level of service
(responsiveness, campaign, organization, availability, etc)
Volume
(# of daily/ weekly installs)
67%
64%
61%
59%
58%
35%
28%
21%
15%
CPI
(cost per install)
CPA
(cost per action)
CPM
(cost per thousand impressions)
CPC
(cost per click)
CPE
(cost per engagement)
The changes around privacy have adtech companies shifting billing to CPM but optimizing for CPI.
Top User Acquisition KPIs
Most Used Pricing Models
On average, advertisers localize for seven languages
UA Teams are Busy
Apple’s privacy changes has made some data less easily accessible. Developers may need to optimize campaigns more frequently as a result.
Campaign Optimization Frequency
Retention (e.g. 2nd day, 7th day) is considered to be the early indicator of a high quality loyal user who is likely to monetize well (either via IAP or ads).
What's the best indicator of a high quality user?
16%
16%
28%
28%
11%
Less than once per week
One per week
Multiple times per week
Every day
Multiple times per day
Retention
Social login
Session time
Tutorial completion
61%
15%
12%
12%
Key Requirements for Targeting
More developers have named geography and OS as key targeting parameters this year because that data is not limited by user opt-ins. On the other hand, audience demographics, age, and gender are regarded as “nice to have” now that they are not as accessible.
54%
Geography
52%
28%
27%
22%
20%
19%
OS
Audience Demographics
Source App Name
Device
Type
Age
Gender
Look-alike
Audeince
17%
UA Campaign Plans for 2022
Increase UA budget size
69%
More focus on CPI
62%
Increase reach
(more geographies)
58%
Shift more to video
56%
Test new types of channels
55%
15%
37%
48%
12%
61%
27%
32%
16%
15%
Which of these channels do publishers spend the majority of their budget on?
46%
18%
13%
8%
6%
5%
2%
1%
On Device Solutions (preloaded apps)
Display Ads
Search Ads (Apple, bing, Naver, Google)
Free App Networks
Video Ads
Native Ads
Out of Home
Cross Promotion
Most UA budgets are allocated to Ad Networks.
How UA Budgets are Spent
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