Mobile App Marketing in 2024: A Summary

Does SKAdNetwork 4.0 truly improve campaign attribution, or does it merely complicate data analysis? Why have Apple Search Ads become one of the most important tools for user acquisition in the post-IDFA era? Why are user-generated content (UGC) formats currently among the most effective advertising formats? How can TikTok Creative Challenge help create great and authentic UGC ads? Can SRN integrations with platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat assist in more effective campaign optimization? You will read about all this in the following article.

The approaching end of the year is the perfect time to summarize the key changes that have occurred in mobile app and game marketing in 2024. One of the most significant topics dominating the industry has been SKAdNetwork (SKAN), Apple’s technology for measuring the effectiveness of ads on iOS. SKAN version 4.0 introduced new opportunities for campaign attribution but also presented marketers with a range of challenges related to data interpretation and optimization of advertising efforts.

The year 2024 was a time when mobile app marketing had to adapt to new tracking and reporting standards, largely based on aggregated data, which required a change in approach to promotional strategies. Key elements included Apple Search Ads campaigns, which gained importance due to their independence from SKAN, and video formats such as User-Generated Content (UGC), which, thanks to their authenticity and viral potential on platforms like TikTok, significantly increased user engagement.

Equally important this year were Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) platforms, which served as central points for managing data on campaign performance. Thanks to advanced integrations, such as Self-Reporting Networks (SRN), these platforms were able to provide more precise data in real time, helping advertisers better understand the effectiveness of their activities in the evolving advertising ecosystem for mobile apps and games.

Of particular note are advanced SRN integrations, such as the collaboration of MMP platforms like AppsFlyer with TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook (AEM integration). These solutions enabled more accurate attribution of installs and analysis of advanced engagement metrics such as Engaged View-Through Attribution (EVTA).

These integrations provided advertisers with a fuller picture of campaign effectiveness, helping to achieve higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) while ensuring compliance with growing privacy requirements.

In summary, 2024 was a year of dynamic changes that revolutionized the approach to mobile app marketing. Below, I discuss four key trends that, in my opinion, were quite prominent in player and user acquisition.

SkAdNetwork (SKAN 4.0) – revolution in privacy and mobile attribution

SKAdNetwork 4.0 (SKAN) is Apple’s framework for measuring ad effectiveness while preserving user privacy. In 2024, SKAN 4.0 plays a key role in mobile app and game marketing on iOS, offering marketers new opportunities while adhering to privacy principles.

SKAN 4.0 enables more effective attribution of app installs while maintaining high standards of user privacy. New features, such as multiple postbacks (up to three conversion reports over different time periods) and the distinction between fine-grained and coarse-grained conversions, allow tracking of user engagement at various stages of the app lifecycle.

Key changes in SKAN 4.0:

1. Multiple postbacks – SKAN 4.0 provides three postbacks at specific intervals, enabling long-term engagement tracking. Conversion values are delivered in aggregated form, protecting privacy while still supplying data necessary for optimization.
2. Crowd Anonymity – The crowd anonymity mechanism adjusts the level of data granularity depending on the number of installs, allowing more detailed analysis only with a larger user base.
3. Flexible conversion windows and the “lock window” option – Marketers can close the conversion window earlier, enabling faster campaign result analysis and strategic adjustments.
4. Crowd anonymity – A privacy-preserving mechanism through data aggregation, allowing more detailed reporting for larger-scale campaigns.
5. Lockdown windows – Additional waiting periods before sending postbacks, enhancing user privacy.

Source: Appsflyer.com

SKAN 4.0 forces marketing specialists to engage in advanced data modeling and develop new performance metrics. Thanks to these innovations, mobile attribution is evolving, offering a more balanced approach to data analysis while ensuring complete anonymity for users.

Impact on marketing strategies: Marketers must adapt their strategies to the new possibilities and limitations of SKAN 4.0, which involves a greater emphasis on modeling and analyzing aggregated data. Challenges include limited data granularity and delays in receiving information, requiring closer collaboration with Mobile Measurement Partners (MMP).

Apple Search Ads and SKAN

Is SKAdNetwork really about privacy, or is it a battle for advertising budgets?

Apple officially introduced SKAdNetwork (SKAN) to ensure user privacy. However, from the industry’s perspective, a different, more strategic goal emerges. SKAN aimed to reduce the dominance of Facebook and other ad networks that earned billions promoting mobile apps and games on iOS, redirecting part of those budgets into its own advertising ecosystem—Apple Search Ads (ASA). This strategy, though controversial, has proven quite effective and significantly impacted the landscape of mobile app and game marketing.

In the mobile app world, there is an ongoing “war” to capture advertising budgets. Apple Search Ads has gained immense popularity among user acquisition (UA) specialists in recent years. The key advantage of ASA lies in its independence from the SKAdNetwork system, offering advertisers greater flexibility and detail in their marketing efforts.

Source: Apple.com

Why has Apple Search Ads gained importance?
The independence of Apple Search Ads from SKAN is one of its biggest advantages. Thanks to this feature, the solution offers:

• More detailed conversion data – ASA provides immediate reports, allowing advertisers to quickly analyze campaign performance and make optimization decisions.
• Better targeting capabilities – the ability to precisely select keywords in paid search results within the App Store.
• Fewer reporting limitations – unlike aggregated data in SKAN, ASA enables granular analysis, such as the effectiveness of specific keywords.

How to effectively use Apple Search Ads?

• Keyword targeting – detailed campaign planning based on keywords that attract the most valuable users.
• Custom Product Pages – utilizing dedicated product pages to better tailor advertising messages to audience needs.
• Regular analysis and optimization – frequent campaign evaluations to maintain efficiency and achieve better results.

In the post-IDFA era, the combination of Apple Search Ads and SKAdNetwork offers a balanced approach to attribution. While SKAN provides aggregated data, ASA complements it with more precise and detailed reports. The extended attribution window in ASA allows for more accurate measurement of user actions, which is particularly useful for apps with long conversion cycles, such as SaaS or mobile games with microtransactions.

As a result, the synergy of these two solutions enables marketers to run more effective advertising campaigns while meeting growing privacy requirements. With advanced metrics and reporting capabilities, ASA provides advertisers with tools to build long-term marketing strategies in the dynamically evolving iOS ecosystem.

The challenges I currently see in Apple Search Ads include high competition and the scalability of user and player acquisition.

UGC (User-Generated Content) Creations

User-generated content (UGC) is becoming an increasingly important tool in mobile game marketing. It involves engaging creators to produce authentic materials such as reviews, gameplay videos, or funny clips, which are later used to promote mobile games and apps. Thanks to its natural appeal, UGC builds trust in advertisements and effectively attracts new users.

Benefits of UGC:

• Authenticity: It appears natural and more convincing than traditional ads. Explainer videos are often dull and generate low CTRs, which are critical when it comes to the cost of installing a game or app.
• Social proof: Players are more likely to download games when they see others enjoying them.
• Cost-effectiveness: Producing UGC is cheaper than creating complex product videos, and the ROI is higher. For instance, using platforms like Fiverr or Freelancer.com, you can find video creators to produce UGC for tens or hundreds of dollars.
• Higher engagement / higher CTR: UGC generates more clicks and lower user acquisition costs.
• Virality: These materials easily gain popularity on social media.
• Contests: A way to generate free UGC, such as through TikTok Creative Challenge, if you are promoting your app in the United States.
• AI: The ability to quickly create UGC with the help of artificial intelligence tools (e.g., Poolday.ai).

Source: TikTok.com

An interesting idea for advertisers is the TikTok Creative Challenge, which allows them to receive free UGC creations from TikTokers in the United States participating in this program.

Source: TikTok.com

TikTok Creative Challenge (TTCC) is an innovative tool for advertisers that enables the creation of high-quality UGC-style ads by engaging creators active on TikTok. This helps brands enhance the authenticity of their campaigns and reach a more engaged audience.

How it works for advertisers:

• Publishing challenges: Advertisers define the requirements and objectives of the campaign by publishing a brief for their mobile game or app.
• Content creation by creators: Program participants create content aligned with the advertiser’s brief guidelines.
• Selecting the best ads: Advertisers receive a variety of materials and can choose the ones that best fit their marketing strategy.
• Compensating creators: Payment for creators for producing UGC is handled by TikTok.

Benefits for advertisers:

• Authenticity and engagement: Creators produce content that feels natural and more credible, increasing ad effectiveness.
• Flexibility: The ability to test different styles and approaches through diverse materials from multiple creators.
• Scalability: Campaigns can include a wide range of creators, allowing advertisers to reach various audience segments.
• Performance: UGC-style ads generate higher click-through rates (CTR) and better engagement compared to traditional ads.
• Control: Advertisers maintain full control over the content—it is not directly published by creators but used exclusively in the brand’s campaigns. UGC creations can be deactivated at any time if they do not deliver the expected ROAS or have low CTR.
• Costs: There is no charge for the UGC creations received (they can only be used on TikTok Ads). However, UGC creations cannot be used in other ad networks such as Unity Ads or Applovin.

TikTok Creative Challenge is an efficient way to create creative ads with minimal effort. It allows brands to leverage the skills of TikTok creators and their knowledge of the platform to reach a younger, digitally engaged audience more effectively.

TTCC is an innovative solution for advertisers who want to harness the power of UGC without needing to engage in the detailed production process. This makes TikTok ad campaigns more authentic, dynamic, and effective.

MMP Platforms and Their SRN Integrations with Ad Networks in the Era of SKAN

In the world of mobile user acquisition Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) tools play a crucial role in analyzing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. With the growing importance of user privacy and the restrictions introduced by iOS 14.5, such as the requirement for App Tracking Transparency (ATT), the way ad networks integrate their data with MMP platforms is evolving, particularly through SRN (Self-Reporting Networks) integrations. Faced with changes in the privacy landscape, mobile marketing measurement platforms (MMPs) must adapt to new challenges posed by Apple’s ATT. One example of an innovative approach is the latest Advanced SRN integrations developed by AppsFlyer with key advertising platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook.

Challenges for SRN in the Post-iOS 14.5 Era

Traditional click-based integration has proven insufficient in the face of limited access to advertising identifiers (IDFA). In this context, ad networks like TikTok are collaborating with MMP partners such as AppsFlyer to introduce advanced SRN integrations. Key challenges include:

• Difficulties in accurately attributing installations and calculating LTV values.
• The necessity of ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.

The Solution: Advanced SRN Integration

AppsFlyer and TikTok have designed an innovative approach that combines measurement accuracy with user privacy protection. Key elements of the new integration include:

• Dual-consent users: Installation data is attributed using the standard SRN mechanism, where AppsFlyer receives data on clicks and installations from TikTok.
• Users without full consent: Attribution is based on ad exposure, utilizing anonymous data that complies with privacy regulations.

Thanks to this integration, advertisers can measure all touchpoints and gain detailed data on engagement, such as clicks or Engaged View-Through Attribution (EVTA).

Source: TikTok.com

Significance for Advertisers

Modern SRN integrations, such as those offered by TikTok and AppsFlyer, provide numerous benefits:

• A more complete campaign view – real-time performance data and LTV measurement on iOS.
• Advanced attribution metrics – new engagement types, such as six-second views, enhance campaign optimization possibilities.
• Improved campaign performance – better signals from campaigns enable more precise ad delivery and lower cost per action (CPA).
• Full real-time campaign performance insights – access to extended engagement metrics (e.g., engaged views).
• Ability to fully measure user lifetime value (LTV).
• Flexible attribution window configuration for various engagement types.
• Stronger signals for campaign optimization.
• Compliance with the highest privacy standards through the use of Data Clean Rooms and advanced encryption.

The Future of SRN and SKAN Integrations

SRN integrations and SKAN tools are becoming the cornerstones of modern mobile campaign measurement. While SKAN provides aggregated solutions, SRN complements it with real-time data and detailed engagement insights, helping advertisers make better decisions and achieve higher returns on ad spend (ROAS).

New approaches, such as the advanced SRN integrations between TikTok and AppsFlyer or Snapchat and AppsFlyer, are redefining measurement standards and paving the way for more efficient campaigns in an era of privacy restrictions.

In Summary

The year 2024 has brought many challenges and changes to mobile app marketing, but it also opens new opportunities. Adopting a more privacy-conscious approach to user tracking and the need to develop new analytical strategies are critical for success. It is essential to closely collaborate with MMP partners, invest in UGC development, and explore new channels for acquiring players and users to ensure growth and retention in the coming year.