Commentary

Data And Privacy Forcing Changes In Acquisition Strategies

User acquisition strategies aim to build awareness for apps, platforms and services to acquire and convert consumers quickly.

App marketing platform Zoomd Technologies released The State of User Acquisition 2021 Research today, which analyzes mobile marketing and the best ways to convert consumers with this type of media following the rollout of the Apple Identifier for Advertisers (IDFAs) in iOS version 14.5.

Privacy-driven changes have impacted advertising in the past year, despite the strong growth witnessed for Snapchat and Apple Search Ads.

When asked to cite changes made after Apple initiated IDFA, 41% said there are none so far, while 27% said they made some updates, 24% said they have made changes since the news was announced, and 8% are working on changes now.

About 59% of surveyed user acquisition managers have completely changed their key performance indicators (KPIs) in 2021, 34% said they have changed slightly, and 8% said they remained the same.

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Survey results also found that 37% of the 186 mobile user acquisition managers surveyed who work at agencies and in-house marketing organizations globally rely on 10 or more channels. They manage their company's user acquisition strategies.

About 28% manage two channels, while 18% manage between three and five channels, 15 manage one channel, and 11% manage between five and 10 channels.

Participants in the study also said managing campaigns across so many channels increases uncertainty, but diversity is good for the industry, which has historically relied on Google and Facebook, according to the data.

Which media sources did marketers use to acquire new customers in 2020? Participants were asked to select all that apply.

  • 52.75% – Google
  • 33.52% – Facebook
  • 29.67% – Snapchat
  • 27.47% – Ad Network/SDK Network
  • 26.92% – Apple Search Ads
  • 25.82% – TikTok
  • 23.08% – Twitter
  • 18.13% – DSP Programmatic
  • 15.38% – Affiliate Network
  • 06.59% – Pinterest
  • 09.34% – Reddit
  • 04.40% – Other

The data also recognizes that a growing number of user acquisition managers use TikTok, so Zoomd researchers wanted to know what would encourage them to run a campaign on the platform.

  • 49% said a better understanding of how TikTok works for business would encourage them
  • 25% said targeting an audience in their 20s, 30s, and 40s would encourage them
  • 10% would want to see better measurement functions
  • 8% said they already run user acquisition campaigns on TikTok

It’s interesting to note that 40% of those surveyed work in ecommerce, followed by financial services, entertainment, gaming, travel, lifestyle, delivery, other, and money or gambling.

When asked what their primary reason is for working with or considering a demand-side platform, 44.20% cited better creative A/B texting, 29.28% cited having the ability to make safe lists, and 14.92% said they like the ability to integrate first-party data.

Fraud also has become a challenge. About 38% said they have added a new fraud system, while 20% said fraud hurts the company’s campaign results, 15% said they have made a blocklist, and 10% said they shifted their budget to protect against fraud.

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