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Getting strategic: How to curate a diversified advertising channel mix

Alix Carman, Content Writer, Adjust, Apr 11, 2023.

Mobile app marketers are well aware that digital advertising channels each come with their own unique strengths and challenges. That’s why much like financial experts urge consumers to diversify their income streams, marketers must strategically diversify their use of advertising channels.

Privacy frameworks have shifted the way that marketers approach their advertising strategy. As such, multichannel marketing has become a reliable way to whittle down, iterate, and test effective positioning without the use of personal data. Customizing copy or creative by channel, rather than by user, is a great way to attract high-LTV users to your app. After all, quality is the new quantity. 2023 is the year of tightened marketing budgets and progressively efficient advertising practices.

By approaching channel selection with careful curation, mobile app marketers can leverage a methodical multichannel marketing approach to reach a higher-value audience, improve retention and drive revenue.

How to strategically approach channel diversification

We know mobile marketers are increasingly ditching omnichannel marketing (broadcasting the same message across all channels) in favor of multichannel marketing (tailoring messaging to each platform). But what, exactly, goes into selecting your digital marketing channel mix strategically?

First, you’ll need to have your ducks in a row for your core advertising strategy. What does your most profitable user look like? What types of campaigns attract them? Which channels are you currently acquiring these users from?

Then, you’ll need to analyze the platforms available to you. Which qualities are most important to your app and its campaigns? Here are a few to get you thinking:

Audience: Do I need a higher volume audience, or a niche audience with lower volume but higher relevance that will lead to higher user quality?
Tracking: At which level of detail will I need to track the journey and conversion of this campaign?
Regional relevancy: Where is the audience you are hoping to attract, and what channels are they using?
Time resource: Do you have a surplus of time to spend managing a channel, or do you need it to be more self-sufficient?

Lastly, as you explore the wealth of alternative advertising channels available to you, consider the following.

What is this platform’s audience? Is it a good fit for the topic and function of your app?
How do consumers use this platform? This style should be replicated in your campaign creative.
Where does this channel fit within your marketing funnel? Your message should reflect this position.

Digital media channels for advertising channel diversity

Let’s take a closer look at a few diversification paths for your multichannel marketing campaigns.

Connected TV (CTV)

In a nutshell: Insider Intelligence predicts the number of OTT subscribers globally will increase to over two billion in 2023. This is just one reason why CTV is the unsung hero of channel diversification. Once considered limited only to brand campaigns, CTV has solidly established itself as a performance channel in recent years.

Diversification considerations: Although consumers turn to CTV primarily for video content, a study from gumgum found overlay ads on CTV were four times more memorable than video ad formats. However, video ads do still perform strongly on CTV, with impressively high ad completion rates. CTV-to-mobile campaigns can be run higher up the funnel while CTV-to-CTV campaigns should have messaging that reflects a lower funnel approach.

Is campaign measurement front of mind? Adjust is here to help. Leverage our AdVision tool to get a look at how your CTV-to-mobile or CTV-to-CTV ad performs and converts.

CTV advertising in action: Deodorant company Dove promoted its products using a pause ad during “Love, Victor”. This contextual marketing approach was successful as the show is targeted towards a younger demographic–those in high school, much like the main character of the show, who are conscious of their appearance and hygiene.

Deep dive: Mastering CTV in 2023

Influencer marketing

In a nutshell: Influencer marketing involves partnering with social media content creators to promote your app. This could be a:

PR package
Gifted product or an experience in exchange for brand mentions
Pre-approved message about your app

Influencer marketing can be an effective way to reach a highly targeted audience through a niche creator. Or, it can be a great way to reach a high-volume audience through a large, well-known creator.

Diversification considerations: When working with larger creators, a higher budget is often necessary. Another consideration is the potential for conversion. Influencers of any size can have a number of artificial followers. You must use a tool like inBeat or Modash to assess an audience’s validity before choosing an influencer. Otherwise, you may be spending money to advertise to a fake audience.

It’s also important to keep in mind that influencer marketing is very hands-on, requires a time resource commitment, and involves a high level of trust. Although pre-crafted scripts are a common approach amongst marketers using this channel, this method is not natural to the platform, nor to the nature of influencer marketing.

Letting the influencer have some creative freedom, with final brand sign-off, will display much more authenticity to your audience. After all, the influencer’s audience wants to hear their honest opinion; not an opinion they have been paid to have.

Deep dive: Influencer marketing for apps: Best practices, examples, and more

App store optimization (ASO)

In a nutshell: App store optimization involves strategically building out ranking factors of your app store listings. The output of these optimizations is increased app store visibility and higher installs. While core ASO is non-negotiable in today’s competitive app market, there are secondary features that you can leverage for strategic channel diversification.

Diversification considerations: Your app’s preview video (iOS) or promo video (Android) and in-app events are a great way to get a leg up on the competition. While videos should be produced to a very high standard, the majority of your video should consist of quality in-app footage, which helps to cut down production costs.

In-app events, on the other hand, are the perfect way to strategically bridge the gap between seasonal campaigns and what consumers see on your app’s App Store or Google Play Store page. Create localized events scheduled to each country’s local seasonal timeline for up to one month each.

Deep dive: Comprehensive guide to app store optimization.

Social media: Not the usual suspects

In a nutshell: Social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are already widely used by advertisers. But have you considered secondary platforms like Reddit, Pinterest, and Quora? Or, local social media platforms (particularly if your app is targeting an Asian audience) like WeChat, Sina Weibo, and QQ?

Diversification considerations: To be successful with this channel, no two creatives (between social media platforms) should be alike. These ads should blend in seamlessly with the content formats familiar to each platform and should have an organic, transparent feel.

Ads customized by platform mean a higher creative cost, so narrow down your secondary channels by demographics and look to find more niche communities. When looking at these platforms in the context of strategic diversification you could, for example, run brand awareness campaigns higher up the funnel on primary social media platforms while running conversion campaigns at the bottom of the funnel on secondary platforms.

Social media advertising in action: Reddit user Justin Fauci created an account to promote his fitness app, Caliber. Rather than a typical static or video display ad, Justin created a regular post explaining the benefits of his app and promoted the post to relevant fitness subreddits.

This ensured his content was incredibly relevant to its audience, but also that it fit seamlessly within the content format users have come to expect from visiting Reddit. In sum, it felt more organic than a traditional digital ad.

Instant apps

In a nutshell: Instant apps let consumers access your app without having to install it. They’re a hybrid between mobile and web apps. Known as App Clips for iOS and Try Now or Instant play apps for Android, they’re a great way to provide your target audience with a taster.

Diversification considerations: Instant apps are a great way to draw users in with either the piece of your app they need at an exact given moment, or with a trial version of your full app. Once they are hooked (find this key moment in your analytics!), you can direct them to complete a full install.

Deep dive: The power of instant apps for app developers and mobile marketers

Content marketing

In a nutshell: Create valuable content like blog posts, videos, or infographics to attract and engage your target audience. By creating informative and engaging content (blog posts, videos, user-generated content (UGC), infographics, etc) related to your app, mobile app marketers can increase brand awareness and drive installs.

Diversification considerations: This top-of-the-funnel channel should remain separate from your core campaigns. You can, however, promote your content through primary advertising channels and retarget those who engage with the ad.

Content marketing is focused on benefiting the end-user, not hard-selling your app. You should provide value to your user, which in turn garners brand trust and loyalty.

Deep dive: What is user-generated content and how to get the most out of it

Referral marketing

In a nutshell: Referral marketing involves incentivizing your existing users to refer their friends and family to download and use your app. By offering rewards like discounts or free trials mobile app marketers can increase their user base and drive installs.

Diversification considerations: You can create a once-off core referral framework that is included in core campaigns. Or, you can create seasonal referral campaigns that create a sense of urgency. For example, let’s say you run a campaign around your referral program and see moderate success. Your next core campaign is centered around a popular feature of your app. While this runs, you leave some breathing space before launching a time-limited campaign with a slightly higher incentive for those who missed the core campaign.

Deep dive: From acquisition to referral: Boost mobile app growth with these full-funnel marketing tips

Channel diversification is a crucial strategy for mobile app marketers who want to reach a wider audience, increase brand awareness, and drive higher-quality installs. By diversifying your marketing efforts across multiple channels, you can increase your chances of success and build a strong brand presence in the market. Find out how Adjust’s measurement and analytics can help you attribute and analyze campaign and channel success via attribution, centralized data, and beyond. Request a demo.