Zoomd & Adjust: What’s next in user acquisition marketing

In our latest guest post, Michal Fuchs, Creator/Influencer Marketing Director at mobile marketing platform Zoomd, discusses research conducted with Adjust exploring user acquisition now and in the near future.

The team from MarTech AI platform Zoomd recently conducted research with Adjust to discover how user acquisition (UA) managers globally are currently attracting new users to their apps, and delve into what’s to come in the future of UA marketing. Here’s what we found.

Our survey found that 36% of UA managers globally are currently working with 6-10 media sources, and 16% are working with 10 or more. This presents a challenge because resources are spent on comparing performance across channels as UA managers seek to optimize their budget. First, we looked to determine which channels were currently being used most. Google (77%) and Facebook (72%) took the lead, followed closely by Instagram (67%) and Ad Networks like AppLovin, Unity, and ironSource (59%). 48% of UA managers reported that they use Apple Search Ads, 46% use Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), and use of TikTok, Snapchat, and affiliate networks tied at 41%.

Next, we dug a little deeper, asking, “Which media source performed best in 2021 Q4/holiday campaigns?” Google (30%) and Facebook (17%) once again took the lead, followed by Instagram, Apple Search Ads, and DSPs, tied at 11%.

The results were clear: social media channels are no longer an answer to brand advertising alone. Now, even performance-driven UA campaigns are achieving their key performance indicator (KPI) goals on social media.

Shifting from brand to performance is, in part, due to a rise in influencer marketing. Nearly 70% of UA managers globally are now using social media content creators as part of their UA campaigns. This move to creator marketing isn’t surprising. According to research from SignalFire, there are now more than 50 million creators across the globe and that number is set to continue growing in the coming years.

Influencer marketing best practices

So how can UA managers most effectively work with creators? It’s important to keep in mind what defines a creator. A creator creates content to express themselves and doesn’t need millions of followers to engage with and impact their audience.  A creator with a few thousand followers can create a cost-effective campaign, as long as their audience and content focus are relevant to the brand being marketed.

After querying the leading tools for creators, here's how the Zoomd team helps their clients find creators who are the best fit for their UA needs:

1. Use creators who are skilled in video creation. Our survey found that the majority of UA managers (49%) use video ad formats, followed by display ads (32%).
2. Find creators whose personal brands resonate with your app’s brand.
3. Choose creators whose audience most closely aligns with your target audience, both geographically and demographically.
4. Upload the video to both the creator’s account(s) as well as to your app’s social media account(s).
5. Boost organic reach with paid support.

When looking at what’s to come in the UA marketing space, increasing consumption of video content is sure to maintain video’s dominance as the leading ad format among performance-driven UA managers. As a result, across social media channels we expect to see TikTok, in particular, continue to grow as a performance marketing platform.

TikTok is experiencing tremendous growth, both in terms of total users across all demographic groups, as well as time spent in-app. With only 31% of UA managers currently running campaigns on TikTok, we asked what would encourage the remaining 69% to launch campaigns on the channel. Here’s what we found:

• 24% said that they’d use TikTok if their target audience was active on the platform.
• 17% wanted better measurement functionality.
• 14% felt that their marketing team needed a better understanding of TikTok from a creative perspective.

We also expect to see a huge increase in the use of connected TV (CTV) for user acquisition. Though only 13% of surveyed UA managers ran campaigns via CTV in 2021, there’s already been a 130% increase in this figure as of 2022. Now, 30% of UA managers plan on running performance campaigns on CTV this year. To assist this growth of CTV as a performance channel, Adjust offers clear CTV campaign measurement with CTV AdVision, allowing UA managers to clearly see where their CTV ads influence the customer journey by creating a custom CTV assist analysis with Adjust’s experts.

Even TikTok itself is following the CTV trend. Last year, the company introduced TikTok TV, a CTV version of the popular TikTok app. We’re seeing an increasing number of similar app partnerships with Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, and Amazon TV, as well as with LG and Samsung smart TVs.

When asked which CTV network UA managers planned on using, results showed a preference for Apple TV (36%), followed by Android TV (32%), Prime Video (27%), Disney+ (23%), and Hulu (18%).

With changes to UA teams’ channel mixes and an increasing omnichannel focus, we can expect to see evolving ad formats and engagement opportunities across all channels in the coming years. It’s important for UA managers to remain informed about these innovations, stay agile in their strategic response, and be rigorously data-driven. Adjust and Zoomd look forward to working with and supporting our clients through this UA metamorphosis.