October 2021 Mobile App UA & Creative Roundup - Consumer Acquisition by Brainlabs

Today’s post brings you the most up-to-date trends and tactics for UA and creative across platforms and genres for October 2021. We’ve got new UA campaign guidance straight from Google and TikTok Business along with our Q4 A/B Testing Best Practices white paper updated for post-IDFA loss.

From style and fashion games to fantasy football, we’ve analyzed top-performing ad creative to show how player motivations can improve your top-of-funnel UA. Plus, we’ve gone deep on Apple’s anti-consumer, anti-developer behavior, most notably with the privacy update in iOS 15.

Mobile App UA & Creative Roundup October 2021

Persona-Led Creative & Creative Trends

Q4 2021 Creative Testing Best Practices for Facebook, Google, and TikTok

In the face of IDFA loss, SKAN requirements, and media buying automation, our updated A/B creative testing guide will help user acquisition and creative teams make the most of their campaigns.

Apple Is Anticompetitive: From ATT to IAPs

With only 10% of all App Store users generating 70% of App Store revenue, Apple is clearly trying to corner the market of high-value spenders. Read the article to see Apple’s tactics in action.

2021 Hot Tips for Google UA

Here’s what’s working right now, how to evaluate SKAN Discrepancies, SKAN Modeling Delays (pre/post iOS 14.5), and benefits of Firebase implementation.

TikTok Creative Hot Tips for Fall 2021

Read our newest TikTok Creative guide to get the latest creative recommendations straight from TikTok and up-to-date analysis of high-performing U.S. game ads.

Sports Games: Top Tactics for High Performing Ad Creative

To celebrate the NFL season, we reviewed top-performing ads for fantasy football apps, sports betting, and sports game simulators.

Fashion and Style Simulation Games Creative Trends

From revenge makeovers to pets and parties, fashion games pump up the beauty, drama, and personal connection for gamers. We’ve analyzed the best-performing fashion and style simulation game ads based on MobileAction data.

Apple Is Anticompetitive: From ATT to IAPs

“…the Court finds that common threads run through Apple’s practices which unreasonably restrains competition and harm consumers…” Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc.

Consumer Acquisition has been reporting on Apple’s anti-developer, anti-advertiser restrictions for months now. While our reports have primarily focused on devastating advertising revenue loss and impacts, the ruling of the Epic Games case and inconsistent privacy language in iOS 15 have shown Apple is also anticompetitive to the disservice of consumers and developers.

With only 10% of all App Store users generating 70% of App Store revenue, Apple is clearly trying to corner the market of high-value spenders by:

Preventing users from accessing less expensive alternative purchasing methods in the App Store to maintain their high margins (i.e., the Epic Case)
Luring users entirely out of third-party advertising platforms with privacy scare tactics (i.e., anti-advertising ATT language)
Making it very difficult for third-party platforms to identify top spenders and effectively build lookalike models (i.e., the loss of IDFA)
Reduced profitability of iOS advertising by rendering A/B or multivariate creative testing useless.

Ultimately, this anticompetitive behavior is highly disruptive to the vitality of the iOS advertising market and is having a negative impact on mobile app game developers, advertisers, and consumers.

Get our Q4 2021 Creative Testing Best Practices for TikTok, Facebook & Google white paper for proven UA tactics to survive and thrive in a post-IDFA world.

IDFA loss, SKAN requirements, and media buying automation through Facebook AAA or Google UAC are tough challenges facing user acquisition and creative teams right now. Read the white paper for: