Nearly two thirds (59%) of app developers and marketers are struggling to acquire new paying users for their apps. That’s according to the latest research from AdTech company Bango, which surveyed over 300 marketers working with app-based brands to explore the changing user acquisition landscape.
Bango’s research reveals that changes to legislation and user expectations around data privacy are still causing problems for app marketers and developers trying to reach the right audiences.
But the issues for marketers expand beyond just apps. Bango’s data has also revealed several ‘scary stats’ about marketing results across the board — released just in time for Halloween:
- Doom!
27% of app marketers believe their businesses will cease to exist due to new privacy regulations - Nightmares!
61% of app marketers have lost sleep over new privacy regulations - Destitution!
77% of CEOs no longer see digital ads as a reliable source of sales - Desperation!
59% of CEOs don’t believe social media campaigns can generate sales - Disappointment!
35% of search engine ads never reach the promised target audience - Despair!
$60 billion of marketing spend is wasted on poor targeting every year
Commenting on the data, Anil Malhotra, CMO Bango said, “It may be Halloween, but all of 2022 has been a scary time for marketers — especially those working in the app space. Thanks to the recent ‘App-ocalypse’, finding new paying users with ad targeting on social media platforms has never been more challenging. At the same time, the value of other traditionally successful targeting techniques like search are also being called into question.”
“My advice for marketers is to target all their campaigns directly towards paying customers. With economic instability, belts tightening, and budget cuts just around the corner it’s vital that marketers stay laser-focused on ROI. That means targeting marketing at the prospects who are most likely to buy.”
To achieve this, Bango advocates the adoption of ‘Purchase Behavior Targeting’ (PBT) as the default form of audience segmentation whether targeting on social platforms or using search.
PBT does not rely on invasive personal information, IDFA or third-party cookies. Instead, it calls on unified past mobile purchasing data –drawn from Bango’s extensive payments platform– to reveal what apps, games or content a user has previously paid for. This, Bango argues, provides all the information a marketer needs to target their ads and build a revenue-generating customer base.