Building a Mobile App User Acquisition Strategy 

User acquisition strategy has never been easy, but lately it seems like the rules keep shifting faster than anyone can keep up. 

Ad costs are rising, especially in crowded networks like Meta, TikTok, and Google. Signal quality is dropping, and the platforms you once relied on now offer less control and transparency.

Has the acquisition game switched from easy to expert mode?

Meanwhile, ad budgets are soaring: global in-app ad spend is projected to hit $94.9 billion in 2025, a 20% jump from 2023.

If you’re spending more than ever, your UA strategy has to work harder. Here’s how to make it happen. 

Why User Acquisition Isn’t Working Like It Used To

UA challenges have long stunted app growth, but the dial is turned up in 2025. 

Yes, CPIs are increasing, and while it benefits publishers banking on app monetization, cost is only part of the story. 

There’s creative fatigue. The black-box algorithms. Ad spend that scales, but doesn’t convert. 

Attribution? It’s a maze. Between SKAdNetwork, SANs, and probabilistic models, its a fragmented ecosystem, pushing targeting into privacy-safe territory. 

While reaching new audiences is key, user quality matters more. The ones who onboard smoothly, engage meaningfully, and deliver long-term value. 

In the next section, we factor in these challenges to build a successful UA strategy, one that’s robust to withstand such environments. 

Developing a Mobile App User Acquisition Strategy 

We know mobile app user acquisition is a broad topic that can’t be covered in a single post. Instead of a typical list or ‘follow these steps’ guide, we’re focusing on three core pillars.

1. Paid campaigns: let the right ads do the heavy lifting & reach the right audience. 
2. Organic traffic: supports paid campaigns & still packs a punch.
3. Data Optimization: Balance privacy & ad performance in an era where data is murky. 

Let’s start with the MVP. 

Paid User Acquisition Campaigns 

You can’t scale app growth without paid user acquisition, unless the plan is “launch and hope it goes viral.” 

Even if a buzz, organic word-of-mouth, or social media ad spikes installations, it’s unlikely to maintain revenue over time. For high-quality installs, paid user acquisition is a necessity.

Paid campaigns for UA typically run with different mobile ad networks. They allow UA managers to rapidly test, iterate, and optimize campaigns across multiple channels & creative sets. 

A successful user acquisition strategy also considers the right UA KPIs:

• Return on Ad Spend: D1/D3, D7, D30, D90 
• Lifetime value (LTV) 
• App Retention Rate
• ARPU & ARPDAU 
• Sessions
• Apps in which the ads appear. 

And a strong attribution model shows which channels and creatives drive installs, so you can invest in what works and hit your KPIs. Quality data sources to include: 

• First-party data
• Mobile measurement platforms 
• Ad networks’ data
• Business intelligence tools 
• Third-party analytics 

Working with the Right Ad Network

We mentioned earlier that Google & Meta are oversaturated with diminishing returns. 

Independent apps have over 2 billion global daily active users (DAUs). They offer 82 billion hours spent in the US, compared with 72B on YouTube and 35B on Facebook. 

These are massive growth channels, yielding up to 214% higher returns. Apps published outside of big tech represent a higher reach & return opportunity.

A lot of exclusive publisher inventory (independent apps) is only accessible via global ad networks like adjoe, Liftoff, or Unity. 

So, your high-quality users are on premium apps that only ad networks can offer. If you don’t diversify, you’re locked out of massive app ecosystems where users spend billions of hours.

Creating High-ROAS Ads with Playtime

The best performance comes from rewarded advertising formats. Combine them with the right ad network, and you’re on the road to improved ROAS.

Let’s consider Playtime. It’s a unique time and event-based rewarded ad format designed for achievement-driven gamers. By rewarding players at key moments in gameplay, you boost installs & engagement from day one.

Real-life case studies of Playtime rewarded ads:

• Up to 130% increase in D7 ROAS
• Trailmix Games saw +30% installs
• 4399 grew Legend of Mushroom by 32.7%
• Unico Studio unlocked a new UA channel with +30% ROAS

What About Retention? 

Your new user acquisition strategy will focus on boosting user loyalty, so high-quality users remain after D30. We’re not treating retention & loyalty as an afterthought. 

Ask yourself: are your newly acquired users genuinely profitable? As loyalty slips away, how are you keeping users interested over time? 

Playtime combines rewards, engagement, and optimization, turning user attention into retention, and long-term revenue. Rewarded engagement sparks deeper interaction from Day 1, offering stronger D7 and D30 retention.

Organic Pillar: Mobile App Marketing

Organic traffic from search engines, social media, and referrals is still powerful to boost app growth and connect with your audience. 

Organic growth is holistic and still has associated costs; the key difference is that there’s no direct ad spend involved. 

// Organic installs can occur when a user clicks or sees a paid ad but installs the app after the attribution window.

Here are some ways app marketers use mobile app promotion:

• Email marketing
• Referrals
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Brand awareness
• Influencer marketing
• Community-led growth (Discord, Reddit, forums) 

Don’t Ignore App Store Optimization 

App Store Optimization (ASO) is another organic side of user acquisition, improving your app’s discoverability and conversion rates.  About 70% of App Store (iOS) visitors use search to discover apps; it’s a no-brainer to include it in your UA strategy.  

Our best recommendations to improve ASO rankings:

• Spy the competition: Get hints on what’s working for your niche: keywords, branding, visuals, the works. Take good ideas, do them better.

• Product page: Optimize title, subtitle, description, and URL, using actual user language & intent-based keywords.

• Creatives that convert: Your app icon and screenshots should stop the scroll. Localize everything & use the right app category.

• Positive ratings = social proof that helps app store conversions.

• Mind the store: Design & ranking algorithms are different for App Store vs. Google Play. 

• Seasonality: Update for holidays and events to ride seasonal spikes.

// Track, Tweak, Repeat.

Privacy & Performance: The Balancing Act in Mobile UA 

The nucleus of successful UA is high-quality data.

It’s how you assess who your users are, where they’re from, how much they cost (CPI, CPA), and what works (A/B testing, cohort analysis, LTV, etc.) 

Winning in the Privacy-First World

With tighter regulations (GDPR, DMA, CPRA), Apple’s ongoing privacy-first stance (SKAN, App Tracking Transparency), and a rising skepticism toward ad tracking, the job of a mobile marketer has become increasingly complex.

Yet the pressure to perform, to hit ROAS goals, lower CPIs, and optimize LTV hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, it’s increased. 

In 2025, top UA teams are not only hunting for precision; they’re hunting for patterns. Here are some data signals to look out for: 

Data Signal	Description
Aggregated event data	Beyond user-level data, summarized cohort behaviors.
Modeled insights	Statistical predictions filling data gaps
On-device signals	Device type, OS version, app usage, and engagement data
Post-install engagement	User activity post-install: sessions, actions, overall interaction
Retention & session data	Frequency and duration of user return and app engagement
Reward interaction & time-based engagement	User interaction with rewarded ads and engagement over specific timeframes

Data-Driven Creative Testing

Small creative shifts often unlock disproportionately large performance gains. In 2025, top-performing UA strategies rely on strong creatives, with dynamic creative optimization in engagement and installs. 

Creative testing isn’t just about changing colors or CTA copy; it’s about identifying the emotional triggers and visual cues that resonate with your highest-value users.

Here’s what winning UA teams are doing:

• Run rapid A/B tests across formats, hooks, and visuals. 
• Segment creatives by user intent, geo, or funnel stage.  
• Use post-install behavior to optimize creatives and promotions. 
• Refresh underperforming assets based on real-time engagement signals.

> Rewarded ad formats perform well here because they give clear signals on who engages and when.

Proactively Combat Mobile Ad Fraud 

Ad fraud remains one of adtech’s biggest challenges; wherever there’s high ad spend, suspicious activity tends to follow. Industry reports estimate that up to 25% of global mobile ad spend is impacted by fraud.

It’s time you built fraud prevention into your UA strategy. Protect your campaigns by monitoring traffic sources, applying strict geo-targeting, and tracking post-install behavior to flag low-quality or fake activity. 

Partner with ad networks that take mobile app fraud seriously, and do all the heavy lifting. adjoe offers advertisers a dedicated anti-fraud team that actively detects and prevents fraudulent user activity, helping ensure your budget drives real users.

End Note

A successful mobile user acquisition strategy can be a moving target; data flows, tests run, and tactics evolve. With these three pillars as your framework, you stay flexible and keep your KPIs on track.

Even if you’ve got the best app out there, scaling quality installs won’t happen without a rock-solid UA strategy. And remember: UA isn’t a launch event; it’s an ongoing process.

Lean into advertising partners who bring adaptability, transparency, and a long-term mindset. That’s what adjoe delivers for advertisers playing at the highest levels; premium audiences, engaging ad formats that drive high-quality users, boost ROI, and scale your app growth.