Guest Posts
AppsFlyer’s newly released 2025 Creative Optimization Report reveals a shifting landscape in mobile advertising, where emotional storytelling, AI-driven formats, and user-generated content (UGC) are reshaping the creative strategies that drive app installs and long-term retention.
Based on the analysis of 1.1 million video ad creatives from 1,300 Gaming and Non-Gaming apps, the report offers a detailed look into what makes ads effective in today’s hyper-competitive mobile space.
In a surprising twist, TV and music personalities are outperforming traditional movie stars in driving installs and engagement. In Gaming, TV celebrities delivered twice the installs per thousand impressions (IPM) compared to film stars, and music artists drove 50% higher seven-day retention — yet they receive just a fraction of the ad spend. Despite this clear performance gap, over 80% of celebrity-driven ad budgets still go to movie stars, signaling a lag between creative performance data and budget allocation.
Emotionally resonant narratives, particularly failure-to-success and challenge-driven stories, outperform standard success stories by wide margins. In Hypercasual Gaming, such stories delivered a 78% higher IPM, despite receiving 40% less spend. AppsFlyer notes that this underutilization presents a major opportunity for brands willing to invest in deeper storytelling rather than quick wins.
Across sectors like Finance, Social, and emerging GenAI apps, UGC formats — especially tutorials and app reviews — significantly outperform traditional testimonials in both install efficiency and user retention. In Social apps, tutorial-based UGC creatives saw a 45% higher IPM and 17% stronger Day 7 retention, while in Finance, they drove 37% higher retention. Despite these results, testimonials continue to dominate spend, highlighting a misalignment between strategy and performance.
In the booming GenAI space, before-and-after “transformation” creatives generate strong initial performance with 3.68 IPM and 40% of creative spend, yet they suffer from the lowest Day 7 retention rates. In contrast, UGC testimonial formats in the same category deliver 36% better retention, emphasizing the need for value-driven content beyond the install.
Narrative-driven “Storytelling Hooks” — complete with emotional twists and arcs — deliver the highest retention in Social apps at 8.4%, yet make up just 6% of total creative spend. Similarly, “Social Proof” hooks that leverage trend-based content offer a solid balance of IPM and retention but remain underfunded.
Finance ads that promise immediate benefits perform best on DSPs, improving Day 7 retention by 17%, while Dating apps see stronger long-term engagement when targeting users looking for serious relationships. “Serious Relationship” creatives outperform casual-themed ones by 15%, despite lower coverage and investment.
Non-Gaming apps are catching up to Gaming in creative volume, growing output by 18% year-over-year, now averaging 2,365 variations per quarter — outpacing Gaming’s growth by 80%. While top-tier Gaming apps still lead with 2,743 creatives per quarter, mid-tier Gaming advertisers are falling behind, potentially putting them at risk in a saturated market.
“Marketers are no longer just scaling what works — they’re scaling variety,” says Adam Smart, Director of Product Gaming at AppsFlyer. “Creative scale is now a necessity, not a luxury.”
As AI tools accelerate production and consumer attention spans grow shorter, the insights from AppsFlyer’s 2025 report make one thing clear: the future of mobile advertising belongs to brands who prioritize emotion, authenticity, and diversity in their creative strategies.
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