📈 Exposing Mobile Growth Marketing Secrets: How to Grow in 2025?
Warren Woodward Co-founder and CMO at Upptic spills the secrets on the current state of mobile performance marketing and the key issues you should be aware of
🔑 Key Insights on Mobile Performance Marketing in 2024
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Anchor
Speakers:
Joseph Kim. CEO at Lila Games.
Warren Woodward. Cofounder and Chief Growth Officer (CGO) at Upptic.
The mobile game marketing landscape has transformed dramatically in recent years, creating a stark divide between narrative and reality. While many studios claim "UA no longer works," the truth is more nuanced: the rules have changed, and success requires a fundamentally different approach.
The Three Pillars of Modern Mobile Growth
According to Warren Woodward, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Upptic, modern mobile marketing success rests on three key pillars:
Creative: Creative development remains the most human-capital intensive area and arguably the most crucial differentiator
Operations: The importance of manual campaign optimization has diminished significantly due to advanced algorithms
Data: Data science and optimization of UA based on data has become increasingly critical, especially for navigating privacy changes
The Democratization of Campaign Management
One of the most significant shifts is that campaign management (“operations”) expertise no longer provides the competitive edge it once did. As Warren notes, "Anyone doing UA has access to a top tier media buyer now because of the power of the algorithms." The days when an expert could outperform others by 10-20x through superior campaign optimization are over.
The Data Challenge and Privacy Evolution
The deprecation of IDFA has pushed the industry toward probabilistic modeling, with different approaches needed for various channels:
Self-attributing networks (Meta, Google, TikTok) require sophisticated data science capabilities
Other networks still rely on fingerprinting, though this may change in the future
Successful teams are building living data models using consent-based sampling to estimate performance
Channel Strategy in 2024
The modern mobile marketing landscape has consolidated into a few key channel types:
Major Self-Attributing Networks:
Meta, Google, TikTok (primary)
Snapchat, Apple Search (secondary)
In-App Rewarded Video Networks:
IronSource/Unity
AppLovin
Mintegral
Vungle
DSPs (Demand Side Platforms)
Notably, DSPs (Demand-Side Platforms) are providing diminishing value in the current ecosystem, with their margins becoming harder to justify as first-party algorithms improve.
Team Structure and Resource Allocation
Modern mobile marketing teams need to evolve beyond traditional structures. Key recommendations include:
Start lean during proof-of-concept phases
Invest in cross-functional capabilities rather than pure UA expertise
Consider external partnerships for specialized functions
Focus on data science capabilities
Maintain strong alignment between marketing and product teams
Looking Ahead to 2025
Several key trends are emerging:
Efficiency Drive: Companies are likely to experiment with leaner teams and AI integration
Creator Marketing Evolution: The industry is moving toward more structured, performance-based approaches to creator partnerships
Scale Benefits: Larger-scale launches continue to provide advantages through:
Improved organic lift
Better negotiating power with ad networks
Enhanced platform support
Word-of-mouth effects
The Bottom Line
Success in mobile performance marketing now requires a more sophisticated, data-driven approach with strong cross-functional collaboration. While the challenges have increased, opportunities remain for teams willing to adapt their strategies and organizational structures to the new reality.
For game studios planning their 2024-2025 strategy, the focus should be on:
Building strong data capabilities
Maintaining lean, efficient operations
Fostering closer alignment between marketing and product teams
Investing in creative development
Being strategic about scale and timing of launches
The mobile marketing landscape may be more complex, but with the right approach and resources, it remains a viable path to growth for game studios willing to adapt to the new paradigm.