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How to make retargeting do your heavy lifting

Written by Adikteev | Aug 1, 2024 9:00:00 AM

You’ve brought in thousands of new high-value users to your clients’ apps with a paid acquisition campaign– now what? Keeping these users engaged and spending is the best way to maximize your clients’ ROI while protecting their UA investment, but it’s easier said than done if you don’t have an in-house DSP to run campaigns and offer strategic insights. Partnering with a retargeting DSP like Adikteev  extends your agency’s ability to deliver award-winning campaigns and make the most of your clients’ user LTV. A retargeting DSP like Adikteev works as an extension of your client service, allowing you to retain and engage users at scale for clients of all verticals.

Where does retargeting fit into your clients’ marketing funnel?

Did you know? Retention campaigns are just as important as acquisition campaigns for protecting UA budgets. In fact, without retargeting, 77% of your client’s budget is wasted. This is the percentage of daily active users the average app loses within just the first three days after install. Retention is crucial for a healthy ROI. And retargeting is crucial for successful retention.

Retargeting is used in the retention stage to boost conversions and activity from existing app users. These users have already downloaded the app and have the potential for strong lifetime value, but have yet to complete key actions like purchases or in-app events. By nature, retargeting is personalized and highly relevant to the end user. Leveraging this technology as a key component of your retention strategy keeps your client’s brand visible and boosts engagement by reminding users of their previously shown interest in specific features or products.

Propose a full funnel approach


By focusing on individuals who have already shown interest, retargeting ensures every dollar in the UA budget works harder, smarter, and with measurable outcomes that are equally profitable and impressive.

How to amplify your clients’ ROI with in-app retargeting

You might be thinking, “That sounds great in theory, but I don’t have time to onboard a new technology!” The good news? Adikteev has been running retargeting campaigns for over 10 years and is ready to get to work on analyzing your clients’ app audience right away.. You can operate more efficiently within your clients’ existing funnels, leveraging support every step of the way. Here are just four of the ways you can enhance the campaigns you’re already running for clients.

  1. Create compelling, custom creatives based on deep audience insights, driving desired user actions thanks to our in-house creative studio.
  2. Tap into additional inventory sources for increased scale while excluding previously targeted audiences.
  3. Pinpoint users who are likely to churn with high revenue impact using our prediction model.
  4. Get a full pre-launch analysis of your client’s organic events, conversion funnels, and audience to ensure campaigns are tailored to their goals. 

As you run retargeting campaigns, you can access real-time campaign performance insights through a custom dashboard, tracking multiple dimensions and metrics effortlessly. This will facilitate proposing relevant KPIs and benchmarks to improve campaign effectiveness while justifying increased spend. Plus, you can integrate seamlessly with native MMP connections to report on targeted users and optimize campaigns in real time.

Data-backed strategies for reaping the full benefits of retargeting

Ready to replicate the benefits of retargeting for your clients? Here are six best practices to follow for success.

  1. Agree on clear goals and KPIs: Define specific objectives and corresponding KPIs for each OS, segment, and campaign. Some key metrics to track include conversion rate, time to conversion, ROAS (return on ad spend), retention rate, lifetime value, and ARPU (average revenue per user).
  2. Get serious about segmentation: Each segment will have different interests, levels of engagement, and LTV potential. Also, behavior and value may differ between iOS andAndroid users. Tailoring campaigns to segments that will bring the highest value for budget leads to higher success rates, so it’s essential to know exactly which users fit this bill. Are they active payers? Or are users who made a first purchase but haven’t made a second the most likely to boost your ROI? An experienced retargeting partner can help you define these cohorts and run campaigns specific to their in-app behavior.
  3. Make it personal: Highlight relevant offers, products, or services that appeal to the specific needs and interests of the audience using as detailed data as possible. Leverage users’ purchase history, intent, past engagements, browsing history, and so on. Additionally, the creatives should correspond to the specific action that you want users to complete– for example, a creative with the CTA “download now” won’t work for a retargeting campaign. “Come back and win” or “Collect your gems” might be more appropriate depending on the app.
  4. Diversify: Avoid ad fatigue by retargeting on various channels and use diverse creatives. It’s important to remember that while video and playable ads have the highest conversion rate, different formats perform different functions throughout the user journey. For example, static & banner ads may have a lower conversion rate, but they keep an app top-of-mind for users. 
  5. Measure, optimize, repeat: Track your agreed KPIs regularly to identify areas for continuous improvement. Keep an eye on how each version of your creative is performing to allocate budget accordingly, refine targeting criteria, and adjust bidding strategies to maximize performance.
  6. Leverage top tools: Self-serve retargeting platforms are a good place to start, but by working with a managed service, you’re adding scale, accuracy and supplemental support. If there’s a discrepancy in campaigns between platforms, an experienced retargeting partner can help find out where the problem is. 

Truly, the power of retention cannot be overstated in the mobile app market, where the initial user drop-off is steep and swift. Targeted retargeting campaigns for your clients will not only stem the tide of lost users, but also create opportunities to deepen user engagement and loyalty. Nurturing these re-engaged users through carefully crafted loyalty programs and enticing incentives ensures that once users are back, they have compelling reasons to stay. This strategic approach doesn't just salvage initial marketing efforts—it multiplies their effectiveness, turning fleeting users into long-term customers and driving sustainable growth for your clients.