63.2% of surveyed companies noted a year-on-year boost in their mobile app performance marketing budgets

Moloco and Ipsos partnered together to gauge perspectives from mobile app marketers in nine countries

37% of respondents selected Advanced ML/AI as the key business factor when vetting mobile app performance marketing vendors above all other considerations.

Moloco, a leader in operational machine learning (ML) and performance advertising, together with leading independent research company Ipsos, today announced the findings of the inaugural Mobile App Performance Marketing Global Report. More than 1,600 mobile app marketers were surveyed across nine countries, including US, UK, Korea, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam.

“The global shift in marketing from reach to results continues to gain momentum across different countries and various industries,” said Daisuke Yokokawa, Vice President, Global Marketing, Moloco. “Many mobile app marketers are aware that the secret of big tech's success in advertising is advanced ML technology and the performance marketing solutions that they provide. This global trend is due to the clear and resounding power that mobile app performance marketing has to drive revenue, user acquisition, and profit, especially during times of economic uncertainty.”

The study revealed that:

• Performance mobile app marketing continues to grow consistently across all industries. In 2023, 64.7% of surveyed companies increased their mobile ads marketing budget compared to the previous year. On average, surveyed companies increased their mobile ads marketing budget by approximately 25.7%. In addition, 63.2% of surveyed companies reported that they would be increasing the performance marketing portion of their overall mobile ads budget from 2022. Performance marketing claimed 45.7% of the mobile ads budget in 2023, surpassing brand marketing at 41.4%. Performance marketing is consistently recognized as an important investment for boosting sales and profits.
• The virtuous cycle of performance-driven marketing drives user acquisition and improves Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Companies adept in performance-driven mobile marketing programs have demonstrated high satisfaction, scoring 4.4 out of 5, crediting performance marketing with successfully acquiring new users, acquiring high-quality users, and improving ROAS. 58.2% of marketers saw performance marketing as more effective for driving revenue growth than traditional brand marketing. And 55.5% of marketers view performance marketing as the key to profitability during times of economic uncertainty.
• Advanced machine learning scores highest as the #1 factor when selecting a mobile app performance marketing solution. ML is the key success factor for global marketers, with 37% of them selecting “advanced ML/AI technology” as the most important from a list of 10 possible factors. Other important factors are global reach (23.1%) and high-quality user acquisition (18.1%), which ranked second and third respectively. The role of machine learning is credited with providing real-time, accurate data for decision-making and goal monitoring.

“Performance marketing is on trend, regardless of the country,” said Jennifer Ha, Partner of Ipsos Strategy3, Project Leader. “Marketers are typically loath to share their best kept secrets, but thanks to this anonymized research study, we now have detailed insights about their strategic marketing decisions and investments. Ultimately, having consistent results such as measurable and impactful ROAS underpins the success of many global performance marketing budgets.”

Methodology

Moloco partnered with Ipsos to conduct an online survey targeting mobile app marketers in nine countries between April 3-May 1, 2023. The survey consisted of multiple-choice questions designed to gather detailed insights. Care was taken in question design to minimize bias and ambiguity, and all responses were anonymized to encourage honesty.

The survey was defined as:

• A sample of 1,675 marketers working at companies owning mobile apps and app marketers at marketing agencies from the US (300), the UK (225), Germany (190), France (207), Korea (146), Japan (100), Singapore (184), Vietnam (169), and Indonesia (154) across various industries
• Among the respondent criteria are marketers directly involved and responsible for mobile app marketing budget execution