Mastering App Retargeting: Strategies for 2025

In an increasingly competitive app ecosystem, retaining users is more critical than ever. With acquisition costs rising and user attention spans shrinking, app marketers are shifting their focus toward retargeting — re-engaging users who’ve already shown interest. As we head into 2025, here are the most effective strategies to master app retargeting.

1. Segment Your Audiences with Precision
Don’t treat all users the same. Use behavioral data to segment users based on actions like abandoned carts, time since last session, or in-app activity. For example, a mobile e-commerce app could target users who added items to their cart but didn’t check out within 24 hours.

2. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)
DCO enables the automatic assembly of ad creatives tailored to each user segment. Leverage real-time data to serve the right message at the right time. Brands like Wish have used DCO to show hyper-relevant product ads, boosting ROAS by up to 30%.

3. Use Event-Based Triggers
Instead of generic time-based retargeting, use event-based triggers to re-engage users after meaningful interactions — like completing a level or browsing premium content.

4. Multi-Channel Retargeting
Reach users not only in-app but across mobile web, social, and even Connected TV. Unified messaging across channels increases chances of re-engagement.

5. Measure Incrementality
Don’t just rely on CTRs or conversions. Measure the actual lift your retargeting campaign brings by using holdout groups to assess incrementality.

Key Stat: Retargeting ads can boost conversion rates by up to 150% compared to standard ads (Source: AdRoll).2§