Shift from brand marketing to performance marketing continues to grow

The study revealed that: 

• Performance mobile app marketing continues to grow consistently across all industries. In 2023, 64.7% of companies surveyed globally increased their mobile ads marketing budget compared to the previous year, rising to 67.1% when looking at only UK businesses. And, UK businesses increased their mobile ads marketing budget by 29.26%, compared to an average of 25.7% seen globally. In addition, 63.2% of surveyed companies globally – rising to 68% of UK organisations – 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 recognised 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. This view was even more pronounced in the UK, whereby two-thirds (68.6%) of marketers agree
• 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.  

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

(Survey question: What are the important factors when your company is vetting a solution for mobile performance marketing?)  

“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.” 

“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 anonymised 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.”   

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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 minimise bias and ambiguity, and all responses were anonymised 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