Sweeping new U.S. trade tariffs, unseen in almost a century, have shaken the international economy and triggered widespread stock market turmoil. In a globalized world, it’s been an unprecedented few weeks and we’ll try to share a brief summary and outline how recent events might impact mobile app marketing amid tariff uncertainty.
From April 2, the U.S. administration imposed new trade tariffs causing economic shockwaves and political uproar in an attempt to redefine U.S. trade policy. A tariff is a government surcharge on products imported from other countries. Tariffs are paid by the companies that import the goods. The revenue from U.S. tariffs is paid by U.S. importers to the U.S. Treasury Department. From April, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on countries worldwide starting at a base rate of 10%, with higher rates applied depending on perceived trade imbalances. The full impact is still unfolding and the uncertainty is reverberating across various industries like an uncontrollable haptic mobile ad with no close button.
At the time of drafting this piece, U.S. tariffs on China initially started at 34%. In a short span, following a tit-for-tat escalation, the U.S. raised them to 125% on April 9, with China cautiously reciprocating with tariffs of 84%, as the world watches what The New York Times refers to as a ‘monumental split’ between the two superpowers. At the time of publishing this piece, the U.S. administration provided trade policy respite with a 90-day pause on tariffs for a reported 70 governments seeking to negotiate a deal.
It’s been a rollercoaster on Nasdaq for major stock indices. On April 3, the S&P 500 fell over 4.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped nearly 6%, marking one of the largest point losses in the history of NYSE. Then global equities saw a temporary boost on April 9, with the S&P 500 jumping nearly 10% from the administration’s surprise 90-day pause on many newly imposed tariffs, excluding those on China.
Despite inflation data showing a 0.1% drop in March’s Consumer Price Index and an annual inflation rate of 2.4%, it’s been a bloodbath for the markets and investors are still spooked about instability. On April 10, the S&P 500 dropped 3.2%, the Dow Jones fell 2.7%, and the Nasdaq declined by 3.8%.
In summary, the stock market’s freak rise and falls this week can be attributed to the abrupt imposition and partial reversal of significant tariffs by the U.S., leading to heightened uncertainty and volatility in global markets and the economy, which could impact consumers.
Tech and game stocks were heavily impacted and according to a Pocket Gamer article, Apple shares fell by 20% between April 2 to April 7, knocking hundreds of billions of dollars off its market cap. Apple was valued at $3 trillion on April 4 and on April 10, it is just under $2.86 trillion. The peaks and valleys are attributed to unstable economic conditions and rising costs, which impact consumer confidence, purchase behaviour and advertising dollars. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, global advertising spend fell by 10.2%, amounting to a reduction of $63.4 billion.
While there’s a lot to cover, here’s how the U.S. tariffs, and the volatility they bring, could affect mobile app marketing, and what we at RevX recommend doing about it.
💸 Economic Uncertainty Leads to Tighter Ad Budgets
Tariffs trigger economic uncertainty. And uncertainty makes CFOs nervous. Finance teams start asking tough questions, and mobile marketers suddenly need to justify every dollar spent.
That nervousness is now backed by numbers: WARC recently downgraded global ad spend growth by nearly $20 billion, attributing it to the economic uncertainty stirred by geopolitical disruptions, including tariffs.
In fact, advertiser sentiment was already shifting even before the latest tariff numbers became official. In a February IAB survey, 94% of U.S. advertisers expressed concern about the impact of tariffs on ad budgets. Nearly 1 in 2 planned to trim social media spend. Others pointed to gaming, linear TV, and digital display as likely areas for cuts.
Advertising tends to follow the business cycle, but often in a much more volatile way. As Eric Seufert points out, ad budgets can be adjusted quickly, so they’re among the first expense lines to be slashed when downturns hit. However, cutting too aggressively can steal revenue from the future. A smarter move? Adapt your measurement strategy and reallocate spend based on updated assumptions about consumer behaviour and cohort monetization.
In such a scenario, big, experimental campaigns give way to leaner, more performance-focused strategies. For app marketers, this means sharper focus on campaigns that deliver provable, short-to-mid-term return on ad spend (ROAS), where impact can be tied directly to specific actions like installs, purchases, or subscriptions. It’s about moving budgets toward channels and tactics where attribution is clear, and results are tied to user value, not just reach. This shift mirrors what we saw during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly 1 in 4 marketers reallocated budgets from brand to performance initiatives.
When the economic landscape turns uncertain, accountability becomes the north star.
📺 CTV Holds Steady as Linear TV Falters
In the February IAB survey, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. advertisers said they were planning to cut their linear TV ad spend, the second-largest drop across all channels. That’s a potential $6 billion hit to an industry already battling shrinking audiences and pressured revenue models.
Meanwhile, only 12% said they’d reduce budgets for Connected TV (CTV). For a newer channel still scaling, that’s resilience combined with momentum.
Advertisers are following attention, not tradition. For app marketers, that means embracing CTV as part of a diversified, high-performance strategy, especially in volatile markets.
📉 Good News? Lower CPMs. Bad News? Less Demand.
There’s a short-term upside to all this: when big advertisers pull back spend, ad auctions get less crowded. That can translate into lower CPMs and more affordable media. For performance marketers, this creates an opportunity to win inventory at a better price and boost ROAS.
We’ve seen this play out before. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Facebook’s CPMs dropped by approximately 25% as advertiser demand nosedived. It’s a clear example of how external shocks can affect the pricing environment.
But there’s a tradeoff. A dip in competition often signals a larger reduction in market activity. Demand-side pressure can lead to a thinning of premium inventory or a shift in available audiences. While prices may drop, so might the overall reach and quality of media, especially in top-tier placements. The quality and volume of available impressions might not keep up.
In these conditions, finding a bid that delivers 100% payback within an acceptable window is essential. As Seufert suggests, you should continuously refine bids based on how new cohorts are monetizing, and stop scaling once the payback window stretches too far.
This environment calls for thoughtful, strategic media buying, prioritizing sustainable performance over short-term gains.
🌍 Cross-Border Campaigns Face New Friction
Mobile app marketers operating across borders are entering choppier waters. Trade tensions don’t just shake supply chains, media markets face the pressure too.
In fact, global ad growth projections for the tech and electronics sector have been slashed nearly in half, from 13.9% to just 6.2%, a clear signal that advertisers are pulling back in sectors most exposed to international volatility.
That kind of contraction creates significant friction for app campaigns. Marketers may face declining consumer confidence and reduced spending, added layers of regulatory uncertainty around data and privacy, and increased foreign exchange volatility, all of which can complicate campaign performance and skew ROAS.
In these cases, campaigns that adapt to cultural nuance, segment dynamically based on user behaviour, and reflect local market realities become increasingly important. Having a DSP partner with global on-ground expertise and real-time optimization capabilities can help you stay relevant.
📲 Retention Is the Prudent Play Right Now
In uncertain economic conditions, loyalty is more valuable. Not only are new users harder to come by, but even existing cohorts may generate less revenue than expected by spending less, churning faster or engaging in unpredictable ways. Economic volatility introduces new variables that can skew projections, and marketers must be ready to recalibrate accordingly. Assumptions around lifetime value, cancellation rates, and organic ratios all need revalidation.
Apart from recalibrating cash flow models to adjust for these challenged assumptions, marketers must also shift their focus to channels they can better control. With user acquisition under pressure, retention and re-engagement emerge as the most efficient growth levers. It costs significantly less to retain an existing user than to acquire a new one. According to SimplicityDX, customer acquisition costs (CAC) have surged by 222% over the last decade, rising from $19 to $61 per user.
Working with a DSP can enable deep retargeting capabilities, powered by user-level insights and event-based segmentation. That means brands can deliver highly relevant, personalized messages that nudge users back into the app at the right moment. Whether it’s pushing an offer, reminding them of a cart, or encouraging subscription renewal, retention-focused strategies are where smart marketers will double down.
🔎 Consumer Behaviour Will Shift. Fast.
Let’s not forget the user side of the equation. Tariffs and global uncertainty tend to lead to reduced consumer confidence. People think twice before spending, subscriptions are harder to convert, and impulsive in-app purchases might take a hit.
That financial caution is becoming even more evident in 2025. In Deloitte’s January ConsumerSignals survey, about half of U.S. households reported having no money left over at the end of the month after meeting their basic expenses. This signals a shift in household priorities, where spending naturally tilts toward essentials and away from discretionary categories like entertainment or in-app purchases.
That makes personalization and value-driven messaging more important. App marketers will need to understand not just who their users are, but how they feel in a changing economic climate. You’ll need to earn users’ trust with value, clean UX, and compelling value propositions.
Dynamic creative optimization and event-driven messaging let brands talk to users in context, whether they’re spending, saving, or somewhere in between.
🎮 Tariffs Could Present Unexpected Challenges for the Gaming Industry
The gaming industry and the attention economy are shielded from supply chain issues that affect FMCG verticals but they are not completely immune to real-world economics. Hardware is the first to feel the hit. With most gaming consoles assembled in China or nearby markets, increased tariffs are pushing up production costs just as new devices like the much-anticipated Switch 2 hit the shelves. Nintendo’s delay of U.S. pre-orders and its fixed $449.99 price tag suggest limited room for price maneuvering, especially if tariffs stretch beyond initial expectations. There’s also crazy talk of iPhones completely manufactured in the US that could cost thousands more.
But this isn’t just about consoles. Many games and game-adjacent businesses in the U.S. rely on physical infrastructure—servers, chips, and components—that may now come with a higher price tag due to trade tensions. These operational cost increases may impact various parts of the digital ecosystem, including pricing and margins. Interestingly, if you didn’t know, 70% of the world’s rare earth materials, hardware components in technology, come from China. Hence the gravity of the seismic trade policy shifts that could impact movement of materials.
The ripple effects could also suppress spending among gamers. As inflationary pressure builds and tariffs weigh on currency values, discretionary spend on in-game items, subscriptions, or mobile titles might slow. For mobile app marketers in the gaming space, this means implementing more precise segmentation, sharper offers, and messaging that reinforces value over novelty. It’s not just about entertainment anymore. It’s about relevance in a more price-sensitive world.
🛍️ Tariffs May Impact E-commerce Ad Spend, and Broader App Ecosystems
E-commerce platforms have become significant contributors to digital advertising, and shifts in their strategies can have far-reaching consequences. Brands like Temu and Shein, which rely heavily on low-cost manufacturing and have scaled rapidly through aggressive performance marketing, exemplify the effects tariffs can cause.
These platforms have been major players in the digital ad economy, reportedly accounting for as much as 4% of Meta and Google’s U.S. ad revenue. If increased tariffs raise their operational costs, we may see a dual impact: a reduction in marketing budgets and potential price hikes for consumers. Both outcomes could cause a slowdown in campaign velocity and efficiency.
Because these companies don’t just advertise in the U.S., but spend across multiple global markets, the effects won’t stay localized. For mobile app marketers, particularly those in the shopping vertical who often benefit from the inventory supported by large e-commerce spenders, this creates a more competitive and potentially costlier environment.
🤖 Automation Becomes Essential
When teams are being asked to do more with less, automation goes from being a luxury to a necessity. AI-powered tools, especially in media buying, help advertisers react to volatile environments quickly and efficiently.
This is where AI-powered bid optimization engines that use real-time signals to adjust bids on the fly, ensuring campaigns remain efficient and profitable even when market dynamics shift, become mission-critical.
The key is real-time adaptability. Tariff news can hit headlines and affect user behaviour overnight. You need tech that adjusts faster than human teams ever could.
In Conclusion
Global volatility isn’t new, and it does reward adaptability. If you’re an app marketer, it’s time to be agile with your strategy. Focus on performance. Concentrate spending on the highest-performing channels that you trust. Favour shorter payback windows. Use automation to make your budgets work harder. Get granular with your audience segmentation. And invest in retention and re-engagement where the path to ROI is clearest.
Even during market downturns, strong performance strategies can continue to deliver results and support long-term growth. With the right tools, the right insights, and the right DSP by your side, your app marketing can thrive even in turbulent times.
Looking to streamline your app marketing strategy in the wake of uncertainty? Contact us today to see how RevX can help you drive performance, no matter what the headlines say.
Garima Batra
Content Marketing Manager
