Despite the tumultuous start to the year as global creators and marketers recovered from the jolt shock news of the US TikTok ban that January weekend, if we had to distill the essence of app marketing in 2025, it would be “silver lining.” 2024 had its fair share of macro-economic and app industry challenges but the light is starting to shine through as resilient marketers revolve around the sun into 2025. From improved efficiency with AI, to bolder cross-platform strategies, to enhanced user app onboarding, despite some global downloads stalling, there are glimmers of increased mobile revenue and improved app engagement for 2025. In 2024, revenue from in-app purchases (IAPs) and subscriptions continued its rapid growth, up 13% year-over-year (YoY) globally to $150 billion. As always, there’s more to it.
Let’s explore the biggest trends shaping app marketing this year.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Continues Its Dominance
We can’t avoid the AI-generated elephant–or whale–in the room. A recent report by Grand View Research indicates that the market size of global artificial intelligence used in marketing was estimated at $20.45 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach $26.99 billion USD in 2025. Even as we write this and the January ‘25 calendar page flips into February, there’s been a paradigm shift in the AI market and US stocks, as global attention shifts to China’s AI dominance with DeepSeek’s AI model that has wiped $2 trillion in market cap in US stocks. NVIDIA itself has seen $500BN lost in market cap. The chip maker has been one of the best performing stocks in the S&P 500 for the last few years, based on its valuation and market capitalization. The disruption comes with DeepSeek R1, which by contrast is open source, 27x cheaper than Open AI, and its model fully discloses its reasoning. DeepSeek’s challenge to Open AI, as Marc Andreessen said ‘It’s Sputnik for AI’, will boost innovation and challenge what technologists can achieve. For AI in app marketing, the recent surge in utilization emphasizes the transformative power of AI for brands looking to improve their ad strategies.
Within the creative sector alone, brands testing ad copy and design versions with assistance from machine learning (ML) models are building quicker, gathering more data, and getting a leg up in navigating the algorithm by outpacing their peers. According to a study by InMarket, nearly half of US brand and agency marketers (43%) see campaign optimization as the primary use of AI in 2025. Additionally, AI is expected to play a significant role in audience targeting (41%), data analysis (30%), and ad creative brainstorming (26%).
Stuck on how to implement AI methods into your ad strategy? Ask chat assistants about unique ways to reach certain demographics; get specific by detailing the number of times they opened your app, their location and hours of use, their in-app habits, and their notification settings.
2. Subscription Apps On the Rise
The team at Deconstructor of Fun recently shared that as of early 2025, non-gaming apps constitute roughly 88.9% of the 1.9 million apps available on the Apple App Store. This highlights the increasing importance of non-gaming verticals and especially subscription apps. In 2024, subscription apps accounted for 48% of the total app revenue across the Apple App Store and Google Play, contributing significantly to the $127.3 billion in global consumer spending on mobile apps and games, a 15.7% year-over-year increase. Clearly, subscription apps are proving that in 2025, consistent value and recurring revenue will be the ultimate power couple in the app world.
3. Hybrid Monetization
As mobile and streaming habits adapt to new routines, ways of working, family size, and increased connectivity, monetization models will evolve beyond subscription services and app platform in-app purchases via the App Store and Google Play. Live shopping, which is quickly gaining traction on popular–and controversial–video apps like TikTok, online retail apps, and even through text messaging campaigns, is a great example of the extension of mCommerce and where this trend could see apps developing increased traffic and revenue through new means of advertising their core products and services with user-generated content (UGC) or high-performing stand-alone brand accounts. Interestingly, UGC is proving nearly 10 times more influential than influencer content when it comes to driving purchases.
In 2024, in-app purchase revenue in non-gaming sectors increased by nearly 20%, driven by advanced monetization strategies and a shift from physical stores to digital platforms. This highlights how app developers are adopting diversified monetization strategies, blending in-app purchases, advertising, and new commerce models. In the gaming industry web shops that offer Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) offerings are shaking up traditional payment methods.
4. Web Stores in Mobile App Monetization Strategies
The rise of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) web stores is one of the most exciting trends in contemporary app marketing. Publishers across the mobile gaming industry have embraced the model, with web stores now being adopted by most top-grossing games. A recent analysis of the highest-grossing games found that a significant 72% of them operate web stores. Games in high-ARPU categories like social casino, strategy, and action are seeing substantial benefits. While casual games may face challenges in transitioning players to web stores due to impulsive buying behavior, the overall trend is clear: web stores are becoming essential for app marketers looking to optimize their monetization strategies.
5. Privacy Updates
Even with the evolution of privacy initiatives from Apple’s SKAdNetwork (SKAN), AdAttributionKit, App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and Google’s Privacy Sandbox, there is still measurement uncertainty for marketers and much to be sorted in the space for app developers to feel empowered and make decisions that align with mandated privacy frameworks. The IAB reported that 95% of decision-makers at brands, agencies, and publishers expect continued shifts in legislation and the loss of data surrounding campaign performance. We expect a greater appetite for testing to help navigate complexities and tap into the comparatively greater ARPU value on iOS versus Android. Only time, data and budgets will tell if signals and platforms provide greater clarity and accuracy, or smoke and mirrors. In addition to platform privacy changes, geopolitical pressures such as the US TikTok ban, will also impact the app marketing landscape. One thing is clear however, it will require more adaptability, agreement, ingenuity and compliance to clear paths through the ambiguity.
6. Connected TV (CTV)
You’ve probably blitzed through a few mid-roll ads and QR codes during the holiday season while streaming new series or nostalgic films. Connected TV made a bigger splash last year, and the waves keep coming. In 2025, U.S. CTV ad spending is set to climb by 15.8%, reaching an impressive $33.35 billion, driven by factors such as the launch of ad-supported tiers by streaming services and a growing audience shift toward streaming and on-demand content. CTV viewership is also on the rise, nearing 70% of the U.S. population, an audience of 238 million users.
With more precise segmentation, targeting, and opportunities for cross-device and household syncing, CTV programmatic advertising has become a must-watch opportunity for savvy app marketers. However, if you’re looking for the easter egg–it’s Asia Pacific. APAC is poised for even greater growth, leading the scene with 42.8% ownership of the global market share of SmartTVs.
7. Rewards and Engagement
Whether we’re looking at the rise of rewarded ads, or interactive ads that provide a moment of fun and intrigue, more verticals are choosing to double down on rewards and engaging ad formats to bring consumers back to play, install, or purchase.
According to internal research by Google, 50% of app users expressed that their overall experience would decline if rewarded ads were removed. Rewarded video ads have proven to be incredibly effective, with an average revenue increase of 41% and a 100% higher effectiveness rate compared to interstitial ads. Similarly, interactive ad formats have demonstrated their potential to captivate audiences, with interactive CTV ads generating a 600% lift in engagement compared to standard pre-roll videos. Additionally, 53% of gamers report playing longer because they receive rewards.
8. Deep Linking
In 2024, we saw brands focusing on deep linking, letting users jump straight to specific promotional or product pages of your app from just about anywhere, be it a QR code, email, web pages, or the app itself.
With reduced friction and customer churn, deep linking will go even further in 2025; the industry has already seen a 77% YoY growth rise in the web-to-app channel through deep linking. Regions like LATAM up 88%, and Western Europe 78% respectively, are embracing this tech, with verticals such as shopping, entertainment, and gaming seeing impressive adoption rates.
In Conclusion
As we anticipate the happenings of 2025, app marketing is serving up a fresh plate of opportunities; from the rise of Connected TV to the transformative potential of AI, this year’s trends are less about isolated tactics and more about creating meaningful marketing synergies, connecting to your audiences with creativity and agility.
Whether you’re exploring hybrid monetization or navigating the complexities of privacy regulations, one thing’s for sure: innovation and adaptability are essential. Momentum, after all, isn’t just about speed, it’s about direction. With the right strategies in place, 2025 promises to be a breakout year for app marketers.
Lauren Heineck
