Here is AppGrowing's analysis of the global mobile App advertising markets in October 2023, based on advertising data from 25 global media platforms in 50 countries/regions.
01 Advertising Trends
In October, both ad volume and app volume remained high. The peak of ad volume appeared in week 4, which was over 3M. App volume showed an increasing trend, which was over 30k in week 5. Creative volume was stable, over 700K every week, including nearly 1M in week 4.
The single day peaks for both Ad Volume and App Volume occurred in the latter period of the month. October 31st had 1.81M+ ad volume and 30K App volume.
Regionally, the Top 3 regions in ad volume for the month were North America, Latin America and Southeast Asia, with only North America accounting for more than 10% of ad volume. Other regions that accounted for more than 5% were Western Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Southern Europe and Central Europe. In terms of the TOP 10 regions by ad volume, the USA ranked No.1, accounting for 28.8% of the total, while the TOP 2-5 were India, Mexico, France and Germany, showing that App developers have invested more in the emerging markets in October.
In terms of categories, Shop continued to grow as Black Friday approached, ranking No. 1 with a 20.6% share of ad volume, followed by Tools and Social at 12.3% and 8.7%, respectively. Tools had the highest app volume at 13.2%, followed by finance and shopping.
News ranked No. 1 in terms of average ads for a single app, with 527.2, followed by Shop, Books & Reference, Social, and Photo & Video.
In terms of media, according to AppGrowing, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Meta Audience Network, and AdMob are the TOP5, with Facebook and Instagram both accounting for 51.2% of the ad volume. Looking specifically at Facebook's ads by category, Shop, Tools, Social, and Entertainment are the mainstays, with Shop accounting for 29.8% of the total.
Regarding the regions of app developers, the Top 1 for ad volume is China's Mainland, and the Top 1 for app volume is the USA. It is worth noting that Indian and Brazilian developers have entered the Top 5 in both ad volume and app volume.
Among the most advertised app developers in October, the Top 3 were SHEIN, Pinduoduo, and Paticle Media, with Shopee and Alibaba also making up the list with shopping as their main product, reflecting the heavy advertising in the Shop category this month.
02 Most Advertised Apps
For the most advertised Apps, the most charted category on Google Play was Social with 4 and all in the Top 10. Leading Shop apps saw high ad volume, with TEMU overtaking SHEIN to claim the No. 1 spot. News app NewsBreak receded to No. 2.
On App Store, Shopee and SHIEN came in at No. 1 and No. 2, and both added shopping festival-related words to their names or icons. The most listed category was Books & Reference, with 6 titles, including NEW READING's GoodNovel and MegaNovel, which both made the Top 5.
For October's list of key app categories, AppGrowing picked Entertainment, News, Books & Reference, and Social.
In the Entertainment Top8, there are lots of products related to Video and AIGC, such as LoveChat and Talkie:Soulful AI. The No.1 is Ticketmaster, a ticketing app. News list is undoubtedly taken No. 1 by NewsBreak, with Opera News and Digital Trends Video in 2nd and 3rd. The Books & Reference category was almost dominated by developers from China's Mainland, with NEW READING and CHANGDU both featuring 2 products on the list. The Social category was led by leading social media companies, with Facebook Lite breaking into the Top 5.
03 Case Analysis
Case 1: Broken Screen 4K Funny Pranks
Broken Screen 4K Funny Pranks is an App that offers wallpapers for cell phones. However, as we can see from the name, it sells itself as a spoof, offering wallpapers that simulate a damaged phone screen. According to AppGrowing, it ran ad campaigns mainly in India, Germany, France, Spain and Turkey in October. The type of creative is dominated by videos, with a 98% share, which in turn is dominated by vertical videos.
Following the funny style, the idea of Broken Screen 4K Funny Pranks highlights the selling point and makes extensive use of live-action elements. For example, a sitcom is used to demonstrate the functionality of the program, adding a sense of immersion from the first point of view. It performs " a friend mistaking the screen for a damaged one", emphasizing the wallpaper's realism and fun, and triggering users' interest in downloading.
First point of view is widely used in Broken Screen 4K Funny Pranks' creatives to enhance the sense of immersion. The video below, for example, opens with a first point of view showing what happens when you pick up a phone that has fallen on the couch and realize it has a faulty screen. It then moves to a live action scene showing and explaining app features and wallpaper settings.
Case 2: Facebook Lite
Recently, AppGrowing has observed that some leading social platforms have elevated the importance of ads on Lite versions. For example, Meta's Facebook Lite has entered the Top 5 Social apps by ad volume. Its main advertising regions in October were the USA, Taiwan of China, Mexico, India and Australia. Creatives were predominantly video, accounting for more than 80% of ads.
Creatively, the Facebook Lite ads mainly convey the advantages of Lite version, such as the small package and 2G network support. The video screen below is split in 2, with the top Banner introducing the benefits of the Lite version, and the bottom displaying the App interface, which shows the selling points in an intuitive and concise manner.
Some of the live action creatives incorporate the unique content environment on Facebook. The following video introduces meditation groups on Facebook, showing different people meditating. Accompanied by what they say in the group, showing the social advantages of the platform.
