App growth often begins with user acquisition, but achieving sustainable success requires pairing it with effective retargeting strategies. Retargeting helps re-engage users who have already shown interest; in fact, more than half of users will return to complete an action within a week of seeing a retargeted ad.

However, retargeting looks different for gaming and non-gaming apps. In this blog, we'll explore the differences in retargeting strategy between gaming and non-gaming apps, from setting goals to creative messages and optimization frameworks, to help you drive stronger engagement and long-term ROI.

Setting Retargeting Goals and Segments

While the core principle of retargeting for both gaming and non-gaming apps is pretty much the same—to re-engage existing users and generate incremental revenue at a lower cost than new acquisition—the specific goals and segmentation strategies differ based on the users' in-app motivation.

In gaming apps, retargeting focuses on maximizing long-term lifetime value. While driving in-app purchase (IAP) revenue remains a priority, retargeting campaigns also aim to revive churned or dormant players and increase session frequency. This is crucial because even if re-engaged players don't immediately spend money, their increased playtime contributes directly to ad impressions, or in-app ad revenue, which strengthens the overall monetization potential.

Segmentation for gaming retargeting revolves around player value and progression signals, including monetary tiers, player lifecycle stages, and in-game milestones. Developers can use this context, for instance, to target players who have stalled at a difficult level, or remind a dormant user of their achieved progress to return and play more.

Messaging and Creative Strategy

When it comes to retargeting, creative strategy is just as important as audience segmentation, technical setup, and campaign management. While data guides who you target and when, it's the creative that is more likely to impact users' decisions on whether they come back. To give you some ideas, we've outlined some examples of how different app categories leverage retargeting.

Retargeting creatives for gaming and non-gaming apps differ in their primary focus and psychological appeal. Creatives for gaming apps often focus on emotional triggers. The goal is to reignite curiosity, excitement, and a sense of progression. They can tease the players with content they haven't yet experienced, such as new updates or special events, to ensure players can return for fresh experiences. Even if users don't immediately spend, returning players are nudged back into the core game loop, which increases engagement and long-term monetization opportunities.

On the other hand, non-gaming app ad creatives take a different, more functional approach, emphasizing practicality, immediate benefits, and rewards to reinforce the app's utility. For example, an e-commerce app may remind shoppers to check out abandoned carts with exclusive offers, while a finance app may leverage social proof hooks like trending content or testimonials to re-engage users with a sense of relevance and trust. The focus of these creatives is to appeal to users' rational motivations, such as convenience and efficiency, making users feel like they are making a smart choice.

Optimization and Measurement Frameworks

Finally, the measurement and bidding frameworks for gaming and non-gaming retargeting campaigns also differ, largely due to their distinct monetization models and conversion cycles.

For gaming apps, retargeting focuses on user stickiness. Key metrics such as ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User) and retention rate reveal how effectively a campaign re-engages high-value players and sustains their activity over time. Since player spending typically occurs gradually rather than immediately, advertisers often use longer attribution windows, such as D30, to capture delayed in-app purchases and better evaluate campaign ROI.

Attribution in gaming is usually event-driven, tracking signals such as reinstalls, in-app purchases, and session activity. Many developers use Hybrid ROAS bidding, which optimizes campaigns for both IAP (in-app purchase) and IAA (in-app ad) revenue streams, ensuring the algorithm values spenders and ad-viewing players simultaneously.

For non-gaming apps, retargeting success is measured primarily by conversion efficiency and ROI. The objective is to recover lost intent, encouraging users to complete unfinished transactions, renew subscriptions, or make repeat purchases.

Retargeting is an effective solution for both gaming and non-gaming apps to increase retention and boost user engagement. To get started with retargeting, secure a test budget, and reach out to your chosen ad partner and see if they have the right solution for you.

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