5 Essential Mobile Retargeting Strategies for Q1

New Year, New Campaign Strategies

Happy 2025! With consumers setting new year goals for the year, Q1 offers a unique opportunity to re-engage mobile users and maximize app revenue.

The momentum from the recent holiday shopping season gives a compelling picture of the market's trajectory. In 2024, Black Friday saw a staggering $10.8 billion in online purchases in the U.S. alone, marking a 10.2% increase from the previous year. A notable 55% of this online spend took place on mobile devices—a figure that reached $5.9 billion during Black Friday 2024, up 12.1% year-on-year. This shows how mobile channels have never been more crucial for marketers. These record-breaking numbers underscore the critical importance of effective mobile retargeting strategies as we enter Q1 2025.

In this article, we’ll explore five essential mobile retargeting strategies to help you hit the ground running in 2025. From personalized experiences to interactive ad formats, these approaches will ensure your campaigns stand out with fresh and relevant marketing tactics.

1. Dynamic Behavioral Retargeting

Behavioral retargeting focuses on delivering ads tailored to specific user actions within your app. According to AdRoll, dynamic retargeting ads achieve 2x higher click-through-rates. They also save brands money with a 50% lower cost-per-acquisition compared to static ads.

For example, targeting users who abandon their shopping carts with personalized ads featuring those exact items and a compelling incentive—such as free shipping—can significantly boost conversions. This data underscores the potential of real-time, personalized ads to enhance user engagement and drive revenue growth. This strategy uses data-driven insights to address user pain points or incentivize key actions, such as completing a purchase or returning to your app.

Example: Let’s say a user has added items to their shopping cart but left without completing the purchase. A dynamic retargeting ad could display those exact items alongside a personalized discount, such as 10% off or free shipping, to nudge them toward checkout.

Hot Take: Static ads no longer cut it. Dynamic behavioral retargeting leverages real-time data to create hyper-relevant ad experiences. The result? Higher conversion rates and a more engaged user base.

Pro Tip: Use a mix of push notifications and in-app messages for users who are logged in, and extend your reach via paid and social ads to re-engage those who aren’t currently active in your app.

2. Funnel-Based Retargeting

Every user’s journey through your app is unique. Funnel-based retargeting aligns ad campaigns with the user’s position in the conversion funnel, whether they’re at the awareness, consideration, or decision stage.

Example: A fitness app could target awareness-stage users with ads highlighting features like free workouts or health tips. For decision-stage users who’ve engaged with a premium subscription page, retargeting ads could showcase a limited-time offer for annual plans.

Hot Take: Funnel-based retargeting is like a conversation. Speak to users in their language—whether it’s casual introductions or closing the deal—to guide them seamlessly toward conversion.

Pro Tip: Segment your audience by funnel stage and create tailored creatives for each segment. Be sure to A/B test your messaging to identify the most effective call-to-action.

3. Interactive Ad Formats

Static display ads are a thing of the past. Interactive ad formats—including playable ads, gamified elements, and interactive end cards—offer an engaging way to re-engage users and drive app installs or conversions.

Example: Imagine a gaming app that uses an interactive end card showing a mini-version of the gameplay experience. Users can interact with the ad, experiencing the app’s value firsthand before clicking through to download or re-open it.

Hot Take: Interactive ads aren’t just attention-grabbing—they’re conversion-driving. The ability to engage users directly within the ad makes this format a powerful tool for standing out in the saturated mobile ad ecosystem.

Pro Tip: Experiment with gamified elements even for non-gaming apps. For instance, a retail app could create an ad where users "unlock" a discount by completing a quick task, like spinning a virtual wheel.

4. Cross-Device Retargeting

Mobile users are often multi-device users, which presents both opportunities and challenges for advertisers. As consumers increasingly move between devices—browsing on smartphones, researching on tablets, and completing transactions on desktops—retargeting strategies must adapt to this fragmented journey.

Cross-device retargeting aligns with current trends of personalized, omnichannel marketing while addressing privacy concerns by relying on aggregated, consented data. They may browse products on their phone, research reviews on their tablet, and complete the purchase on their desktop. Cross-device retargeting ensures you follow users across their journey, maintaining consistent brand messaging and engagement.

Example: A streaming service can retarget users who watched trailers on their mobile devices but didn’t subscribe, serving them subscription ads when they switch to their smart TVs.

Hot Take: Cross-device retargeting isn’t just about being everywhere; it’s about being strategically everywhere. By meeting users on their preferred device at the right time, you increase the likelihood of conversions.

Pro Tip: Tap into platforms like CTV for high-impact retargeting opportunities. Streaming services and connected TVs offer excellent touchpoints to capture user attention in a less cluttered environment.

5. Contextual Retargeting

Contextual retargeting targets users based on the environment or content they’re engaging with at a specific moment, rather than solely relying on past behavior. By aligning with data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, contextual targeting is emerging as a future-proof strategy that doesn’t rely on invasive tracking methods. This approach allows marketers to stay compliant while delivering highly relevant ad placements tailored to the user’s immediate interests and current mindset. This approach allows for highly relevant ad placements that resonate with the user’s current mindset.

Example: A travel app could display ads promoting last-minute flight deals to users browsing travel blogs or destination guides.

Hot Take: Context is king in 2024. With privacy regulations limiting behavioral tracking, contextual targeting provides a compliant, effective way to connect with users in the right moment.

Pro Tip: Pair contextual targeting with real-time bidding to secure premium ad placements aligned with trending topics or seasonal content.

The Takeaway

The new year brings fresh opportunities to refine your mobile retargeting strategies and achieve better results. By focusing on dynamic personalization, aligning campaigns with the user journey, leveraging interactive ads, tapping into cross-device touchpoints, and embracing contextual relevance, you can deliver impactful campaigns that resonate with users and drive conversions.

It’s time to leave outdated tactics behind and embrace these essential mobile retargeting strategies for Q1. The YouAppi team can help. Schedule a meeting with our retargeting experts today. Here’s to a successful start to 2025!