Liftoff, a global performance-based mobile app marketing optimization platform, has unveiled its third annual report, The 2021 Liftoff Mobile Ad Creative Index Report. For the second year in a row, the report highlights the promise of Android for mobile marketers and features a surprising year-over-year flip in the value of the video ad format. Besides, after a year of significant user engagement changes, the cost of user acquisition for all types of applications has dropped dramatically.

The 2021 Liftoff Mobile Ad Creative Index Report analyzed nearly 400 billion impressions across 6.2 billion clicks, 275 million installs and 7.7 million first-time events in about 1,800 apps between January 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020. Highlights of the report are the following:

2021 May Be Android’s Year for Ad Creative 

With IDFA rule changes, the data shows that the coming year in ad creative may be Android’s for the taking.

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Customer acquisition costs flow to Android, with costs to acquire a purchasing user three times higher on iOS. Over the past year, CPAs for traditional banner ads on iOS was around $36.77 -- 3.5 times more costly than Android’s $10.28 and the largest difference of any ad format. But conversions are the real tipping point, and by type of ad the two are evenly matched. In addition, interstitial ads and banner ads respectively perform 52% and 22% higher on Android devices. Native ads still convert more users on iOS, but with only a minor lead of 10%.

According to Liftoff’s data, about a third of marketers expect to increase their Android AD budgets in 2021. That would be good news for them.

"The rules for IDFA are not yet set," said Liftoff CEO and co-founder Mark Ellis. Marketers who are not thinking about Android should start to understand the capabilities of the platform and how they can achieve similar results. Marketers who continue to run ads on iOS should rely on the data to choose the types of ads that will benefit them and make informed choices.

Is the Spotlight on Video Ads Fading? 2020 Saw Dramatic Drop in ROI 

Video ads were a smart and strategic investment last year, driving 60% higher purchase rates than banners for mere pennies more. But this year, the video spotlight is fading, and the format now offers the lowest return on ad spend (ROAS). Despite slightly lower costs year-over-year, the category is still the priciest among ad types ($47) and, notably, the only category whose conversion rates declined year-over-year (down 1.5%).

With COVID-19 driving increased mobile use and generating a more captive audience for long-form video ads, it’s still too early to say video ads have hit the ceiling. Nevertheless, marketers looking for peak advertising engagement at moderate costs may wish to consider different methods. Interstitials, for example, delivered the highest engagement at moderate costs. This form has already demonstrated substantial value among gaming apps, with the highest conversion rates among ad types (8.1%).

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With Shopping and Finance Apps Booming, Ad Creative Excels at a Fraction of the Cost

Apps that drive longer value amidst the epidemic, like shopping and finance apps, have had the strongest retention rates over the past year, and the data sees that loyalty reflected in acquisition costs. Shopping apps saw a cost decrease between 75% to 85% year-over-year across all ad formats, the highest being for interstitial ads. In finance apps, banner and native ad costs both saw a dramatic drop of nearly 91%, with video and interstitial formats decreasing 72% and 62% respectively. 

While the number of mobile users is at an all-time high, user acquisition costs are at an all-time low. It’s also the best time for mobile marketers to make a splash.

Research Methods

The 2021 Liftoff Mobile Ad Creative Index Report draws from an internal data analysis from January 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020. Spanning nearly 400 billion impressions, over 6.2 billion clicks, 275 million installs and 7.7 million first-time events in about 1,800 apps, the report delivers key takeaways on how banner ads, interstitials, video, interactive and native ads perform.