Creative variety becomes a strategic imperative, says AppsFlyer's 2025 report

Campaign ME

14-05-2025

In gaming, just 2 per cent of video ad creatives absorb 53 per cent of total ad spend. In non-gaming, that figure drops to 43 per cent. This 10-point gap signals a shift toward broader creative testing, fatigue mitigation, and audience segmentation. Based on the analysis of 1.1 million video ad creatives, across 1,300 gaming and non-gaming apps the AppsFlyer's 2025 Creative Report reveals that overall creative winners still matter, but marketers are starting to diversify creative investment.
High-spending non-gaming apps grew their creative output by 18 per cent year-over-year, now averaging 2,365 variations per quarter and outpacing gaming's growth by 80 per cent.
Nonetheless, gaming still leads in raw volume, with top apps producing 2,743 creatives per quarter. In contrast, mid-tier gaming advertisers are producing less than they were a year ago, a trend that may put them at risk as competition heats up.
The report offers an in-depth analysis of creative performance trends and emotional drivers in mobile advertising, with insights from experts at Meta and dentsu. It uncovers the motivations, storytelling formats, and creative signals that don't just drive installs — but also long-term retention.
Shifting strategy towards creative variety
Adam Smart, Director of Product Gaming at AppsFlyer said, 'We're seeing a clear shift in creative strategy, with marketers not just scaling top performers, but scaling variety.'
He continues, 'In gaming, high spenders still dominate production, with apps spending $7M+ per quarter to generate nearly 3x more creatives than those in the $4-$7M range. But in non-gaming, growth is more evenly distributed across tiers, suggesting creative scale is no longer just for the biggest players but that it's becoming a strategic imperative for everyone.'
One clear example is celebrity-driven ads. Ads featuring music artists led to 50 per cent higher user retention after seven days compared to those with movie stars, even though they received less than 10 per cent of the celebrity budget.
TV personalities drove 2x the IPM (installs per 1,000 impressions which reflects how efficiently an ad drives installs) of movie stars, yet movie stars still captured over 80 per cent of celebrity spend.
This underscores the importance of creative choices that not only capture attention, but also contribute to long-term impact.
Emotion, education, and motivation
Emotionally resonant stories continue to be undervalued despite their effectiveness.
Failure-to-Success narratives in hypercasual gaming delivered 78 per cent higher IPM but received 40 per cent less spend than conventional 'success' stories. In social and search channels, storytelling hooks (narratives with emotional twists) made up just 6 per cent of ad spend, yet delivered the highest Day 7 retention at 8.4 per cent.
Social Proof hook formats also performed well, particularly offering a strong balance of installs and retention, particularly when tapping into trends.
In category-specific findings:
Across categories like Finance, Social Media, and GenAI, educational and review-based UGC formats show significantly higher IPM and retention – yet testimonials dominate budget allocation.
In Social, UGC (User Generated Content) tutorials delivered 45 per cent higher IPM and 17 per cent stronger Day 7 retention, despite receiving far less spend.
In Finance, tutorial-style creatives drove 37 per cent higher retention, underscoring the value of clear, relatable content that builds trust and drives long-term impact.
In both Finance and Social apps, tutorials and app review formats outperformed testimonials on key metrics.
Motivational hooks performed well in niche contexts too. In Finance, creatives promising immediate benefits drive stronger Day 7 retention via DSPs (+17 per cent). In Dating, creatives tied to 'Serious Relationship' motivations outperform 'Casual' by 15 per cent, despite lower coverage and budget.
GenAI categories showed a split. Comparison-style creatives, such as before-and-after filters, drive strong initial performance, generating 3.68 IPM and capturing 40 per cent of spend. But they also deliver the lowest Day 7 retention. UGC testimonials lead to 36 per cent higher retention, reinforcing the importance of creative strategies that deliver value beyond the install.
AppsFlyer's 2025 State of Creative Optimisation report is based on an anonymous aggregate of proprietary global data across 1.1 million video creative variations, from [1300] apps that ran a minimum of 200 creative variations each. The dataset spans both Gaming and Non-Gaming categories and reflects insights tied to ($2.4 billion) in ad spend between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025.
AppsFlyer chose to present the data at a global level, since they found that while creative trends varied significantly between categories, they were surprisingly consistent across GEOs.