What is a mobile app advertiser?

An advertiser is the entity on the buying side of the mobile marketing ecosystem. In the context of mobile advertising, the advertiser is often an app or brand looking to spread a specific message about their product (for example, new user acquisition and retargeting campaigns).

Advertisers buy ad space from mobile publishers, ad networks, or demand-side platforms (DSPs) to promote their app, product, or service. These ads typically appear within other mobile apps and are targeted based on user behavior, interests, location, or device type.

For example, a gaming app (the advertiser) may purchase inventory from an ad network to promote a limited-time offer. The ad is shown to users playing similar games, encouraging them to install or return to the app.

Mobile advertising is often managed by a company’s marketing team, which is responsible for campaign strategy, execution, and optimization. Advertisers assess the impact of their campaigns by analyzing performance metrics such as:

• Cost per install (CPI)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Click through rate (CTR)
• Conversion rate
• Lifetime value (LTV)

By evaluating these key performance indicators (KPIs), advertisers determine whether their ad spend is delivering positive return on investment (ROI). The most successful advertisers are those who can accurately measure user value and optimize their budgets based on real-time insights.

An advertiser isn’t limited to any one vertical. It could be a shopping app, a strategy game, a fintech service, or any other brand. The common factor is that all advertisers want to deliver a specific message to users through ads.

Advertisers are not to be confused with publishers. A publisher owns the space where those ads are displayed, like an app, website, or social platform. The advertiser pays to place the ad, and the publisher earns revenue by showing it.

For example, if you see an ad in a gaming app for a food delivery service: the food delivery app is the advertiser and the gaming app is the publisher

It’s also possible to be both an advertiser and a publisher. For instance, an app can promote itself through paid campaigns while also monetizing its own traffic by displaying third-party ads.

An advertiser is the brand or app developer that owns the product or service being promoted. An advertising agency, on the other hand, is a partner brought in to help create, plan, and manage advertising campaigns across different platforms and formats. 

Agencies bring expertise in creative development and design, user experience (UX), digital marketing, and media planning and buying. They may also manage campaigns across mobile, web, TV, and print, helping companies define the voice, language, and style of their ads. 

While agencies execute the strategy, it’s the advertiser who sets the goals, owns the budget, and evaluates performance.

Adjust enables advertisers to accurately measure and attribute mobile marketing efforts across channels and platforms. By connecting installs and in-app events to specific sources, it’s made easy to identify what works and optimize accordingly. From deep linking to solutions for SKAdNetwork (SKAN) ,  advanced analytics and visualizations in Datascape, and much more, Adjust provides the tools and the insights needed to make smarter decisions and drive better campaign outcomes.

Request a demo today to see how Adjust can support your app business to reach and retain high-value users.