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Retargeting Ads for Apps: Video That Brings Users Back

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10xvid team
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8 min read

App retargeting shows ads to people who already installed your app, to bring them back into it. Every big network can do it, and each asks for something first. Google wants an app with 50,000 installs; TikTok and Snapchat, a measurement partner; Apple Ads, an audience of over 5,000. The ad itself should show what is new since they left. That is from each network's own pages, read on 27 October 2026.12345

App retargeting

In short

  • Who it reaches: people who installed your app, went quiet, or use another app of yours.5
  • What it needs: deep links into the app, your app's events measured, and an audience big enough to run.167
  • iOS: audiences shrank with iOS 14, and TikTok retargets iOS users only if they opted in.89
  • The spend: AppsFlyer puts remarketing at 29% of app marketing spend in 2025, up from 25% in 2024.10
  • The video: Apple: "You want returning users to see what’s new since the last time they used your app."4

What is app retargeting?

Ads for people you already have. AppsFlyer defines retargeting as reaching "current or past users through ad campaigns".11 Adjust splits it in two: "Retargeting campaigns target a user who has not yet converted, while re-engagement campaigns target users who were formerly active but have since churned."12

When does a user count as gone? Adjust, Branch and Singular all treat a user as inactive after 7 days by default.131415 AppsFlyer's re-engagement window is 30 days by default.16

How does each network retarget app users?

Each has its own route:

How each network reaches your app's users: Meta through traffic or engagement campaigns, Google through App campaigns for engagement, TikTok through a retargeting ad group, Snapchat through app audiences, Apple Ads through returning users, and measurement tools that call a user inactive after 7 days
Each network's own help pages, read on 27 October 2026.
  • Meta: ads with the traffic or engagement objective "target people on mobile devices, who have already installed your app".17 Advantage+ app campaigns do the opposite: anyone who installed or opened your app in the last 90 days is left out.18
  • Google: App campaigns for engagement re-engage people "who have installed your app", on Search, YouTube, Google Play and other apps.19 One preset reaches people who have not opened the app "in the past 7 days".1
  • TikTok: "Retargeting is an ad group type that allows you to show your ads to people who have already installed your app on their mobile devices." It works through a measurement partner such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, Singular or Kochava.2
  • Snapchat: app custom audiences, for any advertiser "configured with a mobile measurement partner (MMP)".3
  • Apple Ads: the "Returning users" setting reaches people who downloaded your app before. "If customers already have the app, they’ll see an Open button."5

What do you need before you retarget?

Three things, and a number on each network:

  1. Deep links, so the ad opens the app at the right screen. Google asks for "a Universal Link (iOS), an App Link (Android), or custom scheme (both)".1 Snapchat: "For retargeting to work on Snapchat, deep linking should be enabled."6
  2. Your app's events measured, through the network's SDK or a measurement partner. On TikTok, "Once retargeting is activated in Events Manager, you will not be able to turn it off."20
  3. An audience big enough:
The numbers to reach before you retarget: Google 50,000 installs and 100 or 1,000 active users in a list, Apple Ads over 5,000 people, Snapchat 1,000 users, TikTok over 30,000 as advice, and Meta not stated
Each network's own help pages, read on 27 October 2026.
  • Google: "your app needs to have a minimum of 50,000 installs". A list needs "typically 100 active members for Display and 1,000 for Search or YouTube".17
  • Apple Ads: "audiences must have more than 5000 customers."5
  • Snapchat: "Audiences are not targetable until the audience reaches 1000 users."3
  • TikTok, as advice: "an audience size greater than 30,000 and a matched audience greater than 5,000".21

What did iOS 14 change for retargeting?

Smaller audiences, and fewer of them measurable:

  • Meta: "The size of your app activity custom audience may decrease because it may not include some events from iOS 14 users."8
  • TikTok: retargeting on iOS reaches "iOS 14.5 and above opt-in user only".9
  • Snapchat: "SKAdNetwork does not provide postbacks for re-engagement or retargeting campaigns" once an installed app has sent its one postback.22
  • Apple Ads: with audience settings on, people "who have Personalized Ads turned off will not see your ads".5

What should a retargeting video show?

Something they have not seen. The networks and measurement companies agree on that:

  • Apple: "You want returning users to see what’s new since the last time they used your app."4
  • Google: "your assets should highlight lower-funnel or newly available features", for example "Over 100 items just in", or "a video depicting updated gameplay".23
  • Branch: "a user dormant for one day should be shown different messaging than one who is dormant for one week".24
  • Adjust: strategies that work focus on "reminding users of the value they previously found in the product".25
  • Meta: tailor the message to the group, and if users rarely return after 30 days, "run a re-engagement campaign before then".26

So make more than one: a video on what is new, one on the feature they used, one for the week they left. The first line names what they are missing. See video ad hooks.

An ad 10xvid made for Typally, a voice typing app made by 10xvid's founder: 22 seconds, 9:16, from the app's own screens. It plays muted here.

How much do apps spend on retargeting?

A growing share. AppsFlyer's report on 2025: remarketing's "share of overall app marketing spend (UA plus remarketing) rose from 25% in 2024 to 29% in 2025". Its sample covers 45,000 apps with at least 5,000 paid installs; it does not say how the spend was estimated.10

And people do come back. In a survey Apple commissioned of 13,000 iPhone and iPad owners in 2021, "92 percent of surveyed iOS users said they’ve redownloaded apps".4

How do you start an app retargeting campaign?

Five steps:

  1. Set up deep links and your app's events, through the network's SDK or a measurement partner.
  2. Build the groups: lapsed for 7 days, lapsed for 30, paying users, users of your other apps.
  3. Check each group's size against the network's number.
  4. Make a video for each group, led by what is new for them.
  5. Measure against your partner's window: 7 days of inactivity by default at Adjust, Branch and Singular.131415

Where 10xvid fits

10xvid, motion graphics ads for apps, makes the videos for each group. Paste your App Store link or website into the chat and say who the ad is for. Its blueprint is "The whole ad on one map: who it is for, the story in order, why they act, how it looks."27

The blueprint, recorded in the app. Change who it is for or what it says, and the film follows.

It draws every frame from your real screens, so what is new looks as it does in the app. Solo is about 30 video ads a month for $79.2728 The first ad is free, with no card: make your first ad.

Questions about app retargeting

What is the difference between retargeting and re-engagement?

Adjust: retargeting reaches users who have "not yet converted"; re-engagement reaches users who "were formerly active but have since churned". Adjust also calls retargeting "a mechanism for re-engagement".1225

Can you retarget app users on iOS?

Yes, with smaller audiences. TikTok reaches only iOS 14.5 users who opted in, and Meta's app audiences may miss some iOS 14 events.98

How many users do I need to retarget?

Snapchat 1,000, Apple Ads over 5,000, and Google 50,000 installs for an App campaign for engagement.351

Does Apple Ads do retargeting?

Yes: its "Returning users" setting reaches people who downloaded your app before. Those who still have it see an Open button.5

  1. Google Ads Help, creating an App campaign for engagement (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9234102), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  2. TikTok Ads Manager help, "App retargeting" (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/app-retargeting), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  3. Snapchat Business Help Center, mobile app custom audiences (businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/mobile-app-audience), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  4. Apple Ads, "Best practices: redownloads" (ads.apple.com/app-store/best-practices/redownloads), survey by GWI for Apple, September and October 2021, read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  5. Apple Ads, "Modify audience settings" (ads.apple.com/app-store/help/ad-groups/0021-modify-audience-settings), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  6. Snapchat Business Help Center, app install specifications (businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/specs-app-install), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  7. Google Ads Help, audience segments for App campaigns for engagement (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9260893), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  8. Meta Business Help Center, app activity custom audiences (facebook.com/business/help/285857478228227), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  9. TikTok Ads Manager help, available app retargeting capabilities (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/available-app-retargeting-capabilities), last updated August 2026, read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  10. AppsFlyer, "Top 5 Data Trends of 2025 and Predictions for 2026" (appsflyer.com/resources/reports/top-5-data-trends-report), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  11. AppsFlyer, knowledge base glossary (support.appsflyer.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000732237), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  12. Adjust, "Retargeting" glossary (adjust.com/glossary/retargeting), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  13. Adjust, "Reattribution" glossary (adjust.com/glossary/reattribution), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  14. Branch, re-engagement attribution settings (help.branch.io/marketer-hub/re-engagement-attribution-logic-settings), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  15. Singular, "Re-engagement FAQ" (support.singular.net/hc/en-us/articles/360044494651), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  16. AppsFlyer, "Retargeting attribution guide" (support.appsflyer.com/hc/en-us/articles/207033786), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  17. Meta Business Help Center, app ads for people who installed your app (facebook.com/business/help/466848530089944), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  18. Meta Business Help Center, targeting and reporting in Advantage+ app campaigns (facebook.com/business/help/1153577308409919), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  19. Google Ads Help, "About App campaigns for engagement" (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9234180), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  20. TikTok Ads Manager help, activating retargeting in Events Manager (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/how-to-activate-retargeting-in-events-manager), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  21. TikTok Ads Manager help, best practices for app retargeting (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/best-practices-for-app-retargeting), last updated May 2025, read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  22. Snapchat Business Help Center, SKAdNetwork limitations (businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/skadnetwork-limitations), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  23. Google Ads Help, creative assets for App campaigns (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167158), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  24. Branch, "Time of inactivity" glossary (branch.io/glossary/time-of-inactivity), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  25. Adjust, "Re-engagement" glossary (adjust.com/glossary/re-engagement), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  26. Meta Business Help Center, two strategies for app growth (facebook.com/business/help/1571320809813662), read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  27. 10xvid.com/engine, read on 27 October 2026. ↩
  28. 10xvid.com/pricing, read on 27 October 2026. ↩

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