The Best Channels for Mobile App User Acquisition: A Guide for 2025

Mobile apps aren’t just a nice-to-have anymore. They’re a retention powerhouse. 

With mobile usage at an all-time high and acquisition costs continuing to rise, your app is one of the best tools you have to build sustainable, long-term revenue.

But here’s the reality: an app that nobody downloads won’t drive results. 

That’s the #1 reason most apps fail. It’s not about bad code or missing features. It’s that the business didn’t have a solid plan to get users.

This guide is here to help you avoid that. Based on data, industry benchmarks, and insights from launching over 2,000 apps, we’re breaking down the best channels for mobile app user acquisition - primarily for successful ecommerce and media brands who want to launch a new asset that actually makes a difference to the bottom line.

Want our help to build (and launch) your app? MobiLoud helps web-first businesses launch apps for minimal cost, with little effort, and little work to maintain. Curious? Get a free preview of your app now - all you need is your website's URL.

Organic vs Paid Acquisition: What’s the Right Balance?

When acquiring users, your strategy falls into two camps:

• Organic acquisition: Users find your app naturally, through search, word-of-mouth, your website, or content.
• Paid acquisition: You pay to get users, via ads, sponsored content, or influencers.

As of 2022, roughly 60% of installs were organic and 40% paid. 

Most users still discover apps on their own; but paid channels are essential for fast growth.

Organic downloads are, obviously, preferable. The less you spend on user acquisition, the faster you make a profit.

But they also tend to yield better results over time. In fact, while organic users made up 58% of installs, they drive 72% of all app sessions. 

They’re more likely to stick around because they sought you out. If someone is an active customer, or actively looked for your app, there’s a higher level of intent, which means they’re more likely to be long-term, engaged users.

That said, paid acquisition isn’t dead; it’s just expensive. 

In 2023, the average cost to acquire a user in Western markets hit $29, up 60% from five years earlier. And Apple’s privacy changes (ATT) made tracking harder, though advertisers adapted by late 2023.

A sustainable user acquisition strategy is about balancing reach with retention - and knowing which channels to invest in at each stage.

The Top Mobile App User Acquisition Channels

Let’s dive into the most effective acquisition channels in 2025, starting with your most valuable (and underused) asset: your existing audience.

1. Your Website

The mobile version of your site is likely your highest-traffic touchpoint. It’s the most direct path from interested visitors to app installs.

Use smart banners or modals prompting users to download the app. Sell the benefits to website visitors of using the app, like faster checkout or exclusive features, to make the app feel like an upgrade.

While you’d love to get these downloads for free, you’ll often need to pair it with an incentive. Incentives could range from discounts on the customer’s first in-app purchase, to exclusive content or free gifts.

Pros:

• Low cost
• High intent
• Reaches users already browsing your brand

Cons:

• Requires some development setup
• May come off as intrusive

Tips for success:

• Use personalized messaging (e.g. “Shop faster with our app”)
• Test when and where banners, popups appear
• A/B test CTAs, incentives for install rates

2. Customer Lists (Email & SMS)

Your existing customers lists (email, SMS) are another key channel to tap into for mobile app users.

Like with your website, these are more likely to be engaged, high-intent users, than if you were to promote your app to people new to your brand.

It’s also free - you already have direct access to these people (though you may also add incentives to increase the chance of getting downloads).

Include download links in your regular campaigns, launch announcements, or even transactional messages (like order confirmations). Incentivize with app-only offers or early access to new products and promotions.

Pros:

• Zero CAC
• Direct access to your best customers
• Highly measurable

Cons:

• Limited to your list size
• Needs segmentation to avoid over-messaging

Tips for success:

• Add a “Get the App” CTA in email footers
• Create a dedicated install campaign with incentives
• Segment by device type (iOS vs Android) for personalized messaging

3. App Stores

Make sure your app is discoverable in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Optimize your app title, keywords, screenshots, and description. Higher ratings and reviews improve both visibility and conversion rates.

Ecommerce and media apps typically don’t get a lot of new users from the App Stores - people who download your app are likely to know about your brand already. They might be directed to the App Store from an email or your website, or they might seek out your app by searching on the App Store.

Regardless, it’s low-hanging fruit. Make sure your App Store listing is optimized, primarily so that your web users can easily find you, but also so you might get some bonus visibility in front of new people.

Pros:

• Organic and cost-effective
• Users can be high-intent (already searching for apps)

Cons:

• Not the most natural way for people to find new ecommerce/media brands

Tips for success:

• Target keywords tied to your brand + use case (e.g. “discount fashion app,” “aviation news”)
• Use video previews that demonstrate real benefits
• Prompt power users for ratings right after positive actions

4. Word-of-Mouth & Referrals

Some users may find your app through friends, family, creators, or community chatter.

These downloads are extremely valuable; they’re cheap, come with a lot of trust, and have the potential to drive viral acquisition spikes.

You can influence this by setting up and promoting referral programs, viral loops, or shareable content to make it easy to recommend the app.

Pros:

• High trust
• Organic reach
• Potential for virality

Cons:

• Hard to control or scale
• Relies on product satisfaction

Tips for success:

• Ecommerce: Reward both referrer and referee (e.g. “Give $10, Get $10”)
• Media: Build social sharing into the app (e.g. “Share this clip”)
• Spotlight UGC and testimonials across your channels

5. Paid User Acquisition (Mobile Ads)

To scale app downloads past your existing audience, you may consider advertising your app across channels like Meta, TikTok, Google, and Apple Search Ads.

This is more expensive, obviously, than promoting to your existing audience. There’s also research indicating lower retention rates from app users acquired through paid ads.

But paid advertising is still the most dependable, scalable promotional channel, once you’re able to get your CAC low enough through testing and iteration.

Run campaigns targeted by interest, behavior, or previous interaction with your brand, and track results (including engagement and retention rates from users from paid ads) to assess whether these channels are viable for you.

Pros:

• Highly scalable
• Great for launches or promo pushes

Cons:

• Expensive (avg. $29 CAC)
• Lower retention than organic
  
  

Tips for success:

• Use deep links that take users straight to the right app page
• Test creatives constantly
• Track ROI by purchase/subscription, not just installs

6. Influencer & Creator Marketing

Another proactive way to get mobile app users is partnering with creators to showcase your app in authentic content.

This can be paid or organic - it typically involves a walkthrough, demo, or app-related story that links to the app stores.

It’s not going to work in all situations, and requires some creativity, but can be high-upside if done right.

Pros:

• High engagement
• Trusted voice among niche audiences

Cons:

• Variable pricing and performance
• Harder to attribute direct installs

Tips for success:

• Ecommerce: Focus on value (e.g. deals, app-only access)
• Media: Let creators tease app-only content (early drops, behind-the-scenes)
• Use trackable links or promo codes to measure performance

7. Offline & Traditional Media

This involves using physical channels, like packaging, signage, TV, or print, to promote your mobile app.

You’ll typically use QR codes or branded CTAs to push people to install. Most ecommerce brands can easily and cheaply promote their app with QR codes on product packaging, while brands with a brick-and-mortar presence can create some simple physical assets to promote the app in-store.

Larger brands might find traditional media beneficial, while direct mail can be an interesting wrinkle to try.

Pros:

• High visibility
• Great during major campaigns or launches

Cons:

• Expensive
• Harder to measure ROI

Tips for success:

• Include app CTAs in product packaging
• Use TV/radio to drive app installs during peak content drops
• Combine with digital retargeting for attribution

Dive deeper: Check out our guide to Sustainable Ways to Promote Your Ecommerce Mobile App

User Acquisition: Ecommerce vs Media Apps

How does user acquisition differ for brands in different industries?

Media brands tend to get more organic installs thanks to strong brand recognition and high-value content. 

Their apps are more likely to provide obvious utility to users, by allowing regular users to consume content with less friction and get notifications for breaking news and updates.

With ecommerce, it’s more likely that you’ll need to provide incentives for someone to download the app.

A customer might ask, “Why should I download the app when I can just buy through the website?”

While some of your top fans, or regular buyers (such as B2B customers) will see the natural utility in a faster and smoother buying process, you’ll need to convince others, via incentives like discounts or exclusive access to app-only deals or product launches.

The good news is that app users are much more valuable (our research shows that app users spend 6-11x more than website users), so small incentives like this almost always pay off.

Crafting Your Mobile App Launch Plan

Before launching your app, you should put together a structured launch plan.

A good launch isn’t a single event - it’s a series of intentional steps:

Pre-Launch

• Optimize your App Store listing (keywords, visuals, metadata)
• Build email, SMS, and web-based install campaigns
• Prepare creatives and targeting strategy

Launch Week

• Announce to your full audience across every owned channel
• Launch paid ads targeting warm leads (optional)
• Push referral programs and influencer partnerships live

Post-Launch (Weeks 2–4)

• Review ASO performance and update as needed
• Scale winning paid ads, cut what’s not working
• Implement retention flows: onboarding, push notifications, and offers

Want a comprehensive look at how top brands launch their apps, and get hundreds (or thousands) of new users soon after going live? Check out this guide.

Final Tips & Best Practices

Here are a few best practices to follow when crafting your user acquisition strategy:

• Start with what you own - your customers, your traffic, your brand
• Don’t rely on one channel. The best strategies blend multiple touchpoints
• Think long-term. Optimize not for installs, but retention and lifetime value
• Ride seasonal waves - plan big pushes around holidays, launches, or events

Your mobile app is one of your best tools for building long-term growth. But for it to work, people need to actually use it. And that starts with a smart acquisition strategy.

When you launch with MobiLoud, we’re here to support you with a crafted launch strategy, drawn from our decade plus experience in mobile apps.

That means, not only do we help you turn your website into an app with no coding, no rebuilding, no effort on your part, we also help you get past the roadblock that stops so many brands from experiencing the benefits of their own mobile app.

We’ll help you create assets for your website and email list, and set up tracking in your analytics to see the results.

Our team also helps you set up automated push campaigns, so once you do get users, they won’t slip away -  they’ll become engaged, loyal fans who regularly use the app.

If you’re interested in launching an app for your brand that actually drives results, start with a free preview.

With just your website’s URL, you can generate an interactive demo to see what the end result will look like. Then once you’re ready to move forward, get in touch - and we’ll help you launch an app that moves the needle.