Influencer marketing has emerged as a central strategy for mobile developers amid shifts in how users discover and engage with apps in the global mobile app market, projected to exceed $330 billion by 2025, according to a new report released by Famesters.
Data shows that 62.5% of global internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, with desktop usage shrinking to 35.7%. Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 28 minutes daily in mobile apps, compared to just 14 minutes in mobile web browsers—a 15× difference that underscores the dominance of app-based engagement.
“The two most-installed apps on the planet—TikTok (773 million downloads) and Instagram (759 million)—are basically run by influencers,” the report notes, highlighting how platforms driven by creator content have become central to the mobile experience.
Measurable Performance Advantages
The research reveals a clear shift toward creator-led marketing strategies, with 84.8% of brands finding influencer marketing to be effective. More significantly, 83.8% of brands report that customers acquired through influencer marketing demonstrate higher quality compared to those from other marketing methods.
Performance metrics support this perception, with influencer-driven campaigns delivering 50-70% lower cost-per-install (CPI) rates and 23-37% higher customer retention at day 30 compared to traditional paid social advertising. This efficiency helps explain why 24.2% of brands now allocate over 40% of their marketing budget specifically to influencer marketing.
The effectiveness of creator partnerships varies across demographic groups, with trust levels highest among younger audiences: 83% of Gen Z and 80% of Millennials trust influencer recommendations, compared to 67% of Gen X and 50% of Baby Boomers.
Gaming and Productivity Apps
Not all app categories leverage influencer marketing equally. Gaming applications lead adoption at 35% of influencer marketing spend, followed by productivity apps (20%) and health and fitness apps (15%). Finance, social, and education apps each capture approximately 10% of influencer marketing activity.
TikTok emerges as the preferred platform for influencer campaigns, with 68.8% of marketers choosing it for creator partnerships. The platform’s short-form video format drives engagement, with 66% of consumers identifying short-form video as the most engaging content type.
Micro-Influencers
While mega-influencers (1M+ followers) offer massive reach, the report identifies micro-influencers (10K-100K followers) as particularly valuable for app marketing due to their higher engagement rates in niche communities and perceived authenticity.
“Honest explainer videos from users with 2K-20K followers who’ve built trust in a specific niche” perform particularly well, according to Kurt Uhlir, CMO of ez Home Search, who contributed expert insights to the report.
The report highlights the growing importance of user-generated content (UGC) and influencer-generated content (IGC) in mobile app promotion. Rather than simply sponsoring posts on influencers’ accounts, many app developers now purchase the rights to creator-made content for use across multiple channels.
This approach allows brands to integrate authentic creator content into their paid media strategies, resulting in what the report describes as “CPI-slashing economics.” The strategy is particularly effective because “69% of consumers say they trust that kind of word-of-mouth over classic ads,” creating higher conversion rates without increasing bid costs.
Privacy Changes Drive Shift to Influencer Strategies
The report identifies targeting under privacy-driven data restrictions as the top challenge for mobile app marketers in 2025, cited by 31% of respondents. As App Tracking Transparency and third-party cookie deprecation limit traditional targeting capabilities, influencer marketing provides an alternative path to reaching qualified users.
“Influencer audiences are built on declared interests and first-party opt-in links, so campaigns reach qualified users without device IDs—restoring compliant scale while sidestepping regulator heat,” the report states.
Organic Lift Extends Influencer Campaign Impact
Beyond direct attribution, influencer marketing generates significant organic lift for apps. After launching influencer campaigns, apps typically see spikes in organic searches 7-10 days after the initial content publication. This delayed-action recall creates a “free acquisition channel and a compounding signal to every store algorithm,” effectively lowering blended CPI and extending campaign impact.
Integration and Authenticity Key to Future Success
Expert insights featured in the report consistently emphasize the importance of authentic integration between influencers and apps. Nadia Bubennikova, CBO of Famesters, notes that “custom-built influencer integrations will decide the winners in the mobile app industry,” with the most successful partnerships going beyond scripted promotions to incorporate creators’ unique styles and voices.
This integration strategy delivers measurable results, with “CPIs 50-70% lower and day-30 retention 25-30% higher when creators co-design the script or product skin versus a generic brief,” according to Bubennikova.
Emerging Platforms and Content Formats Show Promise
While TikTok and Instagram remain dominant, the report identifies several emerging channels for app discovery. Discord servers, niche subreddits, and LinkedIn are gaining traction, particularly for specialized applications. Content strategies are also maturing, with multi-touch campaigns that guide users through onboarding and ongoing usage, showing stronger results than one-time promotions.
“The ‘download now’ promotions do not perform that well anymore. People want context and guidance to follow through,” explains Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO of Digital Web Solutions.
Market Outlook Points to Continued Growth
The overall mobile app market is expected to maintain a strong growth trajectory, with revenue projected to increase from $289.17 billion in 2024 to $330 billion in 2025—a 14.33% year-over-year increase. The report forecasts the market will surpass $1 trillion by 2034, representing a quadrupling in size over the next decade.
The report concludes that influencer strategies that emphasize genuine integration, micro-community engagement, and long-term creator relationships will likely deliver the strongest results for app developers seeking sustainable growth in 2025 and beyond.
All images are credited to Famesters. The full report is available here.
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
Influencer marketing has emerged as a central strategy for mobile developers amid shifts in how users discover and engage with apps in the global mobile app market, projected to exceed $330 billion by 2025, according to a new report released by Famesters.
Data shows that 62.5% of global internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, with desktop usage shrinking to 35.7%. Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 28 minutes daily in mobile apps, compared to just 14 minutes in mobile web browsers—a 15× difference that underscores the dominance of app-based engagement.
“The two most-installed apps on the planet—TikTok (773 million downloads) and Instagram (759 million)—are basically run by influencers,” the report notes, highlighting how platforms driven by creator content have become central to the mobile experience.
Measurable Performance Advantages
The research reveals a clear shift toward creator-led marketing strategies, with 84.8% of brands finding influencer marketing to be effective. More significantly, 83.8% of brands report that customers acquired through influencer marketing demonstrate higher quality compared to those from other marketing methods.
Performance metrics support this perception, with influencer-driven campaigns delivering 50-70% lower cost-per-install (CPI) rates and 23-37% higher customer retention at day 30 compared to traditional paid social advertising. This efficiency helps explain why 24.2% of brands now allocate over 40% of their marketing budget specifically to influencer marketing.
The effectiveness of creator partnerships varies across demographic groups, with trust levels highest among younger audiences: 83% of Gen Z and 80% of Millennials trust influencer recommendations, compared to 67% of Gen X and 50% of Baby Boomers.
Gaming and Productivity Apps
Not all app categories leverage influencer marketing equally. Gaming applications lead adoption at 35% of influencer marketing spend, followed by productivity apps (20%) and health and fitness apps (15%). Finance, social, and education apps each capture approximately 10% of influencer marketing activity.
TikTok emerges as the preferred platform for influencer campaigns, with 68.8% of marketers choosing it for creator partnerships. The platform’s short-form video format drives engagement, with 66% of consumers identifying short-form video as the most engaging content type.
Micro-Influencers
While mega-influencers (1M+ followers) offer massive reach, the report identifies micro-influencers (10K-100K followers) as particularly valuable for app marketing due to their higher engagement rates in niche communities and perceived authenticity.
“Honest explainer videos from users with 2K-20K followers who’ve built trust in a specific niche” perform particularly well, according to Kurt Uhlir, CMO of ez Home Search, who contributed expert insights to the report.
User-Generated Content Drives Lower Acquisition Costs
The report highlights the growing importance of user-generated content (UGC) and influencer-generated content (IGC) in mobile app promotion. Rather than simply sponsoring posts on influencers’ accounts, many app developers now purchase the rights to creator-made content for use across multiple channels.
This approach allows brands to integrate authentic creator content into their paid media strategies, resulting in what the report describes as “CPI-slashing economics.” The strategy is particularly effective because “69% of consumers say they trust that kind of word-of-mouth over classic ads,” creating higher conversion rates without increasing bid costs.
Privacy Changes Drive Shift to Influencer Strategies
The report identifies targeting under privacy-driven data restrictions as the top challenge for mobile app marketers in 2025, cited by 31% of respondents. As App Tracking Transparency and third-party cookie deprecation limit traditional targeting capabilities, influencer marketing provides an alternative path to reaching qualified users.
“Influencer audiences are built on declared interests and first-party opt-in links, so campaigns reach qualified users without device IDs—restoring compliant scale while sidestepping regulator heat,” the report states.
Organic Lift Extends Influencer Campaign Impact
Beyond direct attribution, influencer marketing generates significant organic lift for apps. After launching influencer campaigns, apps typically see spikes in organic searches 7-10 days after the initial content publication. This delayed-action recall creates a “free acquisition channel and a compounding signal to every store algorithm,” effectively lowering blended CPI and extending campaign impact.
Integration and Authenticity Key to Future Success
Expert insights featured in the report consistently emphasize the importance of authentic integration between influencers and apps. Nadia Bubennikova, CBO of Famesters, notes that “custom-built influencer integrations will decide the winners in the mobile app industry,” with the most successful partnerships going beyond scripted promotions to incorporate creators’ unique styles and voices.
This integration strategy delivers measurable results, with “CPIs 50-70% lower and day-30 retention 25-30% higher when creators co-design the script or product skin versus a generic brief,” according to Bubennikova.
Emerging Platforms and Content Formats Show Promise
While TikTok and Instagram remain dominant, the report identifies several emerging channels for app discovery. Discord servers, niche subreddits, and LinkedIn are gaining traction, particularly for specialized applications. Content strategies are also maturing, with multi-touch campaigns that guide users through onboarding and ongoing usage, showing stronger results than one-time promotions.
“The ‘download now’ promotions do not perform that well anymore. People want context and guidance to follow through,” explains Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO of Digital Web Solutions.
Market Outlook Points to Continued Growth
The overall mobile app market is expected to maintain a strong growth trajectory, with revenue projected to increase from $289.17 billion in 2024 to $330 billion in 2025—a 14.33% year-over-year increase. The report forecasts the market will surpass $1 trillion by 2034, representing a quadrupling in size over the next decade.
The report concludes that influencer strategies that emphasize genuine integration, micro-community engagement, and long-term creator relationships will likely deliver the strongest results for app developers seeking sustainable growth in 2025 and beyond.
All images are credited to Famesters.
The full report is available here.