Research: using 6+ ad networks correlates with higher ROI, lower CPI, higher retention

In a recent webinar, I asked marketers how many ad networks they had for their growth campaigns. 7 out of 10 said they were currently using fewer than 6 ad partners. Based on data we recently pulled, that could be a core reason why they’re getting less ROI, paying more for each install, and seeing less retention than more sophisticated performance marketers who are using more than 6 ad networks.

Just 13% of the marketers we talked to use between 6 and 10 ad networks, and under 6% use more than 10.

It’s not easy to scale ad partners. When we asked the same set of marketers about their top performance priorities for Q3 and Q4 this year, those who used 5 or fewer ad networks said they had significant challenges around scaling.

Their core issues:

1. Scaling budget efficiently
2. Optimizing ROAS
3. Testing new networks
4. Improving creative performance

None of those are trivial problems with simple solutions. My suggestion, however, for those who find themselves in similar situations is to work on each of them, assuming you have a reasonable amount of capital to deploy in search of growth. Outsized rewards await those who can scale to 6 or more ad partners.

Here’s the data …

Scaling to 6+ ad networks: what does it do?

We recently checked Singular’s data on thousands of marketers, tens of billions in ad spend, and hundreds of billions of app installs and other conversion events.

The goal: what core differences can we find between those who:

• Use 5 ad networks or less
• Use 6 ad networks or more

Here’s what we found …

1. More ad networks = higher ROI

Companies using 5 or fewer ad networks had less ROI than those using 6 or more. 

In games, those with more ad networks achieved 47% higher ROI. For other kinds of apps, the difference was even more significant: 59%.

2. More ad networks = lower CPI

Advertisers using 5 or fewer ad networks paid more for app installs in both games and apps.

For games, those using more ad networks achieve app installs for 49% less cost. For apps again, the difference was even bigger: 75% less cost.

3. More ad networks = same or higher retention

The difference is not as universal when it comes to retention, but more ad networks at minimum does not hurt retention. 

That’s actually a significant finding, because when you add more partners and channels you tend to move out from the blue-chip stocks of user acquisition and performance marketing … the Googles and Metas and Apple Searches of the advertising world. In other words, you’re expanding out of quality for quantity and you’re not always certain you’re maintaining quality. However, that doesn’t appear to be a negative for number of ad partners, based on this data.

For games, retention was dead even. For apps, retention was 74% higher for those using more ad partners for growth.

3X ROI in on-demand verticals

We see the correlation between more partners and more ROI in a number of verticals, but nowhere more than in on-demand verticals. 

I’m talking Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, Instacart … all that massively growing space where users can request and receive goods or services almost instantly via mobile apps.

Here we’re seeing almost a 3X jump in ROI from those using 5 or fewer ad networks to those using 6 or more. It’s a massive, jaw dropping difference.

I can’t pin down exactly why that is right now, but I suspect it has at least something to do with retail media: being asked in context for things that make sense. For example, a food delivery app could run ads on Instacart targeting people searching for frozen meals or snacks, offering a faster alternative with a first-time order discount.

More on this as we continue to explore …

Caveats and cautions: adding ad partners

All things being equal, these results indicate that you should immediately add ad partners if you’re using just 2 or 3 or 4 ad networks right now.

Umm … no.

All things are NOT equal.

You don’t have the same amount of growth capital as everyone else. You don’t have the same team as everyone else. You don’t have the same knowledge or expertise as everyone else. Note that I’m not saying you have less, just that these things are not equivalent everywhere. You might have more knowledge, a better team, and greater expertise.

The key point is that if you can’t spend at least some thousands of dollars a month with each ad partner at a bare minimum, you may not have the scale to unlock the same efficiencies as some of the big players.

You need the technology and tooling to optimize campaigns, and you need enough quantity of growth capital to deploy with individual partners to scale efficiently. Otherwise you’re just spending too high a percentage of your budgets on training and testing.

Ideas on what that level looks like vary, but I’d think in and around $5K per month would be what you’d want to allocate to each at minimum. More however, if you have massive variety in campaigns, creative, or goals which each require optimization.

Yes, there are things you can learn across all your campaigns with all your partners. But each partner has its own optimization AI and algorithms that need to be trained, and that costs budget.

So what do you need to do?

If you have the capital to use more growth ad partners, do it. 

But first, ensure you have the tools — starting with an MMP — to measure and optimize your results. Work on a testing methodology for bringing on new ad partners, with detailed steps and go/no-go decision points that you’ve mapped out previously.

(We talk about how to do that in this webinar, by the way.)

And work with your the ad partners you use, sharing your plans and go/no go KPIs. They’ll work with you to figure out how to achieve the results you need on their platforms. Not sure where to start? We just updated our Singular ROI Index, which shows the highest-quality ad networks on the planet.

Because, as the data shows, there’s huge value in spreading your growth campaigns around.

Talk to us today. We’ll get you started.