AI, UGC, and Playables Reshape Mobile Ad Creative Strategies
As attention becomes the most valuable currency, mobile marketers are turning to AI-powered creatives, UGC, and playable content to make ads more immersive, personalised, and performance-driven.
Scroll. Tap. Skip. Repeat. That’s the usual rhythm of a mobile user’s day. So, how do mobile ad marketers create an ad that doesn’t get skipped but rather brings an interaction and even gets someone to download, sign up, or play?
It’s a challenge today’s app marketers are solving with a new wave of mobile ad creativity. Liftoff’s latest Mobile Ad Creative Index digs deep into the creative trends shaping the future of mobile advertising.
The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling ad spending across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimisation.
This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyses creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.
Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said, “As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalise and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behaviour and motivation.”
Interactive Ads Lead Engagement
In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.
Playable Ads Deliver Returns
In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8x that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.
Tailored Metaplay Drives Installs
“Metaplay” elements, gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience, are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their Metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.
UGC is Now a Core Strategy
The share of spending on user-generated content (UGC) increased by 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.
Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said, “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different.”
“UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”
Gen AI Fuels Personalisation
Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top mobile advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customised ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.
Yann Zeller said, “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behaviour.”
Advertisers that treat ads as one-way messages are falling behind. The most effective mobile strategies today are built on a powerful shift, from interruption to interaction.
“We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years,” said Yann Zeller.
With AI, creator partnerships, and interactive design tools at their fingertips, advertisers now have everything they need to create ad experiences that are personal, playful, and genuinely engaging.
The more tailored the experience is to the user’s behaviour and context, the greater the chance they’ll not only stay but also take action.
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