Beyond Installs: Smarter Segmentation Is the New Mobile Growth Lever
In 2025, the battle for mobile growth won't be won by just more users—but by knowing exactly which ones to talk to, when, and how. Here's why segmentation and real-time behaviour are having a major moment.
In early 2025, mobile marketers are facing a stark reality: more than 90% of app users drop off within 30 days—a sign that the install-centric model is breaking down. In fact, shopping and food & drink apps retain only around 3–4% of users by day 30.
By now, most mobile teams have cracked the basics of acquisition. The challenge heading into 2025 isn’t how to get users through the door—it’s what happens after. Despite more sophisticated ad tech and smarter funnels, too many apps still lose users before they see value.
While much of the industry races to optimise creative or bid strategies, a quieter unlock is being missed: segmentation.
“Customising the experience through segmentation is often overlooked as incremental,” says Vincent Low, Co-Founder and CEO at Potato Play. “But when used wisely in combination with
targeted marketing campaigns, returns could be exponential.”
Your Homescreen is Your Hook
For ZeMing Chan, Head of Growth Innovation at FoodPanda, segmentation is inseparable from the in-app experience. And the biggest growth lever? The homescreen.
“One significant experiment that has been delivering a lot of results for us is an optimisation of what we do on the Homescreen,” says Chan. “Make it hyper-relevant, fresh, attractive & loud. Constantly shuffle messages, keep it exciting, make the tone of voice on-brand, personalise the information, drive greater discovery of your app and services, and groom your customers to be even more loyal & engaged.”
In a world where the average app has seconds to capture user attention, static UI and generic messages are dead weight. Every homescreen load is a chance to re-segment, re-engage, and re-sell.
Real-Time Isn’t a Speed Game—It’s a Relevance Game
Segmentation isn’t just about who your user is. It’s about what they’re doing right now—and what they’ll likely do next. That’s where real-time behavioural targeting changes the game entirely.
“More on-the-fly adjustments can be made to better tailor the experience,” says Low. “When coupled with AI, this means a bespoke user experience right from user acquisition to engagement and then monetisation—providing maximum value to the user and thus maximising the monetisation potential.”
The shift is from demographic or order-based segmentation to dynamic, signal-rich modelling. And it’s not just theoretical.
“Segmentation used to focus more on order-level information and would be relatively static,” says Chan, explaining how a user in the segment stays there for a long time until the segmentation model is re-run.
“Modern approaches using low-latency and multiple signals become much more powerful—we can catch a user with a hyper-relevant on-time message to nudge or engage them.”
He points to real-time use cases: cart abandonment prediction, lifecycle nudges, message fatigue thresholds—all examples where faster targeting leads to smarter engagement.
Smarter Segmentation Equals Sustainable Growth
This is not about fancy dashboards or vanity metrics. The value of responsive segmentation lies in its ability to power long-term relationships, not just quick wins.
If 2024 was the year of acquisition panic, 2025 is shaping up to be the year of retention through relevance.
The message from growth leaders is clear: segmentation isn’t a tactical detail. It’s the difference between apps that get deleted and those that become part of a user’s daily rhythm.
Vincent and ZeMing will take the stage at the Unlocked: Mobile & App Growth Summit in Singapore on 4 September 2025.
Vincent will participate in a panel discussion, Must-haves – How to Build Habit-forming, Personalised Apps and ZeMing will present a case study on Driving Product Innovation through User Insights.
Register here for the Unlocked: Mobile & App Growth Summit.
