Launch checklist

By implementing these best practices, you can optimize the scale and performance of your user acquisition campaigns.

Before you start

Get your account ready so you can move straight into campaign setup.

• Create an account on the AppLovin Ads platform.

Install the AppLovin pixel

Connect AppLovin to your store so the model can track purchases and optimize toward them.

• Shopify: install the AppLovin app from the Shopify App Store. This automates pixel setup, syncs product catalogs, and configures purchase tracking.
• Not on Shopify: integrate via Google Tag Manager.
• Validate the pixel is firing correctly with AppLovin's Pixel Helper.

Campaign setup

Tracking & signal

• Confirm event tracking: In the Events Manager, ensure that all required events display without errors. For setup and validation details, see the AppLovin Pixel integration documentation.
• Check URL tracking: Append the appropriate UTM and set any additional tracking parameters for all landing page URLs.
• If using a third-party measurement partner (Triple Whale, Northbeam, etc.), select it from the dropdown so UTMs auto-append across all creative sets.

Optimization type

Choose a goal type:

• Goal type: Choose the type that best aligns with your primary business goal:
  • CPL (cost per lead): Minimize cost per lead generation
  • CPP (cost per purchase): Minimize cost per purchase
  • ROAS (return on ad spend): Maximize revenue

Connect the Conversion API for stronger optimization signal.

• Day Target:
  • Day 0 optimization focuses on same-day conversions and is best for products with shorter decision cycles which customers are likely to purchase quickly after clicking an ad.
  • Day 7 optimization captures conversions that happen over a longer window, which makes it better suited for higher-AOV products or brands where customers take more time to decide.
• Set goal: After you choose the goal type and day target, set a reasonable CPL, CPP, or ROAS target based on your business goals.

Audience strategy

AppLovin allows both CPP and ROAS purchase campaigns to choose an audience strategy—Universal, Prospecting, or Discovery—based on your customer acquisition goals.

Universal campaigns

Universal campaigns optimize all purchases or revenue (new and returning customers are valued the same).

This strategy is best for maximizing total ROAS or minimizing overall CPP regardless of customer history.

Prospecting campaigns

Prospecting campaigns optimize new customer acquisition only.

This strategy is best if your primary KPI is growing new customers or new-customer revenue.

Discovery campaigns

Discovery campaigns optimize for purchases from users who never visited your site before.

This strategy is best if your primary KPI is driving purchases from net-new site visitors.

Can I run campaigns with different audience strategies simultaneously?

Yes, you can run multiple audience strategies at the same time. This can help you find the ideal balance between total purchases, new-customer acquisition, and new visitors.

Targeting

Drive scale and efficiency by targeting all available regions outside of Western Europe. For optimal learning and performance, AppLovin recommends that you group multiple countries into a single campaign to enable broader signal sharing and faster optimization.

Budget

Allocate enough budget to your user acquisition campaigns that you can reach the right users and drive long-term success. If your campaign meets performance goals and KPIs, consider raising the budget to grow your audience further. Make sure budgets are high enough to generate a meaningful volume of actions for your campaign type.

Creative strategy

Creative is the biggest lever you can pull to drive performance on AppLovin. For a deeper look at what makes winning creative, visit the Creative Resource Center.

Brand assets

Personalize each step of your ad experience with your logo, name, description, and CTA by adding brand assets in your AppLovin dashboard’s “Brand assets” page.

Videos

• Open strong: Video ads are skip delayed at least five seconds. State your value proposition quickly to your target audience.
• Upload a mix of 30 s or longer videos: AppLovin’s rewarded ad inventory gives you at least 35 seconds of guaranteed attention.
• Add subtitles: If users watch with sound disabled, subtitles ensure your value proposition remains salient.
• Experiment frequently: Test past content as a starting point and measure the results. AppLovin is not a social or search feed. Users engage differently in different contexts, so tailor your creatives to this audience.
• Reuse proven creative from other channels, but don't rely on it exclusively, since AppLovin reaches an incremental audience where different creative may perform differently.

Learn more tips on how to make high-performing videos.

Interactives

• Seal the deal: After the video completes, the Interactive reinforces your CTA when attention is the highest.
• Highlight offers and promotions: Lead with your offer to drive higher intent
• Test templates from the Creative Studio: Test new variations from proven winners with AppLovin’s Creative Studio.
• Set CTA text (not limited to "Shop Now") under brand settings, rather than baking it into image assets, since AppLovin overlays the CTA automatically.

Learn more tips on how to make high-performing interactieves.

Dynamic catalog

AppLovin’s dynamic catalog predicts and promotes the most relevant products to the right users. To enable it, sync your catalog in your Catalogs Manager and activate dynamic catalog across your campaigns.

Check out our Dynamic Catalog cheat sheet for more tips.

Creating your creative sets

Creative sets are the groupings of ad creatives that run within a camp aign. Each set must contain at least one video and one interactive or image, and can hold up to 10 of each. AppLovin's AI automatically tests combinations within each set and shifts spend toward what performs best.

Organize sets around a testable theme. Common approaches include:

• By audience: ads speaking to a specific age group, persona, or pain point.
• By offer: a first-order discount or limited-time promo.
• By product: a specific SKU, feature, or category you want to spotlight.

On average, a user sees around eight different creatives before converting. Different creatives resonate at different stages of the purchase journey, so the more variety you have, the better your chances of moving someone all the way through the funnel.

For a deeper look at what makes winning creative and how to use AppLovin's built-in creative tools, see The importance of creative volume and diversity.