There’s a channel converting cold traffic at 1.8x ROAS at $70k+/day in spend. 84% of those customers are net-new.
It’s AppLovin, and for ecommerce brands getting squeezed by rising acquisition costs, it may be one of the best underpriced platforms available right now.
In this post, we’ll break down why it’s working, what makes it different, and how to test it.
The Problem: Meta Is Getting More Expensive
Meta still works. It’s just getting harder to make cold traffic work at the same efficiency.
You’re paying more to reach the same people, which makes new customer acquisition less predictable and less profitable.
If too much of your growth depends on Meta, that’s a problem. Only having one acquisition channel makes you extremely vulnerable to big algorithm updates like Andromeda.
The New Channel: What AppLovin Actually Is
AppLovin is a mobile app ad network with ads running inside games and utility apps, think puzzle games, Solitaire, Candy Crush, Sudoku, etc.
For ecommerce brands, the appeal is simple: it offers access to a huge audience in a completely different environment than social media.
AppLovin includes:
- 100,000+ apps in the network; 80% games, 20% utility apps
- 1.4 billion daily active users
- $92 billion in mobile gaming ad spend in the ecosystem
This ad platform opened to ecommerce advertisers in 2024, and became the #3 DTC performance channel in under 12 months, behind only Meta and Google
“I think AppLovin is the biggest ad opportunity since Facebook ads. I truly believe that.”
Ezra Firestone
Why It Works
The biggest difference is the watch time.
The average ad watch time is about 1 second on TikTok, 3 seconds on Facebook, and 5 seconds on YouTube. Most people scroll before your ad even gets going.
On AppLovin, you’re getting an average of 35 seconds of view time. That changes everything.
Because when you have more attention, you get better outcomes:
- 50% of clicks come from the end card (after the video does the selling)
- 80% of conversions happen within 1 hour
Instead of trying to cram a pitch into two seconds, you can actually explain the problem, show your product, build trust, and present a real offer.
Shattering the “Gamer” Stereotype
A lot of brands hear “gaming ads” and assume the audience is wrong for ecommerce.
Not really.
This is the average customer demographic, they look a lot more like a mainstream buyer:
- Average age: 36
- 53% women
- $108,000 average household income
- 88% are primary household retail shoppers
These are not low-value clicks. These are real buyers spending time in a less crowded ad environment.
So How Do You Get Started?
You can’t just take your ads from TikTok and Facebook and throw them on AppLovin. It isn’t going to work. You need to build channel-specific creative.
AppLovin ads should feel more like direct response than social content.
Here’s the creative approach working for Ezra’s own Shopify brands and for his clients:
- 30–60 second videos
- face-to-camera plus B-roll
- big captions because sound is off by default
- clear problem → product → proof → offer structure
- strong end cards that act like mini landing pages
A high quality template:
Problem: Call out the pain fast
Solution: Introduce the product early
Proof: Show results, demo, or testimonials
Offer: Give them a reason to click now
End card: Reinforce benefits and CTA
Example Ad Format
Proof: Real Results from Ezra’s Agency
The most compelling part of this channel is that the results in this framework come from real agency accounts, not just platform marketing.
Examples shared in Ezra’s Kickstarter Webinar include:
- a hormone cream brand scaling from $300/day to $8,100/day
- SuiteFlex spending $3,000/day at 1.2x new customer ROAS
- a large brand spending $70k–$80k/day at 1.8x ROAS with 84% net-new customers
That’s why this matters. It’s a real opportunity to acquire net-new customers outside the Meta auction.
Don’t Miss This Channel: Get the Full Playbook
Every major ad channel has an early window. Facebook had one. TikTok had one. AppLovin looks like it has one right now.
The question isn’t whether Meta still matters. It does. The question is whether you want to keep fighting for the same crowded inventory, or test a channel that’s already driving efficient cold traffic at scale.
Want to test AppLovin for your brand? You can get $5,000 in free AppLovin credits at smartmarketer.com/axon.
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