Apptivate: App Marketing Explained Remerge’s take on mobile marketing in 2026 - Patrick Eichmann & Taylor Lobdell (Remerge)
Description
Apptivate hosts and Remerge team members, Patrick Eichmann and Taylor Lobdell, sit down to discuss the outlook for mobile marketing in 2026 and the shifts shaping the industry. The conversation covers the move toward probabilistic attribution, the growing role of AI in campaign execution, and how advertisers are adapting to signal loss. They explore why retargeting strategies are becoming simpler and more holistic, where teams still fall short in testing and budget allocation, and how growth organizations are reorganizing around the full user lifecycle rather than channel silos. Patrick and Taylor also examine what defines a strong DSP partner today, along with how automation, CTV, and consolidation are influencing the future of programmatic advertising.
Questions addressed in this episode
- How is mobile advertising changing in 2026?
- What does the shift from deterministic to probabilistic attribution mean in practice?
- Is iOS retargeting still viable?
- What mistakes are advertisers making with testing and budget allocation?
- Why should UA and retargeting be treated as one system?
- How are growth teams restructuring around lifecycle marketing?
- What should marketers look for in a DSP partner?
- What optimizations should be happening behind the scenes in programmatic?
- How will automation, AI, and CTV shape the next phase of mobile growth?
Timestamps
- (0:04) — Opening: 2026 landscape and market pressures
- (0:39) — Key shifts: probabilistic attribution and AI
- (1:57) — iOS retargeting misconceptions and probabilistic unlock
- (2:47) — Simplifying retargeting strategies and segmentation
- (3:15) — IDFA impact and rediscovering lost audiences
- (4:00) — Testing challenges and budget inconsistency
- (4:58) — UA and retargeting as one system
- (5:58) — Lifecycle-based marketing and team structure shifts
- (7:09) — Advice: continuous testing beyond creative
- (7:33) — Campaign experimentation and automation tools
- (8:33) — AI vs fundamentals in marketing
- (9:39) — What makes a strong DSP
- (12:55) — Post-launch optimization and AI-driven bidding
- (14:25) — Fraud detection and prevention
- (15:42) — Future outlook: consolidation, lifecycle, automation
- (17:07 — Rise of CTV as a performance channel
- (17:36 — Lightning round begins
Quotes
- (0:52) “I think one thing we see a lot in our business is the shift from deterministic to probabilistic attribution.”
- (2:27) “Normal opt-in rates sit around 20%-40% depending on the app. And we're able to get a ton more users targeted through probabilistic retargeting.”
- (4:20) “There's a real willingness to test different approaches, but people are not necessarily putting consistent budget behind this testing.”
- (6:30) “I think we have to think less about channel-specific or technique-specific approaches and really think more about the lifecycle of the user itself and build around that.”