Since the introduction of App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5, marketers have had to completely reinvent their playbook for iOS user acquisition and retargeting. Fast forward to 2025, and SKAdNetwork 4.0 (SKAN 4.0) has brought new tools — but also new challenges.
SKAN 4.0 unlocks opportunities for retargeting by offering better crowd anonymity, new conversion postbacks, and coarse conversion values. But you still can’t just re-use your Android retargeting strategy. You need to think privacy-first, signal-rich, and time-window optimized.
📖 Quick Refresher: What SKAN 4.0 Adds for Retargeting
Apple’s SKAdNetwork 4.0 adds:
- Multiple conversion windows: 0–2 days, 3–7 days, 8–35 days (3 postbacks max)
- Coarse conversion values: “low”, “medium”, or “high” to indicate value tiers
- Hierarchical campaign identifiers: up to 4 digits for better creative-level analysis
- Crowd anonymity: anonymized privacy thresholds depending on volume and engagement
🎯 For retargeting, these changes allow advertisers to trigger app re-installs or re-opens — and then measure downstream events within allowable windows, all without device-level IDs.
🎯 Strategy 1: Segment-Based Creative Retargeting
SKAN doesn’t support real-time user-level targeting, but you can still reach behavioral segments using contextual signals:
- In-app behaviors (e.g. abandoned cart, low ARPU)
- Last engagement cohort (7–14 day dormant users)
- Genre affinity (RPG audience, puzzle segment, etc.)
💡 Use predictive ML or CRM cohorts to identify “likely to churn” and serve hyper-relevant swipe ads and creative.
Example:
A fitness app targets 30-day lapsed users with a “New HIIT Challenge Starts Today” CTA. The campaign uses a SKAN fine conversion model to track if they complete a session within 3 days post-reinstall.
🔁 Strategy 2: Use Coarse Values to Drive Tiered Offers
SKAN 4.0 introduces coarse values — “low”, “medium”, “high” — sent when the privacy threshold isn’t met. Rather than ignoring them, build reward tiers.
Campaign Plan:
- High-value dormant users → offer premium loot drop (CTA: “You’ve Been Gifted”)
- Medium-value users → reward with gold or XP boost
- Low-value → entry-level re-engagement content, like “New Tutorial Levels Unlocked”
Track these coarse value buckets using Adjust’s SKAN 4.0 guide or similar tools.
📦 Strategy 3: Embrace Funnel Compression
Since SKAN’s windowing can expire before post-install actions occur, focus on getting users to convert within the first 48 hours.
Funnel Optimization Tips:
- Use push + ad coordination (e.g. 1 push, 1 retarget ad, same reward)
- Show CTA overlays: “Log in now to claim 3x gems”
- Customize onboarding: skip tutorials for retargeted users
📊 Strategy 4: Predictive LTV + Probabilistic Grouping
While deterministic LTV tracking is mostly gone, you can still build predictive buckets by combining:
- Post-install event mapping (within SKAN window)
- Pre-install contextual data (creative engaged, store visited)
- Custom ML models (Firebase + BigQuery or third-party DSPs)
These help identify:
- High-retention reactivation targets
- Time-limited win-back windows
- Next-best-offer frameworks
📈 Retargeting KPIs to Watch in SKAN 4.0
| KPI | Goal | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Postback Rate | > 60% | Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Events |
| Conversion Lift | > 25% | Lift tests in Singular or Kochava |
| ROAS by Window | Track 0–2d vs 8–35d | Custom dashboards |
📚 Additional Resources
📬 Final Word
Retargeting in a post-SKAN world is no longer about 1:1 ID matches — it’s about strategic segmentation, creative alignment, and making the most of anonymized, time-based signals.
Marketers who embrace SKAN’s structure and design campaigns around measurable event triggers — not guesses — are already seeing smarter ROAS and better retention curves in 2025.
