The starting point
With no moment of purchase, a user's value is not a single order but years of usage. That is hard to model, not least because there is no login and device changes distort attribution. Monetisation per session sits at a fraction of a cent. A paid user therefore takes anywhere between around seven months in Germany and over two years in new markets to pay back.
The performance marketing so far, across Google and Meta, ran almost entirely at the very bottom of the funnel: people search the App Store for weather and download whatever ranks best. But telling new users to download a weather app now works poorly, because most of them do not know the concrete everyday benefit at all.
On top of that: in a settled summer, interest in the weather drops noticeably, and when demand is low Google automatically serves more expensive formats. What was needed was a channel that creates context rather than sales — and that scales internationally.
About WetterOnline
WetterOnline is based in Bonn and turns 30 this year or next. The company runs Germany's largest weather app, complete with rain radar, alongside paid pro apps, and operates in nearly 30 countries with a good 30 million monthly active users worldwide across Android and iOS. Over 90 percent of the business model is ad-funded; the share from subscriptions is negligible.
Revenue is in the mid eight figures.
Our approach
We built a systematic creator programme for the first time — one explicitly aimed at context rather than at driving sales. The core: very deep niche creators rather than big-reach names, showing credibly in which concrete situation a weather app makes the difference.
WetterOnline had barely worked with external partners before, so the value lay above all in speed and experience: the first partnerships were in place within days, which served internally as proof the channel was doable. Alongside new users, the programme serves a second purpose: re-engaging people who installed the app but rarely open it.
Context rather than a prompt
Telling new users to download a weather app now works poorly. What is needed is a situation in which the weather shapes a decision. Niche creators supply exactly those situations.
The channel delivers more than installs
Every partnership produces language material. Terms from the niche end up in the brand's own ads. Creator marketing thereby becomes a tool for understanding the audience in the first place.
An honest assessment rather than a nice number
In this business model, direct value per install is not a usable measure on its own. Delayed organic installs and the reinforcement of existing users systematically fall out of it. That belongs stated, not calculated away.
