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The Madison Avenue Field GuideA field guide to marketing & advertising, by Brandon Mina

GlossaryMobile & App MarketingPredicted LTV (pLTV)

Mobile & App Marketing

Predicted LTV (pLTV)

A model-based estimate of a user's future lifetime value made from early behavior, used to optimize bids and judge campaigns quickly.

By Brandon MinaCEO, BrandPilot AIUpdated November 2026

Short answer

Predicted LTV (pLTV) is a model-based estimate of a user's future lifetime value, made from early behavior such as first-day activity or purchases. Because actual LTV takes months to observe, pLTV lets marketers judge campaigns quickly and feed value signals into ad platforms for bidding. Accuracy depends on data quality and model design.