According to tech-care company Asurion, US citizens check their mobile devices on average once every two minutes and 43 seconds, a startling 362 times every day. What’s more, around 46% of people spend over five to six hours on a mobile device, and it’s now known that contrary to popular belief, putting your smartphone on silent ironically increases usage.
On a personal level, this information might sound startling, but for mobile app marketers, it’s encouraging.
Put simply, the more people use their phones, the more opportunities there are for businesses to reach their potential customers. And to this extent, mobile app marketers are at the top of the list of commercial entities that can benefit from this increased screen time.
From creating compelling websites and app store content to executing ad campaigns that bring results, mobile marketers thrive the more people use their phones. Nevertheless, as the industry continues to grow fervently competitive, there is now an increased demand for analyzing the performance of marketing campaigns to understand what’s working and to gain insights that can be carried over into future campaigns.
This is where mobile marketers need a strategic ally. And this is where mobile measurement partners (MMPs) come into the picture. Today, MMPs are a non-negotiable part of the mobile marketing landscape. If you don’t work with one, you’ll only ever be able to ascertain why marketing didn’t work how you thought it should after the fact. Conversely, with the right MMP, you can iron out any kinks immediately, thus helping boost profitability. In this piece, we’ll explore what MMPs do and why they are indispensable for mobile app marketing success.
The role of mobile measurement partners
Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash
What is an MMP? In short, a mobile analytics and attribution platform is an external attribution tool specifically crafted to gather data, pinpointing the checkpoints accountable for conversions. MMPs also offer software development kits (SDKs) that, once integrated with an app (which they do seamlessly), allow mobile attribution platforms to collect data from different devices and channels.
Elsewhere, MMPs employ attribution logic when correlating campaign engagements, such as clicks and impressions, with target actions, such as sign–ups, installs, and purchases. In turn, this provides a consolidated view of a mobile app’s marketing performance.
Indeed, the last–touch attribution (LTA) model that MMPs use gives full merit to the final touchpoint and is the most popular and widely accepted model. However, when it comes to the multi–touch attribution (MTA) model, it gains significance because it gives some portion of credit to the earlier touchpoints.
Unlocking effective marketing through mobile attribution
Photo by Yura Fresh on Unsplash
Mobile attribution is the cornerstone of efficient marketing. As such, one of the most essential things that MMPs offer is a comprehensive overview of mobile app advertising, revealing the efficacy of marketing endeavors.
Today, everyone in the marketing business wants to generate income and boost profitability. Some classic techniques to achieve this include optimizing the ad spend to enhance marketing return on investment. Yet, mobile marketers can lessen the load by working with a mobile attribution platform.
MMPs are experts at identifying campaigns, channels, and creatives that yield the best results. With this knowledge, marketing professionals can decide which campaigns, channels, or creatives to prioritize to enhance profits.
For example, if, over a similar period, a particular ad is outperforming others in generating conversions, reallocating resources to that campaign would be a wise move, and an MMP will allow you to make that decision by providing you with performance data.
Moreover, by utilizing an MMP with incrementality measurement, mobile app marketers can pinpoint campaign elements that drive conversions precisely, facilitating resource reallocation for enhanced budget efficiency.
Therefore, effective marketing hinges on correctly measuring a mobile app’s marketing performance. As such, getting to grips with the contributions of each campaign, creative, and/or channel is crucial because it will lead to optimal budget utilization.
Simultaneously, MMPs empower mobile app marketers by providing data-directed insights, increasing the likelihood of campaign optimization. Indeed, by engaging target audiences using the proper channel with compelling creative elements, marketers can significantly enhance lifetime value (LTV) and ROI.
Navigating the challenges of iOS 14.5+ and privacy updates
iOS 14 was one of Apple’s most significant updates. Alongside new upgrades, such as the latest updates and features for existing apps and Siri improvement, there was also the introduction of the iPhone home screen redesign and many other noteworthy tweaks.
Nevertheless, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework challenged the industry despite these improvements. Apple uses SKAdNetwork to attribute app installs, impressions, and clicks for iOS apps without compromising users’ privacy, and the ATT has led many iOS users to opt out of app tracking.
Therefore, SKAdNetwork (SKAN) has become crucial for iOS campaign management. However, marketers using traditional measurement techniques might find it a little tricky to get to grips with this new method.
This is where MMPs come to the rescue yet again. The SKAN postback includes 6-bit binary conversion values containing data about installs, app reinstalls, and user activities post-install.
Working with an MMP can correlate these disparate pieces of information with numbers ranging from 0 to 63. Swarm MMP, for instance, can simplify this process by providing commonly used schemes such as presets, facilitating the selection of a conversion-value-mapping option tailored to your app.
Furthermore, an MMP allows the unified visualization of SKAN and non–SKAN attribution data on a single dashboard.
Managing the nuances of mobile attribution
Having established the importance of marketing measurement, let’s focus on why MMPs are ideal for the job. Among a plethora of marketing analytics platforms, MMPs distinguish themselves by specializing in properly managing mobile ecosystems. In the past, mobile app marketers predominantly relied on tools like Google Analytics for web tracking, UTM parameters, cookies, and referrers.
Due to the fragmented nature of phone-user journeys, Mobile attribution – akin to web attribution in concept – is different. When users are installing an app, they move from either a mobile app or a mobile webpage to the app marketplace, leading to the loss of user identification. App markets work as sealed ecosystems, restricting marketer access to user information and thus complicating tracking efforts.
An MMP, tailor-made for mobile attribution, alleviates these challenges. Mobile attribution platforms such as Swaarm offer a robust solution that allows marketers to delve into campaign management without losing critical marketing data. In essence, an MMP provides a complete and proper analysis of marketing performance, laying the foundation for mobile growth.
In advertising, MMPs are impartial arbitrators
Imagine a scenario involving banner ads and video ads. A user views a video ad, ignores it, encounters a banner ad the following day, clicks it, and installs the app. The banner ad can claim full credit for the installation if relying solely on the last-touch attribution model. Or, without an MMP, both channels might claim credit. For the customer, this could potentially result in a double charge.
Enter MMPs. Although the advertising world is complex, an MMP can objectively evaluate marketing performance from an impartial third-party perspective. It identifies the correct touchpoint that deserves credit for creating a conversion, thus enhancing budget management efficiency. In an industry fraught with potential conflicts of interest, MMPs are an accurate, reliable, and unbiased data source, instilling confidence in decision-making.
In 2022, The total cost of ad fraud was $81 billion, a figure predicted to reach $100 billion in 2023.
With the advertising tech industry facing such tremendous problems – a situation worsening only with the increasing expenditure on mobile advertising – MMPs offer hope. Able to monitor campaign activity in real time, MMPs can detect anomalies and provide fraud detection notifications. They have the necessary resources and expertise to combat fraud. As a result, mobile app marketers can also pay for genuine conversions, avoid overcharges, and identify authentic sources – all of which will help boost growth.
Integrating deep linking with mobile attribution
Although deep linking has existed since the dawn of the World Wide Web, it’s not often discussed today. So what is it? In a nutshell, deep linking is redirecting an app user to a specific page they are looking for on any platform. And while it may have been around for a long time, it has recently become a common element in many companies’ app growth strategies. Enabling users to direct access to their desired content within the app, instead of making them navigate it by themselves, increases the likelihood of user engagement and enhances user experience. It’s a win-win for all.
Photo by Thom Bradley on Unsplash
Deep linking also contributes to higher conversion and retention rates. By guiding a user to the correct destination rather than using a uniform approach to redirect them to the app’s homepage, mobile marketers create user journeys that are seamless to boost the chance of users completing desired actions.
As should be clear, then, the union of deep linking and mobile attribution can be potent. Yet without an app marketing tool that can incorporate them both, mobile app marketers can find themselves at a significant disadvantage. So, instead of rushing in, spend some time finding the right MMP that can offer the services you need.
Why does every marketer need MMP?
Now that you understand what an MMP can do, you’ll know that a marketer’s tools are not complete without it. Mobile attribution platforms bring unparalleled value crucial for revenue generation, effective marketing, and, ultimately, app growth. Mobile measurement partners can also save marketers a lot of time and resources by consolidating data from numerous sources using an SDK. By using the right MMPS, mobile app marketers will have total control over their mobile app’s marketing performance.
Beyond this time-saving aspect, however, innovative MMPs offer myriad other features, including codeless tracking and campaign management to fraud prevention technologies. Consequently, those industry professionals still operating without the support of a mobile measurement partner aren’t just at a significant commercial disadvantage but risk being left behind for good.
Conclusion
MMPs are a fundamental feature of app marketing. By providing the tools and insights needed to optimize campaigns, enhance efficiency, and combat fraud, mobile measurement partners have shown themselves to be an indispensable element of an ultra-competitive business, allowing companies to minimize risks, improve their spending, and boost profits.
If you want to delve deeper into how an MMP can benefit your app business, reach out to our experts.
