Author: John Koetsier

A demand side platform is a tool used to buy media across multiple advertising and data exchanges. A DSP enables an organization to place bids for ad impressions, as well as acquire, ingest, combine and leverage first-and third-party data sources to aid in valuing the audience targeting for each media impression. DSPs can also optimize bidding based upon measures like cost-per -click.

Designed for Audience-Based Programmatic Media Buying

When advertisers buy media directly from publishers, they often are willing to pay a premium for the opportunity to deliver their messages in specific kinds of content. This is called contextual targeting. By contrast, DSPs and exchanges are focused on audience-based digital advertising

Designed for Programmatic Exchange Management

DSPs are primarily used for real time bidding, or purchasing ad impressions just as they are about to be delivered. Real-time bidding is often abbreviated as RTB. DSPs evaluate impressions, place bids, and direct ad servers to deliver campaign creative within the several hundred milliseconds it takes for web pages to load on a user’s browser.

Some publishers prefer to sell inventory direct via exchanges to DSP users so that they can capture more of the margin paid by advertisers for media. By eliminating the ad network middleman, they believe that they make more money. Advertisers using DSPs also believe that they get better pricing without the intervention of a middleman. Other publishers and advertisers prefer to work with networks to simplify the buying and selling processes and benefit from sometimes more sophisticated buying and selling algorithms.

More Pricing and Inventory Transparency

DSPs typically charge a fixed percentage margin on top of the media cost. This gives advertisers greater pricing transparency. With most networks, margins are not transparent. Many publishers list inventory transparently on exchanges so the advertiser knows more about what they are buying. Transparent listing means that the advertiser knows that an impression will appear on a certain site and/or page before they bid. Such inventory generally sells for more money than “blind” inventory, where the website delivering the impression is unknown to the advertiser. In this case, the advertiser knows who will be reached with the impression, but not where.

Demand Side Platforms “Versus” Agency Trading Desks

Trading desks are a service solution, usually provided by ad agencies, to manage the executional aspects of exchange-based media buying. The desks use one or more DSPs to provide the service. Some agencies price trading desk services with a fixed margin, meaning that the advertiser knows exactly how much money the agency is earning with their trading desk service. Others do not reveal their margin, focusing instead on their ability to deliver overall pricing that is better than network pricing.

Available Inventory

Traditionally, exchanges focus on standard advertising units versus customized units — for example, PC display advertising sizes like 728×90, 300×250 and 160×600. But the range of standard sizes available for exchange-based buying with DSPs is growing, and video and mobile advertising are quickly growing in availability. For custom advertising products, including native advertising, advertisers generally still work directly with publishers, though a few startups have emerged to sell such “custom” inventory programmatically as well.

Several years ago, DSPs and exchanges primarily dealt with remnant inventory that publishers couldn’t sell directly for higher prices. Today, however, many publishers sell most or all their inventory via exchanges.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

This piece is designed to give you an introduction to the world of tracking cookies, and the differences between first- and third-party cookies. Cookies have been around almost as long as the web. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on the browser of your computer via your browser, for example, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Mozilla, or Safari, by a website or advertising product to store and transmit information.

Some examples of companies that place cookies on your computer include the websites you visit and advertising companies that display ads to you. We generally talk about two kinds of cookies in digital marketing, first-party and third-party.

First-Party Cookies

First-party cookies are placed on your computer by a site when you visit its pages.

The purpose of the first-party cookie is to help the website recognize a visitor and personalize user experiences to the habits and preferences of that user. First-party cookies can help sites automatically login a person, associate her behavior with previous actions, customize content and experiences to previously expressed interests, and more.

Third-Party Cookies

Third-party cookies are placed on your computer by companies other than the web site you visit. Most sites display content from a variety of sources when you request a web page. For example, an ad network might place a cookie on all browsers that are exposed to an advertiser’s banner ads. Or if a site includes “like” buttons or embedded videos, these can also deliver third-party cookies.

Third-party cookies help advertisers track what consumers do after they view or interact with content. This kind of measurement is important because most people exposed to an ad don’t click to make a purchase immediately, or visit an advertiser’s website immediately, but may subsequently visit. Advertisers want to be able to understand these “long-term” advertising effects.

Media companies also use third-party cookie data to develop customer profiles that infer interests and purchase intent from the types of things people do online. For example, an ad network could aggregate all of the people who interacted with baby care ads to create an audience of people who are (probably) parents.

First- and Third-Party Cookies and Cookie Blocking

We’re sure you have heard a lot about cookie-blocking, which some people do to avoid ad tracking.

Third-party cookies collect and pass anonymous information only. A person’s name, address, or data that might identify them as an individual is not passed. Nevertheless, some consumers take steps to avoid even anonymous tracking. Some have started deleting their third-party cookies. They do this using purpose-built tools or manually changing settings in their web browser. Most leading browsers now offer the option of changing settings. Others have chosen to use web browsers like Safari that block third-party cookies by default.

Generally, consumers don’t try to block first-party cookies because they add value to the experience, and because the individual actually chose to visit the site in the first place. First-party cookies can serve great benefits to the consumer, like recognizing them when they revisit a site so they don’t have to log in again. In addition, a consumer that sets their browser to reject first-party cookies will find it very difficult to surf the web because many sites require them in order to gain access to content. You must enable cookies in order to visit the sites in question.

Session Cookies Versus Persistent Cookies

A session cookie lasts only as long as your browser session, whereas a persistent cookie lasts more than one session. Both have uses, but advertisers focus on cookies that persist for a longer period of time — often 7- or 30-days.

Third-Party Cookies and Mobile

Third-party cookies are the workhorses of PC web measurement, while in mobile their use is problematic. Cookies have very limited capabilities in some mobile browsers, and in apps. Instead, companies use SDKs to track in-app user activity and associate all of those actions to a device advertising ID.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

Mobile marketing automation (sometimes abbreviated MMA) uses technology to streamline, simplify and automate digital marketing tasks. Automation platforms can be used by marketers for audience-based communications, but many of their most interesting applications are in triggered communications to customers.

Mobile Marketing Automation and Triggers

Marketing automation is often driven by individual customers taking specific actions that trigger some sort of targeted marketing event.

Some examples include:

• When an app user puts items in a cart but abandons before buying
• When an app user gets within a certain radius of a retail location
• If someone hasn’t visited a site or app in a certain amount of time
• When someone searches for a certain class of items on a site, like airline tickets

What is Mobile Marketing Automation?

Mobile consumer interactions are particularly suited to marketing automation because people keep their phones with them all day, and brands can identify and leverage moments of opportunity as they occur. As brand attention to mobile has increased, and as new mobile marketing methods have been developed, more and more brands have deploying mobile marketing automation solutions. This is particularly true for app-based businesses.

For instance, a person who abandons a full shopping cart might receive and email or push message reminder to return and finish their transaction. Marketing automation creates individualized marketing experiences at a scale that simply wasn’t possible before. Brands create business rules based upon triggers, and then can deliver personalized marketing experiences without significant human effort.

Example Touchpoints for Mobile Marketing Automation

Mobile technology now offers a vast array of potential communications paths to leverage with mobile marketing automation. Here are some examples:

• Push notifications
• Emails/Email marketing
• SMS/texts
• Message center communications within a mobile app
• mWallet offers
• In-app personalized experiences
• Mobile website personalization
• Landing page personalization

Mobile Marketing Automation Use Cases

Mobile marketing automation platforms are an incredibly versatile tool with which to drive customer actions in apps, especially for e-commerce and m-commerce businesses. The following chart outlines a variety of users’ actions (or…inactions) and how marketing automation and the delivery of focused messages and offers could help turn these actions into business opportunities for a brand.

Failure to visit app/site for N days: Deliver ads and push notifications reminding users to return and engage

• eStore browsing/no purchase: Deliver mobile and PC ads featuring the last item viewed
• Get customer to visit again/transact: Target past buyers with ads and push notifications timed to likely restock needs
• Enters within a store radius: Trigger mobile ads and push notifications that encourage people to stop in to a retail location
• Encourage more browsing/shopping: Target past in-app buyers with ads encouraging them to buy related items
• Lapsed user reactivation: Offer promotion to return to the app or site
• User fails to install app update: Remind/incent to update app

In each case, a trigger event could lead an automation platform to deliver some message, offer or content via this communications vehicle.

How Singular Insights and Data Help Mobile Marketing Automation

Singular helps make data, profiles, and audiences available to mobile marketing automation tools more quickly and easily. By measuring in-app customer events and combining that data with mobile-web and other first party data sets, we create incredibly rich 360 profiles and can deliver real-time data on customer events.

Most data management platforms (DMPs) have little or no visibility into customer events inside apps. Singular, by contrast, enables you to measure any type of consumer event for rich insight and granular marketing automation campaigns. You can then power an automation platform with those personalized insights.

Our offering makes it easy to securely share event data with leading mobile marketing automation products.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

Starting with the Consumer

Marketers have always sought to reflect consumer needs and preferences in their marketing strategy and in the ways that they connect with people. Our focus isn’t on forcing behavior but rather reflecting it and leveraging rich consumer insights to better meet human needs. With regard to planning and executing consumer touches, it’s all about finding the consumer when they are most receptive. These days, that often means on mobile devices, because the majority of connected consumer time now takes place on mobile devices.

Mobile-First Marketing Facts: Share of US Digital Media Time by Platform

To truly reflect this, brands need to take a so-called “mobile-first marketing approach” to customer engagement. “Mobile-first marketing” is a term thrown around alot these days, but it should be more than a buzz term for you – mobile experience needs to guide the way you plan and execute a customer engagement plan. The following seven principles are core to taking a mobile-first approach:

1. Begin Engagement Planning With Mobile-First Marketing Thinking

Don’t do mobile second. Do it first. Evaluate websites, brand experiences, and other elements of marketing on the small screen first. Mobile isn’t a box you check. It’s core to driving engagement and satisfaction.

2. Understanding How Your Consumers Use Mobile

Understand their basic mobile usage, and also how mobile and smartphones play into the consumer purchase journey for your brand and category. While there is no substitute for primary research, a variety of data sources are available online. A few focused Google searches should identify some basic sources of data for different demographic and buyer groups.

3. Recognize that Mobile Devices Aren’t Just Another Set of Screens

People have a different relationship with mobile devices than with PCs. Mobile users keep phones with them all the time, view them as more personal, and rely on them for information and shopping at home, while traveling, even in stores.

4. Ensure a Value Exchange With Mobile Marketing Experiences

A real value exchange is even more important for mobile-device-marketing brand experiences. Using mobile to deliver small screen TV, for example, may have a place in your mobile marketing, but leaves a great deal of mobile’s capabilities untapped. Think about how a brand experience can be enriching rather than (just) intrusive.

5. Think Global and Local as You Build Mobile-First Marketing

Mobile has become an amazing way for brands to create global experiences for literally dozens of countries. Mobile is something we share with billions of people worldwide. It is also a great way to activate consumers by making people aware of nearby ways to interact and buy. Explore technologies and vendors that can deliver your message in highly focused regions, or in situations like local searches where customers are likely to be on the verge of a purchase.

6. Define an Integrated Role for Mobile Web and Apps

Different screens and touch points are good for different tasks. Think about the best ways to use mobile to facilitate the consumer journey. Don’t expect mobile to carry all the water, but rather use it for the sorts of personal, informational and immersive experiences it can deliver uniquely well.

7. Test and Optimize Your Mobile-First Marketing Concepts

The sorts of programs you build shouldn’t be thought about as static – unchanging. Use mobile data to help you understand what is working well, and what can be improved as regards your mobile app and mobile-first website experiences. Understanding the relative effectiveness of vendors, and the actions consumers take as a result of your brand experiences, will help you evaluate your effectiveness, measure ROI, and identify ways to do things better in the future.

Final Thoughts

Taking a mobile-first marketing approach ultimately means that you recognize the primacy that mobile devices now play in consumer experience. Mobile ads will likely play a part in your plans, but there’s no set “mobile-first” tactics list – rather it is about understanding your brand, your consumers, and how mobile can help you meet consumer needs and communicate your value proposition more effectively. The keys are insights into what consumers do with phones, along with creativity to create experiences for users that are especially appropriate for your brand.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

 

Mobile app uninstall rates are a big concern for lots of marketers. They can do serious harm to any app business. When you first detect high uninstall rates, it’s important to quickly diagnose your problem and take proactive steps to address the key challenges. Only in this way can you capitalize on app marketing opportunities and improve your retention metrics. Diagnosing the root causes of a high uninstall rate is actually straightforward – if you have the right data.

A Data-Driven Approach

Currently, the Google Play dashboard offers an overall figure for app uninstall rates across all channels, vendors, campaigns, etc. This number lets you see if the overall uninstall rate across your marketing programs is above the level for which you have planned. General measures like an overall uninstall rate are best at helping you determine if you have product problems. A bad, or slow, or heavy or buggy product will drive uninstalls regardless of acquisition channel.

But real uninstall analysis requires a lot more granularity. Which is why Singular offers Uninstall Attribution as a core metric in our platform.

We’ve incorporated app uninstall attribution into our solution to help mobile app marketers understand the relative quality of users driven by different mobile app marketing programs and install sources. Using uninstall attribution analytics, marketers can make smarter decisions in a variety of use cases:

• Campaign Testing and Decisions: By measuring the uninstall rates driven by different campaigns, they can determine the best advertising approaches for driving long-term users.
• Regional Allocations: By understanding the user retention rates in different markets, brands can make wiser decisions on where to spend expansion dollars.
• Cohort Comparisons: By comparing the relative app uninstall rates of different user segments, they can make smarter decisions about future acquisition and remarketing campaigns.
• Vendor Allocation: By comparing uninstall rates of different vendors, they can collaborate with these partners to drive install quality improvements and focus marketing investments on best performing programs.

Once you have access to uninstall measurement, it’s important to understand how to use it, and how to interpret the data in order to quickly identify issues.

Uninstall Analytics: Symptoms and Diagnosis

Let’s examine how we can use these more granular measures from Singular uninstall attribution to assess the root cause of high uninstall rates.

We’ll do this based upon example scenarios. We’ll first identify an example finding you might spot in your data, and then discuss its probable meaning.

Observation: High Uninstall Rates for Organic Installs
Diagnosis: Product or Messaging Issues

When you see high app uninstall rates for organic iOS and Android installs, that often means you have a product issue. With an organic install, there are no levers in play beyond what you promise the mobile app will do and what the app actually does. Messaging can drive high uninstalls if you overpromise or if your Google Play or App Store page is unclear about actual app experience. But the more likely issue is that people try your product and simply don’t like it. The most common reasons why people abandon/uninstall mobile apps relate to product performance.

When an app won’t launch, or launch quickly, or crashes frequently, or functions slowly, or offers bad UI/UX, data show that people quickly lose interest. In 2014, App Dynamics did a survey of Android and iOS app users in the US and UK. The data revealed that two thirds of consumers say their expectations of app performance were increasing, and that almost 9 in 10 had uninstalled an app because of poor performance. A Compuware study showed that crashes and slow app performance were the most frequently cited experience issues.

The same survey of mobile app users in the US, UK, France, Germany and India showed that one or two bad experiences can be major contributing factors to a user’s decision to uninstall an app.
Another common place where apps fall short is in UI/UE. Here are a few of the product characteristics that tend to correlate with high app abandons and uninstall rates.

• Unusual UI/UE, especially when clickable content is not clearly delineated from other text.
• Inconsistency, when a certain action is described in different words, or when navigation changes on different screens
• Absence of default values, meaning no pull-down menus, especially during registration
• User “dump”, or when an app simply drops the user into the experience without some sort of introduction or tutorial
• Screen size issues, when an app is optimized to only one screen size instead of adapting to the specifics of each device
• Small click targets, and fat fingers don’t mix
• Too many features leading to user confusion, especially during early trial and use launches
• Complex Registration, such as including too many questions that seem irrelevant to the core functionality of a mobile app. Or requiring sign-up via social profile, or not including sign-up via social profile option

The important thing here, whether you are a product leader or an app marketing person, is to find out exactly why people are uninstalling. What are the product or UI issues, specifically? One powerful way to get at those answers is to conduct a survey of recent uninstallers. While you might think that the response rates for uninstallers would be near nil, I think you’ll be surprised.

People want to help if they think you are listening.

2) Observation: Installs From One Vendor are Well Above Average
Diagnosis: Mobile App Marketing Publisher or Traffic Quality Issues

Small differences in uninstall rates across media sources are normal. You’ll find that these rates are constantly fluctuating in small ways over time, as may the ranking of vendors by uninstall rates.

But a vendor showing very high uninstall rates relative to others warrants your attention.

Most networks and sources are anxious to deliver the highest quality Android and iOS users for your investments. After all, that’s how they will get renewals/more of your budget. You’ll find that the vast majority of vendors welcome the opportunity to understand uninstall data and take steps to make things better.

Uninstall rates are a great place to collaborate with a vendor. Sometimes, these high rates are driven by a single publisher or class of publishers. Other times, the mix of ad formats may require adjustment. Or, in some cases, high uninstalls can be a sign of low quality inventory or even fraud.

Letting a network know that you are seeing relatively higher rates of uninstalls from them helps alert them to the issue so that they can adjust the dials on your campaign for better results.

3) Observation: Campaign/Creative Showing Above Average Uninstalls
Diagnosis: Likely a Messaging, Offer or Aesthetic Issue

As we all know, different ads and campaigns pull differently, just like Google Play and App Store pages do. When a campaign or creative is driving high uninstall rates, it’s time to adjust your mix to favor better performers, or make revisions to those ads that boost your quality install yield.

Remember, though, that you should focus on optimizing to your KPIs, not (just) uninstall rates. One campaign could, for example, yield fewer but very high-quality users. Generally, though a high uninstall rate will also yield low ROI.

4) Observation: High Uninstall Rate for Incentivized Downloads
Diagnosis: Time to Calculate Cost per Quality Install

Incentivized app downloads, ion which media partners reward users for downloading/installing the app, have been around for a long time. If you are unfamiliar, incentivized app downloads use a digital reward – like free game gold or free WI-FI service for an hour – as an incentive to get you to download an app.

Most marketers expect that incentivized app downloads will yield higher uninstall rates. After all, the user’s motivation is different. But what matters is how much higher. Let’s take an example. If incentivized components of your plans are yielding a CPI that is half the price of installs via other methods, and the uninstalls are only 20% higher, then incentivized may represent a good value.

It’s all about calculating a cost per quality or persistent user.

What’s critical here are user-level ROI analytics so that you can correctly measure the profitability of users attracted by different means.

5) Observation: High Uninstall Rates in Some Markets
Diagnosis: Messaging or Language Issues, Device Capacity Issues

Sometimes the data show big disparities in uninstall rates by country or region. The causes we most often see for this include communication issues like no or poor localization of content, poor app performance because of connection quality and speed, and the fact that in some countries – especially in developing markets like India and China, devices have small memories so users must constantly uninstall mobile apps in order to make room for other apps.

Addressing localization issues is relatively straightforward, though it requires time and resources. Network and connection issues are very difficult to mitigate without a major redesign of the app to be lighter on less taxing on processors. The mobile apps device space issue is simply a fact of life in some markets, and you need to be cognizant of it as you examine your uninstall rates.

It also may point to an opportunity for remarketing to uninstallers to get them to reinstall when the need for the app resurfaces. Using Singular Remarketing Audiences, for example, you can define an audience of recent uninstallers and use your vendor(s) or choice to specifically market to them.

Conclusions

High uninstall rates can be worrying. But taking a measured approach to quickly understanding and addressing your uninstall issues can yield big benefits quickly.

Considering uninstall rates should be part of your efforts to optimize performance to your core KPIs. The key is to have the information that pinpoints the problem areas on your business, and then a concrete plan of action.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

 

Introduction

Games are a driving force in the fast-growing app industry. But there are now tens of thousands of “brand apps,” designed to do everything from sell goods to drive rich, immersive engagement. In fact, the non-gaming side of the app industry is growing even faster than the gaming side.

A few years ago, when launching brand apps began to get popular, lots of the activity was driven by the GMOOT. For those unfamiliar, GMOOT is short for “Gimme one of those,” and refers to circumstances when senior execs demand a shiny object instead of allowing marketers to define and implement tactics based upon a strategic foundation.

The objective of a GMOOT is usually to check a box rather than make a real contribution to the business. And true to form, lots of those early brand apps did little more than put an “x” in a square.

These days, there are lots of strategic reasons to launch brand apps. For one thing, comScore tells us that apps now account for more than half of total American connected consumer time. For another, apps are consumers’ preferred way to interact with content on mobile. But needing an app and successfully launching one are two very different things.

Launching an app these days is tough. It’s critical that brands utilize best practices to give their apps a strong start. Here are 10 bits of advice to help you improve your odds of getting everything right.

1. Bring the Utility to Your Mobile App

Before you plunk down resources to promote your app, make sure you have an app with a realistic chance of adoption and success. In apps, the name of the game is utility. Where the best apps succeed is in giving the user valuable benefits they cannot get any other way.

For most major brands, that means finding something category-appropriate. Charmin’s Sit or Squat clean bathroom finder mobile app was a fitting example. Instead of trying to regale us with the wonders of its animated bear spokes creatures, Charmin and its mobile application focused on helping people find a clean place nearby for a “rest.”

2. Recognize that Brand App Marketing is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

When people think of app marketing, their minds usually go to the hype tactics that gaming companies use to get their offerings to the top of the App Store. Game marketing is both an art and a science, and industry leaders have tremendous respect for those who excel in it. But generating frenzy and hype are not what brand app marketing is about. For a brand app to be successful, it needs to get downloaded by a critical mass of folks, and then get used with a reasonable frequency.

Having a popular app in your category always has value, but what drives retail app success, for example, is very different from what moves the needle for casual games. It’s important to understand how the app rankings work for your category. Learn more about the inputs that drive the app charts so that you focus your mobile app marketing effort in the most productive places.

3. Take a Data-Driven Approach to App Marketing

You can’t win a speed race if you don’t understand what’s going on in your car. Make sure that you have the data necessary to understand your marketing performance and how your customers interact with your app. Then you can inform your mobile marketing with data-driven insights. While the tools for app measurement are different than those for the PC web, it’s possible to get the same degree of quantitative insight for apps as you have for your web-based initiatives.

4. Invest in Getting Your App Store Presence Right

Your app store page is like a shop window — make sure you spend enough time making it as strong as you possibly can. Use Google AdWords tools (set to Mobile) to identify the most popular search terms in your category. Describe your app based on what it does for the user. Include exciting and appealing screen shots; you’d be amazed how many brands shoot themselves in the foot with blurry low-res ones.

Successful brands test content for their pages and update them to reflect new learning, product updates, and anything else that will make them more appealing. And consider video — more and more app developers are creating and including video content in their pages to bring the features and benefits to life.

5. Develop and Deliver a Robust Free/Earned Media Strategy

Paid media have become a critical part of app marketing strategy. But before you spend a cent on ads, get your non-paid marketing infrastructure in place. Create a mobile-friendly web presence for your app. Promote your app on your site and in as many other brand touch points as you can. Print the App Store and Google Play URLs on packaging, signage, shopping bags and anything else that touches the consumer. Incorporate your app message and links into your social media presences. Treat this stuff as job one, not an optional afterthought.

6. Focus on Quality Installs

Don’t overvalue the importance of vanity metrics like daily mobile install counts, and focus instead on reaching and persuading quality users to install. What constitutes “quality” will depend on your objectives. A quality mobile app user might be someone who makes regular purchases, or who returns to your app frequently, or who helps drive others to install. If you evaluate marketing options based upon the extent to which they drive quality installs, you’ll be a lot more likely to nail your goals.

7. Consider Featuring Your App in Specialty Stores

While Google Play and the Apple App Store offer the largest libraries of available apps, it may also make sense to feature the Android version of your app in other specialty app stores. While all iPhone apps must be installed from the App Store, Android allows apps to be downloaded from other locations online. Do some searches for specialty stores that attract your target audience or are relevant to your category.

8. Measure and Optimize Your Install Process

Apps lose lots of potential users in the install process. Some of the most common reasons why people abandon mid-process include having no social-ID-based-registration process, having only social-ID-based registration, onerous forms and reg page performance issues. Also, be sure and request permission to deliver push notifications — about half of users typically consent, and push messages represent a very powerful and low-cost way to drive app re-engagement.

9. Architect a Post-Install Comms Program for Your App

Most of your users will forget about your app before they’ve established regular usage patterns. And recent data show that an astounding 2/3 of app users uninstall in the first 30 days. Your best defense against uninstalls and “app neglect” is to drive revisits in those critical first days and weeks.

Apps that are launched on multiple occasions in the first days and weeks post-install are far more likely to remain on a device and become regular parts of a user’s routine. Leverage all the tools at your disposal to keep your app top of mind. Email. Push. Message centers. Advertising. And analyze your behavior and response data to optimize your program.

10. Personalize Your User Communications for Maximum Results

All users are not the same. Identify high-performing audiences for retargeting and re-engagement. Focus your remarketing on the levers that will best impact your KPIs. If you are focused on app revenue, identify and message target groups like shopping cart abandoners, lapsed users, and heavy buyers. If you are offering more of a companion app, concentrate re-engagement efforts on getting users to relaunch again and again.

There are lots of media companies and platforms you can use to do any of these things. As always, what’s critical is that you recognize the need to keep users engaged, and properly allocate money and time to capitalizing on the opportunities.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

Introduction

Mobile apps are rapidly transforming the ways that people interact and transact in digital, especially in the travel category. While just a few years ago the mobile app space was completely dominated by games, now travel apps are becoming very popular. More and more travel businesses around the world are relying on mobile apps to drive engagement and sales.

The Breadth and Depth of Consumer Travel Preferences

One of the most interesting aspects of the travel business is that two people sitting next to one another on a plane, in identical seats, may have radically different preferences for travel services and amenities. Here are just a few of the many important ways that their needs may differ:

• Purpose: Business or pleasure occasion?
• Costs: High- versus low-price-sensitivity?
• Class: First or business or coach class?
• Brand: Brand preferences and points programs?
• Ambience: Luxury, trendsetting or utilitarian venue preferences?
• Environment: Urban or suburban location?
• Amenities: Need for on premise restaurant, pool, fitness center etc.?
• Time Urgency/Flexibility: Flexibility on departure and return dates?

Travel was one of the first verticals to get serious about collecting customer data as a means of anticipating the needs of a traveler. The OTAs as well as the leading travel brands now have extensive databases of information about travelers, preferences, frequent destinations, mobile usage, brand affinities, price sensitivity and more. Data they use to deliver tailored PC and mobile web marketing.

Making Travel App Marketing Consumer-Centric

By contrast, data-driven travel app marketing is only in its infancy. Techniques that are common online are only now becoming available in the mobile app arena. But now that they are available, travel companies should start taking the same sorts of data-driven approaches to app marketing that they take with consumer touch points that take place on other screens.
In the pages that follow, we will be providing ideas and tips to do just that. We hope that these insights and recommendations will help you make your travel app marketing more effective through a focus on leveraging the power of data to create richer and more personal customer relationships.

We’ll be discussing:

• How to define the data collection strategy for your app, including which types of consumer actions you need to track
• How to correctly evaluate your various marketing partners — to measure their relative abilities to drive your KPIs
• How you can apply seven use cases and strategies to start driving rapid growth in your travel app business immediately
• How you can convince more mobile app users to buy within the app rather than taking their transactions to the PC web

Travel App Data Collection Strategy

When you are just getting started with in-app measurement, the most important things you need to decide are which consumer actions to track. In the mobile app measurement industry, we call in-app consumer action ‘events’. By tracking events, we gather the data necessary to understand the effectiveness of your marketing programs. We also gain a granular view of exactly what each consumer does inside your apps.

• Validation Events: Actions that help identify the user (anonymously, of course)
• Engagement Events: Actions that indicate “involvement” with the app, and presage long-term usage
• Intent Events: Actions that indicate that the user is considering and preparing for a purchase
• Conversion Events: Completed transactions

Validation Events are important for anonymized user identification. They help us identify the device on which actions take place, so we can associate all an individual’s behavior to a single ID or profile. Here are the most crucial events/data points to track:

• Email Address (Hashed): A hashed email can be used to link purchases and other actions that take place in one environment to those that take place in other environments. For example, hashed email can be used to link in-app purchases to e-store purchases and CRM activity. When we unite all that data, we create a more holistic understanding of the customer.
• Device Advertising ID: Many media partners will pass the Device Advertising ID (e.g., IDFA, Android Advertising ID) to advertisers. This helps us identify a user’s device so we can link marketing activity to consumer actions. Device Advertising IDs can also be helpful in associating a customer’s activity across devices, because Device IDs are far more persistent and mobile-measurement-friendly than other identifiers, like third-party cookies.
• Social IDs: Because the social networks have extremely sophisticated algorithms to spot fraudulent users and activity, social IDs can be used to help ensure that an app was installed by a real person. In addition, social IDs can be the foundation for retargeting and other re-engagement efforts on social networks.
• Custom Advertiser ID: Some advertisers use their own customer IDs to identify users who log in, make purchases, etc. A custom ID is a great way to link transactional behaviors across devices and platforms.
• Age and Gender: These are useful, non-personally-identifiable attributes that help with basic segmentation.
• Latitude and Longitude: Most industry people expect location-based marketing to grow in importance. To prepare for that eventuality, we suggest that advertisers record phone longitude and latitude when users install.

Engagement Events tend to be category-specific. Here are some examples of some of the engagement types that travel companies should track.

• Instructions/Tutorial Viewed? If the mobile app has instructions or a tutorial, whether a consumer reads it/watches it is a strong indicator of their depth of interest
• Input of Travel Rewards Numbers: By choosing to commit this information to the app, the user gives you a strong indication of their interest in long-term use
• Input of Travel Preferences (Airlines, Hotels, Car Rentals, Time of Day, Class of Service): Preferences like these offer a treasure trove of insights you can leverage to tailor marketing programs and experiences to individual users
• Destination Searches: When you collect and retain details about past searches and trips in iPhone and Android apps, you can later use these facts to tailor offers and packages to the individual user
• Wish Listing: A considerable number of consumers like to wish list “dream” items. Analysis here can help you define programs and experiences that may be relevant to each individual user. In addition, you can (with permission) share these lists with other connected users as gift suggestions
• Rating/Reviewing: By recording these opinions, you can craft richer marketing programs and recommendations that better reflect what each individual use wants and needs
• Content Sharing: Noting the content that a user shares can provide valuable data to use in codifying someone’s preferences and interests
• Did User Install Updates? This is a great indicator of the depth of interest an individual has in an app. Each update is a concrete demonstration of their commitment to an app.

Intent Events are a rich source of information on whether an individual is committed to transacting in an app. Further, by analyzing which items the person appears to be interested in buying, you gain important insights into their interests insights that power effective individualized communications.

• Check Availability: Not surprisingly, this is an extremely powerful indicator of interests and likely future purchases. This action can also give us insights into an individual’s lifestyle and other factors that may drive future purchase preferences
• Add to Cart/Shopping Bag: Tells us what the person is really interested in buying. Committing to a cart is, for most people, a strong indicator of likely future purchases
• Begin Booking (and Every Other Stage of the Booking Process.): Find out which steps a user takes in the process. Tracking every step is a must to identify buying process bottlenecks that may be impeding your conversion rates
• Input Credit Card Details: Another demonstration of serious interest. And, in these days of security concerns, brand trust.

With Purchase Events, it’s critical that you record the specifics — or “parameters” — of what the individual has just bought. Parameters are the details from each event that help us develop a richer customer profile. Here are some parameters we highly recommend tracking for the vertical:

• Hotel Reservations
• Total Revenue
• Destination/Location
• Hotel Location
• Quantity of Items
• Quantity of Items
• Departure/Pickup Date
• Check-In Date
• Return Date
• Check-Out Date
• Carrier/Company
• Hotel Brand
• Taxes Levied
• Class of Service
• Class of Room
• Bought on Discount?
• Size of Discount

For travel apps, parameters are invaluable as a source of individual user insights. Make sure you pass all relevant parameters with each purchase so you can better understand your business and create personalized communications for each user.

2. Evaluating Your Vendors Based On Revenue and ROI KPIs, Not Installs

You and your brand probably expect more from your app than “just” a colossal number of installs. You likely need to drive strong bookings and realized revenue. Given that, it’s a bad idea to just use install counts and CPI as the only measures of media partner effectiveness.

One of the most frustrating things we see from our view into hundreds of app businesses is that lots of mcommerce companies still optimize to cost per install instead of revenue per marketing dollar invested. Doing so often drives exactly the wrong allocation decisions.

Media companies that drive dirt-cheap installs often deliver the lowest quality users. That’s because the least expensive ways to drive an install (like incentivized downloads, sideloading, and APK) tend to garner lots of “users” that have no interest in what you sell.

An example: If I agreed to download your app in exchange for an hour of free Wifi, am I likely to be a high-potential-revenue user? Probably not. If it sounds too good to be true from a CPI perspective, it probably is.

That’s not to say that every incentivized install program is bad. But you should dig deep to find out whether it’s realistic to expect quality users from a program before you sign the contract. Given this, should travel apps then focus solely on men? NO!

Liftoff reports that women buy the majority of travel offerings, so acquiring female users may make more sense. They may cost a little more to acquire, but they will generate lots more revenue.

Net: always evaluate vendors based upon the extent to which they help deliver your KPIs, not surrogate measures. Ensure that the measurement tool that you choose can provide a precise measure of the return on ad spend for vendors and campaigns, not just basic CPI metrics.

3. Seven Data-Driven App Marketing Use Cases

Once you are collecting the right data on key customer events, it’s time to put that data to work. Use individual and audience insights to power segmented and customized marketing programs.

Here are seven key use cases in which customer event data can play a huge role in improving revenue, customer engagement rates and profitability:

• Optimized Vendor Allocation
• Broad-Based Mobile Retargeting
• Broad-Based Cross-Device Retargeting
• Reactivating Cart Abandoners
• Bringing Lapsed Customers Back to Buy
• Advanced Lookalike Modeling
• App Cross-Marketing

Let’s examine each of these below:

Optimized Vendor Allocation: Collecting data on all the paid and organic events that drive installs and other desirable actions is the first step toward having the information you need to assess vendor performance and efficiency. Analyze the results of each of your media partners so you can deliver the right mix of media to maximize return on ad spend.
In addition to enabling you to allocate your spend in the ways that are most accretive to your revenue goals or other KPIs, you can also ensure that you don’t pay multiple vendors for the same install. “Deduplication” can drive a savings of 20% or more on your overall CPI. The more partners you use, the greater the potential for duplication.

Broad-Based Mobile Retargeting: Retargeting is the fastest growing sector of app marketing, and among the fastest growing for digital and mobile app marketing in general. And the reason is because it works outstandingly well. By concentrating on high potential segments, you increase your share of voice with these “consumers that matter,” and can deliver customized messages geared to need states. After all , it is much each to drive a transaction from a current user than to convince someone to visit the app store, install, and then buy.

Here are four examples specific to travel apps:

• Apps can target segments of their users who explore destination information but have not yet demonstrated intent to transact. This engagement state often represents a very big chunk of travel app users – one that can be cost-effectively reached with tailored messages that drive deeper engagements. OTA apps can target mobile app users who have transacted for a low margin item, like an airline ticket, but have never used the app to make a higher margin hotel or rental car reservation
• Cross-Device Mobile Retargeting: Through partnerships with device graph companies, it is now possible to anonymously target individuals across screens by connecting third-party cookies from the PC and mobile web with device advertising IDs from the app world
• Cart Abandon Reactivation: This use case is one of the key drivers of the effectiveness of retargeting. By reaching out to users who have demonstrated strong intent signals but have not yet transacted, it is possible to drive a significant portion of these users back to transact. The percentage who return depends on at least six criteria: category dynamics, how fast retargeting starts after abandon, price point, size of discount offer (if any), whether it would be a user’s first or a repeat purchase, and how many retargeting messages are received
• Bringing Lapsed Users Back to Buy: As we all know, the number of apps on a typical mobile device far exceeds the number that are used regularly. Recent figures from Nielsen in the US show that the average smartphone bears about 100 apps, of which about 15 are used regularly. Many apps lose more than 80% of their customers in just the first month after the install. Given those dynamics, it is critical to keep your app top-of-mind, and one way to do that is to remind users after N days of inactivity. Understanding past travel exploration and booking patterns is critical here; it obviously makes a lot more sense to remind a lapsed user who books a trip every week than one who only books a few times a year.
• Advanced Lookalike Modeling: Travel companies have been leveraging lookalike modeling for acquisition efforts in the PC realm for years, so it should come as no surprise that it is a fast-growing area for app marketing. Likely, many of the app media partners you work with are already leveraging lookalike models on your behalf. Look-alike modeling is most effective when a brand collects and analyzes all its installs and customers FROM ACROSS ALL MEDIA VENDORS, to understand the complete picture of its customer base. While sophisticated media partners can do a good job with lookalike modeling using only the installs that they drive, there is no substitute for the broadest possible view. Another key element of brand-centered lookalike modeling is the opportunity to identify more target audience segments. By arming your media partners with ALL the segments, you will empower them to drive even better results for your brand
• App Cross-Marketing: Users of your related apps are a natural place to start prospecting for new users/ customers. First, the cost to acquire them for the second app will likely be much lower. Second, the strong customer profiles that you have for the first app will help you segment users to identify ideal targets for your new app. You’ll be able to do so by examining app usage patterns, interests, lifestyles, and ropensity to make in-app purchases

How you can convince more app users to transact in-app rather than taking their transaction to the PC web? Many users of travel apps switch to the PC web to complete their transactions. Lots of experts have theories about why this is so common. Some of the most popular are outlined below:

• Travel tends to be a high-ticket item, and people have security concerns regarding mobile transactions
• Travel is often a well-considered purchase, and users avail themselves of many different types of connections to access information. But for transacting, consumers still like to use a PC to comparison shop
• Travel booking sometimes requires significant data entry, which is made easier with the full-sized keyboard of a PC

Here are a few ideas to improve your chances of success:

• Communicate Available Offers: Make sure that you communicate available offers clearly and prominently
• Create Urgency: If offers are set to expire, give consumers a reason to transact now by communicating deadlines aggressively
• Allay Safety Concerns: Make sure you provide assurances that transacting in-app is very safe. If you work with assurance solutions like TRUSTe, make sure you feature those relationships in your checkout process
• Simplify the Data Entry: Make sure that your buying experience leverages any contact information you have already in pre-fill forms etc
• Offer Pricing Guarantees: Very few of us have relied on only one website for travel pricing. We check around, or use services that do this for us. If you offer a price guarantee, this can likely improve your chances of in-app conversion
• Get Creative About Differentiating In-App Purchases: You and your team may be able to identify ways to differentiate the value of buying in-app

Final Thoughts

Travel marketers are among the most creative business leaders around. After all, the need to romance experiences and optimize buying processes is part and parcel for success in your industry. Few industry analysts disagree with the idea that apps will become an increasingly critical channel for the travel industry. The time is now for travel marketers to devote their strategic and tactical acumen to the challenges inherent data-driven in-app promotion and business building.

It’s that time of year. Time to look back at how mobile app marketing changed in 2016, and look ahead to what the future holds.

Mobile app marketing has changed in so many ways over the past 12 months. Some highlights:

• Digital marketing and advertising spend continued to rocket upward as the great mobile app “land grab” continued.
• Mobile app sectors like retail, travel and on-demand services gained real share in both downloads and media spending versus the long-dominant gaming category. But total gaming spend also grew very strongly as well.
• “Brick and click” retail giants in North America and the EU responded to the growth of pure play retail apps by investing big in their applications, and in acquisitions.
• In the developing world, install spending growth slowed as VCs and other investors demanded that their mobile app businesses start making more money.
• Many marketers saw their KPIs shift from a focus on raw install counts to mobile app revenue and ROI. Plus, install fraud and other forms of mobile app fraud became front-burner issues across the industry.

While no one can predict everything that will happen next year, the following list of mobile app marketing predictions stands a good chance of coming true during the next 12 months.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 1:

Post-Install Advertising Will Capture More than 20% of Mobile App Industry Marketing Budgets

While the mobile app space has grown at a remarkable pace, our industry still suffers from a massive user retention problem. The average mobile app loses the vast majority of its users in just a few weeks. In fact, a typical mobile app that acquires 100 installs on day one can expect to have only 5 DAUs by day 90, according to our analysis.

95% customer loss is a tragedy. What business can survive and thrive on 5% retention?

Fortunately, brands with iOS and Android apps are learning that post-install engagement advertising strongly increases user engagement. Across our footprint, which is composed primarily of enterprise-sized mobile app businesses, the percentage of paid marketing events focused on re-engagement has skyrocketed 1500% in just the past two years.

Post-install marketing’s share of total paid events across ALL mobile apps is likely lower, as the largest category players tend to innovate more quickly than do smaller app publishers. But in a recent survey we conducted among mobile app marketers around the world, 58% said that they had tested or implemented re-engagement marketing, and another 28% said they would in the next year.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 2:

Brands with Large, Established Install Bases Will Radically Increase Their Post-Install Marketing Spending

Related to the prediction above, we expect that large app brands – ones with large install bases already in place – will funnel a far larger percentage of their ad spend into post-install marketing by the end of 2017. Most such businesses have already made huge investments in driving installs, but now their plan objectives will emphasize revenue and ROI, rather than vanity metrics. Those brands will focus on retaining and monetizing users in a more robust set of ways. Specifically, enterprise mobile app marketers will implement post-install re-engagement programs for:

• New user activation: Advertising to get new installers to relaunch the app. For example, a media marketing property delivering ads to get a first-time viewer to return to the mobile app.
• Converting cart abandons: Delivering ads to bring users back to buy. For example, a retail app messaging cart abandoners to complete their transactions before they buy somewhere else.
• Driving reinstalls: Getting people who have uninstalled an app from their mobile devices to download it again. For example, a mobile travel app driving former users to reinstall when they need to book new travel plans.
• Reactivating lapsed users: Driving people who have not launched an app in n days to return. For example, a mobile game developer messaging past users to relaunch.
• Cross-sell/upsell: Stimulating incremental purchases from existing users. For example, a retail mobile app targeting its heaviest users with customized messaging.
• Re-engagement display and video ads work so well in part because they can reach everyone, not just those that opt-in to CRM programs like push or email. Naturally, the specific post-install marketing audience within each of the above use cases varies. For mobile game marketing, one popular use case is targeting past purchasers of IAPs, to get them to make an incremental transaction. By contrast, a marketing campaign for lapsed users of a travel app would leverage a dynamic audience of Android and iOS app users that have not launched the app in n days.

Net, from mobile game developers to the leaders of app-based retail channels, post-install marketing is a big focus.

Expect big brands to rely on post-install display and video advertising as primary tools to drive rich user engagement, transactions and revenue. They will play a central role in 2017 marketing strategy.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 3:

Lots More Companies Will Deploy Mobile Marketing Automation Platforms

The mobile marketing automation sector has increased penetration in 2016, and we expect that trend to continue in 2017. That’s because messaging to your existing installs and app users can help drive significant boosts in engagement.

Mobile marketing automation can help with the app user retention crisis we discussed in (1) above – at least among those users that opt-in to receive emails and push messages. Data from Localytics show that use of push notification messages results in 171% more app launches than when users don’t receive push messages. And over time, delivering push messages results in about 240% higher app retention rates over time. It’s all about delivering a more personal – and more welcome – user experience.

Post-install email marketing to users of Android and iOS apps also has positive and lasting effects on engagement and user longevity.

Any big brand that expects to drive revenue and cultivate long-term relationships will be getting on the automation bandwagon in 2017 – if they haven’t already.

Our recent survey of app marketers revealed that 23% of marketers expected to add an automation platform in the next 12 months. That represents 62% growth over 2016 penetration in our sample and is part of a long-term marketing trend toward personalized CRM.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 4:

Opt-In Rates for Push Notifications Will Drop as Marketers Relentlessly Over-Message to Drive Re-Engagement

So, here’s the flip side of our last prediction. More brands are going to be delivering more push notification marketing messages to users. Some will do so prudently, with appropriate content and cadence. But many others will press the push notification “on button” too often, or deliver content that feels spammy to users.

In 2017, we predict that the rise in unwelcome push notifications and email activity will frustrate users. As a result, opt-in rates for push notifications will show significant declines. Over the past several years, average opt-in rates have been in a slow but steady fall, and we expect this trend to accelerate.

With lower opt-in rates, savvy marketers will need to pursue a COMBINATION of CRM and re-engagement advertising to engage all app users and customers. But this sort of double-barreled marketing strategy will likely pay strong revenue dividends.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 5:

Marketers Will Start to Spend Big on App Retention/Rewards Programs

We’ve already discussed using ads and CRM to improve retention. But in 2017, we predict that many more marketers will incorporate tangible reward programs into their apps so that they can retain and monetize more users.
Several digital marketing startups focus on empowering app marketers to reward app usage. We expect more e major apps to incorporate these tactics into their core app user experience.

Rewards for engagement and retention come in multiple forms. Here are a few examples:

• App-only discounts and offers that are only visible/available at the moment of app launch.
• Escalating rewards and discounts for more frequent app launches and usage.
• Hyper-location-based rewards revealed as users shop store aisles.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 6:

Media Consolidation Will Continue at a Fast Clip. Top 20 Media Partners Will Capture 80+% of Total Category Dollars

The mobile app media market is very fragmented. Apsalar, for example, has more than 1,000 integrations with a broad range of app marketing vendors, from the top social and search communities to niche mobile ad networks.

Nevertheless, over the past year, we have seen significant media consolidation, with the leading players grabbing a larger and larger share of total install and remarketing spend. Earlier this year we conducted an analysis of our digital media footprint and discovered that the share of spend for the top ten vendors grew by almost 40% over the past 18 months. The share of the second ten largest grew by about 20%. All that growth came out of the hides of smaller players – especially those with an exclusive focus on incentivized inventory. To put it simply, digital marketers in the mobile app space want to hedge their bets with proven partners that deliver installs of the highest quality.

On our platform, we see the top 20 app media brands take about 70% of total paid installs in 2016. That figure will likely climb to over 80% in 2017.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 7:

Optimizing to Conversions Versus to Install Counts Will Become the Category’s New Normal

Historically, app marketers and their media partners optimized media and marketing efforts to maximize install counts. But over the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed many marketers demand optimization to deeper conversion types.

This is all part of an uber-industry-trend toward “user quality” – recognizing that all users are not of the same value to a brand.

Given this, smart marketing maximizes attracting and retaining more of an app’s most profitable users. The user experience goal is refined to focus on the needs and wants of the most profitable app users.

In the mobile app marketer survey we conducted last summer, 78% said they were now more focused on user quality than they were a year before.

While it can be difficult to scale CPA media buys, many digital marketing leaders are keeping their CPI and CPC contracts but asking their partners to optimize media spend to maximize the number of deeper conversions. We expect more brands to pursue this “dual objective” strategy in the future.

Mobile App Marketing Prediction 8:

Around the World, Consolidation in the Retail App Space Will Accelerate

Credit a tightening of VC funding or a recognition that there may be too many pure play mcommerce startups in some categories. But these days, the biggest mobile app players are snapping up the mid-pack to grow scale and reduce competitive threats. The trend is most pronounced in India, where VCs who once cheered INSTALLS! INSTALL INSTALLS! are now asking for revenue in addition to install growth. Some examples:

• India’s travel giant ibibo acquired bus booking service redBus.
• India’s hotel booking app Oyo Rooms bought its competitor, Zo Rooms
• India’s m-commerce leader Flipkart first acquired Letsbuy, then fashion retail apps Myntra and Jabong
• But it’s not just an India phenomenon. Consider:
• French retailer Vente Privee’s acquisition of a series of retail concerns, including Złote Wyprzedaże, Designers and Friends, Privalia and Vente Exclusive.
• China’s Alibaba purchase of a controlling interest in Southeast Asia mcommerce leader Lazada
• Rocket Internet’s acquisition of multiple food delivery companies including HelloFresh, Delivery Hero and Food Panda.

Expect this type of consolidation to continue throughout 2017.

Note: This blog post was published first on the Apsalar blog, prior to Apsalar’s merger with Singular. Learn more about our united company at Singular.net.

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.

 

From San Francisco to Seoul, mobile marketing data teams across the globe are tapping into the power of Singular to draw the richest possible insights from their mobile app data. With our worldwide mobile app marketer user base growing fast we’re launching new features to ensure Singular adapts to your local market, no matter where you are. These new features make analyzing your iOS and Android mobile app data more powerful and informative.

Localized Currencies for Mobile App Analytics and Data

The Singular analytic solution now supports automatic currency conversions for over 180 world currencies. Just tell us your preferred currency for your mobile analytic instance, and we’ll display your analytics platform dashboard metrics accordingly.

The currency conversion rate is calculated in real-time based on the specific day your mobile app spend and revenue are reported in your data. When you load monetary metrics — for instance, total spend in the past week — each day’s spend is converted based on that day’s conversion rate, instead of using a multi-day average or today’s current conversion rate, which can reduce accuracy

You can also see your ad spend in its original currency in the mobile marketing analytic tool, as reported by your ad partners, alongside your converted metrics, by selecting the following in your reports builder in the dashboard:

Dimensions > Original Currency: Displays the original currency used by a particular ad partner, as it appears on your bill (e.g., USD, EUR, JPY).

Metrics > Original Cost: Displays cost amount in the original currency used by your ad partner, prior to any currency conversion.

Please contact your Singular mobile analytics account manager or Singular Support if you would like to change the default currency for your dashboard.

Multi-Language Support

凄い! Singular is no longer an English-only mobile marketing analytics platform. You can now display your dashboard in multiple languages, starting today with Japanese and Korean, with many other languages to follow.

You can change your dashboard’s language by clicking the flag icon in the upper right hand corner of your screen and selecting your preferred language from the dropdown.

Not seeing your preferred language? Let us know and we’ll work with you to get your requested language live.

Singular API Filters

With API Filters, you can can now query Singular’s API with far greater precision to get back just the data you need.

Previously, responses from the Singular API required additional parsing to isolate performance metrics per source or per country. Now, just pass filter parameters into your queries to get back granular data down to the app, source, platform or country-level, or any custom dimension you’ve configured in Singular.

For example, say you’d like to power an internal interface that aggregates your marketing performance across social ad channels. Simply append the source parameter to a Singular analytic platform API query and include the names of any relevant social channels:
&source=facebook,twitter,pinterest,snapchat

Check out our how-to guide on API filters, our API documentation or contact Singular Support to learn more about Singular API Filters.

As always, let us know if you have questions or feedback!

Events

We’ll be onsite at Mobile World Congress in full-swing this year. Relax and recharge with us at our booth located right outside Hall 8.1. Contact us to schedule a meeting.

We’ve spent the several posts reviewing much of the data from our recent mobile marketing survey. Today we’re going to boil it down into fours salient takeaways.

1. The critical importance of data and analysis:

   Marketers are spending more time and basing more decisions on a real analysis of campaigns, partners and user quality. To do this, they are leveraging more and higher quality analytical tools to uncover the necessary insights. Marketers – and especially mobile device app marketers – know that there is no substitute for having rich and robust data sets on which to build real business analysis.

2. Growing business and marketer sophistication:

   This is no longer an industry-driven by vanity metrics like huge install counts. Brands are focused on creating profitable longer-term relationships with customers. So many of our marketers confirmed a trend we’ve been seeing in the Singular customer base for more than a year – that marketers are now laser-focused on maximizing revenue rather than simply building gigantic install accounts.

3. Emphasis on attracting and monetizing quality users:

   Marketers told us that garnering better users to install mobile phone apps is a key focus, and so too is proactively building loyalty and revenue over time using marketing automation and push messages as well as major remarketing efforts. Remarketing is the fastest growth category in mobile app marketing. We’ve witnesses about a 14X growth of remarketing spend we track in our platform in just the last 15 months.

4. Reliance on proven marketing strategies and tactics,

   but with lots of experimentation and implementation of high engagement “new” media like video, content marketing. Direct response marketing is ultimately about finding a balance between funding your proven tactics while testing aggressively to identify new “winners”.

We hope that you have found this series of post useful and illuminating. The Singular team was so pleased to work with Thomvest on this important research initiative and thank them so much for their financial and analytical support.

And both Singular and Thomvest would like to thank those marketers that participated in this research particularly. We deeply appreciate your willingness to spend precious time identifying what’s on your minds.

If you missed any of the posts, you can find each of them by clicking the links below:

Blog Post Links

2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 1: Mobile Marketing Teams and Challenges
2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 2: The Business Measures of App Marketing
2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 3: Passion for Quality Users
2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 4: App Marketing Media Trends
2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 5: Concerns About App Fraud
2016 Mobile Marketing Survey Part 6: 4 Key Takeaways

Download The Singular ROI Index to see the world’s first ranking of ad networks by app ROI.