Posted by Adikteev
The mobile advertising industry is driven by data. And, as most marketers know, Apple recklessly transformed the industry in 2021 by cutting off a massive stream of user data. The new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) privacy feature has created quite a stir.
"Apple is heavily promoting ATT as a way to improve consumer privacy, but it's also a big shock to the iOS app marketing industry, as app marketing is heavily dependent on IDFA," said Adikteev Product Manager Loik Anton. "It's only now, three years later, that we're starting to get something actionable for app marketers with SKAN 4."
As part of the first native Decision on Groups Experience (FLEDGE), now known as the Protected Audience API, Google is also developing cookie-free ad tracking and targeting alternatives on the Chrome browser and Android platform. The goal is to enable personalized marketing campaigns even without a device ID. But while FLEDGE will still allow marketers to do granular retargeting at scale, it will be much more difficult to personalize ads at the user level.
And while the changes to iOS have generated the most buzz, and Google's software is still being tested, developers will need to update their strategies to stay competitive in a completely different environment.
"Regardless of what these two apps allow or not, app marketers need to change their strategy to adapt to an increasingly privacy-driven world," says Anton. “And the challenging economic landscape is forcing app marketers to better target their users. But the overall goal of marketing and retargeting is still important.”
The Case for New Marketing Strategies
These changes have hit reporting hard. Historically, the data pipelines used by marketers to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns have relied heavily on device IDs to measure user monetization over time. The loss of device IDs, which means a loss of visibility into ROAS metrics, is forcing marketers to rethink these data pipelines. This is one of the main reasons for the low investment in iOS marketing since the introduction of ATT. But there is a way out, says Anthony.
"New marketing strategies must be based on machine learning and predictive metrics, not metrics or observations," he explains. "It will force marketers to develop new technological capabilities."
For example, using event data from the first days of a campaign, machine learning can predict how those users will generate revenue 30 or 90 days in advance, as well as predict churn and churn. Of course, many publishers may not have considered machine learning necessary in the past because they can directly measure metrics, but AI and machine learning are becoming extremely important.
"We were able to predict user inflation rates for our customers with over 90% confidence," says Anton. “And we're using this technology as input for our next-generation marketing strategies, such as cross-promotion, which serves ads at the portfolio level; for example, with game apps, app users are encouraged to download another app from the same Game Developer. ".
He adds that the new privacy restrictions should encourage app marketers to rely more on proprietary data. Without IDFA as a link between multiple third-party data sources, it's important to invest in your own data and use it for effective marketing. It's the only thing you can accurately associate with a user.
Build a portfolio and brand
Because investments are so important to marketing efforts, many marketers realize that a portfolio approach offers a number of strategic advantages. Not only does this mean a much larger data source pool, but having an application network allows you to consider the long-term commitment when moving users between multiple applications—an asset that can create business value.
“While your competitors may lose data due to lost device IDs, you learn more about what your users enjoy by watching them play your games, and then use that knowledge to better engage with the new users you get every day": This way, you'll be able to optimize your user retention and revenue from the moment they install the first app to the moment they uninstall the last one. "
This is one of the reasons why many game studios acquire and merge in an attempt to create as large a network as possible and then use that network to develop all their games while keeping users engaged in their ecosystem.
"You're not just adding new app revenue to your P&L, you're driving users through your diverse offerings based on their ever-changing interests, maximizing the ROI on your acquisition spend," he says. an effective way to maximize lifetime value" and create a competitive advantage where you can retain users with different solutions."
Storage remains a key issue in a world where privacy is paramount.
Historically, app marketers have not been particularly concerned about breaches, as retargeting can bring back their most valuable users to extend their lives. Unfortunately, today's privacy restrictions mean that if a user fails, recovering them will be a confusing process.
“While retargeting with protected audiences on Android will still be possible in the future, retargeting is still more difficult than enrollment. ATT has made that almost impossible on iOS,” he says. "Today's strategy should be to prevent crashes before the user is lost forever."
Predictive analytics plays a key role here. Of course, it predicts which users are most likely to convert next, giving the marketer an opportunity to try and capture their attention and convince them to stay. But it can also show relevant user behavior, such as the actions that might have made them leave, or the most effective marketing strategy to keep them.
Next steps for app marketers
With Android's privacy changes, developers can prepare in a number of ways to minimize unpleasant surprises.
To get started, developers should reach out to their ad tech partners and other marketing service providers to find out how they're preparing for the upcoming changes from a technical perspective, as well as how viable their current campaigns will be.
It's also important to familiarize yourself with the new SKAd iOS network reporting architecture, as it uses many of the concepts developed by Android in the privacy sandbox. From there, you can improve your app's conversion tracking design to suit those platforms.
Finally, by the end of the year, ensure bandwidth is secured by internal product and technology teams to conduct vendor testing and integrate the privacy sandbox and SKAd's latest networking capabilities.
"While this ecosystem is still evolving, which is currently happening, it is useful to understand the impact of new policies on common-use accident prevention," says Anton. "Knowing the impact as early as possible through small-scale testing is the best way now."
Learn more about mobile app marketing strategies in a privacy-driven world.
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