What are the best practices for measuring mobile campaign impact on app downloads?

1 Define your goals and KPIs

Before you launch any mobile campaign, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Your goals and KPIs should be in line with your app's value proposition, target audience, and monetization model. For instance, if your app is a free game with in-app purchases, you might want to track not only downloads but also retention, engagement, and revenue. Common KPIs for mobile app campaigns include Cost per Install (CPI), Install Rate (the percentage of users who install your app after seeing your ad or landing page), Cost per Action (CPA) (the average amount you spend to acquire one user who performs a desired action within your app), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) (the ratio of revenue generated by your app users to the amount you spend on your campaign).

2 Choose the right attribution method

Attribution is the process of assigning credit to the sources that influenced a user to download your app, and it is essential for measuring mobile campaign impact. However, it can be challenging for mobile apps due to various interfering factors, such as device switching, app store redirects, or privacy settings. There are different methods of attribution for mobile apps, such as device fingerprinting, identifier matching, and deep linking. Device fingerprinting uses device-specific information to match users who click on your ad or landing page with users who install your app. This method is simple and cost-effective, but not very accurate or reliable. Identifier matching uses unique identifiers and is more accurate and reliable, but requires user consent and can be affected by privacy regulations or opt-outs. Deep linking is the most accurate and reliable method as it allows for seamless tracking and attribution across devices and platforms.

3 Use a reputable attribution platform

To effectively implement and manage your attribution method, you should use a reputable attribution platform. These software solutions integrate with your app, ad networks, and analytics tools to collect, process, and report on your attribution data. Benefits of using an attribution platform include the ability to track and attribute app installs from multiple sources, measure and optimize campaign performance based on various metrics, prevent and detect fraud, and comply with privacy regulations. Popular and trusted attribution platforms for mobile apps include AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, and Kochava.

4 Test and optimize your campaign elements

Once you have set up your goals, KPIs, attribution method, and attribution platform, you need to test and optimize your campaign elements to improve your results. These elements include ad creatives, landing pages, app store pages, and app experience. Data and feedback should be used to optimize each element using best practices such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, and personalization. For instance, you can compare different headlines or images on your ads or landing pages with A/B testing to measure the impact on install rate or CPA. With multivariate testing, you can evaluate combinations of colors, fonts, or layouts on your app store pages to measure the impact on conversion rate or ROAS. Personalization enables you to tailor your element to the preferences of your users based on location, language, or interests; this can be assessed by measuring retention, engagement, or revenue.

5 Analyze and report your results

Measuring mobile campaign impact on app downloads requires analyzing and reporting your results to evaluate performance and communicate findings. To do this, you need to use an attribution platform and analytics tools to collect and visualize data, and use methods such as dashboards, reports, and stories. Dashboards can be used to monitor CPI, CPA, ROAS, or LTV across different channels, platforms, or segments. Reports can highlight achievements, challenges, and recommendations for a mobile campaign. Stories can showcase success stories, case studies, or testimonials for a mobile campaign. By following these best practices, you can measure mobile campaign impact on app downloads effectively and efficiently while optimizing your mobile marketing strategy.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?