You know what they say about not seeing the forest for the trees? Well, imagine a forest made up of computers, tablets, and smartphones. If you don’t see those as a larger whole, all of which a potential lead might be using, you’re really not getting the bigger picture and you might be missing out on opportunities.
For marketers, tracking the activity of members of their audience is critical, and that means not just seeing what they’re doing on one device, but tracking their entire engagement across multiple devices. If you only pay attention to a lead as they browse and shop on their phone, for example, you might get an entirely wrong impression of their actual engagement and behavior, since that person might be converting left and right on a computer, with you thinking they’re not a loyal customer based on your limited tracking.
Here, I’ll take a close look at mobile attribution, also known as cross-device attribution, so you can get a better picture of how you should be tracking your people.
What Is Mobile Attribution?
“Effective marketing in our mobile-first world relies on mobile attribution, which is the process of identifying what campaigns, channels, or touchpoints facilitate target user actions such as installs, purchases, or app engagements,” says Joe Giranda, director of sales and marketing for CFR Classic. “By establishing the connection and order of outcomes against their sources, marketers gain useful insights into what works and what doesn’t, which enables them to allocate budgets effectively and optimize overall spending.”
Mobile attribution is the way marketers understand the journey a user takes to arrive on their site or in their app, and to follow what they do once they’ve landed there. Web marketing uses the well-known cookie to track a user’s journey, but the same is not possible for mobile apps, thus cross-device attribution’s importance.
Why Is Mobile Attribution Important?
“Without mobile attribution, you’re wasting resources, as without it, you cannot understand what’s working and what isn’t,” says Mirna Huhoja-Dóczy, founder of Bits of Brand. “Whether you’re driving installs, in-app actions, or purchases, attribution helps you understand how users interact with your marketing, which helps refine your strategy for better engagement and higher lifetime value.”
The more holistic sense of audience activity that cross-device tracking allows for lets you see what’s working best and which marketing strategies need to change. It also helps you learn more about how your audience operates, along with catching any potentially misleading markers, like a cart abandoned on mobile only to see a sale made on a computer, or an email unopened on a computer that nonetheless inspired a buy via mobile just by adding some brand awareness through the subject line.
How Does Mobile Attribution Work?
Mobile attribution works by connecting app installs and subsequent user activities within the app to the specific marketing campaign, ad, email, or other touchpoint that drove those actions. This involves tracking user interactions, such as ad clicks, likes, views, and more, and associating them with subsequent app installs or in-app events. It’s like tracing a person’s journey from seeing an ad to taking action within the app.
Types of Mobile Attribution
First-Touch Attribution
First-touch is the very first time a user clicks (or taps) on an advertising material is considered the first moment of attribution. It is essentially a proof-of-concept moment.
Last-Click Attribution
This is the assigning of significance to the last action a user completes before making the marketer’s desired conversion — a “Learn More” tap before a purchase, for example.
Probabilistic Attribution
This refers to statistical methods used to estimate attribution when actual deterministic matches are not possible. It often relies on factors like IP addresses and device types.
Linear Attribution
Linear mobile attribution is a method of assigning credit for conversions in a marketing campaign where each touchpoint along the customer journey is given equal credit. It’s a multi-touch attribution model that doesn’t favor any particular interaction, but rather treats all steps in the user’s journey equally.
Time-Decay Attribution
This approach assigns more importance to touchpoints closer to a conversion. It assumes more recent interactions are more influential.
Challenges with Mobile Attribution Models
Myriad Touchpoints
People often interact with a brand across various channels, platforms, and devices before making a purchase or completing a wanted conversion. Tracking these interactions and accurately attributing credit can be a challenge.
Fraudulent Activity
Malicious actors can generate fake app installs or other in-app activities that distort and inflate metrics, leading to wasted ad spend and inaccurate attribution data.
Inconsistent Data Reporting
Different attribution providers often use different methodologies and algorithms, leading to discrepancies in reported results.
How to Choose the Best Mobile Attribution Model
Choosing the best mobile attribution model depends on your specific business goals, marketing strategies, and the nature of your customer journey. Different models offer unique insights into which touchpoints drive conversions. Consider your priorities, such as brand awareness, conversions, or sales.
Consider the Complexity of the Customer Journey
More complex journeys often benefit from models that distribute credit across multiple touchpoints, like linear attribution.
Count Your Marketing Channels
If you have a wide range of channels, a model that considers all touchpoints is advised, like a position-based attribution model, which assigns credit for conversions to the first and last touchpoints, with the remaining credit distributed evenly across middle touchpoints. It’s a way to understand how different marketing interactions influence a customer’s journey toward a conversion.
Measure the Length of the Sale Cycle
Assuming your sales cycle is long, a model like time-decay attribution might be more suitable, giving more weight to recent touchpoints.
What Are Common Mistakes to Avoid with Mobile Attribution?
Relying on a Single Attribution Model
Attribution models like last-click, first-click, or linear attribution, while providing insights, don’t paint the whole picture of the customer journey. Using only one model can lead to misallocation of credit and a distorted view of which marketing efforts are truly driving conversions. A multifaceted approach, testing different models and combining their insights, is crucial for a more accurate understanding of the customer journey.
Failing to Account for Web or Offline Conversions
Not all conversions happen in the apps you’re tracking, or even online at all. If a business has a retail presence or deals with offline interactions, you need to track those conversions as well. Failing to do so leads to an incomplete picture of your attribution strategy.
How to Interpret Mobile Attribution Data and Reports
To effectively interpret mobile attribution data and reports, focus on understanding how user journeys are traced from ad impressions to in-app actions, like installs or purchases, and how different ad channels and creatives contribute to these conversions.
Assisted Conversions
This metric shows how often ads on one device helped drive conversions on another device. For example, a tablet assist ratio of two means that for every conversion on a tablet, two conversions on other devices were assisted by a tablet ad.
Attribution Windows
These define the time frame within which a user’s actions (like an ad click) can be attributed to a specific ad campaign or channel.
Touchpoints
These are the individual points of interaction a user has with your advertising, such as seeing an ad, clicking on it, installing the app, and navigation within it.
Channel Performance
This is identifying which ad channels are driving the most installs, conversions, or revenue.
Mobile Attribution Terminology
Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP)
A mobile measurement partner is a third-party service that helps mobile app developers and marketers track and analyze their app’s performance, particularly in terms of user acquisition and engagement. They act as a central hub for data, enabling marketers to understand which marketing channels are most effective and to optimize their campaigns accordingly.
Attribution Window
An attribution window is the timeframe within which a user’s interaction with an ad, like a click or view, can be linked to a conversion, like an app install or a purchase. It’s the period during which an advertiser can claim credit for a conversion. This window helps determine which marketing touchpoint drove the desired action, even if there’s a delay between seeing an ad and taking action.
Click-Through Attribution (CTA)
Click-through attribution refers to the tracking of direct clicks on an advertisement that lead to a conversion, such as an app install or purchase. It focuses on the specific interaction between a user clicking an ad and then taking the desired action
View-Through Attribution
View-through attribution refers to the process of attributing conversions or actions to an ad that was viewed, even if the user didn’t click on it. This is important because users may see an ad, remember it later, and then take a desired action like installing an app without clicking on the ad directly.
Deep Linking
Deep linking is the practice of directing users to a specific screen or page within a mobile app, instead of the app’s homepage, after clicking a link. It’s essentially a hyperlink that takes users directly to desired content within the app. This can enhance user experience and engagement, improve marketing campaign performance, and allow for more accurate attribution.
Deferred Deep Linking
Deferred deep linking is a mobile attribution technique where a deep link directs users to specific in-app content, even if they haven’t installed the app yet. If the app is not installed, the link redirects the user to the app store for download. Once installed, the user is automatically redirected to the designated in-app location.
Install Referrers (on Android)
In mobile attribution, install referrers (specifically, the Play Install Referrer API on Android) are a mechanism for tracking and attributing app installs to specific sources. This helps advertisers and app developers understand which campaigns or channels are driving user acquisition.
SKAdNetwork (on iOS)
SKAdNetwork (StoreKit Ad Network, or SKAN), a framework from Apple, is used for privacy-focused attribution on iOS devices. It helps advertisers measure the effectiveness of their ad campaigns without compromising user privacy. Instead of individual user data, SKAN focuses on aggregate attribution data, such as click-through attribution, conversion values, and campaign IDs.
Privacy Manifests
Privacy manifests are standardized files that app developers and software development kit (SDK) vendors use to clearly outline the data practices of an app or third-party SDK. They essentially act as a “privacy nutrition label” for an app, detailing the types of data collected, tracking domains, and APIs accessed. This information helps developers and users understand how an app handles their data, promoting transparency and trust. Privacy manifests significantly impact mobile attribution on iOS by restricting probabilistic attribution and ending fingerprinting, two common methods used for tracking users across apps.
Fingerprinting
Fingerprinting is a method of identifying users or devices without relying on unique device identifiers. It involves collecting various device characteristics (like IP address, OS type, or screen size) to create a unique profile or “fingerprint” for each device. This fingerprint is then used to match ad interactions to subsequent app installs or conversions, allowing advertisers to measure campaign performance.
About App Install Attribution (a Significant Subset of Mobile Attribution)
Definition of App Install Attribution and How It Works
App install attribution is the process of tracking which marketing touchpoints (like ads or campaigns) led a user to install an app. It helps determine the effectiveness of different marketing channels in driving app installations, allowing advertisers to optimize their campaigns and understand which strategies are most effective. It involves tracking user journeys, properly assigning credit for actions and conversions, and analyzing data and optimizing.
How Do You Track App Installs?
To track app installs, you can use a variety of methods, including third-party attribution services, Google Play Install Referrer, Firebase, and other analytics platforms. These tools help you understand where users are coming from to download your app and how to optimize your marketing efforts.
What Are the Best MMPs for App Install Attribution?
Some of the best mobile measurement partners (MMPs) include Firebase, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, and Branch.
How Do I Set Up App Install Attribution for My Campaigns?
To set up app install attribution, enable auto-tagging in your Google Ads account and ensure your Google Play Store links include campaign details in the referrer. Also, make sure your app supports deep linking with proper UTM parameters for effective tracking and analysis.
How Do I Measure the Success of My App Install Campaigns?
To measure the success of your app install campaigns, track key metrics like the number of installs, conversion rates, user retention, and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Also, monitor lifetime value (LTV) and in-app events.
What Are the Challenges of iOS 14+ (and Later) for App Install Attribution?
iOS 14 and later versions of this Apple OS present several challenges for app install attribution, due to several privacy-focused changes, particularly the introduction of App Tracking Transparency (ATT). These changes restrict marketers’ ability to track user activity across apps and websites, making it harder to accurately determine the source of app installs and in-app events.
How Does SKAdNetwork Work for App Install Attribution?
SKAdNetwork is Apple’s privacy-centric framework for attributing app installs to specific ad campaigns. It works by using a postback system where Apple notifies ad networks and, optionally, advertisers, when an install is attributed to a specific ad campaign. This attribution happens without revealing any user-level data, ensuring user privacy.
Key Takeaways
“Mobile attribution is about figuring out how users get to your app or site and what they do once they’re there,” says Huhoja-Dóczy. “Whether it’s an app install, a purchase, or a simple click, it’s essential for tracking the true ROI of your mobile campaigns.”
Start the process by picking the right attribution model or, in most cases, the right few models. Are you looking at first-click attribution, last-click attribution, or multi-touch attribution? The right model for you will depend on your business and the specific insights you’re looking for.
“If you’re only using one touchpoint, such as the first or last touch, you’re missing out on valuable insights into the entire user journey,” Huhoja-Dóczy warns. “This is why it’s important to be clear on your goals, whether you’re focusing on brand awareness, lead optimization, or something else.”
Choose the right tools, study the data you collect closely, and remember that many actions actually prompted in one place (in an app, for example), might take place elsewhere, such as on a website or even in a physical store, so don’t forget to consider that potential data as well.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is cohort analysis and how is it used in mobile attribution??
Cohort analysis is a method of grouping users based on shared characteristics or actions and then tracking their behavior over time to understand how different groups engage with a product or service. In mobile attribution, it’s used to analyze how users acquired through specific marketing campaigns or channels perform differently over time, allowing for optimization of user acquisition efforts and retention strategies.
What is re-engagement attribution?
Re-engagement attribution is a process that identifies and attributes the source of a user’s return to an app or website after a period of inactivity. It’s essentially about figuring out which marketing efforts (like retargeting ads or push notifications, to name two examples) led a user back to an app or website.
How do you track in-app events after an install?
To track in-app events after an app install, you’ll need to integrate an analytics platform’s SDK into your app and then define the specific events you want to track. Once the SDK is integrated, you’ll configure your app to log these events whenever they occur.
