The mobile marketing landscape has undergone a seismic shift in recent years, evolving into a new age where privacy is at center stage. Apple’s first iteration of StoreKit Ad Network or SKAN in 2018 was followed by Google’s 2020 announcement that third-party cookies were to be phased out. Now, after the release of iOS 14.5 in 2021, which came with the industry-defining enforcement of App Tracking Transparency, we’re preparing for Google’s upcoming Privacy Sandbox on Android. Marketers must reevaluate their digital efforts to effectively reach, measure, and optimize for their audiences - all while navigating the technical requirements of these privacy frameworks. Staying ahead of the competition now requires more than just innovative plans. It demands cutting-edge tools to create strategies that build connections with audiences and enable efficient campaign optimization.
The marketing and business communities need to be receptive to change, as advertising technology is a continuously adapting and advancing industry. Any business that embraces these shifts and adopts new strategies wisely will find themselves better positioned for the future.
Alternative measurement through next-generation solutions
To maximize future successes, marketers will continue to require deep insights into potential customers’ interests and behaviors. Hence, they’ll need to invest in strategies and technologies that enable them to effectively target and measure campaign performance.
One key investment should be in an analytics platform that provides next-generations solutions. These cutting-edge technologies enable marketers to regain efficiency and precision in their workflows - regardless of whether they're working with first-party or aggregated data - thanks to powerful AI and machine learning. This provides not only an advanced way to track campaign performance, but a means to remain consistently compliant with privacy regulations, frameworks, and requirements.
The three methodologies of next-gen measurement
A holistic and 2024-ready approach to measurement for mobile marketers can be working with what we sometimes refer to as the ‘next-gen mobile marketing triad’, where three key methodologies are leveraged: (1) incrementality, which measures the real impact of a marketing activity on a key performance indicator (KPI) of an app, such as the number of installations or in-app purchases (IAPs); (2) media mix modeling (MMM), which is the statistical analysis that gauges various marketing activities' impact on a company's return on investment (ROI); and (3) traditional attribution, which provides direct insights on user interactions with mobile advertisements.
Marketers benefit from working with a comprehensive measurement suite that covers both short-term actionable insights and long-term strategic planning and that is why they must revamp their tech stacks to include these methodologies.
But how do attribution, MMM, and incrementality interact? Essentially, these three measurement approaches complement one another. Attribution focuses on short-term measurement, offering real-time, detailed data. Incrementality is utilized for mid-term measurement, helping marketers assess, in the mid-term, the true impact of new campaigns and marketing actions. Meanwhile, MMM is used for long-term measurement, enabling marketers to allocate budgets strategically.
By embracing these next-gen measurement methodologies, marketers can make better-informed decisions without relying on device-level data. By transitioning from conventional attribution to a well-rounded measurement approach, marketers can tackle privacy framework challenges, while enhancing the marketing effectiveness of their efforts for improved results and ROI.
Leading the way in privacy-centric measurement
As mobile marketers pivot their attention from device-level attribution to extracting insights from aggregated data sources when working, for example, with SKAN, having a mobile measurement partner (MMP) that can make the process easy and efficient is a game-changer. Regardless of the sources we’re receiving attribution data from, there’s one thing that remains constant for marketers - the need for accurate measurement that enables fast campaign optimization.
Hence, it is imperative for marketers to equip themselves with the right measurement tools and solutions to obtain accurate, reliable, and actionable insights to navigate their mobile marketing campaigns with ease and confidence. It is critical for marketers to find a platform that is at the forefront of the industry’s developments, providing solutions that keep you immune to privacy-related changes and ahead of the competition.
Undoubtedly, the ongoing move from user-level to aggregated data will continue to have a significant impact on the advertising industry in Asia Pacific, but it’s not something to fear. Companies that are yet to diversify their measurement methodologies should embrace mobile’s privacy-first frameworks as an opportunity to evolve their strategies and better accommodate user needs. Technology is advancing dramatically: it is time for marketers to advance alongside it to stay ahead of the game.
