Mobile App Measurement is Changing for the better.

When it comes to mobile app measurement, the times they are a changin’. And that’s an excellent thing, if you are someone who cares about the role that mobile app measurement can play in driving better marketing decision making and richer consumer insight.

In digital, lots of new services and platforms surface every year. Some meet critical needs. Some don’t. Some survive. Others don’t. That’s part of what makes this wacky world of electrons such an exciting and dynamic environment in which to work.

When a solution type “sticks”, there’s usually a fast progression that begins with clients seeking the rock bottom price for basic features. That quickly changes when first progressive companies – and then most companies – expect a great deal more. They still want a great price, but recognize that price and value aren’t synonymous.

Mobile app measurement began as a service primarily focused on gaming companies, and primarily concerned with attributing installs to the specific media provider that drove them. These are important metrics, and ones that the various companies in the space have more or less perfected. There are many data challenges in the app space, but ultimately this business boils down to counting. While a number of us can do very well.

Lots of companies found the least expensive mobile app measurement platform that could do these basic tasks, and were satisfied, at least for a time. Heck, we used to offer a limited free option that did some of these basic things. And it made clients happy. For a while.

With mobile app measurement, though, marketers begin to see how much more measuring that should be doing. First to understand the interplay of various media vendors. And then to facilitate a rich understanding of what customers do in-app. In-app activity matters a great deal, of course. After all, the average American spends more than half of their connected time in apps, and what they do in those apps provides the foundation for — scratch that, IS — your mcommerce business.

Most leading app attribution platforms provide some visibility into in-app consumer actions. But if you are looking for real insight into what your consumers do in your app and what makes them take these actions, you need to sweat the details of the differences between platforms.

Here are six sweaty things (sorry for the metaphor) to consider as you evaluate your measurement alternatives.

1. Mobile App Measurement and Time Horizons: To truly understand customers, you need to choose a platform that lets you understand consumer behavior and change over the lifecycle of their app relationships. Lots of platforms limit lookback to 30-days. One month. Hey, I don’t know what sort of business you work on, but I have NEVER worked on a business that had (or at least wanted) customer relationships to last for 30 days or less. And yet, if you choose one of the low cost providers with a 30-day lookback, you will have to forego critical insights like true LTV, ARPU, purchase frequency calculations, whether customer choose to spend more with you over time, and a great deal more. If you find yourself satisfied with a 30-day lookback …well, I hate to be the one that says it but … you may find yourself needing a new job before long.
2. Mobile App Measurement and Events Measured: Marketers need rich and granular information about customer actions in order to understand consumer motivations, identify bottlenecks, and drive continuous improvement in customer experiences. If your provider limits the number of events you can track, or causes you to give yourself self-imposed limits because each measured event costs you money, you may find it difficult to do your job as well as you might want. Data-driven marketing requires data. It’s right there in the name. And arbitrary data limitations can create real problems as your formulate optimization strategies and programs.
3. Mobile App Measurement and Media Companies Measured: People take a lot of actions before they install an app, and lots of other actions before they make an in-app purchase. In order to understand the drivers of customer actions, you need to be able to see and understand everything that the consumer is experiencing. If you can’t easily access consumer event data from across all partners, you have a partial view that can drive sub-optimal decision-making.
4. Mobile App Measurement and Usability: If you don’t use your tools, you can’t get benefit from them. Well-designed user experience makes it easier for you and your team to get all of the information and insights that you need from the tools that they use.
5. Mobile App Measurement and the World Beyond the Install: More and more marketers are seeking ways to engage their install base, drive purchase intent, and foster frequent transactions. Unfortunately, measuring and optimizing such “remarketing” tasks requires a platform focused on delivering robust solutions to these tracking challenges, not workarounds. Understand any limitations in this area as you evaluate your options.
6. Mobile App Measurement and Vision for the Future: Every company worth its salt has a plan for how it will improve and expand its services. Make sure that the provider you choose can articulate that vision – and that it’s one that you share. For example, our focus at Apsalar is to provide a broader range of data and insights services that bring unbiased, third-party perspective to more tasks as we help brands put their in-app insights to work. Improving marketing effectiveness. Lowering costs. And providing the insight necessary to drive better customer experiences.

That's our vision and what we're doing. You may, or may not, think it's right. But the point is to ask the companies you are considering, and see what you think about where they're headed. It matters. This space will continue to evolve, and successful companies will make the right bets on the direction it will take. 

But make no mistake. The mobile app measurement world is changing. And it’s change for the better.

5 ways to win over a traditional marketing executive

We all sell for a living, and one of the toughest challenges can be getting a traditional marketer to approve concepts and budgets for innovative digital programs. Some try to slam concepts through, and often fail to get buy-in. Others recognize that winning the budgetary affections of a traditional marketer requires some finesse -- like a well-choreographed dance.

Here are five steps that can help you dance your way to consistent wins.

Channel Arthur Murray

The late, great Arthur Murray popularized ballroom dance in America. His legacy is a company that now has more than 260 dance education studios worldwide. And what they do in those studios is teach dance in ways that are fun, supportive and step-by-step. Pun intended. Teaching that ensures that the new dancer feels their own progress with each lesson.

Most traditional people have tons of curiosity about digital. They read the trades. Their kids are Snapchatting and Instagramming all day. They get its power on an intellectual level. But you can't dance if no one takes the time to show you the steps. It's the same with digital. That traditional marketer won't get into what you are selling without getting out on the metaphorical hardwood and trying.

If you want to sell a Pinterest program, get your boss on Pinterest. If you want to sell a big tablet initiative, get them to agree to give up their PC for a day, and lend them your iPad. Trying to sell in an app? Show them a competitor app. Digital is participatory, not passive. By making participation part of your pitch, you will be amazed at what you can push through. That traditional marketer will thank you for your efforts. There's a difference between not being capable of dancing, and not knowing how.

Do the "foot in the door" two-step

Here's a dance every change agent has to know. It's often easier to sell a traditional marketer on a concept first, and then talk money later. Intuitively, many digital initiatives are so inherently rich and game-changing that they get people excited. If you work for an online travel agent, for example, who could argue with the value of having your loyal customers having an app with then 24/7 so they can buy tickets, rooms, and car rentals at any time?

Without the pre-sell, you are asking people to take money away from something they understand and put it against something they may not really "get" at first glance. But if you do the two-step, they get used to the idea -- and get behind it -- before the checkbook has to come out.

Sometimes, we digital people want to move so quickly that we try to ram everything through in 10 minutes. But innovation often takes a little finesse to sell. Ideas excite both the rational and emotional sides of our brains. Spreadsheets are usually compelling to only one side. Sell the concept first. And gain agreement and commitment to the principle. That's your foot in the door. Then go back a little later for budget.

Master the strategic line dance

Some people can get excited about digital programs because they are groundbreaking and cool. And some digital people think that sometimes experimenting with new technologies should take priority over strong strategic alignment. I personally disagree with that, but understand why others think differently. But no matter for our purposes here.

What's important to remember is that for someone not fully convinced of the power of digital, ensuring that your recommendations have a strategic foundation is important. Focus on recommending programs that have a tight strategic fit -- that are clearly capable of helping your brand meet a critical business challenge. Get in line with the brand strategy and you'll get some good time out on the dance floor.

Ask for one dance, not their full dance card

Rationalize the size of your request with the extent to which a strategy or tactic is proven to work for your category. A $50K test is a lot easier for a traditional marketer to buy into than a $1M full year program.

One of the best things about digital is that there is usually a way to do a proof of concept before you make a major commitment. Credit all the years when budgets were lean for the willingness of even large companies to accommodate small(ish) test budgets.

What's critical here, as with all digital programs but especially here, is that you establish success and failure measures before a program begins, and have a robust measurement system in place to do the counting. Most companies prefer a third-party to verify results -- otherwise the vendor is "grading their own papers."

Sweep 'em off their feet with a languid habanera

There's nothing more annoying to a traditional marketer than being told they are obsolete dinosaurs. I am 1,000 percent convinced that digital would have gotten budget traction a lot faster if we hadn't positioned it as something that was going to thrash ho-hum TV and Print overnight. Newsflash: people watch more TV than ever.

If you have disdain for your traditional peers -- newsflash: your disdain shows. They can feel it. Get over your arrogance. Recognize that all media, traditional and otherwise, have strengths, and that digital is just part of the story for a big brand. Think about innovation and the ideas you want to implement in the context of the entire marketing mix. How does digital make the overall plan better?

And recognize that that dinosaur you need to convince probably knows a lot about a lot of things that you don't know. You don't slap a dance partner in the face and then get them to cut a rug with you. Dance with them, respect their knowledge and perspective. And never be a wallflower again!

Thanks to iMediaConnection for publishing this first.