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Mobile Ad Network Evolution

Mobile App Downloads Metrics and Attribution Tracking with Mobile Ad NetworksAt the HasOffers Postback event held in Seattle this week, Fred Shu of Manage.com, Paul Cushman of Drawbridge, Hanno Fichtner of Applift, Paul Longhenry of Tapjoy and David Diaz of SponsorPay speak on the evolution of the mobile ad network.

The panel covered where the market was in the mobile ad network space a year ago and where they are today. Here are my key take-aways from this discussion.

  • A year ago bundling was the biggest thing in mobile, specifically in gaming, and this year "gifting" is the hottest thing. This has been beneficial because the user doesn't feel they are being disturbed, they feel it's just part of the game.
  • Banner ads don't really work (as multiple people have said), so more creativity is seen right now in full screen formats of marketing.
  • Get rid of 350 x 250 banners and focus on  320 x 480 and other "mobile" friendly, larger sized banners that impact a larger part of the screen. These still have up to a 21% conversion.
  • The use of bots has decreased significantly and competition has increased exponentially across the board. Segmented targeting is becoming more prominent.
  • Anything that has ROI positive campaigns is what people are focused on, which right now seems to be happening most in androids.
  • If you're a seller that has a low CPI (Cost per Install), be careful with expectations because you will not likely get a high amount of installs.
  • Pay per Engagement (PPX) models are now becoming more common and creating a new level of interest with publishers which are creating more success than seen in the past.
  • When it comes to retargeting, start with your homepage and understand and test it. Then work your way through your site systematically to measure the success of each page. Whatever works best after testing each systematically, run with. Then test more.
  • Target and test segmented users regularly to understand their lifetime value and true loyalty. Then segment those groups more.
  • Anyone who's not focused on data is going in the wrong direction.
  • Twitter is staring to move into the field - social media is getting very active in mobile. Facebook announced about 50% of their profits came from mobile / app revenue. Social data is huge and entirely relevant to mobile. Social graphs in apps are useful. Use app cross promotions and "refer a friend" models for mobile app development and growth.
  • More large brands are going to spending more money on mobile and SMS such as American Idol Texting and Apps for voting to drive more sales and consumer engagements now that proven models have been made.
  • Anyone who's focused on targeting with rewards (driving a person to a point of sale experience and offer them an incentive or reward) has tons of opportunity right now.
  • More apps are starting to deep-link into the app directly, which is becoming more common especially with big brands.
  • "Lookback" windows are generally 48 hours to 30 days. The majority of engagements happen within those windows.
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The New Mobile Publisher Army (HasOffers Postback Panel)

Mobile Publishers and Affiliate Performance and TipsAt the HasOffers Postback event, mobile and attribution leaders gather to discuss the future of mobile performance marketing. On the panel is Cameron Stweard of HasOffers, Mattias Lesch of CROBO, Edan Portaro of USamp, John Cosgrove of Tapit, Florian Lehwarld of KissMyAds and Pepe Agell of Chartboost.

The questions asked are around how customers, publishers and networks are responding to the changes and advances in the mobile space.

 

Based on the feedback from the panel, here are some of the major take aways from this particular panel:

  • Publishers have become a lot more transparent these days, and they are more about adding true value then they have in the past. They have become more data savvy.
  • Starting to learn which countries monetize the best and work with publishers within those countries to optimize campaigns even more.
  • Deferred traffic is one of the payment models used to reward publishers (affiliates) which has led to more successful programs long term.
  • It's important to understand how things are performing on your own platform. You should know and understand all your own numbers before trying to understand someone else's.
  • Rate your traffic sources and classify them based on their value score that you create.
  • Know where mobile publishers are running their ads and how they are driving traffic. There should be a level of expected transparency that helps make better business decisions and attribution value.
  • The main KPI is revenues, for both sides (publisher or advertisor), and in many cases CPM / CPI are the most important metrics to track in order to fully understand progress and success. Measuring impression, clicks and installs is essential to success.
  • Transparency is important to understand traffic sources so better economic models can be run. We rely on our platforms to report accurately on those metrics so we can make smarter decisions for our business and program growth.
  • People can either become overwhelmed by data or take it and use it by breaking it down. Use data as a resource tool to keep your publishers happy while growth for your programs healthily.
  • Relationships are some of the most important parts of our business, even on the mobile side, and it's what fosters transparency which leads to more success.
  • The Publishers are the creative guys, so let them be creative and drive traffic and measure as best you can. They are the ones who can often reach targeted audiences others cannot.
  • Mobile banners don't seem to convert very well for many. Mobile publishers seem to have more success from a variety of means. Since they are able to drive better engagement and more conversions and because it's performance based, working with mobile publishers is extremely low cost and low risk.
  • Transparency is good, but at the end of the day it comes down to "is the campaign working." Again - revenue / profits are and should always be your main KPI.
  • There are some more advanced publishers who use tracking platforms for re-engagement campaigns.
  • The most common tracking model for mobile is CPC (Cost per Click) and CPI (Cost per Install).
  • What networks are doing to prevent fraud is still very limited, though they are always on the lookout for it and always trying to find ways to test and help prevent it. It's still very young and solutions are still being created and improved every day.
  • It's not always black and white for fraud - sometimes transparency, tools or technologies are just not there to measure it or understand it accurately.  The good news is you have the control to block and stop anything you need to when it feels right for you.
  • Both publishers and advertisers can stop campaigns if it's not working for them. But it's essential to test, measure and track to truly understand performance before deciding a campaign is working or not.

 

What have your experiences been working with or as a mobile publisher?

HasOffers Event Pushes Mobile Performance Marketing Forward

Definition of Postback from Wikipedia: "In the context of eCommerce, the term is used to describe a sales transaction notification from payment processors to the merchant's affiliate system site. Specifically a web service written for an affiliate sales tracking software system for third-party merchant system to send or "POST" the data to. The term "Postback" is used here to describe what the payment processor does with the transaction receipt, they "Post Back" to the merchant's affiliate program, notifying them of a successful transaction, where they can then credit affiliates with their earnings."

At the HasOffers Postback event, Peter Hamilton talks about the importance of mobile tracking, attribution and the future of ecommerce today. After recently receiving funding of $9.4 Million from investors, HasOffers is pushing forward aggressively as leaders in the attribution analytics and mobile tracking arena.

Performance marketers are in a position to take over when it comes to mobile. Performance marketers care about data, about the user experience and how to captures the minds of shoppers online.

CPI (Cost Per Install), considered the new "Cost per Lead", is changing how advertisers, networks, affiliate marketers and tracking platforms behave. This applies to anything in the mobile world including app downloads. You no longer have to be the "Googles" of this world to make a difference. Now anyone who can find the user set and understand the data will win.

The HasOffers Postback event connects industry leaders in attribution and mobile tracking with each other. It focuses on the innovations and future of performance marketing and consumer behavior by those on the the cutting edge of this industry. Leaders from Facebook, Google, and Linked In are examples of people speaking and attending this event.

Read more from the HasOffers Postback event here.

mCommerce and Digital Wallets in Performance Marketing

Digital Wallets and performance marketing mcommerceThis post was inspired by and during a session at the Performance Marketing Insights conference in NYC, presented by KeyNote Speaker of Forrester Research, Senior Analyst, Denee Carrington.

Digital wallets will revolutionize the way consumers shop and pay for goods and services. Those who carry a mobile device will be your 'always ready' consumer, especially with the growth of digital wallets.

 

There are four major categories around mobile considerations

  • Product Infomration
  • Offers and Coupons
  • Loyalty and Rewards
  • Mobile Payments

 

What is a digital wallet?

It is a digital service accessed through the web or a mobile app that authorizes payment transactions from one or more payment sources that facilities other commerce-related features such as offers, coupons, deals and more.

VAS will emerge within mobile digital wallet for use at point of sales. Coupons will be integrated for automated redemption, enhanced targeting and relevance, merchant funded. Consumers are already using value added services outside of the wallet: scanning, location lookups, redeeming codes, images

What we are finding is the more people do this, the more they do it! Meaning it's going to continue to accelerate.

  • Retail sales are expected to be $3.8TT in 2016
  • eCommerce = 9% of that
  • mCommerce = 8% of that. 

 

According to Forrester Research, US mobile payments will reach $90B in 2017. Consumers are already showing interest in proximity mobile payments. Customer are just starting to talk about this, which makes it an incredible opportunity for leaders in the space.

 

Early adopters are generally younger, male, and online & mobile bankers. However even early adopters need reassurance about the safety and security of mobile payments. The barriers to digital wallet adoption are falling. Using mobile digital wallets in store a natural extension of existing behaviour. Software based solutions present few barriers for customers and merchants.

 

Every connected device will eventually become a commerce device. Digital wallets will be ubiquitous. Digital convergence of channels and devices will make "online vs offline" irrelevant. Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) and Passbook are examples of companies to watch in this space because of their platforms for offers and coupons for digital wallets and the future of transactions.

 

Other Examples:

  • Google Offers within Google Wallet
  • Clip to Isis - Tap, scan, click offers or follow merchants
  • Prewards (edo interactive)
  • Cardlytics
  • FirstData - beyond the transaction
  • Card-linked offer platforms are on the rise and will feed bank-driven digital wallets, targeting based on customer profile and spend history, automatic redemption and pricing will be modelled around "pay on redemption".
  • Square - enables discovery, incentives for first visits and loyalty rewards.
  • LevelUp - enables discovery (directory and Facebook integration), automates instead credit for first time and repeat visits.
  • Digital Wallets will continue to transform the "in-store" experience. You won't' have to stand in line anymore. You simply scan your phone and it will automatically be shipped to you to your home. Payment and shipping info will already be registered, so you can move faster and shop more conveniently than ever.
  • "Line busting" features let consumers order, pay before arriving in the store.

 

If you lose your wallet (your real one) you cannot lock it, you cannot protect it, you cannot recall it. Protection on digital wallets is already exponentially more safe than having a physical wallet. However, the disappearance of the use of CASH and plastic cards will not happen any time soon so digital wallets will continue to increase over the next few years.

 

SO, what does this mean for performance marketing?

  1. The payments landscape will become more crowded and complex, There won't be just a single winner. They will be all interconnected. The ones that will do well will be the ones that add value and a unique experience for the customer.
  2. Banks and merchants will fight to retain control and influence of their customers spend. Digital wallets threaten to supersede bank and retailer influence on customer shopping and payment decisions.
  3. Marketers should partner promiscuously. Seamlessly integrate into wallet experience, and help them win. Give them a reason to exist, a reason for customers to use them, which are the rich experiences with their merchants.
  4. Help partners get ahead of regulator concerns about privacy with mobile advertising.
  5. Demonstrate your value to help wallet providers to be successful: Greater value to merchants, greater convenience to consumers, help banks achieve "top of wallet" positions.

 

A digital wallet startegy is like a treadmill. Standing still is a bad idea.  It's here to stay. Get smart. Figure out what your value proposition is and to whom. Just figuring out your piece in this evolution is the right first step.
If you need help creating that strategy or setting up an m-commerce platform, let me know because we can help!

A Relationship First Approach to Mobile Marketing

This is a live blog post from #OMSummit, Day Two. Presented by Respnsys.

mobile marketing

5 Stages of Awareness

  1. Normal
  2. Concentration
  3. Selective
  4. Alternating
  5. Divided

 

Awareness to Action

Attention > Interest > Desire > Action > Experience  > Loyalty
How do you peek interest? It's driven by relevancy:
  1. Immediacy
  2. Personaliztion
  3. Interpretation (how do you add value)
  4. Authenticity (how do they relate to the brand)
  5. Accessibility
  6. Embodiment (connection)
  7. Patronage (the "good feelings" attached to doing something you ask)
  8. Finability (how well can you be found)
Aligning strategies with customer expectations:
  • Consumers have rapidly embraced digital channels and they have raised their expectations for marketers.
  • Move from campaign focus to customer focus: Know Me! Engage Me! Lead Me!
  • Think about how you can service your customers and speak to them using SMS and various mobile touch points.
  • Biggest ROI comes from RELATIONSHIP marketing (email, mobile, social, web, display, video)
Mobile:
  • 44% of customers surveyed wanted to have promotions sent to them via SMS.
  • Customer look for a variety of content via SMS: discounts and deals, location based offers, in store sales and events, invites to sweepstakes and contents, gift guides and product recommendations.
  • Build a relationship with first before EVER sending an SMS to them. People feel more invaded, insulted and turned off getting a spammy SMS then they do getting spam via email.
How to Help Them: 
  1. Awareness
  2. Interest (relevant offer)
  3. Desire (Location)
  4. Action (Notifications)
  5. Experience (Sweepstakes and customer service communications)
Make sure you get permission before you send anyone an SMS. It's FAR too personal to muck around with it.

 

SMS is Most Effective When
1. Communicating time sensitive information quickly
2. Communicating time geographic specific info
3. Communicating VIP "insider" information
Follow FAB as a brand. They are doing their marketing properly. 30% of Fab.com's sales come from mobile.
Keep reading - The Attention Economy - The Myth of Multitasking

How Ready is Your Mobile Site for the Holidays?

Mobile is quickly becoming the new acquisition channel and some experts believe that by the end of 2013, 50% of your site traffic will come from a mobile device.

Google recognizes this trend and has already created search algorithms to bump your website higher in search results if you have a mobile-optimized website. According to Google, non-mobile-optimized sites convert at an average of 0.3%, where mobile-optimized site convert at 1-3% on average.

Creating a mobile website is not always easy. There are multiple considerations including the platform you're on, how you're going to market your mobile site, SMS retargeting ads, analytics, how mobile shoppers think and navigate through sites and how your shopping cart can integrate for order fulfillment.

 

You need to consider:

  1. Design and Functionality
  2. Versioning
  3. IT
  4. Budget and Time
  5. Marketing

 

Luckily, there is a solution that overcomes many of these complicated issues quickly. MShopper makes it easy. It's the only platform available today that will get your mobile store up within a few hours by using your product datafeed to create a fully functional and optimized mobile site. This means you could be taking advantage of your Holiday Shoppers right now.

 

Here are some of the features and benefits mShopper offers:

  1. Platform agnostic
  2. No IT required
  3. No capital budget required
  4. Can go live in days
  5. Feature rich and customizable
  6. They focus on mobile shopping behavior
  7. Built-in marketing and promotions
  8. Technology updates included
  9. No term (month to month)
  10. You can automate all logistics through their APIs

 

This solution works beautifully for anything from sports equipment to eyewear to baby clothes to tech devices. The creation of the store is not just a mobile version of your website but is an earning opportunity that you could be missing now, and absolutely will be missing in the future.

If you're running out of time and would like to take advantage of your mobile shoppers this season, mShopper is what you need. If you need help getting set up and managing your mobile marketing efforts properly, let us know and we can get the ball rolling for you right away.

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