Social media advertising spending is estimated to have reached $230 billion worldwide in 2022, up from $98.23 billion in 2021. With social platforms counting billions of active users, this is an effective way to drive traffic and generate revenue for mobile eCommerce businesses.

But although social ads are popular with advertisers, one drawback is the inability to take users directly from their social media feed to the destination app and relevant in-app content, with attribution links “breaking” in the process. This is forcing advertisers to search for creative solutions and workarounds.

One such solution is the “Social landing pages” experience, in which customers who interact with social ads get redirected first to a dedicated landing page, and only then to the desired app or store —adding an extra step in the user process.

This experience can be made smoother using deep-linking technology, which not only makes sure customers reach the desired app quickly and easily, but also takes them to the relevant area within the app. This makes for a seamless journey from initial ad to completion. 

As useful as the social landing page may be, many advertisers would happily skip this additional friction point if given the chance, in exchange for a more direct journey.

General hypothesis

We wanted to find out:

Does using Universal links and App links, instead of URI scheme or social app landing pages, in fact improve social campaign performance?

Our working assumption was that social channels that support universal/app links (for Android and iOS respectively) create a better user experience, by taking users seamlessly from their social app to the destination. 

Internal AppsFlyer experiments indicate that OneLinks (AppsFlyer’s deep-links) are indeed supported when used specifically in Meta catalogs for Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) and placed as the iOS/Android app URL field. This basically means that support for universal/app links using OneLink is now possible.

Two AppsFlyer customers agreed to take part in an experiment and share their performance results when using OneLink with universal/app links in Meta’s DPAs (catalog), each with their unique optimization and result logic in mind. 

PatPat generates 3x revenue lift

PatPat is a growing global brand of children’s clothing serving millions of parents and children in over 140 countries. For over nine years, it’s been offering cute, quality designs and great prices. Patpat has more than 30,000 products and daily new arrivals.

PatPat’s main objective heading into this experiment was to improve campaign ROAS through increasing revenue — its main KPI. Measuring this was made possible thanks to pre-existing configurations with the Facebook software development kit (SDK). 

To properly measure the incremental impact of the new setup, a control group was simultaneously created, in which links were configured with a URI scheme, and not universal/app links. (A URI, or uniform resource identifier, is a string of characters that directs users to a specific place on a site or app.) 

By placing the OneLink directly in the Dynamic Product Ads applink URL field in the catalog, PatPat managed to dramatically boost its performance as initially expected.

PatPat’s click-to-install conversion rate with the new test setup reached 17%, compared with the control group conversion rate of only 4.13%.

The conversion rate increase translated into higher revenue, producing over three times more than the control group, and in turn reflected a dramatically higher ROAS.

An impressive additional increase in average revenue per user was also measured, with users spending 65% more than control group users.

Our team has successfully utilized OneLink in our Dynamic Product Ad campaigns to drive better performance on ROAS and DAU over the long term. Through our test with AppsFlyer in Meta, we have confirmed the effectiveness of our strategy.
We strongly recommend that other eCommerce advertisers try using OneLink in their daily marketing campaigns.

Mark MA | Head of digital marketing team, PatPat

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Banggood boosts re-engagement by 28x

Banggood is a leading direct-to-consumer online retailer, providing well-selected and cost-effective products to over 66 million registered users. Its global reach covers North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and the Middle East.

Heading into a similar experiment to the one PatPat took part in, Banggood had a similar goal.  However this company was also looking to increase its user re-engagement performance.

Banggood previously used the URI scheme on its Facebook Dynamic Product Ads campaign, which is hard to measure, and couldn’t directly deep-link users to its app through universal/app links. 

The main reason for using OneLink on its DPA campaign is to provide a better user experience.

When comparing the test’s performance to a similar control group, the re-engagement impact was astounding and far exceeded expectations: the new test format managed to generate over 28 times more re-engagements than the control group for similar traffic volumes.

As in PatPat’s case, the overall conversion rate was also positively impacted, measuring at over 16 times more than the control group.

Compared to using a URI scheme to launch the apps, OneLink (UniversalLink/AppLinks) provides excellent CPI and conversion rates with Facebook Dynamic Product Ads.

We can only hope that AppsFlyer can maintain this advantage and expand it to other ad types like static ads to help eCommerce customers acquire app users faster at lower rates

Gary Siu | Marketing manager, Banggood

Key takeaways

As expected when heading into this experiment, the lighter and more direct flow positively impacted performance, delivering massive increases for all key performance metrics measured by AppsFlyer’s advertisers.

This test is yet another indication of seamless, frictionless customer experiences translating into more profitable campaigns.

AppsFlyer will continue to collaborate with our partners to keep investigating possible lighter flows that benefit all parties involved.

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The intricate financial services sector is undergoing serious transformation. Adding to this complexity is this sector’s wide variety of sub-segments – from retail banking to insurance, and down to wealth management and the product differentiation within each one. 

Pressure from disruptive mobile-only competitors, the shift to digital services spurred by Covid, and the economic fallout from sharply curtailed business activity – have placed traditional institutions on their back heels. 

To not only survive but thrive in this new environment, long-standing financial services firms are now executing on a playbook that combines digital transformation with a maniacal focus on customer experience (CX). And on the digital front, acquisition and retention are increasingly tied to the mobile channel. 

In fact, according to Adobe, two of three institutions consider themselves “strongly mobile-first” and are replacing legacy workflows with mobile-centric digital transformation strategies, while 90% of firms rank mobile experience as their top priority in the foreseeable future.

With the pandemic boosting the importance of apps across all verticals, the majority of banking, insurance, and wealth management firms are placing their eggs in the app basket. 

In a recent Adobe report, the majority of financial services executives stated that they plan to:

• Include more than 75% of their functionality in their app.
• Drive over 67% of customers to become app users in coming years.

With the increasing importance of apps in the backdrop, this blog explores trends among mobile-first firms muscling through digital transformation, especially as they relate to apps. 

It shows how firms investing in app customer experience are realizing returns on their investment in experience, also known as ROX, and it shares prescriptive use cases to drive CX and reap the benefits of ROX.

Industry trends: It’s all about the experience

What do the next few years have in store for mobile-first companies? Below are five interconnected trends with an underlying theme: companies that invest in excellent cross-channel, app-centric CX will be rewarded for their efforts.¹ 

• Digitization – The lion’s share of financial services companies are investing heavily in digitizing their operations to deliver memorable customer experiences efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with increasingly complex government regulations and privacy policies. 
  
  As stated above, firms understand that apps are critical in the overall channel mix and are key to retention goals.

• Apps – With over 40% of customers stating that the app is their preferred banking channel, institutions are making a beeline to becoming mobile-first and app-centric, while ensuring that digitization is directly tied to the app. 
  
  Apps are important for upsells, and positive app experiences create a proven cycle of usage and satisfaction. Millennials and Gen Z users prefer digital, in general, and the app, in particular, and the latter is a main deciding factor for choosing and staying with a bank. 

• Personalization – To build trust and meet customer expectations created by apps outside of finance (e.g., Amazon and Netflix), personalization is now a must-have in financial services. 
  
  Customers expect that banking, insurance, and wealth management businesses provide them with information, services, and products that are relevant to their needs in real time. And banks and credit unions that create a customer-centric culture are 60% more profitable than those not focused on it.

• Consistent omnichannel experience – Institutions will focus on providing fluid, streamlined and contextualized experiences that are consistent at all touchpoints, whether they’re visiting a bank branch, withdrawing money from an ATM, or checking account details in the app. 
  
  Consistent CX promotes customer loyalty, deepens and extends the relationship with the financial services provider, and optimizes value for customers and financial firms alike. 

• Data, data, data – Creating personalized, seamless experiences is contingent on having the right data and analytics. Mobile-first firms are working diligently to combine data from various first and third party sources with CRM and predictive analytics tools so that they can delight customers with personalized offerings. Effective use of data can result in upsells, stickiness, loyalty, and high LTV. 

Delivering on ROX with smooth journeys to your app

The above trends lead to clear conclusions. Financial services firms across all sub-segments should invest in CX and in driving consumers to their apps from any touchpoint. They should craft seamless journeys to the app and of course delight users in the app itself. 

Doing so results in ROX, a measurement framework that informs many of our customers regarding the business impact generated by their CX investments. 

AppsFlyer financial services customers hit their ROX goals by bringing users to their app from anywhere – digital channels such as social media, email, a mobile website or physical channels such as in-branch displays – and creating experiences that are:

1. Contextual: Users sense where they are and where they’re going at any point in their journey. 
2. Personal: Users feel like they are getting an experience built uniquely for them. 
3. Smooth: Users are ushered through seamless journeys without recognizing they’ve been taken through more than one touchpoint.
4. Private: Users can choose what personal data they want to share and which details to keep private.

The question is: what is the actual business impact of creating journeys with these four pillars? 

AppsFlyer data shows that financial services firms investing in CX demonstrate excellent conversion and share of paying users rates:

• 36% of consumers that capture a QR code and 25% of users clicking on a web banner went on to download the finance firm’s app.
• When financial institutions run remarketing campaigns to existing app users, 25% arriving from an email message and 19% arriving from a web banner went on to execute an upsell event.

Rolling out ROX in financial services: Use cases

At AppsFlyer, we’ve witnessed firsthand how financial services leaders create delightful experiences and reap ROX by putting the four pillars above into practice. 

Below are examples that show how firms tackle common industry challenges and provide opportunities to hit mobile growth and retention KPIs:

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1. Traditional banking: Migration to app (QR code)

Migrating customers to the app can be challenging, especially Gen X and older users who prefer to do their banking on desktop. One tactic that has worked well for moving users to app banking is placing QR codes at key trigger points in the journey. 

Widely used and gaining popularity during the pandemic, QR codes can be leveraged as an app onramp providing peace of mind and ease of use to customers. Banks can place QR codes on any page of their desktop site, in-branch signage, and marketing materials to allow users to download the app after scanning the QR code.

In the example below, a bank displays a QR code on the homepage of its desktop website to encourage a user to scan the code. 

The marketer uses a deep linking solution to ensure that customers are redirected smoothly to the right app store (Google Play, App Store, Samsung Galaxy Store, etc.), and then to the right in-app content after the app is launched. 

The bank has made sure that the app is simple, yet powerful so that users will opt to use it for their banking needs.

By initiating a smooth journey from the desktop website to the app with the help of well-known, easy to use QR codes, the bank drives its user acquisition goals. 

In addition, taking advantage of the fact that 75% of users will be willing to use QR codes more in the future, and that app users display higher loyalty and LTV, the bank is betting big on its app. And is building contextual journeys that begin with QR codes displayed on its mortgage and credit card pages as well. 

2. Traditional banking: Process abandonment (SMS)

When it comes to digital journeys, an acute pain point for finance companies is the dropoff rate of prospective customers filling out extensive forms. In fact, about 75% of forms in the finance industry are abandoned mid-process. 

But what if there was a way for financial services companies to assist many of those that abandon their forms by allowing customers to take advantage of the better CX that apps provide?

This is what forward-thinking firms already do. How? 

They combine one or more of their owned media channels with deep linking to remind customers of the form and bring them directly to the point at which they dropped. This way they can easily continue filling the form and completing the desired action.

In the above example, Int Bank has set up a process that engages with customers who have abandoned forms. The bank uses a deep linking product to dynamically create a unique, personalized URL for each customer that has abandoned the form. 

An SMS messaging platform receives the link and schedules a reminder SMS, including a CTA, to continue filling out the form. When clicking the link, the app opens in the right location so that customers can pick up where they left off.
Firms that build smooth, contextual, and personalized bridges to their app can fulfill two critical goals simultaneously. They can “rescue” forms abandoned by customers with high intent, and they can delight customers by helping them achieve the original goals they had set out to achieve. 

3. Insurance: Process automation (SMS)

A common issue for insurance firms is completing a process which involves multiple stakeholders, such as filing a claim or opening an account. 

Streamlining and automating the back-and-forth process is critical to saving client and employee time, as well as creating a smooth experience for the customers.

Insurance companies can identify processes that can be automated and reduce human interaction so that employees can focus on more important tasks. 

In the example below, InSureHealth sought to reduce the time and effort that call center representatives were investing in contacting customers to complete their forms. 

They set up an automated process that combined their SMS provider with a deep linking platform. The latter creates a dynamic link that delivers customers directly to the in-app page with fields that require completion.

Automating processes such as collecting information from customers in a friendly, contextual manner is a win-win. Insurance companies reduce time and effort associated with “chasing” customers for information, by enabling customers to complete their claims rapidly and easily. 

Want to learn more about winning with ROX?

You should now have a better understanding of how financial services institutions are creating awesome customer experiences that lead to app growth, engagement, and ultimately to ROX. Reach out if you’d like us to help you drive ROX in your business.

1 . Industry trends are based on AppsFlyer data and these sources: Harvard Business Review, Taking the Financial Services Customer Experience to the Next Level, 2021, Salesforce, Top Financial Services Customer Experience Trends, Qualtrics, Breaking down silos to deliver customer experience in financial services, eMarketer, Preferred Methods of Banking, 2021, The Financial Brand, 6 Digital Banking Transformation Trends for 2022, 2021, 

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All right, folks. The results are in and we have a winner: mobile commerce. 

As our recent report with Adobe clearly demonstrates, mobile web and app channels have become integral elements of the customer lifecycle, with more than 40% of all customers defining themselves as “mobile-only”.

As for apps, thanks to the pandemic and the need to replace physical with digital shopping, they’re now considered critical to success in retail. Retailers have taken note, with the majority intending to: 

• Include more than 75% of their functionality in their app.
• Drive over 67% of customers to become app users.

With the ascendance of app commerce, shopping brands now have to ensure optimal customer experience (CX) from any channel – digital or offline – to the app. A minority of retailers has already doubled down on app CX, and, per App Annie (eMarketer, 2021), they’ve realized a return on their experience, also known as ROX. 

So as we roll into the twenties, two things are becoming clear: app CX is hitting its stride in shopping, and the ROX proposition will continue to pay dividends for those committed to app CX. 

Industry trends: It’s all about the shopping experience

Heading into 2022, cross-channel CX optimization is top of mind not only for established brands navigating through digital transformation, but also for newer ecommerce players. Six industry trends validate the importance of CX, in general, and mobile CX, in particular¹:

1. CX investment does drive business impact: Retailers investing in CX report significantly improved metrics across the customer lifetime journey. In fact, retailers investing seriously in CX are four and three times more likely to beat out CX laggards in basket size and LTV, respectively. (eMarketer, 2021)
   
2. Customers expect seamless, contextual experiences: Customers view the world as all-digital, with no divide, and nearly 75% of consumers now describe themselves as channel agnostic (Google, 2021). Consumers expect digital experiences to be contextual, spanning touchpoints in their customer journey.
   
3. Personalization is now a must: Personalized experiences are shifting from being a nice-to-have to becoming a necessity. One recent survey shows that 63% of US internet users would like to receive personalized offers based on their past purchases. 
   
   In fact, it appears customers are willing to provide personal data if they receive something of equal value in return. (eMarketer, 2021)

4. First-party data becomes critical: In the US, 42% of positions that utilize data will spend more on tapping into first party data in the coming year (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2021). 
   
   Marketers know that first-party data enables personalization and contextualization, and can mitigate the effects of recently introduced privacy initiatives. More specifically, data from apps enables marketers to learn about customer preferences and create long-term relationships based on value.

5. App commerce to grow by leaps and bounds: The pandemic, combined with more seamless buying options and people’s growing appetite for instant gratification, pushed mobile and app commerce forward by years, especially for grocery and food delivery. 
   
   Apps are instrumental to revenue growth: compared to non-app customers of the same brand, app users spend 37% more, buy 33% more frequently, and purchase 34% more items (Google, 2021).

6. Investments spike for in-app experiences: Forward-looking retailers are focused on improving in-app experiences, especially popular features like click-and-collect. 
   
   App Annie research points to a tight connection between total sales (including in-store sales) and time spent in retail apps, suggesting that retailers investing in in-app experience are rewarded accordingly.

Delivering on ROX with smooth journeys to your app

The above trends indicate that retailers should invest in CX and drive consumers to their apps from any touchpoint. They should work on crafting seamless journeys to the app and of course delight users in the app itself. 

Doing so results in ROX, a measurement framework that informs many of our customers regarding the business impact generated by their CX investments. 

Our retail customers hit their ROX goals by bringing users to their app from anywhere – digital channels such as social media, email, a mobile website or physical channels such as in-store displays – and creating experiences that are:

1. Contextual: Users sense where they are and where they’re going at any point in their journey. 
2. Personal: Users feel like they are getting an experience built uniquely for them. 
3. Smooth: Users are ushered through seamless journeys without recognizing they’ve been taken through more than one touchpoint.
4. Private: Users can choose what personal data they want to share and which details to keep private.

At this point, you may be asking: this sounds good, but what is the actual business impact of creating journeys with these four pillars? AppsFlyer data shows that retail brands that invest in CX demonstrate excellent conversion and share of paying users rates:

• 36% of consumers that capture a QR code and 33% of users clicking on a web banner went on to download the retailer’s app.
• When retailers run remarketing campaigns to existing app users, 15% arriving from an email and 14% arriving from a text message went on to re-engage (re-installed, clicked through, etc.).

Business results will vary, but retailers with sharp marketing teams shine when it comes to driving ROX. 

Take the example of a large grocery brand which created and displayed a web-to-app banner on its mobile website. The banner drove 188,000 installs and about $2 million in incremental in-app revenue in the first six weeks of the campaign. 

Rolling out ROX in retail: Use cases

At AppsFlyer, we’ve witnessed firsthand how retailers create delightful experiences and reap ROX by putting the four pillars into practice. 

Below are examples that tackle common industry challenges and provide opportunities to hit growth and retention KPIs: 

A. Ecommerce: Cart abandonment (Email)

Cart abandonment is a huge problem for retailers. After browsing, shopping, and filling their cart, users decide not to complete their purchase for one reason or another. 
A proven way to reach customers who have left their shopping cart full of goods is to proactively send them emails. Cart abandonment emails have high open and click through rates, about 45% and 21%, respectively. More to the point, relevant, contextual emails can recover about 1% of potential lost revenue. (Sitecore)

In the example below, a fashion retailer set up an automated process that sends emails to customers who have left goods in their carts. The marketer uses a deep linking solution to ensure that a user is brought in a direct, smooth way to the shopping cart, which is conveniently already populated with the items that were left in the cart.

B. Retail store: In-store conversion (QR codes)

QR codes are popping up everywhere. Their popularity is always on the rise, and as brands realize their value, many are leveraging QR codes to achieve their business goals. 

Traditional retailers can take advantage of in-store shopping to drive purchases, as well as migrate customers to their app by displaying QR codes in a way that feels natural and helpful to shoppers.

Below is an example of a clothing retailer using QR codes to drive in-store purchases. The retailer is looking to address a common hurdle faced by in-store customers: the need for more information about the product they’re interested in buying. 

At home, shoppers can search online for reviews and user-generated content to help their shopping journey. But at a physical store, a lack of information can lead to a decision to forego the purchase. 

To provide instant access to the relevant information, the brand places dedicated QR codes next to each product and uses a deep linking engine to redirect users to reviews in the right channel (either web or app). 

Customers with the app are sent to the right in-app page showing reviews, while users without the app are redirected to the mobile web page with the reviews. 

To drive app adoption by the latter group of web users, the retailer displays a banner with a discount incentivizing the shopper to download the app.

By creating contextual, smooth journeys that begin with QR code scans, retailers can provide excellent shopping experiences. And great customer experience leads to ROX through building trust with customers and increasing their in-store conversion. 

Users that scan QR codes typically have high intent – after all, the customer is shopping and wants to learn more about a product before making a purchase. So it’s no wonder that click-to-install rates for QR codes are at 33%.

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C. Groceries: Migration to app (web banners)

As the data shows, increasing numbers of shoppers head to the mobile web to learn about products and services. 

Retailers can incentivize these high-intent shoppers to further improve their digital experience by using their app, and in this case, a smooth, friction-free migration process is critical to future loyalty.

In the example below, a grocery brand displays an easy-to-deploy banner that promotes the app and incentivizes users to download the app with a discount. 

After the user installs and opens the app, they continue shopping in a contextual way, since all the goods they had in their shopping cart on the website are already in their in-app shopping cart. And, of course, the discount is applied at checkout. What shopper wouldn’t be delighted with an experience like this one?

Crafting smooth, contextual web-to-app journeys is a proven way to increase conversions and LTV, and retailers leveraging banners see a high 27% click-to-install conversion rate. 

Along with QR codes and SMS campaigns, web banners are extremely effective at helping retailers achieve ROX and their growth KPIs.

Want to learn more about implementing ROX?

You should now have a better understanding of how mobile-first retailers are crafting awesome customer experiences that lead to app growth and usage and ultimately to ROX. Reach out if you’d like us to help you drive ROX in your business. 

1 . Industry trends are based on AppsFlyer data and these sources: eMarketer, Mcommerce Forecast 2021, 2021; eMarketer, Ecommerce and Retail Customer Experience 2021, 2021; Google, New Customer Experiences, 2021,  Forrester, Predictions 2022, 2021.

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Most travelers agree that non-stop flights are the best. Hop on a plane from your home city and hop off at your final destination — no switching aircraft or searching unfamiliar airports for your next gate.

Deep links are like the non-stop flights of mobile app marketing. Users click a deep link from anywhere — social media, email, SMS, your mobile website — and land on perfectly contextualized content within your app. No unnecessary landing page layovers or searching unfamiliar menus.

The frictionless experience that deep links create are key to improve the performance of user acquisition, engagement, and re-engagement campaigns. Here’s how six brands use this versatile tool to give their app users a better experience and unlock higher performance from both paid and unpaid channels.

Booking.com: use deferred deep linking to contextualize first app use

Often people download an app midway through completing a task, like buying a pair of socks or booking their next vacation. If you interrupt their workflow, you’ll likely send them packing.

Booking.com, an online travel reservation platform, keeps the travel stoke high through the download process with deferred deep linking–a process that identifies new users and takes them to a preferred location in the app after they’ve completed the download.

Here’s how it works. Say a would-be traveler is perusing Parisian properties on the booking.com mobile website, and they’re compelled to click the “download app” button by a discount on lodging. The deep linking engine will identify that the user doesn’t have the app, then take them to the correct app store (Google Play or Apple’s App Store) to complete the download. When the new user opens the app for the first time, they’re taken directly to a list of Paris hotels to continue the reservation process.
Deep links are useful throughout customer onboarding. In fact, we found that brands get a 110% boost in day 30 retention rates when they use deep links to customize their welcome messages and onboarding processes.

Hopper: engage app users with deep-linked social posts

Nearly one out of every two installed apps are uninstalled within 30 days. But 90% of people who use an app at least once per week will keep it.

Travel platform Hopper keeps its user engagement high (and uninstall rate low) by creating travel stoke with Facebook posts and connecting users directly to relevant in-app content.

Hopper does this with open graph tags that show a preview of app content in Facebook posts and deep links that direct users to related content within the app.

This strategy works well for just about any app. Food, fashion, fun events — use anything that might catch a Facebook scroller’s attention and motivate them to take action.

Yummly: remove friction with email deep links

Email marketing might sound old school, but it’s still one of the most cost-effective ways to drive current users back into your app. Where else can you get an 8.75% click rate from a basically free ad?

The trick is to make the most of those clicks. Online recipe and grocery delivery platform Yummly does this using deep links to create a seamless email-to-app transition.

Yummly’s timely emails get followers thinking about what to cook for upcoming events. Then with a click, users are delivered to an in-app recipe, where they can make a shopping list and even order ingredients for delivery. That smooth-as-chocolate-silk-pie experience keeps people clicking on emails and returning to the app.

Pizza Hut: power up QR codes with deep links

QR codes bridge the gap between printed marketing materials and digital channels. Brands can make the journey from actual to app a lot easier for their customers with deep links.

That’s how Pizza Hut helped its users slice through the friction of using printed coupons in their app.

It started with a QR code and coupon offer printed on mailers, in-store displays, and delivery boxes. The deep link behind the QR code carried the coupon code to the app’s checkout page. That way, users wouldn’t have to transfer that information themselves, helping to speed along every conversion.

MyFitnessPal: re-engaging users with deep-linked push notifications

Re-engagement strategies are designed to remind dormant users why they loved your app in the first place. And if there’s ever a time to make sure your user experience is top-notch, this is it. (After all, you wouldn’t try to win back an ex with a half-eaten Hershey bar and a bouquet of wilted daisies.)

Fitness and nutrition tracking app MyFitnessPal uses deep link–powered push notifications to entice users back into their health diaries.

Like emails, push notifications have a high click rate. And the deep links allow MyFitnessPal users to get right back in the swing of tracking daily habits.

This strategy works well for an app that requires daily interaction. But it’s also useful for recovering lost revenue from abandoned carts and returning game players to the level they left behind.

Netflix: warming up chilled app users with deep-linking emails

Netflix essentially created the term “binge-watching”. Clearly, the streaming service has user engagement figured out.

But Netflix also knows a thing or two about re-engaging dormant users. They use deep links in re-engagement emails to remind viewers of shows they’ve left behind.

Once a watcher clicks the email link, their next stop is the most recent episode of a show they’ve started. It’s a creative and compelling way to leverage emails for user re-engagement.

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Improve your CX with deep links

These are by far not the only interesting use cases for deep links: eCommerce site Letgo, financial app Stash, and weather app Accuweather all use the technology to improve the CX for their users.

Want to start using deep links for user engagement? Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Deep links are really just links that take users from one place (website, QR code, email) directly into a preferred location on your app
• Deferred deep linking follows a new user through the download process and send them to a preferred app location on first use
• Deep links are useful at every stage of the customer journey, from onboarding to re-engagement
• Deep linking is most successful when you focus on the user experience, not the technology

Now that you have the basics down, read our full return on experience guide to learn how deep links can help you create an unbeatable customer experience.

The post How 6 successful brands attract and keep customers with deep links appeared first on AppsFlyer.

The fraud economy was created by imposters.

The basic premise of a successful fraud scheme, whatever the industry may be, relies on the perpetrator successfully convincing its victims that they are capable of delivering value, when in fact this value is based on mischief.

The job of a good anti-fraud solution is to act as a detective, identify as much evidence as possible for any wrong-doings, and stop the imposter from hurting any other victims.

This highlights why protection from mobile ad fraud is not the sole responsibility of the measurement and attribution provider.
All parties must contribute to eliminating fraud: publishers, agencies, ad networks, and of course the advertisers themselves.
More often than not, a lack of attention by one of these participants is what leads to rise in fraudulent activities.

And while ad networks are often the ones receiving the blame whenever fraud appears, this does not have to be the case. There’s no reason to automatically label them as notorious fraud providers.

Many ad networks that had a history and reputation of delivering fraudulent activity took it upon themselves to actively eliminate fraud from their activity, and did so successfully.

It was simply a move that was the right thing to do for their business, having realized that their future depends on it.

Cleaning up your act

The current industry climate has fraud protection awareness at an all-time high. More companies than ever are putting anti-fraud protection at the top of their agenda because it’s in their best interest. Which makes  any ad network’s best interest do the same if they wish to stay relevant and continue growing.

Whatever revenue an ad network may have been able to potentially generate through fraud is no longer considered as reliable. With a growing number of anti-fraud solutions in the market that can detect this activity and block it, this revenue may never reach their bank accounts. But above all, their business reputation will be tarnished, damaging whatever future potential they may have had.

There are many ways for an ad network to treat fraudulent activity. A fairly basic one is ensuring that traffic sent on their behalf to various parties is truly their own. 

While this sounds like an odd concern, AppsFlyer’s experience from cases that occurred over the last few months indicate that this indeed calls for attention. 

Clicks falsely associated with a media partner by an external entity can have serious repercussions on its reputation and business. 

This could happen when competition associates massive false clicks to create a spamming misperception, or when agencies they never heard of send clicks on the network’s behalf to generate revenue from their spoofed relationship. 

Addressing this relatively new fraud tactic can present ad networks with several benefits. The network can be confident that traffic associated with its name is indeed their own, and was not sent by an unknown source with questionable motives on their behalf. Moreover, it provides brand protection from whatever quality unknown sources may associate with the network’s traffic without their knowledge. 

There are legit networks that provide quality traffic, and there are bad ones that don’t shy away from identity theft. There are plenty of both in our industry.

Brand safety should be as much of a concern for quality ad networks as it is for the advertisers they work with.

How Liftoff validates its traffic using AppsFlyer’s Click Signing

Liftoff, an AppsFlyer media partner, is an ad network that positions itself as a one stop shop for programmatic user acquisition and re-engagement. They operate across 93 countries with over 8 years of experience in the mobile app industry. 

As a network that prides itself in its traffic quality, Liftoff recently implemented AppsFlyer’s click signature solution.

This solution applies an automatically generated temporary key that’s only visible to Liftoff and AppsFlyer for both its encryption and decryption. 

Liftoff’s signed clicks allow AppsFlyer visibility into which clicks truly originate from Liftoff, eliminating the risk that another party is sending clicks on their behalf. Clicks that do not pass the signature validation test are blocked, and are not considered as Liftoff clicks. 

This ensures Liftoff’s conversion rates are not affected by unwanted external interference, and  improve as a result. Their Click-To-Install-Time (CTIT) distribution remains  unharmed, distancing them from any click flooding discussions that may have been a result of unusual click volumes. 

So far, over 200K daily clicks that were falsely delivered under Liftoff’s name were blocked and were associated with their correct sources.

Fraudsters have become more sophisticated in influencing attribution and click-based metrics, resulting in an increase in advertiser dollars diverted to fraudulent sources. By implementing click signing with trusted partners like AppsFlyer, we aim to minimize the threat to the ecosystem, and build on the safety and quality measures we’ve put in place to protect our customers.

Dennis Mink | SVP Marketing, Liftoff

Monitor, troubleshoot, validate, repeat

As part of the implementation process, AppsFlyer wanted to help Liftoff in analyzing which of their delivered clicks were in fact blocked and did not pass the signature validation process. This was key in making sure the integration was done correctly.

Liftoff were able to easily monitor the blocked clicks and have a clear understanding of why they were blocked, whether it was failed validation, encryption key expiration, or any other reason. This allowed for a smooth troubleshooting process and increased trust in the process.

Leveraging another newly released AppsFlyer capability – Data Locker for media partners – Liftoff started generating daily reports that highlighted their campaigns’ performance from the last 24 hours.

Through Data Locker, ad networks can now connect their Amazon S3  or Google Cloud buckets in order to consume aggregated campaign performance reports on a daily basis efficiently and securely. Liftoff used these Data Locker reports both for troubleshooting during the integration process, as well as for generating periodic performance data indicating how exposed their network previously was to imposter clicks.

Data Locker click signature report is just one possible data report that is available for AppsFlyer’s media partners that want to protect user privacy at all times. This partner-oriented enhancement was created to provide partners with increased visibility on their real performance, as well as provide additional unbiased transparency to the entire mobile ecosystem. 

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What’s next?

Fraud is no longer a concern strictly for advertisers and the measurement vendors. Ad networks who are looking to develop and maintain lasting relationships with the ecosystem are well aware that the responsibility lies on their shoulders. 

The mobile advertising industry is growing and evolving. Ad networks that are looking to be catalysts of this growth, must adopt new work methods and capabilities to keep up with the ever-evolving fraud landscape.

Capabilities like click signatures and DataLocker for partners are just examples of simple, immediate steps that can be taken towards this direction, indicating that your network is indeed putting fraud protection in its priorities.

The post How Liftoff eliminated phantom click fraud with click signatures appeared first on AppsFlyer.

20 million hits, one minute. That’s what Coinbase’s Super Bowl ad put up on the scoreboard. That certainly makes the highlight reel of any marketer’s career. And when it’s done with an ingeniously simple QR code gliding across the screens of millions of Super Bowl viewers worldwide, it’s certainly justification for a touchdown celebration dance.

Though this may have been the first time that many Super Bowl viewers were exposed to QR codes, they’ve actually been around for almost three decades (yes, the first QR code system was invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave). 

More recently, QR codes have made a huge comeback thanks to the pandemic and their widespread adoption in the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries, as well as the rise of CTV (connected TV). 

Based on AppsFlyer data, the number of apps launching QR-to-app Experiences grew by 25% during the last quarter of 2021 alone. That’s not surprising considering the mindblowing 37% scan-to-install average conversion rates they are achieving. 

As for the future, eMarketer expects QR code usage in the US to increase by nearly 20% in the next three years.

Why is QR technology so special? Well, it brings us marketers back to basics where we can double down on our creativity. Not to mention that it’s the glue that connects fragmented consumer channels. 

Working with the best brands in the world, we’ve witnessed how marketers are innovating, breaking the offline-to-online paradigm by placing QR codes everywhere from pizza boxes to metro ads to TV commercials to even gigantic drone-mounted projections in the sky. 

QR-to-app use cases

Based on these conversion rates and potential for growth, we hope you’re as hyped up on QR-to-app as we, Coinbase, and other leading brands are. 

So let’s get practical by showing you how you can quickly start building and measuring QR-to-app Experiences today. 

Bringing CTV audiences to your mobile app

In the US alone, 70% of Americans use an over-the-top (OTT) service, while connected TV (CTV) ad spend increased by 60% to $14.4 billion in the past year. Although this trend is just getting started, there are many ways you can interact and acquire new users through this channel.

Lending app

A loan provider displays a CTV ad with a QR code encouraging streamers to download its mobile app. By using AppsFlyer’s customer experience and deep linking suite the lending app’s marketing team creates a QR code with a link that includes attribution and deep linking parameters to ensure accurate CTV measurement and deep linking capabilities.

When streamers scan the QR code from their TV screen, they are automatically redirected to the right app store to download the app. When the app is launched, they are taken directly to the loan application page, avoiding any unnecessary touchpoints to increase conversion rates. Users who already have the app installed are taken directly to the relevant in-app content, skipping the app store touchpoint and even the generic app home screen.

Air hockey game

Contextualization is KING. Aiming to achieve high Return on Experience (ROX) from its CTV ad, an air hockey game targets streamers watching an NHL game, inviting them to download their app and play against the rival team during halftime.

When the NHL fans scan the QR code they are redirected to the right app store, or directly to the relevant in-app content if they already have the game on their devices. Once they launch the game they are asked to choose an NHL team (contextualization, remember?) and start playing against their rival.

Meeting your customers wherever they are

QR codes are all about engaging with your audience wherever they are while understanding the consumer’s exact place and time. For customers to take out their phones from their pockets, open the camera app and scan your QR call-to-action, the sense of context must be strong. 

To get your wheels spinning, here are some examples of how you can leverage QR-to-app Experiences in the offline world to acquire and engage new customers.

Shopping app

Shoppers are used to checking product reviews online before making a purchase decision, but what happens when they are in your physical store considering a purchase? In this example, a fashion brand places a QR code next to each shelf, encouraging customers to check out the product reviews on their app.

The shoppers scan the QR code. If the app is not installed, they are redirected to the relevant app store. Upon launch, the product’s review page opens for them to make smarter purchase decisions. Now that they have received value from the app, the brand’s marketing team can re-engage with shoppers in the future and increase lifetime value.   

Travel & hospitality app

What better opportunity to search for your next trip to the Maldives than a depressing bus stop, right? In this example, a digital travel agency takes advantage of the “waste of time” mindset typical of waiting passengers, plus the fact that certain bus lines serve certain audiences. So the app’s marketing team places a summer deal poster with a QR code appealing to the relevant bus line passengers.

Once passengers scan the QR code, they are redirected to the relevant app store  (or are brought straight to the in-app content if they already have the app). After launching the app, they are taken directly to the summer deal page to make a reservation or share with their family and friends.

Step into QR code mania

Coinbase and QR codes scored a big touchdown at this year’s Super Bowl. Millions of consumers understand the power of QR codes, and advertisers saw firsthand how a simple floating square on a CTV screen can drive UA in a huge way. 
As the divide between offline and online blurs, it’s time for marketers like you to tap into this fully measurable, highly effective tactic that leads users smoothly to your app from nearly anywhere – CTV, billboards, public transport, packaging, and more. Talk to us to get started.

* Any trademarks used under this page are intended for informational purposes only and do not indicate any endorsement or partnership with the respected owners of such trademarks.

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The post How to jump into QR code mania appeared first on AppsFlyer.

Timing is everything.

It can make the difference between a huge success and a resounding failure.

It can make or break a product’s go-to-market strategy.

When we initially set out to develop AppsFlyer’s predictive analytics solution, we of course had our ecosystem’s best interest in mind, as it would provide an amazing competitive edge to any marketer adopting it. That, for us, was sufficient reasoning to get this elaborate and complicated development process started. 

With the product’s initial version reaching its MVP stage, we started onboarding our first development partners and set the beta testing phase underway.

Our timing couldn’t have been better.

In WWDC 2020 Apple first announced their intentions of taking the mobile app economy into the age of user privacy.

The ecosystem started rumbling about SKAN, ATT, the death of IDFA, and how to make the most of a newly introduced six bit structure. However, where many saw limitations, we identified opportunity.

Identifying correlations between problem and solution   

When examining Apple’s newly introduced guidelines, we can narrow them down to three main constraints on the average marketer:

1. Limited measurement window: By default, SKAdNetwork allows marketers to measure a journey of 24-48h, from install/re-install to post-install activity.

2. IDFA opt-in (ATT): Users will have to opt-in to provide their advertising identifier, making IDFA dramatically less available. ATT places user privacy front and center for all mobile marketing initiatives.

3. One postback to rule them all: marketers have to base their entire optimization decisions on one aggregated postback that includes both the install data and one conversion value. This postback is delivered via a six bit mechanism, giving marketers a maximum of 64 conversion values that they can use to measure various quality indicators.

In a nutshell: A (very) limited measurement window, strict privacy requirement, and a reliance on one value to encapsulate the entirety of a user’s LTV potential.
While these constraints seem to go directly against everything mobile marketing stands for, they perfectly match the core logic of our newly formed predictive solution.

Identifying opportunity in a challenging situation

The science of Predictive analytics, at its core, eliminates the need to rely on user identity, as it constructs an anonymous prediction for future events (market shifts, weather trends, price drops, or in our case user LTV) based on previous measurements (user behavior). The predictive output can be presented in whatever form that serves its purpose – we chose to represent it through a numeric score. These predictive results are meant to be produced within a minimal timeframe (otherwise they wouldn’t be called predictions) by identifying correlations between very early measurements and their eventual results.

We decided to look at the 24 hour measurement window as an opportunity to produce an LTV prediction. This prediction would represent the entirety of a user’s journey in the app during that limited time frame. 

But this was only the first step.

Making necessary modifications

While the conceptual match was there, there were still adjustments to be made.

The first challenge would require us to change our MVP’s original setup which provided campaign level scores and transition into a product that could calculate user-level predictive scores and then present these scores in an aggregate way to comply with SKAN’s requirements.  

Deep Learning models enabled us to predict three predictive scores: Monetization, Retention, and  Engagement – each receiving a predictive score ranging from 1-9. These three scores would construct the user’s overall benefit score, also ranked from 1-9.

One possibility that came up was to communicate only the benefit score which encapsulated all three pillar scores (which represent all of the user’s behavioral data). This would have been a simple and elegant solution; however, it would also mean losing the granularity of each of the scores, which was unacceptable for us.

We were basically looking at 3^9 score combinations (729 overall) which we had to somehow communicate using only the 6 bits Apple allowed us to populate in the conversion value (64 values overall). 

When looking into the scores data, we identified that there is a clear linear relationship between engagement, monetization, and retention. Meaning, if a user receives a high retention score they’re more likely to have a better engagement score too. The same relationship also exists between high engagement scores which are more likely to produce higher monetization scores.

This was a groundbreaking insight, as we realized that we might be able to divide the users into groups, AKA cohort analysis. The only question remaining now is how do we find these cohorts efficiently and automatically.

At that point we started to look at unsupervised machine learning algorithms that could identify patterns within the data.  These algorithms allowed us to analyze user scores and receive different user cohorts based on the machine’s interpretation. As anticipated, the linear relationship between predicted scores enabled the algorithms to produce well-defined user cohorts.

Some types of unsupervised ML algorithms require a clear definition of the number of cohorts required, which in most cases acts as a downside, while the optimal number of groups one would have in the data is often unknown beforehand.

However, in our case we knew exactly how many user groups we wanted to create. It was well defined by the number of bits available to us in order to communicate the conversion value. 

After predicting the three different predictive scores per each user, these scores will be passed through an unsupervised algorithm and will be given a cohortID based on its performance. The cohortID will be encoded in the conversion value. This way we were able to produce 16 cohorts broken down on a scale of 0-15, which made the job of aligning with the 64 conversion values significantly easier, aligning with SKAN’s expected conversion value logic.

Once we receive the cohortID back into our SKAN framework we are able to decipher it back to the three predicted scores we had initially produced, along with any additional data provided by AppsFlyer’s media partners. 

The campaign’s predictive scores will now be displayed to the advertiser in an aggregate way, encapsulating all of their campaign’s users’ scores.

All done? Not quite, we now had one more challenge left to tackle.

PredictSK beta is live

Providing predictive insights for media partners

Media partners and their associated media sources are an integral part of the online advertising chain.

AppsFlyer’s media partners base their campaign optimization decisions on whatever traffic quality feedback they receive from the advertisers. The original implementation of our algorithms assigned cohortIDs in such a way that scores were associated randomly to each cohort and had no ordinal meaning. We wanted to be able to provide our media partners with a quick way to take these cohorts and use them for advertising optimizations.

To do that, we decided to modify the ML algorithm such that cohortIDs will help reflect a cohort’s relative value and benefit, so a user with a cohortID of 7 will be more valuable than a user with a cohortID of 3.

Now, knowing that the cohortIDs have ordinal meaning, we can safely let our partners rely on this feedback and feel free to base their decisions on this indication. 

The prediction communication process between advertiser, SKAN, and media partner was now streamlined with PredictSK:

1. PredictSK measures user events until it reaches a sufficient data threshold in order to produce a solid predictive benefit score.
2. Advanced ML models produce three predictive KPI scores per each user.
3. Three predictive scores are communicated to an unsupervised ML algorithm and produce an output of a cohortID on a scale of 0-15.
4. CohortID is encoded in the conversion value. 
5. PredictSK receives the postback from Apple’s SKAN framework.
6. CohortID is converted back to the three predicted KPI scores, using the cohort score mapping.
7. Aggregate campaign benefit score presented on PredictSK dashboard, consisting of three predicted KPI scores per the campaign’s users, alongside media partner data.

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Key takeaways

The modifications required to make our initial predictive analytics MVP into a functioning SKAN solution would not have been possible had we not initially decided to develop the initial product to begin with.

The road to the end solution would have been significantly longer and more complicated if we were to only launch the development process later.

Timing had a big part to play in PredictSK’s product development process. The challenges our team had to solve to bridge the gaps between Predict and SKAN allowed us to introduce more value to an already trailblazing solution.

More innovative features are set to be released as we gear up to the next steps in our solution’s evolutions.

Innovation invites opportunity.

The post Bridging the gaps between predictive marketing and SKAN appeared first on AppsFlyer.

Fraud methods, techniques, and technology are constantly evolving and changing. Fraudsters continue to test anti-fraud solutions in creative ways in an effort to gain the occasional upper hand and maybe some of your marketing budgets.

AppsFlyer recently came across one of these cases. But it wasn’t a new fraud method, as much as it was a new fraud origin. 

Whose click is it anyway?

In early 2021, our team started noticing a trend with some of AppsFlyer’s media partners. Ad networks claimed that they were being associated with clicks that in-fact had not originated from their network.

Some valid reasons for this could be technical issues or even the lack of awareness from user acquisition managers. As we delved deeper we noticed it was more than a trend but rather a pattern, and here began our investigation. 

Instances of click flooding fraud were initially flagged through Protect360, AppsFlyer’s anti-fraud solution, for associated ad networks. It was important for us to keep open communication with our media partners and when we approached these networks presenting them with their disproportionate click volume we continued to receive the same answer. They all communicated that they were sure that the clicks in question were never delivered from their traffic, despite that their names were associated with clicks in question. 

The response itself wasn’t surprising, as many ad networks often try to distance themselves from claims of fraudulent activity. However the pattern’s scale and similar characteristics across the different identified instances made it difficult to disregard.

It looked like there was indeed an additional party reporting these clicks on behalf of these networks.

So, who was responsible for these clicks, and why?

What would be the motivation for sending clicks on behalf of another ad network?  Could it have been an attempt to tarnish a legitimate network’s reputation? Perhaps an attempt to damage an ad network’s relationships with certain advertisers?

All these options were considered, but the real answer surprised even us…

We approached additional ad networks who presented similar click flooding characteristics that fit the emerging trend.

Our suspicions were validated, as these networks also claimed to have no hand in generating the millions of clicks in question presented on AppsFlyer’s reports. 

The only way to shed light on this situation was by implementing a new click signature mechanism AppsFlyer had recently developed. 

We recommended the impacted ad networks to implement this feature, which enables AppsFlyer’s media partners to create an encrypted key and unique signature for all of their clicks. Click signatures are key when trying to distinguish between alleged fake clicks and valid ones provided by the partner.

After thorough analysis we identified all clicks that did not contain the valid signature, uncovering a surprising element to our investigation. All of these mysterious clicks were coming from ONE specific agency account, an agency that none of the media partners were working with, nor were they familiar with them in any way. 

We reached out to other networks that appeared to have a working relationship with this mysterious agency. All of which replied with the same answer (which came as no surprise), “We’ve never heard of this agency.” And thus a new fraud scenario was unearthed.

How did this new fraud scenario come to play ? 

Our investigation showed the following modus operandi:

Splitting click flooding actions across various sources is not a new fraud methodology, but having an agency perform this act through the ad network integrations was definitely surprising.

This type of abuse from fraudsters can result in both reputational and operational damages to our media partners.

For example: 10M clicks were sent on behalf of the ad network, generating 1,000 installs (CR of 0.01%) while in fact they were only actually sending 100K clicks (an actual CR of 1%).

The difference between these scenarios can not only harm the network’s reputation, but in some cases can also be considered as fraud or DDOS attack.

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AppsFlyer is taking action, you should too

AppsFlyer’s Partner Development team’s most important job is maintaining a strong relationship with our media partners, and allowing us to attain precious feedback from all partners impacted. 

After valid confirmation that this agency in question’s activity was in fact fraudulent we immediately shut down all of its integrations and terminated their relationship with AppsFlyer.

This case yet again emphasized the importance of protecting our media partners, their data, and their clicks. 

While it may be tempting to point a finger of blame towards ad networks in fraud cases such as these, it is important to remember that they too are victims.

Keeping an unbiased and open mindset was key to identifying the actual fraudulent source and uncovering a new fraud scenario. The case stated above helped us improve our fraud detection algorithms, and Protect360 is now a better anti-fraud solution thanks to our team’s vigilance and quick response.

But it’s always better to be safe than sorry, AppsFlyer’s click signature mechanism is available for all integrated media partners, which is easy to implement and free of charge.

You can learn more about it here, or feel free to contact your Partner Development Manager or Integration Team for further support.

The post The phantom (click) menace: Discovering a new fraud scenario appeared first on AppsFlyer.

During WWDC 2021, Apple’s developer conference, the company revealed two intriguing features that will change how we marketers acquire users and increase lifetime value (LTV) by driving them through the most contextualized journey they’ve ever experienced.

• Product page optimization: The first feature, called “product page optimization,” is an A/B testing tool that will allow you to experiment with your app’s product page and run 90-day tests to find out which product page version performs the best in organic scenarios. With this feature, you’ll be able to create and test variants with your app’s icon style, screenshots, app previews, and copy.
• Custom product pages: The second feature teed up by Apple is a contextualization mechanism that will allow you to create up to 35 different versions of your App Store product page to target different customer segments with specific in-store content to increase conversion rate. You will be able to customize each product page by changing promotional texts, screenshots, and app previews.

I’d like to focus here on the custom product pages feature and invite you to imagine a world of contextualized, personalized, and audience-driven user acquisition journeys.

Why is contextualized customer experience so important?

I like to think about marketers as taxi drivers.

Picture this for a moment: Our job is to drive people from their current location to their desired destination. In other words, we drive traffic from anywhere (an ad, email, social post, SMS, etc.) to the right spot, whether it’s in the App Store or in the app. As taxi drivers, if we bring passengers to the wrong destination or to the right one via detours, they’d be peeved, may not pay, will rate you poorly, and won’t patronize you again.

Now we can all agree that if we drive users through a journey in which all touchpoints are aligned in terms of messaging, copy, and look and feel, and in which the user arrives where they wanted to go, they will be more likely to convert.

It’s all about return on experience

So good journeys lead to good conversion. But does excellent customer experience really drive better business outcomes? Let’s look at the numbers and at a concept called Return on Experience, or ROX, to find out.

ROX is a measurement framework that provides an accurate gauge to assess the success of your campaigns, especially as they impact business performance and KPIs.

The TL;DR on ROX is that better journeys and experiences – ones that are contextualized – deliver high and measurable results in conversions, LTV, ARPU, and more.

Custom product pages meet AppsFlyer’s customer experience suite

So how can you create and drive better journeys and boost your ROX with Apple’s new feature?

We have a simple way for you to conjure contextual experience magic by combining custom product pages with AppsFlyer’s customer experience suite, OneLink.

Our CX suite is powered by a robust deep linking engine that allows marketers to redirect users to a specific spot in the app regardless of their device, operating system, or whether the app is installed or not. And here is where it gets interesting.

For years AppsFlyer has been leveraging OneLink, its deep linking engine, to empower marketers to create user acquisition and remarketing journeys to achieve up to five times higher conversion rates compared to non-contextualized experiences.

Contextualization today

Let’s say you’re driving users to your sports apparel app through a web-to-app journey. You create an ad for your new running shoe and drive users to your website so they can learn about this specific product. As we all know, people are more likely to make a purchase on the app than on the website, so you will display a banner on your web page encouraging them to download your app.

Banners like this one, powered by OneLink and called Smart Banners, will redirect the user to the right app store, and once they download your app and launch it they will arrive directly in the app’s running shoe product page to make the purchase.

Remember that taxi driver analogy? You got your fare and are ready for the next ride!

Future contextualization

Now let’s spice things up. The only non-contextualized touchpoint in the example above is the App Store’s product page.

Now, you see where I’m going, right?

Thanks to Apple’s new custom product pages, you now have a compelling opportunity to add context to your App Store presence as well. In fact, you’d be missing out if you wouldn’t take advantage of this new feature. In the case of your running shoe promotion and journey, you can create a product page variant showcasing running people and shoe images.

This same journey can be achieved with all of AppsFlyer’s x-to-app experiences, such as email-to-app, app-to-app, ad-to-app, text-to-app, social-to-app, referral-to-app, and offline-to-app.

In other words, you can provide a contextual journey from your various channels – whether owned or paid media – to the right product page in the App Store and from there to the right content in your app.

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No measurement, no return on experience

As a marketer/taxi driver, you know that providing awesome experiences is a must.

At the same time, you need to be able to measure “awesome” as well as the incremental return you’re getting for your investments in providing better experiences.

And that’s where ROX and AppsFlyer come in, specifically by allowing you to measure the success of each custom product page and to monitor impressions, downloads, conversion rate, and in-app events.

What makes Apple’s custom product pages so powerful is the ability to test variants. Combining the product pages with accurate measurement of events, both pre-install and post-install, enables marketers to measure metrics such as retention data and average revenue per user (ARPU) for each page and optimize performance over time.

When will this feature be available?

Our teams are now working hard to add custom product page support to our product, and we will be launching this feature later this year when Apple makes it available.

Stay tuned for more updates on this fantastic opportunity.

The post Ride Apple’s new custom product pages and boost your return on experience appeared first on AppsFlyer.

The reality of the recent COVID-19 pandemic is that we’re continuing to learn how industries are being impacted. For instance, the app marketing industry is anticipating a shift from an install-based to action-based user interaction for apps.

But within this uncertainty is the constant of raw data in marketing, which can offer app marketers a significant edge, save on costs, and help them build resilience far into the future. 

Raw data, in essence, is information (app installs, in-app events, uninstalls, media sources, geo, device type, etc.) that can be exported, analyzed and stored, and in the hands of an experienced marketer it can help to supercharge a brand’s campaign and marketing performance.

Why use raw data?

Raw data helps marketers dive deeper and get to the heart of whether their content and marketing efforts are actually working. 

This is particularly relevant in a post-COVID-19 world, where raw data can help marketers better gauge how to optimize and adapt to this new marketing landscape, as we start to see a shift in how consumers are interacting with marketing efforts—specifically advertising content. 

Efficiency and productivity

Raw data can also help marketers get more bang for their budget. Solutions such as AppsFlyer’s Push API can help marketers optimize their traffic in real-time. Identifying critical metrics is key to delivering more ROI as well as boosting the lifetime value of your marketing efforts.

Marketers need to be efficient, targeting their efforts at what is generating the most ROI, especially now. Push API’s filtering and targeting capabilities enable better efficiency and productivity by giving advertisers more control over which data is being sent to them, reducing the amount of ‘noise’ (irrelevant traffic and events) and making it easier for advertiser BI teams to process that data.

Control

Advertisers can define a specific endpoint for organic data and another for non-organic data – one for in-app events and another for retargeting.

Configuring multiple endpoints provides advertisers the ability to organize their data in the way they want to while controlling inbound data more efficiently

Using raw data to design effective campaigns

Raw data reports brim with valuable insights.

While there are a myriad possible uses, we’ve outlined a few common potential applications below:

User identification

One of the greatest hurdles in designing an effective campaign is determining the correct target audience.

Raw data can help marketers more accurately analyze changing user bases via device ID or customer user ID, so they can target their content with greater accuracy and efficiency. User identification data is an excellent tool for marketers to hone in on the target audience and ensure their campaign is being targeted toward the correct user base. 

Understanding user behavior

Raw data, with the help of timestamps, can help marketers better understand user interactions, and get more granular visibility in measuring the customer journey.

User interaction data makes all the difference in the creation of a solid marketing strategy that helps generate the expected ROI.

Improving UX for higher growth

A better understanding of the user base and user interaction through raw data can also help app marketers improve their user experience (UX).

For example, knowing each single step of the journey can help Shopping and Travel apps optimize time to first purchase or retargeting users.

Performance-based billing

Raw data reports provide a clear and accurate picture of ROI, allowing for performance-based billing to clients for campaigns.

This cost-effective billing model isn’t new in the industry, as more and more agency/client relationships are moving towards performance-based pricing, where agencies/marketers are billed based on achieving certain client advertising and/or marketing goals.

User segmentation

You can use geolocation and device-type data to create specific user segmentation.

This type of segmentation is useful during COVID-19, when you’re concerned with targeting users in certain geographies or more engaged audiences.

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Identify potential fraud

Although there’s still no hard data on the extent of fraud on mobile, the challenge is still significant and will only increase as mobile budgets continue to rise.

There are many ways to identify and fight potential fraud in mobile marketing.

Assuming you’re dealing with a savvy fraudster who can create a different identifier for the same device, you’ll be able to use the raw data to fish out suspicious patterns.

For example, you’ll be able to pinpoint how many installs or unique identifiers are from the same IP, illogical time stamps (every second, every 5 seconds etc.), or the presence of many identifiers for advertisers (IDFAs) for a single identifier for a vendor (IDFV).

Ultimately, brands will need to measure the effectiveness of their optimization efforts.

Attribution and analytics partners such as AppsFlyer offer extensive measurement solutions that affords advertisers a bird’s eye view across a number of channels, while also offering more detailed deep dives wherever necessary.

Having this continuous feedback mechanism for their use of raw data should allow marketers to make more informed decisions over the long run.

How to access raw data

Raw data should be easily accessible to all marketers. On the AppsFlyer platform, accessing a raw data report is simply downloading a CSV file (spreadsheet) of your data automatically synced to external BI systems.

A secure database of information with continuous updates on performance feedback is not only a cost-effective method to chart the evolving topography of advertising, but it’s also a great way to customize reports.

Safety and analysis: Why store raw data now and how to do it? 

While it can be convenient to have continuous access to raw data, losing your connection to your attribution provider may cause your data to be lost.

Marketers therefore prefer the option of storing their data to prevent loss and allow for retrieval for later analysis.

1. Better management: Making the most of storage and BI infrastructure 
2. Accessible repository: Having real-time access to raw data 

Storing raw data can be complicated, particularly when you need to make sure user privacy protections are not infringed upon while maintaining your data security. Businesses have a fiduciary duty to safeguard their user’s data and ensure that it does not go to a third party. 

AppsFlyer’s toolset allows users to store every data point sent to AppsFlyer, including organic data, full attribution and engagement data, session data, click data.

All of this mobile attribution and marketing data is stored on a secure storage locker hosted on Amazon S3, allowing users to back up their AppsFlyer data to the Amazon Cloud. Advertisers can also maintain their own data retention policy when the data is stored by them

Building resilience

Our external environment is teeming with data that can be used to serve any number of objectives.

Yet the potential of raw data to allow marketers to draw any number of actionable insights has been made even more compelling during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when the focus has turned towards squeezing more value out of every dollar. Now may be an ideal time to learn how to correctly wield this tool.

But what’s perhaps more important is the significance of using raw data in the long term.

As demand recovers and budgets begin to stabilize, raw data should give marketers and brands an extra toolset to optimize campaigns far into the future.

Raw data solutions

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to raw data, and different measures are called for depending on business needs and budget. And because everyone should have access to their own data, AppsFlyer offers solutions that allow businesses to export raw data for feeding into their BI platforms or for them to use it any way they see fit.

• Push API V2.0 Push API sends attribution event messages in real-time to your server-side endpoints. Doing so enables you to follow user journeys via multiple environments and touch points.
• Pull API is a raw data service by AppsFlyer that allows for downloading CSV reports using uniform resource identifiers (URIs). To set up the Pull API feature, all a user has to do is send the URI to AppsFlyer by pasting it in the browser address bar, or by using scripts. Data Export Tab functionality can also allow you to easily download CSV reports from your dashboard.
• Data Locker stores every single data point sent to AppsFlyer; including organic data, full attribution and engagement data, session data, click data and more. In a way, it’s the ultimate mobile marketing data sync. While credible mobile attribution and engagement data is incredibly powerful, mobile data is too often stuck in the dashboards of each individual provider. Data Locker from AppsFlyer provides 24/7 access to all of the user’s mobile attribution and marketing data via a secure storage locker hosted on Amazon S3. The full scope of your AppsFlyer data is synced to the Data Locker, so the user can focus on insights and marketing optimization.

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