In performance marketing, the critical factor for success is the measurement of post-install events, also known as KPIs. In fact, by tracking the right metrics, marketing teams and company managers can take the right growth paths and discard those ideas not supported by data. But how do we know exactly which are the correct parameters to measure? Above all, is it necessary to create a marketing analytics system connected to digital activities to make the right decisions? Too many times in the search for the correct data, marketing teams get lost for various reasons, for example:
- By tracking the wrong information or, even worse, by monitoring activities without going into detail.
- By monitoring every single event or KPI, thus creating more confusion than clarity.
- By structuring the tracking processes in an inappropriate way.
To avoid getting lost in the available data, it is advisable to plan your activities and create transparent processes to structure the collected information so that everyone within the organization can use it.
Why Is It Essential To Implement A Marketing Analytics System?
Implementing a marketing analytics system is very important for all companies that want a competitive advantage in their industry.
Data Visualization With A Dashboard
When we often talk about the marketing analytics system, we also refer to the visualization of the same data and KPIs to facilitate their use and understanding within the company. Of course, every organization has a different product and funnel and needs to analyze specific KPIs for their businesses. Here, however, we want to give an idea of what can be tracked in a simple dashboard for a mobile application:
- Active users ( DAU, WAU, and MAU ).
- Company-specific KPIs (for example, registration, purchase, product viewing, and so on…).
- Sales and revenue data.
- Level of satisfaction from users (for example, display of user ratings or support tickets or the speed with which calls to the call center are processed).
One of the most common mistakes made by developers and marketing managers is trying to visualize all the KPIs and their possible combinations. At least at the beginning, it is more appropriate to create something simple which can be digested at a managerial level. Once we have the foundations, we can go to the bottom, creating specific views for different teams and satisfying various internal requests.
Also Read: What Is Hybrid Event Marketing And Its Benefits?
Marketing Analytics In Mobile Marketing
At a minimum, this system must give us visibility on:
- Number of installations generated by the various channels used
- Retention and engagement rate
- In-app conversions – all post-install reference KPIs
- Revenue for each paid marketing channel
At first, it may be sufficient to analyze what is reported by the various acquisition platforms in combination with the Google Play Developer Console and iTunes Connect. However, when we start to increase the budget for user acquisition activities and the growth plan becomes more aggressive, it is essential to implement a tracking system (MMP) in your mobile app. Making this type of implementation naturally has a cost (not only monetary but also of resources), but it is undoubtedly a fundamental step to creating value and improving the data analyzed.
Why Implement A Tracking System (MMP)?
At this point, it seems only fitting to make a slight digression and briefly explain the advantages of implementing a tracking system (MMP) in your mobile app when you start spending on user acquisition. Unfortunately, many developers make the mistake of sticking with a free tracking system for too long and get lost in analyzing incorrect data. Like everything, free services have a slight advantage and are undoubtedly helpful in the initial phase of growth when you still don’t know what your long-term goals are.
However, once the first steps have been taken, it becomes necessary to implement an MMP if you have an important growth project that needs to be supported by serious reporting. Mobile attribution is used to track which channel each acquired user comes from and also how these users behave in the post-installation period. There are not many companies that deal with attribution, as the “networks” of excellence, Facebook and Google – so-called self-attributed – have decided to collaborate only with some of the options available on the market. Here are some key points to keep in mind when evaluating the various tracking and attribution tools on the market:
- Organic Traffic – Many companies active in attribution do not charge for organic traffic, so it can be helpful to consider this factor, especially in the beginning.
- Facebook Measurement Partner – If we plan to use Facebook for our user acquisition campaigns, then the tracking system we will use must also be implemented with Facebook.
- Free solution + paid solution – Especially at the beginning, it is essential to have both answers active to exploit the elements of one or the other to complete the data to be analyzed.
- Integrated anti-fraud solution – This is a “hot spot” of attribution in mobile advertising. Nowadays, many tracking solutions also offer an anti-fraud tool, which was only available through third parties a few years ago. Necessary depending on the budget you want to allocate to the Ad Networks, a thorough analysis is still required before starting to use this type of solution (also because it often has a relatively high premium price)
- Data visualization – Many developers mistakenly think that tracking systems must also have a data visualization capability for cohorts and specific needs for their mobile app. Still, in reality, this function is beyond the powers of a tracking system. It is, in fact, essential to have access to ” raw data “to be able to export data and create ad-hoc views, as we saw in the previous section on dashboards.
Marketing Analytics And Funnel Analysis System
At this point, it should be clear how implementing a marketing analytics system, together with a tracking system with a visualization dashboard, can significantly simplify the life of the marketing team, but also that of management, thanks to the ability to access reports and accurate analyzes to create transparency within the company. The best way to set up a system of this type is to create a report that displays the typical user funnel, with all the essential steps or actions that could be done while using the app. In this regard, it is essential:
- Analyze the conversion funnel, then consider all the in-app events that represent a critical moment in the user experience (for example, registration, profile creation, payment methods, purchase)
- Work on cohort data to understand how the users acquired in a specific period behave or how they use specific in-app features.
- Please create a user segmentation based on their actions in-app to present them with personalized offers.
- Understanding how specific segments of users use their mobile application
Cohort analysis is a fundamental part of any marketing analytics system, even the less sophisticated ones. Without such an analysis, we could never have a complete and correct view of how our in-app users behave after installation.
Conclusion
When it comes to marketing analytics systems, the main question always seems to be the same: is it better to develop everything internally or use an external tool? In general, once the company grows and expenses increase, it makes sense to internalize marketing analytics as much as possible, if only to control how your data is used. For novice developers, it might make sense to work with a hybrid solution to save time and resources since timing and speed of execution become fundamental in the development phase. Whatever solution you want to start with, the fact remains that developing a marketing analytics system is the foundation of a successful business.
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