Brief:
- Ad automation developer Bidalgo and mobile analytics platform AppsFlyer partnered on a "full-funnel attribution solution" for Apple Search Ads, according to a press release made available to Mobile Marketer. The new solution will combine Bidalgo's ad automation with AppsFlyer's full-cycle customer behavior data.
- It will allow app marketers to better track their installs and link them back to specific campaigns, as well as connect Apple Search Ad campaigns to in-app revenue. Performance can be tracked based on lifetime value and return on investment using keywords, targeting and bid rates.
- To automate ads for two of its game titles, Aristocrat-owned mobile gaming studio Product Madness used Bidalgo for creative optimization and AppsFlyer to measure full-funnel attribution. The result was a three-day return on ad spend that was 40% higher on Apple Search Ads than other platforms, prompting the company to triple its campaigns.
Insight:
Monetizing apps has been one of the biggest challenges of app-makers, with about 60% making only $500 per month. Many have found in-app purchases and ads to be the biggest revenue drivers. Ads make up 55% of mobile publishers' revenue, while in-app purchases account for 39%.
With more than 65% of downloads coming as the result of an App Store Search, tools like Bidalgo and AppsFlyer's Full-Funnel Attribution solution might allow app developers to better track the relationship between their advertising campaigns and installs to get a better sense of their ROI.
Apple launched the initial Search Ads platform in late 2016 to help app developers target potential users with criteria like location, keywords and past installations of the app. After creating a campaign, the ads would appear at the top of the App Store when consumers searched for a specific keyword. Marketers paid for the placements when selected by users.
Apple recently renamed the original Search Ads to Search Ads Advanced and added an entry-level option, Search Ads Basic, a pay-per-install platform with $5,000 per month ad budgets. Developers looking to create buzz around their apps have largely embraced Search Ads, which has conversion rates of more than 50% and a cost per acquisition less than $1.50 — lower than many other platforms.