By Viraj Sinh
The first smartphones made their appearance almost 15 years ago. They have changed how users interact with their devices. People rely on smartphones to work, shop, bank, and entertain themselves. A gold mine of valuable user data is building up among device and app developers. National governments are starting to take a keen interest in private data regulations, and smartphone developers are taking the lead to move towards a consumer-centric, privacy-first experience.
This is great news for app users who are increasingly exercising more control over their data at a device level. This also impacts how app marketing will evolve to scale sustainable app growth.
The privacy advancements affecting app marketers
Cookieless tracking and Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) have created waves in the mobile advertising ecosystem. Users can choose to disable cookies or opt-in/out from all advertising tracking. This does alter how mobile advertisers can access user behavior insights, target and retarget ads, as well as generate new conversions. However, the dust has settled since the initial days of the conversation, and advertising is increasingly moving towards smarter execution methods.
The introduction of SKAN’s aggregated attribution system for iOS users was a relief for app marketers who were concerned about losing out on high-quality eyeballs. StoreKit Ad Network or SKAN is Apple’s API-based, privacy-centric framework for ad measurement and attribution, without revealing specific user data. On the Android side of the market, Google’s Privacy Sandbox is also walking on a similar path of introducing privacy-first campaign attribution for mobile advertising.
In the face of changing winds, the buzzwords dominating the industry are predictive analytics with first-party data and contextual advertising. Restrictions on user data usage shift the brand’s focus to actively incorporate user consent and user education on creating a data-led personalised experience.
Data privacy and app marketing to a high-intent audience
Apple’s new ATT-activated smartphone sale share for the first quarter of 2023 is at 20.5%. Apptopia, in its analysis of in-app purchases from July 2021 to July 2022, also noted a 40% jump among App Store users, contrasted to 9% among Play Store users. App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and Google’s Protected Audience API are shifting marketing analytics to focus on each stage of the funnel to scale in-app revenue. Marketers have to take a hard look at how users have interacted with the ad before finally downloading it.
A brand’s customer centricity is what makes winning marketing campaigns in a privacy-focused landscape. As the need for segmented, contextual communication increases, the value of targeting users with search intent marketing also goes up. We are looking at walled gardens of premium users in a privacy-first ecosystem. Platforms like Apple Search Ads provide a gateway for app marketers to reach the iOS premium user base. It essentially uses keyword-led search intent marketing to run user acquisition campaigns for advertisers. With AI and machine learning, marketers can predict and even optimise in real time how their campaigns perform for different matches of online search queries.
Drilling down into keyword volume, popularity, and how users have generally interacted with results of search queries, AI-powered predictive analytics can help advertisers build up their search intent marketing strategies for maximum ROAS. For example, performance-focused Apple Search Ads campaign management platforms help app marketers with their AI/ML-led keyword recommendation feature to find local and vernacular keywords that can bring their keyword bid costs down, without compromising ROAS.
How platforms like Apple Search ads are shaping up contextual app marketing over the coming days?
While post-install first-party data is under the control of individual advertisers, the challenge is in the pre-install phase. With over a billion apps in the market, the user acquisition landscape resembles the proverbial wild west.
Learning more about your app’s user journey before a download occurs is all the more important now. It can be broken down into four simple intents: discovery, interest, desire, and conversion. In a platform like Apple Search Ads, app advertisers can control their ad targeting at each of these phases with multiple ad placements like Today Tab, Search Tab, Search Results page, and Custom Product Pages. This position puts brands in front of users who already have a high intent to engage. Building brand credibility in an ecosystem like the App Store, which sees an average of 600 million visitors per week, can prove significant to boost user acquisition goals and trigger strong organic app growth.
In the era of heightened data privacy concerns, mastering user acquisition demands innovative strategies. Embracing first-party data, contextual advertising, and AI/ML-driven search intent marketing ensures a customer-centric approach. This synergy empowers businesses to forge meaningful connections while respecting user privacy, fostering trust, and achieving sustainable growth.
The author is co-founder, managing partner – International MAAS platform by Affle.