The explosion of mobile devices has dramatically changed the marketing industry. These compact and convenient devices have become indispensable tools in everyday life. As users continuously switch between different devices, platforms, and spaces, accurately measuring marketing effectiveness becomes a critical task for marketers. However, the difference in attribution logic between website and mobile app makes things complicated, making it difficult for marketers to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns. This article will delve into the importance of analyzing and integrating websites and apps. At the same time, it clearly states its role in solving common challenges in today's dynamic internet landscape.
Current status of Web & App distribution
Previously, user journeys primarily took place on the web, using desktop computers. Relying on website cookies, HTTP Referer and UTM parameters is the only way to identify the user, source website and keywords of interest. While cookies play an important role in identifying users and recording website performance, their limitations, such as expiration and differences between browsers, make them impossible to use. Provide a complete and detailed report. Once the user is identified, the HTTP_Referer value for site A's URL allows verification that the user visited site A before coming to your site. However, it is important to note that HTTP_Referer is subject to obfuscation and may be lost during user redirection. Meanwhile, UTM parameters provide a solution to collect more campaign information, allowing up to 5 more campaign details in the URL. Leveraging data from these parameters is important to optimize campaigns and maximize marketing performance.
Meanwhile, applications were born with the emergence of smartphones, tablets and other devices. The user journey from here also becomes more complex with the combined use of web and applications on both mobile and desktop devices. The advent of the Appstore/Google Play and the need to analyze app installs and conversions across devices has ushered in a new phase of campaign performance reporting.
Effective web attribution through link clicking leads users to the website, whereas app usage involves redirection to the Appstore/Google Play. This redirection creates a gap in tracking and monitoring the user journey from ad click to app open, especially since app stores are not owned by you, unlike websites where live data can be accessed and analyzed.
Application performance measurement tools play a key role in closing this gap. Running advertising and measurement campaigns through the tool will allow you to track user behavior from the app store to app installs through relevant metrics.
Identifying user interactions with various mobile web browsers and applications is done through advertising IDs such as GAID and IDFA, each assigned to a specific device. In addition to matching these advertising IDs, these tools use both identification methods such as Google Play Referrer and Deeplink (which provide a match rate of about 100%) and other methods (pairing web browser information of users, such as IP, operating system, device name, etc., with information collected from the SDK) to track users in and out of the application.
However, concerns about privacy violations related to the advertising ID assigned to each device have arisen. With the implementation of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018, the industry faces a series of major challenges in protecting user privacy, while enhancing tracking capabilities efficiency. To address this issue, Apple launched a new performance attribution framework called SKAdNetwork (SKAN) to replace unique identifiers and measure the performance of omnichannel platforms.
Overview of user journeys on both web and app
Unified attribution measurement of Web & App data
Typically, marketers measure attribution separately for websites and apps, leading to data segregation. This causes marketers who manage both websites and applications to use many different analytics tools to measure advertising effectiveness across different segments, even for the same campaign. For example, when a user visits a website through a web advertising campaign and then installs an App and makes a purchase event on the App, it becomes difficult to determine whether this is the same user or not.
Additionally, conversions that occur in another browser off the web or from other applications may be considered organic or unattributed conversions. This will create the misconception that the campaign is underperforming because there are no conversions. To get a comprehensive view of marketing performance in a campaign, using an analytics tool capable of measuring distribution across both web and App is extremely necessary.
To solve this problem Airbridge has provided both a Web SDK and an App SDK to collect data from each platform. Additionally, the Airbridge User Identity Processor allows you to combine this data to measure App and web attribution based on Airbridge ID in a single Dashboard.
Build web-to-app experiences and measure performance
Marketing on websites and mobile apps both have their own advantages. Marketing on a website will attract more traffic and provide more diverse space, saving costs compared to marketing on a mobile app. However, according to the report, the conversion rate and revenue on the mobile app platform are higher than the web, so it is necessary to encourage users to switch to the Mobile app through the design and use of CTA buttons on the mobile app. web, motivating users to install the application or redirecting users to Appstore/CHPlay.
Many Airbridge customers are now taking advantage of contextual deep linking. This is a powerful tool that allows personalization of data related to links, content that users have clicked, viewed or shared. This feature not only helps redirect users to the right landing page in the app consistently, but also creates a seamless & unified experience between the web and app platforms.
With this ability, businesses can take advantage of it to enhance interaction with users. By incorporating a personalized welcome message and promotional codes directly on the website, they can create a more engaging user experience, from encouraging them to download the app to driving transactions and communicate. This not only increases the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, but also helps improve user experience and create long-term relationships with customers.
By building a refined web-to-app experience and integrating the Measurement & Attribution Platform, companies can set up more effective and targeted marketing campaigns. This approach not only enhances user engagement but also allows businesses to understand and optimize user journeys across both Web & App.
Airbridge offers the Smart App Banner feature on mobile web to optimize the transition experience between platforms, from the mobile browser experience to the application. By displaying the Smart app banner, Airbridge encourages users to install the app and creates a smoother and more convenient transition. In particular, this feature not only helps increase install rates but also improves in-app conversion rates, creating an effective measurement environment from web to app. This helps businesses leverage website performance to effectively attract and retain users on the app platform.
The key to an effective approach: unifying Web & App attribution
With changing times and industries, marketing campaign and performance analysis methods are constantly being improved. Today, users can easily switch between different devices and platforms, creating an urgent need for solutions capable of comprehensively tracking their journeys. Airbridge is proactively addressing these challenges, prioritizing the protection of personal information and overcoming the difficulties marketers are facing. Discover how to comprehensively track user journeys across web, apps, and web-to-app conversions, all seamlessly, without interruption in the analysis process.
