Mobile Analytics Deep Dive

Mobile analytics for applications and sites is a new field in marketing. Despite being nascent, it’s quickly growing since all brands want a return on investment. Mobile analytics serves as a powerful tool for tracking how effective the campaign is. That is why it’s a very essential aspect of all marketing campaigns out there.

Mobile analytics does not focus on the web but the mobile web compared to traditional analytics. But it also provides details on the keywords that made users land on your site or content. It has also shown how long they spend on your page, the referrers, and the other metrics. 

A common misconception about mobile analytics is that it’s more challenging. People think that it’s harder to source reliable data when using mobile. However, this is not necessarily correct. The truth is, mobile analytics users look for other information. The primary data that mobile analytics use includes the user’s network, browser, and device. Basic platforms also provide information regarding screen size.

Your Goals in Mobile Analytics

Your mobile analytics goals are different from one campaign or app to another. But there is one similarity among these campaigns, which is the establishment of targets. The target can be awareness, downloads, revenue, or a mix of all. 

As a digital marketer, you should decide on these goals to know the important metrics for mobile analytics. It will let you know what aspects to look for and track. You’ll also know your conversion points here.

Once everything is okay, you can get more specific about your goals. Think numbers and dates. For example, you might want 1000 or more downloads in the first 60 days of your application launch. Or you want a 20% increase among consistent users at the end of the month. These specific targets make analytics more exciting and valuable.

Events Tracking

A mobile app analytics tool that allows you to see statistics, graphs, and charts will help you track important events in your digital marketing campaign. Look for a mobile app analytics tool with various customization options, including setting “conversion events”.

The right program will also let you check each event separately for a more methodical examination. It may feature broken-down statistics, including location, age, gender, and other demographic information of users. 

Conversion Events

Conversion events refer to the most important events you need to monitor through mobile analytics. Such events determine the most crucial users of your app. It will encourage you to examine these users and events and how they work more thoroughly. For example, you might ask, which acquisition channels do these users come from? Once you know which channel, you can focus your efforts on these.

For example, you have various multiple marketing campaigns for your mobile app to achieve revenue. The conversion event is when an individual click on a specific advertisement and purchases in-app. This scenario means the number of downloads is only a secondary objective. 

The three primary conversion events that mobile analytics tools measure include:

• App launch occurs when the individual opens the app for the first time after installing it. Opening the app after re-installation also counts as an app launch.
• In-app purchases occur when the individual buys something within the mobile app. Google Play, iTunes, or App Store must be the one processing this in-app purchase to be trackable. The parameters for in-app purchases include the product name, currency, amount, and product ID.
• E-commerce purchases occur when the individual completes a transaction. The parameters for this conversion event include coupons, currency, value, and tax. You may also consider shipping and the transaction ID. 

Mobile Analytics Metrics

Here are some essential metrics you can measure on setting up mobile analytics.

App Attribution 

In mobile analytics, app attribution shows how the app has gathered users, whether it’s organically or through digital marketing. This metric is essential in analytics because it tells you the campaign’s performance. 

Meanwhile, event tracking shows the users’ value. You’ll know which campaigns have reached their goals and which ones did not provide the desired return through this. 

CPA

The cost per acquisition refers to another metric that presents the money you spent on every user. Manually, you can compute it by dividing the total amount of the campaign by the number of users. This variable is necessary for mobile marketing because it gives you a number that you can use to calculate the ROI.

The cost per acquisition also helps you identify the best methods for gathering new users or customers. 

Average Revenue per User (ARPU)

The ARPU metric shows the average profit your campaign or application has produced per user. It helps you check if you are doing the right thing and hitting your revenue goals. If you want to know your lifetime value, you also need to consider the ARPU. But they do not provide absolute values because ad whales make them misleading sometimes. 

Lifetime Value (LTV)

Lifetime value refers to how much an individual should spend before churning. This metric is necessary for analytics since it shows how long users should be active before getting revenue. The lifetime value also indicates how much your campaign should make in the upcoming months. 

Challenges of Mobile Analytics

Although you’ve seen new metrics that mobile analytic platforms use, it still poses some challenges. The most commonly used procedure for data gathering is not available on some devices. This situation means mobile analytics packages need to be resourceful in using alternatives. They may use packet sniffers or access log files.

Another issue with mobile analytics is the handset capability detection. It’s not always required, so if it’s essential for your site, carefully check your analytics package.

Fortunately, there are new tools that can resolve these issues. The most common mobile analytics platforms include AdMob and Google Analytics. These programs are free, accessible, and easy to understand for new marketers. You can track both iPhone and Android applications with Google Analytics and use the server-side tracking options. 

© Image credits to Tyler Lastovich