Mobile Success in 2016 Means a Mature Strategy

In 2016, “just doing mobile” is no longer enough. Centro’s Director of Mobile, Noor Naseer, delivered this strong message in her recent webinar, Build a Mature Mobile Strategy with Four Targeting Tactics. With spend on mobile booming, as well as the amount of time individuals spend on their mobile devices skyrocketing, it is imperative that marketers stay ahead of their competition by developing a mature, comprehensive mobile targeting strategy. Missed the webinar? You can download the recording, as well as the presentation, here.

Following the webinar, Noor tackled many questions but unfortunately, she was unable to address all of them. Here are her answers to the questions we couldn’t get to during our time together.

Given the controversy around Apple's privacy practices, how does consumer privacy factor in to location targeting?

Many of the concerns recently raised in relation to Apple’s privacy policies and the protection of consumer privacy are more so related to protecting data collected by Apple in native apps. That data collection and associated concerns are, as of now, independent from how mobile location data is passed through in mobile ad calls, so potential implications have yet to impact the mobile advertising industry. As is customary for Apple since the release of their unique advertising identifier, IDFA, Apple always offers an option for the user to opt-out of being tracked when it comes to advertising. Exact numbers of how many users opt-out have not been released.

When referring to mobile retargeting, how often do we see users delete or disable the cookies needed to target them?

Since the connectivity that enables retargeting is based on ad calls where the connectivity is achieved by reaching the same user across the mobile app and web space, there is no direct collection of data on the number of occasions where mobile users are deleting their cookies. To note, in these retargeting circumstances, the user is not just reliant on the cookie but also on the SDKs implemented into each of the apps in the exchanges

How large does a campaign need to be for site visitation to make sense?

If ‘large’ is a reference to the geography an advertiser would seek to retarget across, it does make sense to target on a national or large regional geographic level when the core of the campaign is based on mobile site visitation. Otherwise, if the advertiser additionally tries to leverage other common mobile tactics, like hyperlocal targeting, they will severely limit the number of opportunities that would enable mobile site retargeting to occur successfully and at scale.

Are there any difficulties when tracking conversions on mobile platforms when the goal of the campaign is to generate conversions?

Despite some advances that enable some usage of javascript tags on mobile web for retargeting purposes, the same degree of accuracy that cookie sessions offer in the online space are not replicated identically in mobile. There are still issues with proper attribution of all conversions that are drawn in from mobile. For this reason mobile solution providers leverage a combination of cookie, unique device IDs, and fingerprints to overcome the fragmentation issues that mobile poses.

What offline attribution partners do you recommend?

There are an assortment of offline attribution partners and each approach foot traffic lift a little differently. There are partners that leverage third-party panels and those who offer their own proprietary attribution solutions. Some offer softer lift data, such as a percentage lift overall in verified walk-ins to store locations and others that can offer 1:1 attribution on the number of mobile users who were exposed to ads and subsequently went to a store or similar point of interest. The right solution offering is based on the budget of the campaign, number of stores reached, duration of the campaign, and if clients are seeking 1:1 numbers or if more percentage-based store lift data will suffice.

How can you build custom audience segments?

In order to build a valuable custom audience segment based on location data, a client should think through the real world foot traffic patterns and behaviors of their consumer. What places do they naturally frequent that when added together would represent the consumer they are seeking to reach on mobile? Often times, major mobile location partners have built out many segments, so checking what is on the shelf and then testing a slightly altered version can be a good way to optimize.

What might be a good means of prioritizing viewability if I can’t work with an accredited viewability vendor?

Work with a partner that runs full-screen interstitials or IAB certified mobile adhesion units that constantly stay in view. Running these types of units when measuring viewability from a third party is not an option that enables the greatest likelihood of very high viewability of mobile ads.

Next month, on April 20^th, we are introducing a new installment of 3Ton30 called 3T Spotlight. In 3T Spotlight, we will comprehensively analyze a hot digital topic in an hour-long webinar. Join us next month for our 3T Spotlight: The Many Faces of Ad Fraud. Register here. We hope to see you there!