Flow State Media: Mobile User Acquisition Overview

Yong Park (yongpark.sd@gmail.com)

1. Industry Introduction2. Ad Networks3. Trackers4. Analytics Platforms5. Recommendations

Table of contents

Ad Networks provide developers an easy way to advertise with a large network of integrated publishers. Mobile advertisers pay based on 3 categories:

● Cost-Per-Mille (CPM) ● Cost-Per-Click (CPC) ● Cost-Per-Install (CPI)

1. Industry Introduction

Advertisers can acquire installs through non-incentivized (users have no incentive to interact with the app ad) installs or incentivized (offers in-game currency for app install). Incentivized downloads however have recently been catching flak from Apple.

● Global mobile ad networks offer CPM/CPC/CPI pricing with a large publisher inventory.

● App promotion networks focus on CPI pricing. Mainly aimed towards games and cross-promoting developer portfolio for free.

● Rich media and video networks focus on providing an interactive or video ad to users in-app. Works on a CPC/CPM/CPI model.

● Mobile buying platforms and demand-side platforms (DSP) give advertisers access to real-time bidding (RTB) exchanges, which automates the buying and selling of advertising inventory via online auctions. Works on a CPM/CPC/CPI model.

Types of ad networks

● Ad is served through ad network.

● User interacts with mobile ad.

● Interaction is attributed to a network and tracked by tracking platform.

● Tracking platform sends data to an analytics platform.

How it works

The numbersI researched and spoke with ad networks, trackers, and analytics platforms to get a sense of the mobile user acquisition landscape.

● 40 ad networks● 3 trackers● 4 analytics platforms

2. Ad networksI took a sample of self-served networks, mobile CPI networks, video networks, and first party publisher platforms I prioritized the list based on data points including those below:

● Minimum commitment amount● Pricing model● Competitive advantages● Reach (publishers/games/users)● 24/48 hr out● Install velocity at $2/CPI in Canada

Ad networks comparisonSelf-serve

Flurry Chartboost Revmob Adcolony Vungle Facebook Pandora

Minimum commitment

Pricing model

Competitive advantages

Reach

24/48 hr out

Installs at $2CPI in CA

Self-service networksThe self-service networks such as Admoda, Buzzcity, and inmobi typically operate on a CPM/CPC basis. While these pricing structures are cheap, they do not guarantee app downloads and their targeting parameters are generally lackluster.

I suggest avoiding these networks for the soft launch and using higher quality networks to drive quality users.

Mobile CPI ad networksThis list of networks revolve around the CPI model, paying per user rather than 1K impressions or per click. These full-service networks typically include a minimum cost, campaign manager/dedicated support, and better targeting parameters.

The notable networks in this category are Flurry, Chartboost, and Revmob.

Flurry is an all-in-one solution mobile marketing solution. They provide users an ad network and a free analytics platform to get meaningful information about their users. They have strong targeting parameters and a generous 24 hr out with a dedicated campaign manager.

● $10K minimum● Premium supply source, retargeting, personas● 500-1000 publishers● Banner, interstitial, video, takeover● 24 hour out with no minimum spend● 2200 incentivized installs/700 non-incentivized installs/day in

Canada

Chartboost is a gaming-focused app promotion network. They offer cross promotions for advertisers, allowing them to advertise for free between portfolio games. They also facilitate direct deals between advertisers and publishers while providing full data transparency.

● $0 minimum, cancel anytime● Cross-promotion, direct deals, data transparency, gaming

demographic● 50k games● Dedicated campaign manager● Interstitials only● Can pause/cancel anytime with 0 minimum spend

Revmob is one of the newer ad networks positioned towards game advertisers as a premium network. The platform has exclusive traffic, targeting, and an analytics platform much like Flurry.

● $500 minimum● In depth targeting parameters, analytics, exclusive inventory● 6k publishers● Dedicated campaign manager● Interstitials, banners● 48 hour out with no minimum spend● 50 installs/day in Canada

Video ad networksVideo ad networks exclusively serve video ads. They typically operate on a CPI model with similar minimum costs as the mobile CPI networks. They also offer creative support for an additional fee.

The two notable ad networks in the video space are AdColony and Vungle.

Adcolony is a video only advertising network that provides non-incentivized installs with dynamic end cards, a combination of video and call to actions.

● $5K/$10K w/ creative support.● Dynamic end cards, reporting & analytics, real-time data API● 300 publishers● Dedicated campaign manager● 15 second video w/ CTA ● 48 hour out with no minimum spend● 2000 installs/day in Canada

Vungle is a video ad network that serves 15 second videos on both iOS and Android. They recently released their video ad exchange, allowing advertisers to RTB in-app video inventory.

● $5K/$10K w/ creative support.● Video ad exchange, internal dashboard, good targeting

parameters● 5500-5800 publishers● Dedicated campaign manager● 15 second video w/ CTA ● 48 hour out with no minimum spend● 50-75 installs/day in Canada

Proprietary networks

Proprietary networks are first-party publishers that allows advertisers to promote on their network. These networks have the best targeting parameters due to the amount of data on their users.

The two publishers I spoke with for this project were Facebook and Pandora.

Facebook offers low CPI with the most robust targeting parameters offered out of the ad networks due to its first party platform. They set the industry standard when it comes to CPI and LTV from their users.

● $750 minimum● Deep targeting parameters, mobile/web retargeting, high user

quality, 1B user reach● Dedicated campaign manager● Mobile install/install w/ video ads on newsfeed.● Can cancel anytime● 50-75 installs/day in Canada● Creative

Pandora provides high level targeting for both audio, video, and banner ads. However, they do not guarantee inventory for CPI campaigns since they mostly work on a CPM model.

● $10K/month for national campaigns. ● Deep targeting parameters, variety of ad types.● Dedicated campaign manager● Audio, video, banner ads● No cancellation, must spend minimum spend.

3. TrackersAttribution trackers connect to various ad networks to track where each source each install is attributed to. They also provide additional analytics for post install such as LTV and CPI for each ad channel, allowing advertisers to optimize and see which ad networks are providing high quality users.

The 3 trackers that I researched were HasOffers, AppsFlyer, and Kochava.

Tracker differencesHasOffers, AppsFlyer, and Kochava are the main attribution trackers. The main differences are price and AppsFlyer/Kochava’s relationship with Facebook through the Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program.

HasOffers recently lost their PMD relationship in February with a large number of developers and advertisers looking at alternative sources. AppsFlyer came up as the best option while Kochava is still relatively new in the space with not as much volume in terms of integrations.

Tracker pricing

AppsFlyer pricing

HasOffers pricing

AppsFlyer has a cheaper pricing tier than HasOffers, only tracking tracking for installs compared to HasOffers’ clicks, installs, and in-app events. I could not get a hold of Kochava for pricing tiers.

3. Analytics PlatformsAnalytics platforms allow developers to track in-app actions on a variety of OSes. These analytics platforms provide access to custom dashboards to get a granular view into data to get actionable insights.

Analytics platforms provide a way to get detailed engagement analysis using cohorts, segmentation, and active user sessions.

The analytics platforms I researched were Google Analytics, Flurry, Mixpanel, and Localytics.

Analytics comparison

Flurry and Mixpanel are the industry leaders when it comes to in-app analytics.

Flurry is a free platform that gives a basic overview but is harder to dig deeper into user actions and intentions. They provide easy integration into their ad network through the same SDK and comparison metrics with benchmarks for the same category.

Flurry allows advertisers to look inside user experience in real time, review insights on how campaigns are performing, and monitor conversions based on tracking events.

Mixpanel is more robust, allowing for direct user segmentation and communication. They also provide user push messages, real-time tracking, and in-app user flows. The downside is the need to clearly define hooks and segmentation to get insightful data.

Mixpanel features revenue analytics to see where the most valuable customers come from.

5. Recommendations

I recommend using the combination of Chartboost, Facebook, AppsFlyer, and Mixpanel for the initial soft launch given the demographic, region, and budget.

With a $15K budget, most ad networks with a $5K and $10K/month minimum commitment level doesn’t make sense. I suggest using Chartboost for their gaming demographic and Facebook for the specific targeting parameters. Facebook will help drive the female demographic while Chartboost will mix in other demographics to get better insight on which audiences Letter Up resonates with.

Recommendations

I recommend using AppsFlyer and Mixpanel for attribution tracking and in-app analytics.

AppFlyer easily integrates into Chartboost and Facebook (being a PMD partner) to track attributions and installs.

Mixpanel and AppsFlyer integration is also simple, providing easy interaction between the two products.