Over the past few years, the quantity and quality of data available to app developers has been severely reduced. Relying on ad platform targeting data is forcing app UA teams to “go broader”, which is driving down ROAS. App marketers are backed into a corner. Is there a way out?

There is!

You don’t need to rely on ad platform targeting for long-term success.

To discuss how, we got together an expert panel of app marketers to offer practical tips and tricks on the most effective ways to retain control against automation so you can take back ownership of your user acquisition targeting.

Learn trade secrets from app marketing experts from EastSide Game Studio, Appvertiser, Bango, and Upland.

Read on for key takeaways from each panelist on the one piece of guidance that mobile marketers can’t afford to overlook.

Dale Lawrence, Head of Client Solutions – Bango

Look into payment behavior – true payment behavior. Everything that we see internally at Bango Audiences is based on truth because we are a payment processor.

There have to be questions raised about platform-based interest targeting. I think people are very trusting of platforms like Facebook, expecting that when you’re trying to reach people who are interested in casual games, for example, they are actually the users that you’re targeting.

At Facebook, they’re very secretive about how their algorithms work. So, knowing if you are actually targeting the right audience requires a lot of trust.

I think sometimes bad data might be more harmful than no data.

If you are framing a lot of your development or your targeting on what platforms are telling you, you are making key decisions on misrepresentative and misleading data.

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So, my key takeaway is to try and use as much truthful, proven data as possible rather than inferred or algorithmic data.

Hagop Hagopian – Founder & CEO – Appvertiser

Take control as much as you can.

Keep testing and exploring instead of relying on machines. But, if you go that route and rely on machines, have the right mechanism in place to feed the system the right data.

SKAD4.0 is going to be a powerful tool for tracking and optimizing your campaigns. With advanced schema and three postbacks to help you finetune your results, you’ll be able to make data-driven decisions with ease.

So, keep testing, and gain control over your marketing initiatives.

Lindsay Anne Aamodt, Head of Marketing – Upland

Understand the entire funnel and its optimization. All aspects of the funnel need to be optimized in order to have healthy purchasers and revenue.

I would say, zoom out and do a final analysis. Figure out where the gaps are.

If we’re running a little blind on the campaign performance, then you can take back control of what you can see, which is your full funnel. If you see that there are larger gaps than there should be, then your bigger problem is funnel optimization, which is where growth, lifecycle, and product meet together. And that’s where teamwork and magic really happen.

Ahmed Mrad, Product Growth Analyst at EastSide Game Studio

Look at your game/app metrics more holistically. All disciplines are related.

The granular loss of signals will propel marketers and UA managers into thinking more globally than just about specific campaign performance.

Avoid clinging onto whatever probabilistic signals are coming from iOS and looking for elusive granularity. The future is anonymity, and we need to adapt our measuring methodologies to this new environment not double down on old measurement techniques.

Put UA at the center of your thinking but connect with other departments.

Really think about your product, whether it’s a game or any other type of product, as a lifecycle thing.

Watch the full webinar recording here.