Finale — The IDFA conundrum. In my previous articles, I wrote about:
By: Abishek Ashok
Tags: Advertising, Marketing, iOS, Apple, Startup

In my previous articles, I wrote about:

The ecosystem around the IDFA A deeper look into why the ad industry needs a reboot

With that, let me close the series with a few thoughts for developers to mitigate any perceived effects from Apple’s recent announcement:

Internal Data Audits

Start by getting a good sense of your application’s data policies. As developers/marketers, we tend to accumulate in-app engagement events beyond what we need. Too often, I hear requests from cross-functional divisions to collect user events..“just in case”. Before you know it, the app is configured to send events that end up getting stored for little to no use.

Tip: Reach out to data experts in your division to perform an audit of events/parameters collected. As a team, you need to comb through the events and ask the questions:

Are we using this event/field today? If so, does it add value? If not, do we have a tangible use-case in the future? Can we quantify said value by running a quick experiment? Can we repurpose a combination of other existing fields to achieve the same outcomes as predicated by collecting the event?

Going through this exercise on an ongoing basis should make the process easier and productive for the long haul.

3P Education

More often than not, you may find that your app collects information unbeknownst to your team in the form of SDKs/Frameworks introduced by 3P advertising networks. Educate yourself about your ad partner’s data policies. Focus on the principles of data collection and usage alongside their retention policies. Ensure that whatever gets collected on your behalf is what your business needs and not the other way around.

Tip: Look past assurances around enforced policies such as GDPR. Simply adhering to such guidelines should not become the gold standard.

Own your Channel

Advertising is a great way to acquire users (or) monetize your apps. It should be done tastefully. Why would you work hard on building incredibly engaging content only to lease out your space to sub-optimal advertising?

Work closely with your marketing agencies to focus on content as much as performance Obsess over the copy/verbiage/demo to highlight key value Increase and diversify fill by working with your mediation partners. Focus on ad quality as much as your eCPMs Keep close tabs with your customer experience team — Highlight and penalize errant networks that boost fill with trashy ads

Switch to Subscription Models

I like how Ben connects product adoption to the user’s willing-to-pay for content. Now might be a good time to understand your audience whatever be your business vertical and gauge your ability to focus on users who truly value your content. Switching over to a subscription model could fetch a premium cost with higher margins.

The flip side is true though— Subscription models tend to narrow down the focus of your offering which takes away the broader reach and growth.

Tip: Analyze your customer behaviors and rethink the right opportunity for your app. Ensure that you go deep on engagement. Skimming the surface with top-line metrics such as CAC and LTV could take you down the wrong path. You need to have a solid read on your customer journeys with your product to make an informed decision.

Aim for Transparency

One approach is to be straight up transparent to the user. Customers are more receptive to giving you the benefit of doubt when:

You are ultra transparent about your intent Provide value-driven options and let the user make the decision

In my own anecdotal experience, developers have improved conversions when they communicate their intent upfront. Take push notifications for instance. Which one of these do you think resonates well with your audience:

Obviously the one on the left is going to perform better. You may want to use the same strategy to convince your users to opt-in to sharing their IDFA. You just need to be honest and transparent.

Good Luck!

Feel free to reach out should you have additional thoughts on this topic. Cheers :-)