AppsFlyer gets right to the point at the start of its new report about the effectiveness of mobile marketing: “Being a successful digital marketer in 2016 is hard. Being a successful mobile marketer is even harder.” The company then takes a close look at the best performing media sources to assist those in learning more when it comes to ad-spending.
Titled The AppsFlyer Performance Index MWC Special Edition, the report looks at over 2.5 billion installs, and the top sources of mobile advertising. Several takeaways from the report are:
Facebook Is Number One
The social media giant has managed to place consistently in the global top 5 media sources when it comes to retention, and also holds the number one spot when it comes to power rankings across every single category and region. Other companies like Twitter, AppLovin and Chartboost have found proper placing, but nothing seems to come close to Facebook.
Video advertising is key for retention
Ad networks show a roughly 30 to 90 percent higher retention rate than other networks in the overall index. The iOS format seems to get a good amount of these as well. The video ads for app installs seem to be more effective than non-video based ones, too, providing users a better idea of the experience included with certain games and other programs.
Social networks have great retention
On the Android platform, social networks rule, taking the top three spots in both gaming and non-gaming categories, including travel, eCommerce, utilities and lifestyle. On a side note, Google’s format has also managed to deliver when it comes to power of intent.
Twitter has an up-and-down performance
While Facebook’s dominance can’t be beat, Twitter has its own level of retention on the Android platform, with top two placings in gaming and non-gaming. That said, its scale could be better, as it’s currently placed at #18 and #10 in gaming and non-gaming. However, its ongoing integration with MoPub could change this in the future, enabling it to expand its reach.
There are many differences between iOS and Android
The top 30 media sources for iOS and Android showed many differences, with a lot of them being higher than the ones on Android. The gaps between the two are much smaller, though, showing around four to ten percent, based on AppsFlyer’s standard deviation calculation.
Android rules overseas
The Asian market is a big one, and it’s there that Android has a huge grip, mainly due to the diversity of phones available on the market – something for every budget. As a result, Asian networks have seen a boost, with about a third overall ending up in the power rankings, both in gaming and non-gaming.
