Mobile App Analytics Fundamentals
Introduction
Mobile app analytics is the act of keeping track of how your app is fairing on in the client's world. This is achieved by monitoring various aspects through a specialized online platform. The moment one creates a mobile app then the next step is to get new users, have them regularly engaged so as to generate revenue for the developers business. The aim of this paper describes the essentials of mobile app analytics fundamentals.
App Marketing Essentials
According to Analytics Academy , a website inspired by Google, several tools can assist developers to advertize and market their apps. The common tools include goggle ads, marketplaces like goggle plays and iTune play stores. Other ways of advertising the newly created apps are to build a microsite characteristic with one or two-page showcase of the app to the audience. Additionally, the creation of a teaser website a month before launching the app to collect email addresses from potential clients is one effective way to start over. Creating a blog attached to the microsite so as to pull potential customers to the main website is also an effective strategy of trying to market the app. On the other hand, social media platform have instant results for online marketing hence acting as the main vehicle that will pull potential clients to the main website. Use app review websites like app-advice and app store apps among incoming other will target and generate more user leads. One can also start a podcast by publishing on iTunes. App revenue models-depending on the developer different strategies are often used when it comes to monetizing mobile apps. For revenues, there are three options to use. They include paid app downloads, in-app purchases like peer to peer selling or charging users for specific services or use of in-app ads. The type of add created will determine the type of monetization model to adapt. For instance, in a gamming app, which offers diversion and entertainment one can choose either in-app purchases or freemium as a monetary model and these two strategies will deliver money to developers.
Establishing a measurement plan especially when monetization model has been determined guide developers on the kind of the analytic data they want to collect and analyze. Therefore, the plan should define the tactics and ads strategies of the underlay objectives. Measurement is purposeful because the main indicators of the apps market success and market dominance as a whole enables understanding of whatever activity is thriving in the market. The main purpose of the measurement plan is to assist in creating valuable actions depending on the market response.
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Setting up tracking is another important tool used in marketing apps once the measurement plan has been developed. Tracking is a way of data collection. Some software to be installed for this task includes software development kits with capabilities that can connect to the Analytics API's, and Google account is necessary to use app tracking analytics. Steps to implement the tracking activities differ for every platform. For example, Android steps are different from iOS steps. For instance with Android one has to download the Android SDK and Studio then plays services SDK and finally links the AdMob account to Google Analytics.
Attracting new users of any product or service is an art and science nowadays. With the advent of technology, there are various ways in which one can attract new users for their app. For example, once the SDK has been installed, the account setup is completed, and the tracking begins to work in attracting users. Different acquisition channels can be used for this activity, and they include social networks, display ads and search engines, app marketplaces like Google play and emailing your new app to clients are considered in this category.
Acquisition reports are useful when evaluating and analyzing the app metrics. Once there is an understanding of which channels users come from, this directional data can easily decide the most effective marketing efforts to explore. For instance Google, analytic reports enable one to understand better the user acquisition suggesting that the most active users, the age group of these users, their locations and the number of hours they are often actively using the app are recorded. The acquisition report also indicates how often the app is downloaded and the number of new users on board hence real-time data. The real time reports assist one to capitalize on the strengths and also work towards improving on the areas, which are scoring low points.
High-value users are the main goal of any app developer. The developer aims at getting as many users as possible. However, each app defines high value differently. For some app, high value is based on how often the app is engaged while for others it is based on monetary value and still for others a combination of the two. Depending on the developers definition of value, the app is considered successful if it has brought its benefits.
Segmentation and user attribute to the segment is to separate different group of users or user behaviors so as to compare their differences and similarities. This enables one to understand the characteristics and behaviors of the monetized users and be able to market the app to the most potential users showing similar attributes.
Measuring behaviors
After you are done with the process of acquiring users, then you can monitor how the users are using your app. This is achieved through the use of behavior reports. Every report has specific information in line with the actions taken by users, and these reports are available real time. The information may include the interactions made on a screen, the views and the exceptions and crashes encountered. Such reports often assist the app owner to know the most common behaviors exhibited by both the apps low and high users. Through the behavior reports, one can also tell the total number of events that took place during an active session.
For screen tracking-one measures the various screens used in for the app. These tracings are used as containers to hold interruptive contents. They measure how often one uses the screen and for how long they stay on it. This will assist one to know the most active screen and maybe explore it for adverts.
Event tracking-unlike screen tracking, which provides information about the screen itself, events tracking can be added to the most interactive segments of the app. It allows developers to track specific interactive segments and contents that may go untracked. These may include a selection of menus, mobile ad clicks, video plays and button clicks. Developers must set up tracking in their apps to track such important event. Therefore, a working event tracking must have four parameters namely: category, action label, and value.
The customs dimensions and metric tracking system is used to customize uniquely data collection for any modern app. Dimensions are the categories of data with numerical values. Metrics is numerical values that often count how many times certain behavior occurred or how many times a particular user attribute is represented in a session. Metrics screen views can be used to measure the performance of various screens. The settings for each of the two dimensions have first to be configured into the app for them to be effective.
Enhanced e-commerce tracking is good to monitor the clients purchasing behaviors. The moment that there is know-how of measuring the clients behavior, then the purchasing behavior must also be understood. This tracking demystifies the customers online shopping behaviors. It assists marketers to understand the performance of individual products or categories of these products. It also shows the purchasing behaviors of customers.
Increasing revenue comes in once the app is better placed within an understanding of the users behavior and their purchasing habits so as to start thinking about the issues that may prevent customers to carry out or complete in-app purchases. To identify roadblocks such as a complex registration process to revenue, one needs first to identify such roadblocks using revenue reports. For instance screen reports can be used to do a comparison of monetized and non-monetized segments.
Engaging users drives the life of the app. These are users who may have stopped using your app for one reason or the other. You can base this on how frequently the users use the app or have access to it. This can be achieved through assessing the loyalty report. Doing so provide the number of sessions, average session duration, some screens visited per session and the goal conversion rate. Marketers can use things like advertising and bonus to motivate less loyal users. Also, engaging users will allow investigating whether these low users share any common attributes. Similarly, the use of recency reports to show how much time is passed between app sessions is used to engage users. Appeal to the users who have stopped using your app by applying certain marketing strategies like remarketing campaigns, push notifications and emails because such strategies will get the user's attention quickly and easily.
Remarketing to existing users is one good way of re-engaging existing users. This can be done by creating special incentives or creating attractive features for the target users. To achieve this, developers and marketers must make a change to analytics tracking record. You should be specific about who you want to re-attract back. To create a specific audience list, consider all users that access any app. Users that only visit a specific page or area of the app, users with a specific goal of conversation and new users that are viable candidates should be targeted for remarketing According to Analytics Academy, n.d.).
Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to describe the essentials of mobile app analytic fundamentals. Once the app is created, developers should embark on getting the necessary software installed and begin learning the users behaviors. After uploading the app to the market, continuous advertising must follow to get more customers and engage new clients. Tracking the users behavior follow. App developers and marketers should always keep users enticed and must always work towards re-engaging users and remarketing the app to keep it selling. For an app to remain top of the market, then the founder must be leading in its activity and always up to date with the technology trend. The founder should always think of ways to keep clients addicted to their app.
