Is Performance Marketing the key to Better Mobile Measurability?

In this article, Michael Duning, VP Strategic Growth, Glispa, explains why performance marketing is far from dead, and why it's evolving to be better than ever.

With the power to keep audiences hooked for three hours each day, it’s no surprise mobile has gripped marketing attention and investment. This year alone, mobile will account for 70% of digital advertising budgets — around $74 billion — and by 2021 the spending pot is set to tip $118 billion. That’s equal to almost 80% of all online ad dollars.

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As a result, it’s more vital than ever to accurately measure whether this colossal spend is driving returns. But according to Gartner, few have achieved this. Recent studies show that 46% of industry professionals describe their analytics as either ineffective or neutral.

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So what can be done to keep better tabs on mobile effectiveness?

One solution is adopting performance marketing. Though its utility has come into question as industry focus has shifted towards maintaining positive brand image, this approach is just as capable of tracking conversions as awareness and ultimately ensuring value for money.

Performance marketing in brief

First, let’s recap on performance marketing. The process allows marketers to only pay for media when it fuels a measurable action, such as; clicks to product pages, a redemption of coupon codes, and purchases. This means it provides two key advantages. In addition to reducing wastage — no outcome, no payment — marketers get a detailed view of ROI. Measurement shows which tactics, ad types, messages, and channels inspire action for certain audience segments or individuals, and can be considered effective. Using this insight, they can then optimize investment and targeting: adjusting ad delivery and content to suit unique preferences. That’s not to mention quantifying the impact of campaigns.  

How can it help on mobile?

As mobile’s star rises, time spent with other media is falling: Zenith research shows mobile’s share of global consumption has risen to 24% since 2011, while TV’s has dropped by 3%. And when it comes to what consumers do on mobile, apps dominate: making up 90% of US smartphone and 77% of tablet activity. So, it’s crucial for marketers to reach consumers via mobile — especially in-app — and gain an accurate view of response that enables them to maximize results. Fortunately, that’s exactly what performance marketing can offer.

To start, it gives marketers the ability to set tangible goals that align with business targets. For instance, a brand looking to increase use of its mobile app might set a particular number of downloads as the core campaign metric. Or, it may track engagement by measuring whether ads sent to existing users boost session duration. Moreover, performance marketing can boost longer-term objectives that are important to continually improve budgeting efficiency, such as Lifetime Value (LTV). By evaluating consumer reactions to ads (how much they buy on mobile sites or in-app) brands can calculate their value in monetary terms and direct more spend at high rollers — when the campaign aim is to bolster LTV.

And that’s not all. Performance marketing has developed significantly over the last few years and now reaches further than just conversions; also covering brand awareness. By linking overarching goals with defined actions, performance marketing can be harnessed to assess the impact of mobile ads on previously elusive factors such as brand image. For example, say a brand wants to enhance favorability with its latest Snapchat campaign, it could make this measurable by establishing video shares as the chief metric. Or even go cross-platform by analyzing the number of times video viewers mention the campaign on Twitter.

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Of course, there are some pitfalls brands must avoid. The biggest of which is using multiple isolated tools for building creative, delivery and measurement, thereby generating a jumble of data that’s impossible to turn into holistic performance insight. But, as long as brands ensure simplicity is prioritized when selecting vendors, there are plenty of rewards to be reaped.

With the potential to precisely track in-app response and quantify brand awareness, performance marketing may just be the key to better mobile measurement. Used within a wider range of tactics and technologies, it has the capacity to help marketers engage audiences in a smarter way and on an individual level — driving better results in the short and long-term.