The experience of APP promotion gained after spending a lot of promotion fees

I believe that many students who are responsible for APP promotion will be confused about how to buy traffic on iOS? The boss gave a budget and asked to purchase some high-quality iOS traffic . But the results are always unsatisfactory. Which channels can purchase iOS traffic at low cost and recover it quickly? How to better meet the boss's KPI? Today's article can be regarded as a lesson learned from blood and tears. The article details the evaluation of the purchase effect of each channel. Come and learn more!

I had the honor of participating in the entire iOS buying process of the company’s largest project. As the person in charge of precision advertising , my boss also gave me a lot of room to explore (eight-digit advertising fees/monthly delivery space). After much thought, on the one hand I want to make a summary of my work, and on the other hand I hope to use this platform to share with you some experiences in the process of purchasing iOS traffic for targeted advertising (mainly CPC).

In the early stage of launch, it is recommended that everyone has a very deep understanding of their project. At the same time, we customize specific marketing ideas according to our own products. For example, our APP has a big IP and 300 million registered users in history. This is the advantage of the product. Our product is weaker in art but more prominent in gameplay. To sum up, in the early stage of the launch, we formulated a main launch strategy: make good use of big IP and large user base, and focus on old users (materials and copywriting are targeted at old users). At the same time, the gameplay is highlighted in the materials, and the material art is optimized to weaken the UI disadvantages (but the art effect should not be too exaggerated, after all, poor consistency will affect conversion .)

At the same time, after communicating with the product, we also obtained the main demographic portraits of historical users (age, gender distribution, education, income, major high-paying cities, etc.). This has played a significant role in providing targeted guidance to our population.

Judging from the delivery data, this strategy also gave a very good response. According to data, the delivery results of several channels broke the lowest data in the history of media delivery.

OK, let’s get straight to the point. I will start with the pitfalls before the launch—> the precautions during the launch—> the data performance of each platform after the launch to comprehensively evaluate each mobile platform and make an overview.

1. About monitoring: Compared with the monitoring method of Android subcontracting, iOS monitoring is slightly more complicated. There are several modes in general:

【API connection】

The full name of API is Application Programming Intererface, which can be literally called "application programming interface". This docking method is the best for iOS monitoring because it can directly connect to the mobile advertising platform to transmit IDFA data and fully monitor all user behaviors. Minimal data discrepancy. Highest accuracy. (It is the same principle as S2S of some overseas channels). Recommended level: ☆☆☆☆☆

【Third-party monitoring】

Most mobile advertising platforms will be deeply connected with third-party mobile data service platforms, which will reduce a lot of technical pressure for advertisers. But at the same time, there is a risk of data being exposed to third parties and being removed from the shelves by Apple. Therefore, if the mobile advertising platform can be connected to the API, in principle it is recommended to connect to the API of the mobile advertising platform alone as much as possible.

If you still want to use a third-party monitoring platform, you also need to confirm the docking matching mode between the third party and the mobile advertising platform (for example, TD has several docking modes: 1. IDFA matching mode (best) 2. Fuzzy matching (IP+UA or pure IP matching) Recommended: ☆☆☆☆

【SDK connection】

SDK docking can achieve accurate transmission of delivery data, but because the only trackable data is front-end user behavior , subsequent user retention and payment cannot be followed up. Furthermore, if each mobile advertising platform is connected to the SDK individually, the workload will be large and it will only serve as a reference monitoring method. Recommended: ☆☆

[Advertisers’ own monitoring methods]

Most advertisers have their own monitoring systems. (Most of them are IP fuzzy matching mode): record the IP when clicking the ad (add a jump page during the jump to the App Store, visible or invisible), and then match the IP when the user activates the ad. After a successful match, it is marked as the ad source. This monitoring has the problem of inaccurate data: for example, the data tracking of IP changes will be interrupted. At the same time, the source of data attribution is easily confused. Recommended: ☆☆

Precautions

1. After selecting the monitoring method for each mobile advertising platform, be sure to test whether the monitoring is smooth and accurate before launching. You can randomly select monitoring links to simulate delivery from clicks to activation and registration. Check to see if there is any data recorded. Avoid wasting advertising costs.

2. For some channels, the official said that it does not accept API docking. But if the investment amount is large. In fact, you can negotiate and apply for API connection separately. For example: Google's admob.

Evaluation of mobile advertising platforms

iOS advertising requires choosing a good platform and optimizing it: the right creativity (exploring product selling points from the user's perspective, regularly updating creativity, and native creativity for better results) + the right scenario + the right people (AB testing to identify the target user group). Only in this way can we achieve the ultimate ideal delivery effect. In general, most domestic mobile advertising platforms use ECPM (ECPM=CPC CTR ) to determine the traffic distribution model, so it is recommended to do more combination tests (continuously testing ad positions , creativity, user targeting, etc.). Proper optimization + accurate platform selection can ultimately achieve the best delivery effect. 【inmobi】inmobi is an Indian company with 30,000 to 40,000 APPs integrated on its platform. Large traffic volume. In the 2015 Mobile Advertising Network Report, Inmobi is the top channel in terms of activation volume . (For example: During the free period of our APP, inmobi purchased 150,000 US dollars of traffic per day on a single channel. The number of visitors on a single channel on that day was nearly 30,000+). Compared with the domestic ECPM traffic allocation model, inmobi's unique CBP bidding model is more advanced. (conversion based principle ). CBP will automatically adjust bids based on the conversion rate of ads on each site. Help increase the scale of advertising and ensure that CPA is as controllable as possible and maintained at a certain target level (CPC=C VR target CPA). Overall evaluation: 1. The CPA of this channel is moderate and the ROI is the best among all channels. Fast recycling. (Some friends reported that inmobi’s delivery was not good, which was probably due to the optimization level). Native, video and Appographic effects are the best for inmobi delivery. But the competition is fierce. 2. For advertisers with particularly large traffic demands, they can coordinate traffic with inmobi’s BD in advance. 3. Try to avoid the stage where large advertisers offer a certain amount of traffic, otherwise you will have to pay a higher price to get the traffic.

【Glispa】

Glispa is a German company and ranked No.1 in terms of clicks in the 2015 mobile advertising report. The cooperation model is CPA or CPR. The main mechanism is that advertisers bid, and Glispa then finds channels (after each channel receives the advertiser's price, it will find DSP or other CPC platforms to optimize delivery and evaluate whether there is profit margin) to negotiate the allocation of traffic.

Advantages: Costs are controllable for advertisers Disadvantages: Most distribution channels are overseas channels. Response adjustments must be made at least 2 days in advance. Not timely enough.

Overall evaluation

In terms of scale, Glispa is second only to inmobi. But the ROI is not inferior. It can be used as one of the major channels to supplement traffic. (The ROI is mainly related to the quality of glispa's distribution channels).

【 Tencent Guangdiantong , WeChat MP, Zhihuitui 】

Tencent’s social platform accounts for half of the domestic mobile platform traffic. WeChat MP opened APP downloads this year (open bidding CPM30 and above). Due to its product characteristics, WeChat MP has high-quality user traffic, good user payment rate and payment habits. Both the ROI and the magnitude are impressive.

Compared with MP, GuangDianTong has a relatively younger user base and a lower ROI than MP. But the overall ROI is also at a good level among domestic channels. Feed resources are the best among the placements. During the big promotion, we achieved five-digit activations on the same day and a CPA of less than $1. All resources delivered on that day are feeds.

Compared with Guangdiantong, Zhihuitui’s products and algorithms are not very scientific and complete. Optimization is also quite difficult (API connection, data needs to be sent back to each campaign every other day. Real-time optimization is difficult), but the overall ROI is good (slightly lower than Guangdiantong). The recently added Daily Express resources have increased a lot of traffic. Information flow resources are the best.

【 Today’s Headlines 】

Toutiao ranked among the top 10 in terms of clicks among mobile advertising platforms in 2015, and gained more user traffic due to its strong brand exposure in 2016. Therefore, the demand for CPT and CPM advertising has been increasing, which has indirectly led to a reduction in the overall traffic that CPC can purchase. IOS has fewer CPC resources to purchase and the overall ROI is good. CPA optimization is difficult. The relative stability of traffic is weak.

Precautions

1. In the early stage of Toutiao’s launch, each plan should include as many different creative ideas and pictures as possible to test out high-quality creative ideas as quickly as possible. At the same time, improve the planned CTR, thereby improving ECPM. Get more high-quality traffic.

2. Set the budget to 20-30 times the expected expenditure. (Actual consumption is 20-30% of the planned budget).

Because Toutiao’s advertising system distributes traffic in batches, if the budget is small. The traffic of each original batch will be very small, so the CTR will be unstable. This causes ECPM to become unstable. The traffic will also decrease. Then it will be more difficult to increase the volume.

Furthermore, due to the dispersed traffic situation, the data model that can be analyzed is not scientific enough.

3. In the early stage of launch, it is not recommended to restrict the audience: on the one hand, it is objectively difficult to accurately define users with system labels. If the audience is too narrow at the beginning, you may lose the opportunity for high-quality traffic. After a certain base of exposure opportunities is obtained after the launch, specific audience targeting can be carried out based on the population portrait (AB test is recommended).

【Mobvista】

CPA or CPR purchasing method, ranked sixth in click volume in the 2015 mobile industry report. The channel traffic is not small. Moderate ROI (lower than Glispa). The delivery principle and mechanism are the same as Glispa.

【chartboost】

Overseas channels. The only domestic brand of Changsi. The main settlement models are CPA, CPC and CPM. Due to the good ROI, there is a high demand for package volume. However, there is not much traffic that can be purchased through CPC and CPA. It is recommended to use CPC and CPA modes to test the high ECPM delivery model before doing CPM. BTW, CB recently made a system repair. After the package is added, the exposure volume increases, but the cost increases a lot, with the average being around US$10.

【admob】

A platform owned by Google, it has large traffic and relatively real users. But the CPA is relatively high, with the industry average being 40-60 yuan CPA (after optimization). The ROI is average. If you need momentum, please refer to the release. But admob data is delayed a lot, about 48 hours. It's a bit troublesome to optimize.

If the investment amount is large, you can apply for native resources. The effect is relatively good.

【 UC Headlines 】

UC Headlines' overall DMP system is relatively simple, with lower optimization difficulty and more stable traffic. Traffic can be amplified during the period of large-scale promotion. The overall ROI is average.

【 Baidu Tieba native advertising 】

The age group of Baidu Tieba users is relatively low, resulting in a ROI bias. At the same time, Baidu has recently adjusted and reduced advertising space, and the amount has continued to decrease. Can be used as a replenishment channel. The CPA is relatively high.

【 Sina Fans Pass 】

Fans Pass places great demands on copywriting and materials, and there is not much room for optimization in other aspects. The ROI is average and can be used as a channel to supplement the volume.

【Sina Support Wing】

The overall ROI is low, and the user age group is older, so consumption is more rational. The WiFi traffic during the delivery is relatively small. If you need to increase traffic, you need to turn on non-wifi settings.

【Unity, Vungle】

Overseas video platform. You can purchase it by CPI, and you will get traffic only if you bid higher. ROI is unstable (depending on the product). It can be used as a channel to replenish volume.

【Other small and medium media channels】

There are still some niche CPC delivery platforms on the market, and some of them have unexpected effects. Most of the big advertisers on these platforms will keep a low profile, after all, resources are scarce and they are unwilling to compete with each other. Everyone can also pay more attention to it.

The above is an overview of the overall distribution channels. For large advertisers, it is recommended to open multiple accounts to obtain traffic at low cost (UC Toutiao does not allow multiple accounts). At the same time, select channels according to your delivery goals. Try to achieve your respective KPIs.