Just Basics for App marketing

There are two main marketing activity which can push your app into the market, first one is ASO - App store optimization which push your organic ranking among the all app in app store while searching on any relevant keywords. Second one is paid advertising, which can be used to promote your app to download/Remarket/Engaged etc..

So start from here...

• Through ASO-App Store Optimization (Organic)
• Through Self Serve Platform Paid Activity – Running App Install Campaigns
• Through Publishers/Affiliates/Ad Networks

Traffic Type.

• Incent
• Non - Incent

Third Party Tracking Tools.

Google Analytics, Apsalar, Appsflyer, MAT, Flurry, App Annie, Localytics Etc…..

Data/Analytics/Remarketing...etc

• Use third party analytics tools & integrate this with app and find out the potential user with analytics data based on the ARPU, Transactions..etc
• Create so many events & make the best segments.
• Track the user experience & have a data who are the active/ Installed/ Uninstalled/Not Open Users.
• Define the advanced marketing strategy to re engage them
• For installed/active user /Not Open – Again target them with Attractive Communication & CTA (Call to action) - Re-engagement activity.
• For Uninstall user – Focus on retarget them with device ids, mailers...etc

Programmatic Strategy for Publishers

Programmatic advertising continues to provide more opportunities to publishers in order to utilize the technology to advance their advertising sales strategy.Programmatic has changed how media is bought and sold.It is making digital media buying more fluid in the digital advertising ecosystem. But from publishers point of view Programmatic is not a full proof solution to their inventory. They are still confused on how and where to implement Programmatic in their servers.

Spot-buying via open RTB auction or tag based can be a profitable monetization solution for the remnant inventory. But most of the publishers are still confused when it comes to selling their premium inventory via PMP deals, Automated Guaranteed etc. They are not sure how much they should sell via deals. They are not sure how much inventory should be sold directly or monetized via third-party, supply-side platforms like PubMatic, Rubicon etc. Also publishers are confused if they should fragment their inventory into channels or not. If a publisher sells fraction of its inventory via third-party, supply-side platforms like PubMatic, Rubicon etc the buyer or advertiser gets a fraction of its inventory and makes it mind on the basis of the same. Lets suppose a publisher XYZ seels a fraction of inventory to any SSP and buyer or advertiser ZZZ buy it via some SSP and did not get desired ROI then it gives a negative effect to the overall inventory of the publisher. And the buyer may not consider the publisher XYZ's inventory in their future media plans.Also publisher lose cohesive control over the whole inventory if they sell it via distribution channels.Publishers need better alternatives.

I think the ideal solution will be one which gives publishers better allocation control over 100% of their inventory, allowing them to hand over last-minute placements to spot buys that haven’t been pre-allocated. Also the existing ad-servers like DFP etc have been made to handle the direct campaigns of publishers. Its the time to create a smart ad-server which can understand and handle the complex Programmatic algorithm. I think publisher need one-stop distribution channel. Google (DFP) becomes more appealing due to preliminary dynamic allocation tools between DFP and its programmatic platform, DoubleClick Bid Manager. Few other options can be AppNexus, with its Open AdStream acquisition, and OpenX. Rest of programmatic supply-side universe operates without having a dedicated order into the publisher’s ad server.The publisher needs to have one-stop monetization stacks. They can do it by having their own ad server. And most of the big publishers are already having their own in-house ad-servers. But those publishers which do not have their own ad-server can follow below mentioned steps in order to develop their Programmatic strategy.

• Understand the Programmatic Landscape:- Programmatic is often misused as a synonym with the open exchange, or real-time bidding. But it is not the case. Programmatic actually contains a wide range of solutions for both advertisers and publishers. The most widely used channel is the open exchange and private marketplace. The other is programmatic direct, a growing channel that offer buyers and sellers automation with guaranteed and non-guaranteed deals.Adding programmatic into sales strategy can expand the landscape of potential buyers for available inventory. Understanding each channel and the buyers it attracts gives publishers a better comprehension of the options available and how each can provide the most impact on yield.
• Adopting a holistic approach:- Publishers have been focused on selling direct inventory, sponsorships, packages etc. These silos are where publishers have created their revenue opportunities. Now,publishers have the emerging “indirect channel” element to fold in, which presents opportunities. So the publishers need to maintain a balance between the two channels in order to get better yield. Adopting a holistic approach will help publishers to get more advertising $$$. Publishes need to spend time in order to develop their programmatic strategy. Building the “just-right,” tailored programmatic strategy takes time. You have to play the “long” game — whether it’s incorporating direct, programmatic, or auction efforts take time.It’s a cultural and a philosophical shift.
• Define Yield:- To best optimize yield, programmatic should be looked at as a separate channel in the mix of an overall sales strategy. Paired with traditional channels like direct sales, selling inventory programmatically can have a huge impact on yield. But only if a publisher is correctly allocating inventory to these different channels. Despite long-standing practices, maximizing yield doesn't necessarily mean a publisher must give their entire inventory to one source.

To keep it short. If you are a publisher and not sure of all these jargon's. Then simply you should consult with some Programmatic consultant. Try to implement Programmatic into your ad-server stack. As you know that Programmatic is the future. To start with put it on lower priority and see the results (ecpm, fill rate, Brand sensitivity, discrepancy etc).  To start with your partner (SSP) will put you in their open RTB auctions. Once you are satisfied with same then you should try testing some premium  inventory with the SSP. So in order to sell you premium inventory via Programmatic. You should ask your partner (SSP) to bring some Private Marketplace (PMP) deals. PMP deals will lead you to better rates and brand control. Then you should also start trying Native Advertising, Programmatic Direct etc. In order to get better rates you can create your audience packages. Audience is being sold on higher rates. So in order to create you audience pool, you can either work with some Data Management Platform (DMP) like Bluekai, Akamai, KRUX etc.

Is Native Advertising the next big thing?

"What's the next big thing" is always difficult to answer. At its core, the marketing strategy behind Native Advertising definitely holds value. Designing unobtrusive advertising content that not only scales by device but offers something genuinely interesting or entertaining to the user is something every advertising professional should aspire to. Native content also tends to lend itself to going viral more than other advertising, so in this day in age, its certainly something a lot of people are focusing on.

Native advertising is paid advertising where the ad matches the form, feel and function of the content of the media on which it appears.Consumers find native ads ‘innovative’, ‘fun’, and potentially more effective than other formats.According to The Drum, research by eBuzzer and Nielsen found that 75% of respondents associated a native ad with its parent brand, making it more effective than other digital formats.Native means a lot of things right now (in-feed, advertorial, etc), but in all cases the end goal is a unit capable of commanding CPM's in dollars, rather than cents. The true goal of native is to attract brand budgets. Publishers all realize that revenue from banners and RTB is flatlining, so the next big thing is native in order to command CPM's in $$.

Native advertising is rapidly evolving into one of the most exciting areas of digital media. Reliable sources state that a staggering 7.9 billion dollars will be spent on native ads this year, with this number growing to around 21 billion by 2018. This gives a huge scope for all the publishers to make necesary chnages on their web pages in order to support native advsertising. Its a myth that native is only for big social media players like Twitter and Facebook. Although social media giants have an advantage but other content portals, news properties, video-sharing sites and streaming service providers can also get a big chunk of native advertising. All leading publishers across the globe are now ahaving dedicated sales team to sell native ad formats already. The increase in number of mobile users is also going to add fuel to native advertising.

Now is the single best time in history for publishers and advertisers to provide meaningful, powerful messages within a relevant, non-intrusive context.

With things moving so fast, where do you see native going? What is the future?

Let's discuss and make things happen.

Chrome is going to pause Flash content by default - 1st Update

Please be informed that Chrome is going to pause all flash & Flash based video ads from Sept’15 onwards and moving towards HTML5 technology as a part of their initiative to improve the page load experience and better battery life of the devices. As a part of Beta testing, Chrome has already rolled out the feature for users coming under test bucket.

What does it mean to Publisher / Advertiser ?

1.      Rich Media experience such interactions, engagement will be on risk. We can’t expect same Rich experience of Flash in HTML5

2.      If continue to serve Flash on Chrome, user has to click on button to watch the ad and then further click will take to the landing page or interact with it which means significantly drop of CTR.

3.      HTML5 will help the page to load faster and have similar experience across the devices (Desktop & Mobile).

As per the recent report, Chrome is riding on more than 50% browser market share which means advertising experience & performance will be on high risk in case they continue to serve Flash. I would request all the Sales team to please start discussing with your respective agency/advertiser for providing HTML5 creative only. The sooner we will start adopting, better will be for the advertiser & organization in terms of monetizing the inventory effectively.

Limitations of Programmatic Media Buying

As of 2015, programmatically bought digital ads already accounted for more than half of all US digital display advertising (more than $10 billion). But there are some serious problems with programmatic. Just came to know that comScore launches independent metrics for programmatic buying and these points came to my mind. So though of sharing with you.

Quality of Ads - Programmatic media buying has lead cost per impression down dramatically but the overall quality of digital ads within programmatic environments has plummeted. Viewability and bot traffic issues really need to be taken care of on priority. Otherwise it will act as an evil for the whole industry.

Low user interaction - Programmatic has traditionally limited creative capabilities by only enabling standard ad formats to be bought at scale. This trend has led to brands serving 1990s-style ads with 2015 media buying technology. This is the era where brands are recognizing the need to personalize messaging to drive consumer engagement. In fact, 54 percent of consumers find personalized ads to be more engaging, and 74 percent indicated they desire some type of content personalization. Those aren’t small numbers. The need of the hour is to personalize advertising using big data.

Limited Understanding of Technology- Programmatic is like a teen age sex everyone wants to do it but very few know how to do it perfectly :). There are limited peoples who know about it. Most of the people working for and managing brands do not know much about it. And if we are not aware of the technology then the chances of being fooled is on the higher side. While it is not necessary to know the deep inner-workings of each technology, it is important to have a basic understanding of how it is working for your brand. Any programmatic partner worth working with should be ready and willing to answer any questions you have about the technology powering your campaigns and what is unique to their specific approach.

Measuring the Performance- When it comes to data and key performance indicators, such as customer lifetime value, purchase size and cost per acquisition, then there are limited partners who can actually provide you these stats. Transparency is another issue which needs to be taken care of. And the advertiser should know where exactly their ads had been shown. Unlike the black box approach used by many players in the programmatic space, it is important that your partner provides full and transparent campaign performance and learning with insights that can feed directly into a advertiser's CRM and they can use it for future planning as well.

Paying for Unviewable Ads- Now a days the spend is getting shifted towards video impressions but Google says that nearly half of video impressions are Unviewable. In 2014, "Vindico, an ad management platform company, deemed 57 percent of two billion video ads surveyed over two months to be 'unviewable. The need of the hour is to resolve viewability issue on priority. The issue is similar for all other platforms as well.

Brand Safety: When you're buying media directly from publishers, you can require that your ads be displayed only in proximity to content that supports and compliments the brand image and association you're trying to establish or reinforce. When there isn't transparency with the sites that are included in the ad exchange, combined with machines (instead of humans) optimizing for results, brand safety is no longer guaranteed. Until more transparency is brought into programmatic buying, companies must weigh the benefits of cost efficiency and machine learning with brand safety.