Here is how to champion app marketing in the light of new ATT updates

• One of the primary sources for app marketers to collect data is the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) tracker but app Tracking Transparency (ATT) updates by Apple have limited that source.
• Sanjay Trisal, General Manager of India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at AppsFlyer writes about its implications and a way to work around the ATT updates.

Data is the ultimate source of information for all marketers to plan their marketing initiatives. One of the primary sources for app marketers to collect data is the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) tracker. IDFA is a string of random numbers/letters allocated to Apple mobile devices to track in-app events and activities. Hence, mobile advertisers use IDFA to deliver more personalized advertising.

However, App Tracking Transparency (ATT) updates by Apple have now limited this source. ATT updates are inclined in favour of consumers making the privacy process more intuitive. It acts as a guideline for consumers, which concerns their data usage, and it gives a choice of whether to install it or not. Any newly downloaded app pops a message, asking for the user’s permission to enable IDFA tracking.

Prior to the privacy updates, marketers had access to customer insights, which helped them measure the efficacy of an ad campaign and target different segments. With this new update, marketers fear limitations on user information. It is predicted that online advertising could become significantly less efficient because of the new constraints around tracking. Industry experts believe that budding businesses that shifted to a digital model will be affected by this new privacy policy owing to the pandemic.

Let us draw how ATT updates will affect advertising and what measures app marketers can take to continue to achieve their goals amidst these restrictions.

Policy’s impact on measurement

The changing dynamics: Marketers expect to see changes in the way they receive information and, in turn, target consumers. Without IDFA enabled, one might not be able to create efficient remarketing strategies across channels to analyze a customer’s in-app journey. This would not prohibit advertising, but it would limit ad personalisation.

App-to-web and web-only platforms: App to web will be affected similarly as app-to-app. However, web-to-app and web-only or any owned media channels which do not use IDFA can continue to track data as they did before. Thus, marketers can always count on these platforms for their analysis. Since deferred deep links will have to rely on probabilistic models, marketers should be vigilant while maintaining the user experience.

Android users: Nothing changes for Android mobile advertisers. As India accounts for a low percentage of Apple users; Android continues to dominate the market. However, in practicality, things might change for Android too. As Apple has started a revolution in user privacy, major supply partners will adapt to this change and might bring in products to overcome these challenges, which will have consequences not only on Android OS but the overall mobile marketing industry.

SKAdNetwork: Apps looking to use more personal data, such as financial, food and drinks, gaming, and entertainment, search for a lower-than-average opt-in rate. For where an IDFA is not present, Apple has designed a solution that allows for permissionless, privacy-centric, aggregated attribution called the SKAdNetwork. This will enable marketers to measure the attribution of mobile advertising on iOS.

The solution
The policy, undoubtedly, will bring tracking limitations that will impact the ability to identify the coordinates of the potential app users. For example, consider the scenario where a user in Mumbai gets served an ad for a company based in Nagpur. In this situation, the ad might get redirected to the local version of the website based on the customer’s location, and if a purchase is made, it wouldnot be adequately tracked. There would be similar problems faced with other kinds of tracking too.

The following could be a few measures marketers can practice to improve marketing efficiency:
 Internal audit of your partners: Conduct a thorough audit of your data best practices and ensure that you have no back doors where data might be leaked or compromised.
 Strengthen your brand: Invest in brand advertising, whether digital or offline. The more your brand is known and trusted, the more likely users are to share data with you willingly in a trusting value exchange.
 Continue to experiment: Continue to experiment and start with leveraging priming techniques like test and evolve your value proposition messaging before presenting users with the ATT consent form. By explaining to them how you will and will not use their data, you can gain their trust and increase the likelihood of opting in.

Apple’s privacy-centric approach has brought about a revolution, and the consumers are in the driver’s seat. Hence, the digital era is now pushing businesses to be inclusive of customers' concerns. This shift is challenging but demands innovative solutions that will continue to cater to the audience without compromising on user experience quality.