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M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S

A quarterly mobile marketing report from Opera Mediaworks

The world’s highest quality mobile advertising and marketing platform

Q 2 • 2 0 1 6

4 The Pace of Mobile Growth

5 Most Popular App Categories

6 Top Apps by Engagement & Conversion

8 Mobile Brand Performance

12 Beyond the App Install

13 The Power of the SDK

15 Mobile Manpower

17 Common Obstacles in Performance Creative

18 Tips for Brand Performance Advertisers

21 Methodology

M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S | Q 2 2 0 1 6

2 | w w w . o p e r a m e d i a w o r k s . c o m

H I G H L I G H T S

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

DATAMobile users are spending nearly 10% more time each day in the most popular apps, and brands in the Retail, Food, Automotive and Technology industries are investing heavily in performance campaigns served to mobile devices.

TECHNOLOGYBrands looking to build an audience of high-quality users can leverage up to 22 post-install events to build lifetime value models to accurately measure the efficiency of their performance dollars.

CREATIVITYBrand performance advertisers face a unique set of challenges when it comes to mobile creative. But by thinking beyond their logo, putting value front and center to the user, and carefully adapting elements to the mobile medium, they can optimize creative for maximum impact.

D A T A



D A T A

T H E PA C E O F M O B I L E G R O W T H

T O P 1 0 0 A P P S , Q 2 2 0 1 6 - A V E R A G E M E T R I C S 1 ( G L O B A L )

“In just three months, we’ve seen the time spent per day jump nearly 10% to reach 33.5 minutes per day.”

In the beginning of 2016, both Gartner and IDC

reported* that the pace of global device shipments

was slowing down, dipping to single-digit annual

growth levels in Q1, which indicated that the

volume of mobile devices was no longer exploding.

While that might concern hardware manufacturers,

it soon became clear that while the pace of

device growth was slowing down, the volume of

mobile use by the average global consumer was

increasing – and at a far faster pace than anyone

was predicting.

By the end of 2015, mobile was responsible for

65% of digital media time in the United States, and

that time was dominated by apps, which accounted

for 58% of total media time.**

We found in our own data, too, that worldwide mobile

users were spending an inordinate amount of time –

30 minutes a day – in mobile apps that fell into the Top

100 ranking on our platform, as measured by Monthly

Average Users (MAU).

This quarter, we discovered that on a micro-level,

mobile use continues to grow steadily. In just three

months, we’ve seen the time spent per day jump 9.4%

to reach 33.5 minutes per day. The average session

time also increased by 10.8% and is now 9.4 minutes.

This significant quarterly growth shows us that the

importance of the mobile device in the daily life of

today’s consumer is increasing – and at an even

greater pace than that of mobile media ad spend.

DAU MAU Sessions Sessions Time (secs) Sessions Time (mins) Time / Day (mins) Time / Month (hrs)

1 ,237,514

+4.4%

8,178,810

-5.1%

3.63

+0.8%

565.2

+10.8%

9.42

+10.8%

33.5

+9.5%

16.7

+2.5%

1Averages of the Top 100 mobile apps on the Opera Mediaworks platform.2Percentage difference from Q1 2016

*Source: Gartner and IDC **Source: comScore, 2016 US Cross-Platform Future in Focus

M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S | Q 2 2 0 1 6D A T A


0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

N E W S & I N F O R M A T I O N A P P S A R E N O . 1 F O R I M P R E S S I O N S

T H E M O S T P O P U L A R A P P C A T E G O R I E S B Y I M P R E S S I O N S

News & Informat ion

Games

Social Networking

Communicat ion services

Sports

Arts & Enterta inment

Music , Video & Media

Technology & Comput ing

Health & Fi tness

Li festy le

Shopping

Travel

Product iv i ty

Educat ion

Business, F inance & Invest ing

Food & Dr ink

Source: Opera Mediaworks mobile ad platform (U.S.) - June 2016

In June 2016, the News & Information category was no. 1 for impression volume in the United States. More than 1

in 4 impressions served in the United States in June were in apps with daily utility to users, such as weather apps

and a mobile reader for Reddit.



5 categories with highest CTR

Education Games SportsLifestyleTravel LifestyleGames Health&Fitness

Technology& Computing

Productivity

5 categories with highest conversion rates

E N G A G E M E N T C O N V E R S I O N S

Height of bar indicates relative value over the average CTR or conversion rate of ads served on the Opera Mediaworks platform (U.S.) in June 2016.

E D U C A T I O N , T R A V E L S H O W H I G H C T R ; G A M E S I S T O P C O N V E R T I N G

The highest engagement levels are seen on ads run in the

Education and Travel categories, with Lifestyle, Games and

Technology & Computing rounding out the Top 5 (CTR).

Once again, Games, Sports and Lifestyle are in the top five

categories for conversions, with Games providing conversion

rates that are well above the platform average. Newcomers

to the Top 5 are Health & Fitness and Productivity.

“Brand advertisers, seeing what mobile DR has to offer – like deeper audience and measurement capabilities – are beginning to play in the mobile performance sandbox, too.”

— Bryan Buskas, 5 ways brands will forever alter the mobile performance space iMedia Connection | May 2016

Bryan Buskas, EVP Global Performance, Opera Mediaworks




The projection that mobile ad spend will eclipse that of desktop this year still stands, and even halfway through 2016, we

seem on track to meet that milestone. But where is this spending going within mobile? Just one year ago, response still

ruled the roost, accounting for at least 60% of digital advertising dollars – and some industries, such as Retail, Automotive

and Financial Services, were allocating an even higher percentage to DR.

Interestingly enough, at the same time, eMarketer reported that the same brand advertisers that were focusing on DR were

also directing their investments into the mobile medium. Retail, Financial Services and Automotive brands are the top three

spenders in mobile advertising.


Healthcare and pharma

Other

Entertainment

Media

CPG and consumer products

Travel

Telecom

Financial services

Retail $6.65

$3.49

$3.43

23.2%

12.1%

12.0%

Source: eMarketer, May 2015 (via Ad Age)Note: Total mobile ad spending equals $28.72 billion; includes classified, display (banners and other, rich media and video), email, lead generation, messaging-based and search advertising; ad spending on tablets is included.

M O B I L E I S P R I M E F O R P E R F O R M A N C E

U . S . M O B I L E A D S P E N D I N G B Y I N D U S T R Y

In billions and percentage of total

This is no coincidence. Fortune 1000 brands in these three verticals are seeing massive impact from their mobile response

campaigns.

And, looking at data from the Opera Mediaworks platform, we found supporting evidence that both Retail and Automotive

brands are some of the largest spenders in performance-based mobile advertising. More importantly, these two categories

show the most consistent growth pattern over the past year.

Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016 Q2 2016

Food Delivery / QSR

Retail

Business, Finance & Insurance

Automotive

Entertainment

Technology

Travel

Typical Q4 spike across most verticals



B R A N D P E R F O R M A N C E S P E N D B Y I N D U S T R Y,

Q 3 2 0 1 5 - Q 2 2 0 1 6

We found that two other types of advertisers

came out on top when it comes to overall spend:

Technology / Gadgets (24.3%) and Food Delivery /

Quick Service Restaurants (23.4%).

Large technology companies are competing for

buyers of both hardware, such as phones and other

gadgets, and software solutions, mostly mobile

apps. Within the latter category, tech companies are

seeing the most success with apps that offer daily

utility to the user, such as those that increase photo

storage or track stocks.

The other king of mobile performance, Food

Delivery / QSR, arose toward the end of 2015 and

has been a top vertical throughout the first half of

2016. One of the unique challenges of this industry

is the existence of multiple KPIs; these brands are

looking to do much more than drive app installs.

Many QSR brands want to drive post-install user

action (email registrations, coupon downloads),

which adds two more elements to optimize. But it

doesn’t stop there: The final KPI is lift in traffic to

brick-and-mortar locations, which is achieved by

(and measured by) in-store coupon redemptions.

These are the advertisers that are recognizing the

value of performance-based advertising on mobile

– and seeing significant returns on their investment.

But, as marketers get better at measurement

and attribution, the lines between performance

spending and branding are blurring, and we believe

that not only will the current leaders continue to

reinvest, but brands in other verticals such as Travel

and Entertainment will begin to more fully adopt

performance advertising tactics as part of their

mobile strategy, too. Particularly as we head into

American football season (NFL), advertisers should

keep their eye on fantasy sports apps, as many of

those will see major spikes in daily use and levels of

ad engagement.

1 0 | w w w . o p e r a m e d i a w o r k s . c o m


T O T A L S H A R E O F A D S P E N D B Y I N D U S T R Y,Q 3 2 0 1 5 - Q 2 2 0 1 6

Food Delivery / QSR, 23%

Retail / E-commerce, 15%

Business, Finance & Insurance, 11% Automotive, 15%

Entertainment, 9%

Technology / Gadgets, 24%

Travel, 2% Other, 1%

T E C H N O L O G Y

App install is still the core metric of most

performance campaigns, even outside of the Gaming

vertical. Many mobile-first companies, such as Uber,

Twitter and HotelTonight, are heavily focused on

app download volume as their advertising strategy

is focused around increasing their app’s footprint

among mobile users.

However, many brands, like the QSR example

previously mentioned, are looking beyond the app

install and optimizing for post-install events that add

to the value of each user. Each industry, and each

brand for that matter, has a different definition for

a “high-quality user.” Those focused on app installs

(e.g., Gaming) look at a combination of retention

and in-app purchases, or iAP, and build out their LTV

models from those two metrics.

When a brand doesn’t have as many data points

because app use is not as regular and iAP

transactions are slim, which is common outside of

Gaming, measurement becomes more difficult. As

a result, brands will often turn to metrics around

session behavior, such as

• The number of sessions in the first week

• Average session duration

• Stability/instability and growth/decline of session duration for each user

• Registrations



T E C H N O L O G Y

B E Y O N D T H E A P P I N S T A L L

This is where post-install events come into play. Mobile marketers have a plethora of post-install events they can

optimize for to push users through the funnel and build their lifetime value. And tracking these events gives them

data points they can then correlate to LTV.

“Advertisers are more capable of tracking and understanding all these downstream events with the help of more sophisticated attribution and analytics solutions. The best buyers are optimizing to these events at the channel level and focusing spend on sources that can deliver results.”—Kevin Teng, Senior Director, Performance Advertising

P O S T - I N S T A L L E V E N T O P T I M I Z A T I O N

R E TA I N E N G AG E M O N E T I Z E

App Open Session Transaction/Purchase

Install Search Reservation

Activation Content View Add to Wishlist

Registration Tutorial Completion Add to Cart

Login Level Achieved Checkout Initiated

App Rated Achievement Unlocked Payment Info Added

App Update Social Sharing Purchase Amount

Opera Mediaworks Core™ engine uses post-install event (PIE) data to improve campaign performance with optimally targeted

ads to lookalike audiences.

M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S | Q 2 2 0 1 6T E C H N O L O G Y


A global QSR chain partnered with Opera Mediaworks to drive app installs and post-install actions.

P E R F O R M A N C E C A S E S T U D Y : Q S R

O B J E C T I V E

Increase QSR app’s footprint amongst mobile users. Drive user action in-app

and increase in-store traffic through brick and mortar coupon redemption.

S U C C E S S M E T R I C

App downloads at targeted CPI rate, in-app email registrations, in-app coupon

download, in-store coupon redemption

O P E R A M E D I A W O R K S ’ S O L U T I O N

• Worked closely with agency and client’s third party reporting provider to

tag in-app events crucial to driving campaign objectives and optimization.

Tracking post-install events ensured performance data was being collected

at the site and audience level.

• Using Opera Mediaworks’ proprietary optimization algorithm, we

matched patterns and behaviors of common converters while building and

employing look-a-like model targeting to increase delivery to users who

matched similar demographics and patterns of behavior, thereby increasing

campaign performance and media efficiency.

#1Partner in volume

of downloads

#1Partner for percent oftotal in-store coupon

remption

44%Below targeted CPI



T H E P O W E R O F T H E S D K

In performance advertising, machine-learning is

what makes the difference between a mediocre

campaign and a top performer. The algorithm is

everything – but like all artificial intelligence, it is

only as good as what you put into it. If you feed

your algorithm with 100% accurate data signals,

you can identify patterns of behavior and create

highly-refined, scalable lookalike models on

which to base campaign targeting.

Furthermore, by tracking post-install events,

brands can understand which users are the most

valuable to them in the long run, and then focus

on the tactics they used to attract those types of

users.

While it is possible to obtain accurate data signals

and to track post-install events using a source

other than a mobile ad SDK, that source must

be trustworthy. As seen in the graphic, when

the publisher is using the mobile ad SDK of the

advertising partner, that accuracy is ensured.

Direct connection with publishers

→ ensures inventory quality

→ optimal ad placement

Captures accurate data signals

→ feeds the algorithm

→ improves targeting capabilities

Track post-install event

→ Understand conversion drivers

→ Optimize to attract highest quality users

“The brand performance space is no different from the traditional brand world; the technology platform you partner with matters. The SDK ensures a level of tracking and targeting accuracy and efficiency that advertisers need to obtain their desired outcomes. It’s the difference between being a mobile player, or just playing in mobile.”—Jude O’Connor, Vice President, Brand Performance



As powerful as a well-fed algorithm is, like any technology, it requires top-notch

people to use it the right way – and to continue to build and improve it. One of

the reasons mobile-first companies have seen such wild success in their app-

install programs is because they have built strong User Acquisition (UA) teams

in-house that can run and optimize campaigns. And those teams continue to

grow, adding more talent that can analyze KPIs and navigate reporting and

attribution structures.

As brands move into performance, working with a partner that has those

dedicated teams in place is what will allow them to compete with every mobile

company, not just other brands, for the best inventory. An expert UA team, for

instance, knows exactly how much to nudge up a Cost Per Install rate to be able

to compete for new inventory sources and boost install volume by as much as

100% – and knowing, too, that as the campaign becomes more competitive,

conversion rates will go up, which will contribute to the exponential volume

increase.

For these mobile teams, user acquisition is not just an initiative, it’s their sole

focus.

5 M O S T C O M M O N Q U E S T I O N S F R O M B R A N DP E R F O R M A N C E A D V E R T I S E R S

What should I be building into my app to attract users?

Which parts of the app or type of content should we highlight in our ad

campaigns?

What kinds of ad formats should we use – and where, and when?

What is the optimal length for video?

What should our SDK partner tag within the app that represents a high-value

event that represents greater Lifetime Value?

How do we design creative to maximize the Call To Action (CTA) and improve

conversion rates?

M O B I L E M A N P O W E R

C R E A T I V I T Y



C R E A T I V I T Y

M O S T C O M M O N M I S S T E P S

For many brands, putting together a creative campaign for performance can be

more challenging than a traditional brand awareness campaign. In many cases, they

will attempt to repurpose existing creative, such as TV commercials, for the mobile

campaign, but simply porting over these large-format, glossy-style commercials to a

smaller screen is not visually effective.

But if you can’t repurpose those video assets, what can you use? Brands and agencies

are often at a loss for which assets they should create for mobile, but a strong mobile

partner will know how to tap into visual resources they may not have thought to use.

Pulling real-life in-app content such as enticing real estate listings or trendy, colorful

apparel items for sale and displaying that in the background provides a sense of real-

time discovery. We’ve found, too, that in-app footage and messaging around the value

that the app brings to the user is key to “selling” the app.

Another large pain point that brands have around creative production is brand

guidelines. While these are essential to any large brand to ensure consistency

and quality across all consumer touch points, the inability to be flexible with those

guidelines and test never-before-used variations on them is a significant obstacle to

creating the best campaign possible. Why? Because if the brand cannot alter various

elements of the mobile creative, it cannot conduct real A/B testing to find out which

versions are resulting in the highest conversion rate – and thus optimize the campaign

accordingly.

After working with hundreds of performance campaigns for both mobile-first companies

and Fortune 1000 brands, our creative team has established best practices that will

both safeguard brand identity and also maximize efficiency and performance of rich

media display and video ads.

M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S | Q 2 2 0 1 6C R E A T I V I T Y


M O B I L E C R E AT I V E : T I P S F O R B R A N D P E F O R M A N C E A D V E R T I S E R S

E V E R Y B R A N D H A S A S T O R Y.

Even if you’re not a gaming or entertainment

company, you have assets beyond just your logo.

Think about your customers and your brand story

as you brainstorm new, mobile-only assets. Or, pull

from existing assets, but be “creative” in their use.

Mobile offers the ability to bring your brand story to

life with sight, sound and motion – and that is key

for maximizing effectiveness and conversions.

X- F A C T O R

Personalized experience: “Draw your custom

search area”

D I F F E R E N C E I N E F F E C T I V E N E S S

(■Opera creative vs. ■Client creative)

Conversion rate 2.8X

Install rate 2.8X

CTR 1.1X

P U T VA L U E F R O N T A N D C E N T E R .

Your creative should always immediately answer

the potential user’s question, Why should I

download this? Deliver the story of the app in use

and show how it brings value to the user, not the

story of your brand.

X- F A C T O R

Tells the whole story: Snap a picture, list item,

discover listed items nearby, close transaction – all

in 27 seconds.

D I F F E R E N C E I N E F F E C T I V E N E S S

(■Opera creative vs. ■Client creative)

Conversion rate 4X

Install rate 1.2X

CTR 1.1X





A D A P T E L E M E N T ST O M O B I L E .

T E X T O V E R L A Y, N O T V O I C E O V E R .

Don’t assume the sound will be on! The background

music should therefore not be essential to the

overall impact of the creative, and any messaging

should be written in large text, preferably as

“bubbles” that pop up on the screen to catch and

hold the user’s attention.

M A K E I T Q U I C K .

The pace of the creative, whether it’s a video or an

animated display ad, should be fast. Mobile users

do not wait around for you to get to your point.

B E ST V I D E O L E N GT H = 2 3 - 2 9 S E C O N D S .

For some straightforward apps in less competitive

categories, it’s even shorter: 17-18 seconds. *For

more tips on optimizing creative for app install

campaigns, see our Q2 2016 Creative Best

Practices study.

Seconds



M E T H O D O L O G Y Q 2 B Y T H E N U M B E R S

Other information contained in this report comes from third-

party sources:

Gartner:

Global Smartphone Sales, 2015 report

IDC:

IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 2016 forecast

comScore:

2016 US Cross-Platform Future in Focus

eMarketer:

U.S. Digital Ad Spending Estimates, by Industry & Objective, 2015

All data cited as coming from “the Opera Mediaworks

global ad platform” is based on aggregated

information obtained from Opera Mediaworks mobile

advertising platform and mobile ad exchange servers.

The data presented represents track and monetization

metrics and statistics compiled across multiple

advertising campaigns delivered to us by our mobile

publisher customers. The data includes ads requested

from and delivered by us on behalf of multiple ad

networks as well as directly sold campaign created

by our customers themselves. Country-level details

(e.g., United States only) are based on IP addresses of

the originating ad requests as forwarded to us by our

mobile publisher and app developer customers.

5000+ Apps (at least 100 requests)

added every month to our network

170 Apps added every day

New app added every 9 minutes

L A R G E S T A D S D K F O O T P R I N T I N T H E T O P 1 0 0 0 A P P S A F T E R G O O G L E

M O B I L E F I R S T I N S I G H T S

[email protected]

Please direct media inquiries to: [email protected]

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