How to Make Your App Go Viral

by David Maciel

February, 29th 2016

How to Acquire & Retain High LTV Users who Truly Find Value in your App

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Build Awesome AppsTurn your idea into a killer app having all the monetization tricks already on mind.

Grow your AppTake your app to the next level, now its all about optimization, localization & scalability.

Monetize your appMix n match the right ad format with the right ad placement, A/B testing for the win!inDecode is InMobis global developer community.Our mission is to connect developers and help them decode how to build, grow and monetize their apps.

indecode.inmobi.com indecode@inmobi.com

50000Publisher apps

2.6 billionApp downloads tracked

200 countriesof operation

140 billionMonthly ad impressions

17 officesAll over the globe

1.5 billionMonthly active users

Founded in 2007, InMobi is the world's largest independent mobile ad platformAbout InMobi

For making mobile ads you actually want to see

click - install - open daily - buy once - uninstall try - engage - buy - keep buying - often & a lot - tell friends Average UserQuality User = High LTV UserDEFINITION OF LTVThinking in terms of user life-cycle and lifetime value

1 - [Connect the idea of user lifecycle and lifetime value]

Some truths we know about mobile users,they may click on your adthey may install your appthey may open the app everydaythey may even buy onceBUT the very next day, they may also disengage & uninstallAND every user behaves differently

2 - [Define quality users as those with high lifetime value]

Every marketers dream,users that try -> engage -> buy -> keep buying -> often & a lot -> tell their friends. In short - quality usersquality users = valuable, loyal users with longevity = users with high lifetime value

3 [Example from the gaming world to illustrate the point]

750 new games are released every dayLess than one third of all users will pay for an appLess than 3% of mobile gamers make an in-game PurchaseBut only 0.15% of mobile gamers account for 50% of in-game revenue4

PREDICTING LTVKnowing the most important signals in a user flow

SignupLoginSearch BrowseView Product Add to cartProceed to PaymentPURCHASEPurchase ValueINSTALL

1 - [Distinguish actual vs predictive LTV]

For existing users - we can measure lifetime value based on actual behaviorFor new users - we look at how they behave soon after installing the app and approximate their future behavior.In other words, we analyze a users in-app install and post-install events to predict the potential dollars that a user will contribute across their lifetime, i.e. their lifetime value.

2 - [Explain the value of LTV based acquisition & optimization, and sharing post-install data]

Tracking that post-install user behavior provides insight into the user segments that are more likely to be higher quality, and passing that to channel partners means those cohorts can then be more precisely targeted.The key is understanding the behavior signals that are most likely to indicate your quality users, in other words, figuring out the most important proxies to predict LTV.

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Drive quality users based on LTV data Optimize based on user profiles, segments & lifecycle stagesLTVUse product & service discovery powered by LTV data to drive purchaseRe-engage existing users and nudge them further down the lifecycle Projected retention is a good proxy for LTVAcquiring quality users results in higher downstream retention

ANCHORING AROUND LTVKnowing the most important signals in a user flow

LTV can be leveraged for both,Install = UA drive quality users through discovery, optimize all elements of your acquisition campaign and adapt your spendPost-Install = UE/UR - set additional campaign goals that drive users further down the lifecycle towards engagement, re-engagement and retention

So todays smart marketing strategy has 2 equally essential parts,identifying the best characteristics of an entire population to drive acquisition of quality users. Here you start by having a few data points on a large number of users.optimizing based on individual users, leveraging all the install and post install data available to drive optimal user behavior. Here you analyze a huge number of data points on a small number of users.

Both parts have to be seamless. Optimize on the basis of one unified user journey funnel as opposed to two perceived independent funnels (awareness/install vs. post-install). Because getting more relevant users to click-through the ad and install the app can translate into higher retention downstream, and by proxy, high LTV users.

Key question: how do you choose whether to acquire new users or re-engage existing users?=> must be capable of measuring and optimizing to individual user Lifetime Value

How do you know whether to spend on Installs or Reengagement?Easy.

ROAS = Total Revenue per Day [ / Week / Month ] divided by UA Cost [ ave by time ]=> maybe

Our new users are buying more than our older users=> maybe you need to more effectively engage your existing users [ while you can ]Best answer = UA ROI RE ROI

UA ROIUA Cost * Ave Lifetime Value * factor for Optimizing Future Incremental Revenue * longer-term time value of money

RE ROIRE Cost * REmaining LTV * short-term factor for time value of moneyUA Cost high vs RE Cost lowAve LTV vs REmaining LTV=> how big a factor is user age / existing purchase history?=> how good are you at identifying / predicting / incenting whales6

MEASURING THE RIGHT GOALSDefine your KPI metrics to drive and optimize for quality users

-CPQ vs RoAS-Evolving towards Cost per state-change. Retargeting in this context is different from affiliate traffic drives, more CRM.

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InMobi builds holistic user-level insight for UA customers using first, second and third party user profile dataDevice Hardware

OS and Carrier

Download behaviour

User Interests

Demographic

Footprint Behavior

Socio-economic

App category ownership

USER CENTRIC DATA SCIECE INSIGHTSThe engine that powers it all

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Automate & Monitor post install events. Then let goal metrics dictate.by monitoring and analyzing post install events against your specific goals -eg. bookings or purchases with accurate attribution data from InMobi Certified MTAP partners.

Data integration and flow is always-onData flow in real-time recent data, frequencyUser events are leveled optimized at each stepData is safeguarded, with customer controlLTV OPTIMIZATION IS A NON-STOP PROCESS Optimizations that never sleeps

Optimization is a continuous process, so the data integration and flow needs to be, automated, always-on process. It is also highly time-sensitive, so the flow needs to be real-time or near real-time, elements like recency & frequency are critical.Post-install events need to be leveled, so that optimization can happen at every level, not just at purchase, thus reducing spend waste at every step in the user journey, ultimately pushing up RoASTrusted partners like InMobi safeguard your data, give you comprehensive control over it, and have clear data protection policies and systemic processes to enable them.Ultimately, you remain firmly in control of your data, sharing it only to unlock higher value

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InMobi UA CAMPAIGN SAMPLE

PUBLISHER Swagbucks TV (video app).(BRAND) ADVERTISER Lyft looking to drive brand awareness.AD FORMATPre-roll 15 second video without CTA.

InMobi UA CAMPAIGN SAMPLE

PUBLISHERTeam Stream by Bleacher Report (sport news app).ADVERTISERUBER looking to drive app downloads.AD FORMAT Native ad in the news feed with CTA Install

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APPOGRAPHIC TARGETINGUser profiling based on lifestyle interests

Build audience profiles based on app ownership dataTarget quality converting users for maximum efficiency

LOOKALIKE MODELLING & TARGETINGFinds potential users similar to your current high value users

Your high value users

Advertiser engagement metricsDevice/app ownershipGeo location contextUser historyDemographic dataUser attributes (over 2000)Lookalike modelling works by using machine learning to combine over 200 user attributes.

@InMobi

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