5 Analytics Platforms That Can Help Brands Understand Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising analytics platforms are helping brands and agencies make better sense of the streams of data flowing in from their hyperlocal campaigns. More than half of marketing executives surveyed by Forbes Insights said they’re already using analytics to measure marketing campaign returns, and more than seven-in-10 expect to increase their reliance on data analytics in the next three years.

Although the vast majority of mobile advertising analytics platforms were designed to allow brands and agencies to measure multiple campaigns across single dashboards, some of the more advanced solutions are also providing marketers with the ability to make real-time decisions and link in-app engagement to specific advertising partners.

Here are five solutions that marketers can use to collect more detailed information about their mobile campaigns.

1. AppsFlyer: Improved understandings of mobile campaign efficiencies.
AppsFlyer provides a way for marketers to apply attribution analytics to mobile acquisition and retargeting campaigns, while also weeding out their poorest performing sources. Used frequently by brand marketers and agencies, AppsFlyer’s SDK connects with more than 900 ad networks and analytics platforms. The solution measures the results of multiple campaigns within a single dashboard, including social campaigns running on Facebook and Twitter. AppsFlyer’s NativeTrack technology uses an algorithm to identify methods, such as iOS’ IDFA, Google’s Advertising ID, and Referrer ID, to improve attribution accuracy. AppsFlyer’s brand clients include Red Bull, L’Oreal, and Samsung.

2. Servo: Accurately count every mobile impression.
Servo, from the media ad platform Medialets, is a buy-side mobile ad serving and measurement tool that brands, direct response marketers, and app marketers can use to better understand the ROI of mobile ad impressions. In addition to creating, serving, and tracking standard mobile formats, Servo also works with video, rich media, and search. Marketers that use Servo can continue to create ads in whichever ways they choose, and Servo will then track those ads across “thousands of certified mobile properties” to provide detailed insights and mobile attribution. Agencies such as Merkle have used Servo to measure mobile campaigns at scale and optimize impressions in real-time.

3. Kochava: Track location-based events within a mobile analytics dashboard.
A mobile attribution and analytics provider, Kochava helps large brands drive more effective mobile ad spend. Kochava integrates with more than 1,000 networks and publishers, allowing clients to attribute app installs and track activities (such as purchases) that occur post-install. Using Kochava iBeacon, advertisers can track location-based events and leverage the data they collect for future marketing purposes. They can also identify their highest value customers and trigger targeted campaigns that run at the very moment when sales begin to lag. Kochava clients include McDonalds, Marriott, and Domino’s.

4. InMobi: Pinpoint the best mobile opportunities.
With InMobi, brands and agencies can access “mobile-first audiences” and be sure that their mobile marketing campaigns are headed in the right direction. Marketers can target audiences based on audience persona or geo-context, and they can choose from a number of creative “ad experiences.” InMobi uses algorithms and predictive sciences to offer guarantees on mobile campaign outcomes—dubbed “InMobi Guaranteed Outcomes”—working with companies like Nielsen and Placed for post-campaign verifications. InMobi’s list of clients includes major firms like Adidas, Macy’s, and Nokia.

5. adjust: Business intelligence for mobile app marketers.
Combining mobile advertising attribution with analytics, adjust allows mobile app marketers to see which sources are delivering the best users and track digital interactions in real-time. Clients like Universal Music Group and Viacom can use adjust to connect with network partners for data-driven campaigns. They can also define their own custom events and KPIs, like signups or purchases, and then track those events over the lifetime of individual mobile users. Data from adjust can automatically be forwarded to analytics providers like Upsight and Mixpanel.

Know of other mobile ad analytics platforms? Leave a description in the comments.

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.