In recent years iOS has gone from a goldmine to a minefield for many seeking to approach UA on the platform. When emphasising privacy Apple has also made breaking down data much more difficult, and approaching it may seem intimidating to many.
However, one analyst offering insights into how developers, publishers and more can approach iOS14 is Matej Lancaric. The Two & a Half-Gamers podcast host is well-known for his advice on UA, advertising and more which are key to succeeding in mobile marketing. In an appearance at the Istanbul Gaming Summit hosted by Google and Deconstructor of Fun earlier this week he gave a bold statement in the title of his talk alone, telling us, “ATT Did not Kill Mobile Gaming.”
In this presentation he gave his view on iOS, and as the title of his talk implies he acknowledges that although it’s difficult to advertise and perform UA on iOS, it’s far from impossible but it’s no longer the place to bring your first phase of a UA strategy. He said: “If you’re testing creatives on iOS, just stop,” emphasising that Android is a more fertile testing ground for creatives due to the lesser restrictions at play here.
But when it came to bringing finalised campaigns to iOS he noted although the costs were greater, so were the potential rewards, “iOS campaigns, higher CPIs…but also higher-quality users potentially.” Essentially, as with the rest of the mobile gaming landscape although there are now additional hurdles in place, testing out creatives has merely moved to where it’s easier to dissect the fine data rather than rely on the coarse data available through platforms like iOS.
His thoughts on SkAd 4.0, the newest iteration of Apple’s analytic software shed some light on the difficulty of the tool but also the potential. As he emphasised, ironically, “This is fine.” “There’s a lot of new terminology…a lot more complex, so that’s where the kumbaya [positive thinking] thing comes in, it’s like ‘yeah it’s going to be complex’ but we’ll figure out…it’s gonna give you more data points but again it’s most probably going to take you some time to understand what’s going on.”
He also broke down the key ways to plan out a scaling strategy: “iOS14 Preparation, Game KPIs, Budget, Marketing & Product Team, Payback Period and Game Genre.” As he noted, “You need to think about these in advance to set a proper scaling strategy on both iOS and Android.”
Lancaric also broke down his advice into the six most important takeaways from his presentation: “The first 24hrs are important, Diversify UA, Consolidate campaigns, Focus on tiers, Creative testing on Android and Product
Big takeaways
Although ATT led to what many termed the “Adpocalypse” due to heavily restricting analytics access without user consent (which many users chose not to give), it isn’t necessarily a death-blow for the UA and advertising approach on mobile. In-fact if anything it presents exciting new challenges, and forces developers to explore new but arguably more informative avenues.
Advice includes breaking down your UA into different geobuckets and ranking them based on where you want to spend the most time and money. He also looked at different social media channels including TikTok and Facebook, emphasising patience in the former “In the first 72 hours you’re not able to see most any type of data, don’t panic, it’s okay.”
His key takeaways indicate that there is a lot more to be learned, but that many of the same approaches still apply. As Lancaric stresses, if anything is clear it’s that iOS is not the best place to test your approach to UA. Now, it’s the end-goal rather than the first step, and with more easily data-rich approaches available on other platforms, increasingly, Lancaric suggests, diversifying your approach to mobile is key.
