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FeaturesAttribution

Attribution

Imagine you have run several advertising campaigns, and after a while, you see that the number of installs of your application has increased. How do you determine which of your campaigns resulted in these installs? This is where the concept of Install Attribution comes in.

Attribution is the process of crediting an app install (or first website visit) to the marketing channel or campaign that led the user to your application. Metrix helps you accurately track this path and understand where your valuable users are coming from.

Why Attribution is Critical for Your Business?

  • Optimizing Marketing Budget: You can precisely identify which campaigns and channels are effective, allowing you to allocate your advertising budget more intelligently and with higher returns.
  • Understanding Channel Value: You can determine which traffic sources bring you higher-quality and more active users.
  • Informed Decision-Making: Attribution data provides valuable insights to product and marketing managers, enabling them to make better decisions for business growth.

1. Install: The Starting Point of Attribution

In Metrix, when we refer to an Install, we mean the very first time a user opens your application on their device (First Open). This event represents a successful conversion and serves as the primary basis for the attribution process in Metrix.

2. Attribution Models and Windows in Metrix

Metrix uses various models and methods for attributing installs, which you can manage through the Metrix panel settings:

A. Click-Based Attribution

This method attributes an install to a click that the user made before installing.

  • Device Matching: This method connects installs to ad clicks using device advertising identifiers (such as GAID for Android) and Android app store referrer information. You can set the Attribution Window (the time period during which a click remains valid for attribution via device matching) in the Metrix panel.

  • Device Fingerprinting: This method comes into play when advertising identifiers are unavailable. Device fingerprinting uses general user device information (such as IP address, device model, and operating system) to attempt to link an install to a click. You can also set a specific Attribution Window for this method in the panel.

B. Impression-Based Attribution

This model allows you to attribute installs to the display of an ad (Impression), even if the user did not click on it.

  • Activation: You can enable this feature with a simple toggle in the Metrix panel.
  • View-through Attribution Window: This setting determines how long an ad impression remains valid for attributing an install. Metrix uses Device ID matching for this purpose, and this window can range from 12 to 24 hours. The default and recommended value is 12 hours.

Trackers are powerful tools in Metrix that help you accurately track installs originating from your advertising campaigns.

  • Creating a Tracker: You generate a unique link (tracker) within the Metrix panel.

  • Usage: Place this link in your advertisements (on Google, social networks, advertising platforms) or behind banners on websites.

  • Function: When a user clicks on this tracker and subsequently installs your application, Metrix attributes the install to that specific tracker (and the related campaign). This allows you to precisely determine which source, campaign, and other advertising parameters generated the installs.

  • Guide to Creating a Tracker in the Metrix Panel

4. Reattribution - Reinstall: Managing Returning Users

Metrix’s Default Rule: By default, Metrix attributes each install on a device to a specific source only once. This means if a user uninstalls your app and later reinstalls it through a new advertisement, this new install is recorded as a “Reinstall” and remains attributed to the original source that initially acquired that user.

  • Why Reattribution? In some cases, businesses need to track reinstalls resulting from retargeting campaigns and attribute them to new sources. For this purpose, Metrix offers the Reattribution feature. By enabling this feature in the panel, reinstalls can be attributed to new trackers and sources, and counted as a “new install” from the relevant source in reports.

  • Reattribution Settings in the Panel:

    • Inactivity Window: You can specify how long (in consecutive days) a user must be absent from your app to be considered “inactive” and eligible for Reattribution from new campaigns.
    • Reattribution Window: This setting determines how long a click remains valid for Reattribution after the click occurs.

5. Deep Linking: Directing Users to Precise Content

Deep Linking is a feature that allows you to direct users directly to specific content within your application, rather than just the home screen.

  • Use Case: Imagine you have placed a link to a specific product in your advertisement. With deep linking, after clicking and installing the app (if not already installed) or opening the app, the user is taken directly to that product’s page.
  • Types:
    • Standard Deep Links: If the app is already installed, the user is immediately directed to the desired content.
    • Deferred Deep Links: If the app is not installed, the user is first directed to the app store to install the application, and upon the first launch, they are automatically directed to the same specific content.
  • Role in Attribution: Metrix plays a vital role in identifying the source of these deep links (i.e., which campaign or link brought the user to this specific content) and attributes it to the app install or launch.

6. Callbacks: Instant Receipt of Attribution Data

Callbacks are a mechanism that allows Metrix to send information about important attribution events (such as installs) to your servers instantly.

  • How it Works: Metrix sends this data via HTTP GET requests through Query Parameters (parameters within the URL) to a specific internet address (URL) that you configure in the Metrix panel.
  • Use Case: This feature is useful for businesses that want to receive and process attribution data immediately in their internal systems (for example, for Business Intelligence (BI) tools or deeper analysis).
  • Guide to Activating Callbacks in the Metrix Panel
  • Callback Parameters Table

By utilizing these tools and settings in Metrix, you can accurately measure and optimize your marketing strategies, achieving the highest return from your campaigns.

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