The new challenges presented by the world of advertising are faced with no fear at Smadex and the difficulties brought by the release of SKAd were no different.
When Apple announced SKAdNetwork back in 2021, the team started working towards finding alternative solutions, ways to continue improving performance in all iOS campaigns and keep offering the best programmatic ad solution possible.
This article was first published on smadex.com.
We came up with Flexible Mapping, exactly what we needed: the perfect tool to allow iOS campaign optimization.
What is SKAd?
If this is the first time you hear about this, SKAd stands for StoreKit Ad Network, which is Apple’s way to help advertisers and ad networks measure activity like installs and post install events on iOS apps. Even though when it was first announced in 2018 it was more of an alternative, since the release of iOS 14 Apple assumed the role of the install measurement provider with SKAd network.
This iteration brought challenges for campaign optimization since SKAd has its own limitations:
- Data receipt delays
- Loss of user-level data
- Reduce visibility of post-install events
Bottom line, pre-SKAd advertisers had a lot (A LOT) more insights about their campaigns they could use to optimize performance.
Smadex SKAd Network solution: Flexible Mapping
Flexible Mapping allows advertisers to use the 100 campaign ID’s combinations available on SKAd to maximize the data points the algorithm can use to increase performance. This tool can be used to monitor a wide range of variables that can be key to driving more successful campaigns such as:
- Lines
- Adsizes
- Creatives
- Creative types
- Exchanges (SSPs)
- Inventory bundles
Smadex has a platform that allows unparalleled campaign management and access to detailed insights. This allows all of the information to be processed and analyzed with a variety of reporting tools available and work towards optimization with knowledgeable and intelligent decisions.
Without the Flexible Mapping tool, we would only be able to know which campaigns got the install, but nothing more. Now, we can see information from the different variables that we map. Even better, we can also find out what is the best combination for example of exchange-adsize that is having the best performance and use this information to optimize.
AdSize vs Performance
Source: Smadex
Impact of Flexible Mapping in our campaigns
Since we started using this tool, we have been able to excel in avoiding all the limitations that could come with SKAd Network. With the limited amount of information that is given from SKAd, it is hard to visualize where good and bad performance may be coming from, as it is designed this way. With Flexible Mapping we are able to map those variables and access information that, at first, we thought to be lost for good.
Smadex’s team has been able to generate big improvements in most of the SKAd campaigns. In fact, some campaigns have experienced a 100% increase in the number of installs recorded while maintaining the same spend. This shows how we have faced the challenges of SKAd by achieving results no one could think could be possible when it was introduced.
Example of the increase in performance thanks to Flexible Mapping
Source: Smadex
If you are interested in knowing more about our flexible mapping and what Smadex can do for you, contact us!
