Sponsored by Kochava • December 12, 2024 •
Jessica Dudley, vp analytics and operations, Liftoff and Jason Hicks, gm of measurement solutions, Kochava
Streaming apps are rapidly becoming a staple for households worldwide, with the U.S. market leading the way. According to a Forbes report, Americans spend an average of $46 on streaming services monthly. An incredible 99% of U.S. households subscribe to at least one or more streaming services, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ topping the list.
Business leaders understand the importance of leveraging data to gain a competitive edge. However, streaming data’s sheer volume and velocity presents unique challenges and opportunities. By understanding best practices, streaming app publishers can harness the power of streaming data analytics to make data-driven decisions that propel them ahead of the competition in a rapidly evolving market.
Why competitive measurement is a necessity
As the streaming wars intensify, companies must adopt robust methods to evaluate the efficacy of their streaming applications. Optimizing measurement strategies for streaming apps unlocks valuable insights that drive user engagement, platform performance and revenue growth. Data-driven measurement empowers organizations to make informed decisions, refine their strategies and position themselves for success in the dynamic streaming landscape.
Understanding how to activate data with the right partner, design effective ad creative and run successful user acquisition campaigns is crucial for any streaming service with a mobile app. Measuring engagement across devices allows them to see the impact of every advertising dollar, helping them stay one step ahead of competitors, according to Liftoff and Kochava.
For a competitive advantage, streaming apps track several KPIs
On average, users spend 235 minutes daily on mobile devices — significantly more than on laptops, desktop computers and CTV. While many streaming apps still focus their ad spending on walled gardens like Google and Meta, 66% of consumer time is spent outside garden walls. Programmatic advertising on mobile can help streaming services reach new audiences by tapping into users across over 5 million other apps worldwide with targeted, real-time ads.
In the fast-paced world of streaming apps, staying ahead of the competition requires a critical eye on key metrics. Monitoring KPIs provides valuable insights for making data-driven decisions to optimize streaming platforms.
Wherever the streaming service is available to users, measure it. Any gaps in the measurement strategy create blind spots — blurring the true understanding of how the service’s growth and engagement campaigns impact user actions, and ensuring all connected devices are essential.
One question heard repeatedly when onboarding new streaming clients is: “Which events should we measure?” What actions are users taking in the streaming app after installation or after opening the app? The only way to answer this is to implement full-funnel event data. Meaningful events and metadata help streaming apps define important moments to measure for more robust data down the line.
The average consumer utilizes multiple connected devices. This relationship of one user to many devices means streaming apps need effective identity resolution. In an Internet of Things world, when streaming app publishers combine data from multiple sources to create a single, comprehensive user profile, they enable cross-device identity resolution for valuable insights.
Once the previous fundamentals are in place, the team has the data backbone to effectively and holistically measure the impact of their omnichannel media campaigns. The streaming app publisher should establish an attribution game plan before launching the next marketing campaign. This process includes aligning campaign goals, accounting for same-screen and cross-screen conversions and understanding factors that may impact attribution.
Mobile user acquisition provides streaming app publishers with incremental gains
Many established streaming apps already leverage omnichannel marketing, however, adding mobile advertising to the mix can extend reach to the right audience and amplify the impact of overall marketing.
To nail user acquisition strategies, streaming app publishers are: enabling frictionless registration pathways and easy onboarding, aren’t sleeping on mobile re-engagement and are running special promotional campaigns for new or top-rated content alongside evergreen campaigns.
Monitoring device compatibility is vital for seamless user experiences, as users may want to sign up on mobile but start streaming on a tablet or a CTV app. Streaming app publishers can ensure a smooth transition by making the shift as easy as possible.
Introducing re-engagement campaigns on mobile can encourage churned users to renew or unpause their subscriptions. Especially as user acquisition costs rise sharply in key markets, re-engagement is a proven way to increase revenue without relying exclusively on new users.
Promotional campaigns can reach niche audiences and re-engage those that have churned. Streaming app publishers can run these alongside evergreen content for a year-round benchmark for future comparisons. Any ad creatives that have already been optimized for success can be adapted to mobile campaigns for increased reach as an added benefit.
While establishing a solid foundation for measuring omnichannel marketing activities for streaming app publishers is a journey, the key is to measure what matters based on the organization’s goals. Growing a user base in a crowded market is challenging, however, by unlocking incremental opportunities on mobile, streaming apps are succeeding in building competitive measurement frameworks, tracking numerous KPIs for a competitive advantage and increasing mobile user acquisition for incremental gains.
Sponsored by Liftoff
https://digiday.com/?p=563176
