12. As with any marketing program, mobile app
marketing programs should be measured against
specific, measurable goals. App marketing
presents an entirely new range of marketing goals,
with different corresponding strategies and tactics.
You’ll most likely wind up with several goals,
some primary goals that directly reflect on your
marketing successes, and other secondary goals
that measure more detailed aspects of your
campaigns. What’s important is to consider
your goals beyond the obvious goals of rank or
downloads, through what you’re trying to achieve
for the business after the download, and align
your marketing strategies to these goals.
• Rank – Reach (and maintain) a target app store rank, either overall
and/or in-category
• Downloads – Generate a certain number of app downloads on
a daily/weekly/monthly basis
• Cost-per-download – Stay below a threshold cost to
generate downloads
• Loyal user acquisition – Drive downloads from users that make
a purchase, use the app repeatedly, or take other actions that
support your overall app strategy
• Revenue – Hit targets for revenue generated directly through the app
• Organic user acquisition – Acquire a target number of organic users
– those who download the app without paid marketing influence
• Key performance indicators – Post-download user actions:
repeat use, clicks, session length, clicks to online store, in-app
purchase, other
• Competition – Achieve higher app store rank or more downloads
that competitors
• New customer acquisition – Acquire a target number of
new customers
• Existing customers – Generate a target number of downloads
from existing customers
• Geography – Generate a target number of downloads in key
geographies
• Velocity – Meet defined metrics within specific timeframes
3. Set App-Oriented Marketing Goals

21. Optimization is one of the most
critical components of your app
marketing program.
This is because mobile ad targeting is not as sophisticat-
ed as what you’re used to when working with traditional
marketing vehicles. As you plan your mobile media buys,
there are limited targeting criteria to help you determine
which ad networks will cost-effectively deliver the
largest number of downloads, which will drive loyal
users who spend money, and which will merely
consume your budget.
This is where optimization technology
comes in.
With optimization technology, you can gain detailed
insights into the marketing sources that are delivering
on your goals. Whether that’s driving loyal users, min-
imizing cost-per-download, or attaining optimal rank,
optimize lets you zero in on those outcomes during the
campaign. An optimization solution will help ensure that
your ad spend is focused on the marketing sources that
are delivering the results and ROI you’re seeking.
The best optimization technology employs intelligent
algorithms that evaluate thousands of targeting com-
binations. That can include variables such as networks,
time of day, device, operating system, geography and
more. Those algorithms also depend on having a mas-
sive database of historical outcomes - billions of events
- to best predict how to allocate future efforts. This level
of detailed optimization can’t be done manually.
Plan your optimization up front.
Too often, app marketers treat optimization as an after-
thought. As programs run and they see that they’re not
getting the results they had hoped for, they scramble to
figure out how to readjust their mobile ad spend.
Not all optimization is created equal.
When evaluating marketing technology partners,
you’ll encounter the term “optimization” used in many
different ways. For maximum value, it’s important to
look carefully into exactly what an optimization solution
really provides.
7. Use Optimization Technology
To Drive Marketing Performance

24. As marketers, we often rely on extensive testing of
promotional strategies, messaging, creative, and other
aspects of our campaigns and programs before launch-
ing them on a grand scale. The same holds true for app
marketing, but it’s more important in the app marketing
world not to fall into the trap of “analysis paralysis” over
long periods, because the market moves so quickly.
Because mobile apps are a relatively new space com-
panies can easily fall into the test and retest trap. What
marketers need to understand is that the opportunity is
large enough and happening fast enough that it’s more
important to get out there in the marketplace rather
than to test and refine marketing programs over extend-
ed periods. You don’t want to get stuck in test and learn
mode because the market is developing so rapidly: you
need to be getting results now, before you may know the
perfect approach.
It’s okay to test and learn what does and does not work,
and to then make adjustments. That’s a key component
of the optimization described in the previous section.
As you see what works best you can then start to scale
and refine your campaigns. But don’t wait for perfection
before you dive in.
Build testing into your budget
In addition, as your campaigns and programs are
running, it’s important to devote a percentage of your
budget to testing new media sources. There are dozens
of excellent media sources on which to promote your
apps, and there’s no way to know which will perform
best without testing.
From ad networks, to premium web and app publishers,
to RTB exchanges, you may be missing out on potential
opportunities to improve price/performance and
identify highly productive users if you don’t test new
sources on an ongoing basis. Identifying new media
sources also helps you avoid potential audience
saturation when advertising for long periods of time.
Media testing is also useful in identifying up-and-com-
ing sources before they become mainstream, while their
costs are relatively low, and helps you remain more
competitive by taking advantage of newer sources
before your competitors.
9. Test, Learn, Implement, Repeat

25. You can do a great job marketing your app but, at the end
of the day, if the app doesn’t provide value to your users
and doesn’t work well, the app will not be successful.
In addition, even the most widely adopted app must be
updated regularly in order to provide new motivations
for users to engage with it. Marketers are in a unique
position to gain insights to improve the app, as well as
the business impact of the app.
App marketers can add strategic value to the app busi-
ness by establishing a formal feedback methodology
with both the app business stakeholders as well as the
app development team. Set up a monthly or quarterly
feedback session with the stakeholders and review your
findings and recommendations.
There are a range of ways you can provide feedback:
Metrics reporting – You can study metrics regarding app
downloads, store rank performance, cost-per-download,
organic lift, media source performance and other
marketing metrics to provide insights that can help
guide decisions.
App landing pages – A good feedback loop can help
optimize app store landing page components, including
screen shots, app descriptions, ratings, and even
your icon.
App consistency - If your company has multiple apps,
and particularly if they’re managed by different groups,
your input can help ensure consistency across them,
including logo usage, cross promotion, and overall user
experience.
Ad testing – You can conduct testing in new geographies
to help the team make decisions on launching in new
markets.
Conversion rates – You can track app usage and
conversions to see if an app is generating the desired
user engagement and ROI.
You can be highly successful at marketing your apps
and getting them downloaded, but if they’re not used,
all that great marketing doesn’t matter. By establishing
a marketing feedback loop with the business and
development teams, you can make an impact beyond
just promoting the app by contributing to the app
development and business direction.
10. Establish a Feedback Loop with App
Development and Business Stakeholders