Monetize Your App on a Performance Model

What if there was a way you could only pay for guaranteed users? Performance marketing is just as it sounds – marketing based on results. When choosing to work on a performance model, the benefits are limitless as marketers will only pay once a user has completed the desired action. If you’re a mobile marketer looking to drive app installs, app registrations, post-install engagement, or all of the above, you’ve come to the right place.

What is Performance Marketing?

Performance marketing is a strategy in which marketers only pay once a conversion has been made, hence “performance” marketing. This has become a win-win strategy for both parties, in that it allows both marketers (apps, brands, services) and affiliate partners (publishers) to target campaigns strategically while driving guaranteed ROI. With over 83% of marketers investing in performance marketing today, there is no other customer acquisition strategy that is comparable.

When looking to invest in performance marketing, mobile marketers should take advantage of working with a performance-based network. For example, a Cost-Per-Action (CPA) network can align your app with affiliate partners (or publishers), who will then push high-quality traffic to your mobile ads. Once a customer clicks on your ad, a tracking link then leads the user to the app listing or your app itself. From there, you will only pay if that customer converts, such as installing your app. It’s time to dive into just a few benefits available right at your fingertips when partnering with a performance network.

Benefits of Working with a Performance-Based Network

As a mobile marketer, your ultimate goal is to drive conversions, whether that be through app installs or post-install activities. When working with a performance-based network, you’re granted access to hundreds of trusted publishers who are well-equipped to drive quality traffic to your offers. Let’s walk through just a few of the advantages available to you when working with a performance-based network.

Pick your CPA Pricing Model

The joy of performance marketing is that marketers run on cost-per-acquisition (CPA) pricing models. These pricing models give marketers the flexibility to only pay affiliates or publishers once a new user is acquired or a specific action is taken. When joining a performance-based network, marketers gain access to multiple CPA pricing models based on their user acquisition goals and needs.

The Cost-Per-Install (CPI) pricing model is one of the most widely used for all mobile user acquisition campaigns. This model is used by mobile marketers who are looking to drive an increase in app installs or acquire more active users. Another popular pricing model used by many mobile marketers is Cost-Per-Engagement (CPE), which focuses on driving users to engage within a mobile app. This model is most commonly used to target post-install events specific to mobile apps, including events such as registrations or in-app purchases. For example, a popular photo printing app was looking to run a CPE campaign with Perform^[cb] to increase new in-app purchases. After optimizing publisher performance against purchase rates and user lifetime value (LTV), the Perform^[cb] team was able to drive over 130,000 first-time purchases for the photo printing app.

CPE campaigns have the ability to be highly-targeted, further increasing the overall quality of the users who convert – perfect when used in accordance with retargeted ads. App retargeting can be an effective way to re-engage dormant users while also acquiring new customers. In order to effectively utilize retargeted ads across the mobile space and guarantee KPIs are achieved, app marketers must take advantage of the CPE pricing model.

App Store Optimization

Just as brands use search engine optimization (SEO) to improve their organic rankings, app marketers aim to do the same with app store optimizations (ASO) to rank higher in major app stores, including Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store. When running performance-based keyword campaigns, app marketers have the ability to learn which keywords connect their app with the right users and where ASO improvements are needed.

A popular insurance app came to Perform^[cb] Network looking to drive app installs while simultaneously optimizing their app store ranking. Perform^[cb] tested and optimized multiple publishers, while implementing dynamic rates starting with CPA campaigns. In an effort to drive more install volume, the Perform^[cb] team decided to run a CPI campaign at the same time. This resulted in a 75% increase in new user acquisition month-over-month for the insurance app, while also helping them to achieve the #1 ranking within the car insurance category in the App Store.

Proactive Fraud Prevention

Although ad fraud is more prevalent in digital marketing than ever before, performance marketing holds the key to protecting ad spend from fraudulent traffic – some would say that performance marketing has built-in fraud protection. Since mobile marketers utilizing performance marketing run campaigns on a CPA pricing model, affiliate partners and publishers are only paid once genuine installs or conversions have been made. Publishers will never receive payment for fraudulent traffic. This elevated level of accountability on the affiliate partners’ part is just one of the greatest defenses against battling fraud. Check out the Guide to Ad Fraud and Compliance for Performance Marketers to learn more about combating fraud using performance marketing.

At Perform^[cb], our in-house Compliance team and proprietary anti-fraud technology, PerformSHIELD, supplies marketers with unparalleled brand assurance and proactive marketing compliance. PerformSHIELD protects marketers and brands by utilizing a custom-designed suite of tools that analyzes traffic in real-time. By taking a proactive approach to fraud protection, PerformSHIELD safeguards marketers from suspicious activity before it has the chance to harm their campaigns.

Boost Your Mobile Performance Marketing

If your user acquisition strategy has felt a bit lackluster lately, don’t wait to invest in the performance model. Partnering with a performance-based or CPA network can give you access to high-quality traffic and mitigates any risk of wasted ad spend, thus guaranteeing genuine conversions. If you’re interested in discussing how performance marketing can help achieve your user acquisition goals, reach out to one of our mobile experts today!