Crystal gazing into 2023 and what lies ahead for the Indian app market

Authored by Ritu Sharma, Country Manager, AppsFlyer India. 

The Indian app economy provides marketers with tremendous opportunity for growth, owing to a thriving digital mobile ecosystem, an online user base of over 900 million people, and the potential to target untapped users from Bharat. However, 83% of marketers anticipate a moderate to significant impact on their digital advertising efforts owing to privacy-centric measures by Google and Apple. Apple’s ATT update in 2021 has impacted the ecosystem on iOS devices. A year into ATT enforcement, its adoption is widespread, with 80% of apps implementing the ATT prompt. Consumers are increasingly embracing privacy, thereby impacting marketers and the efficacy of their marketing ad campaigns, targeting, personalization, reporting, and more. With SKAdNetwork 4.0 announcement, Google’s deprecation of GAID, the rollout of the Privacy Sandbox slated for 2024, and the retirement of 3rd party cookies on the web all in the same year, marketers need to prepare themselves. First-party data is the unique primary-level data collected directly from the audience. This granular data helps marketers accurately understand their Return on Ad Spends (ROAS) for user acquisition.

To assess campaign performance holistically, marketers need to combine several sources. Mobile Marketing Platforms (MMPs) offer SKAN solutions that provide marketers with aggregated data without revealing the user identity. MMPs provide Lifetime Value (LTV) data via dashboard analytics, reports, and postbacks.  MMPs also offer comprehensive measurement methodologies like Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) and incrementality that don’t require user-level data, allowing marketers to measure the impact of their campaigns. For platforms to securely bring their data together for joint analysis based on defined guidelines and configurations, AppsFlyer’s Privacy Cloud is an open and trusted environment for ecosystem collaboration and innovation. Data Clean Rooms (DCRs) are a part of the Privacy Cloud and can be used to maximize insights while respecting the current privacy regulations. Testing and measuring ad creatives are essential to ensure marketers are optimizing for metrics such as Click Through Rate (CTR), Cost Per Install (CPI), and engagement. With contextual targeting, creative performance heavily relies on these metrics instead of ROAS. An ad creative performing well indicates that you’re reaching the right audience, speaking the right message, and effectively engaging with them. As privacy changes continue to transform how app marketers run their campaigns, a sustainable strategy is rooted in a consistent and iterative process.