Mobile apps have become a critical window into our increasingly digital lives. According to the latest comScore research, they now command 50% of our digital media time spent. They have not only revolutionized how we communicate and socialize with one another, but have also fundamentally transformed commerce and media entertainment as we know it.
Source: comScore
Today, we are more likely to share a post on social media, catch up on our favorite show, and even shop for holiday gifts using mobile apps, thanks to their global ubiquity and the convenience they bring to our daily lives. Mobile apps as a channel only looks to grow in its share of digital media time spend and app downloads and revenue are expected to maintain near-linear growth leading to 2020. In addition, as the adoption of Internet of Things devices increases, apps downloads and revenue will continue to grow.
Source: dazeinfo
Marketers have also come to better understand consumer behavior and reach desired customers through mobile apps. According to Business Intelligence’s report, the mobile advertising economy is being largely driven by the app-install market. In 2015, mobile app-install ads alone made up 25% of total US mobile ad revenue and they have become an important tool in helping developers and marketers stand out in the highly competitive ecosystem. In 2016, app-install ads are expected to reach $5.5bn in revenue with a 155% YoY increase, as mobile app installs see 196% YoY increase in parallel.
Source: BI Intelligence Estimates
To address this burgeoning market, IAB created the Mobile App Marketing Working Group at the end of 2015. The working group is comprised of app developers, media agencies, app networks, ad tech platforms and attribution solution providers. The Group has been engaging in core topic areas of app marketing: app user acquisition, user retention and app monetization. The goal of the group is to establish common definitions for success metrics, provide guidance on forms of targeting and creative to maximize effectiveness and help define best practices as they relate to the buying and selling of in-app media. By addressing the major issues and trends pertinent to our industry, the IAB Mobile App Marketing Working Group hopes to usher in the next generation of informed and effective mobile marketers.
As the first project of the working group, the IAB unveils the industry’s first Mobile App Marketing Glossary. As co-chair of the Working Group, the process behind creating the glossary was an eye-opening endeavor. The mobile marketing ecosystem is quite unique as many of us have come to know, but for many industry onlookers the landscape and terminology can often be puzzling. The document was created to define the industry’s most commonly used and perhaps misused terminology, and succinctly describe instances when some terminologies can have different meanings in varying contexts. For example, an app publisher in the context of publishing is an entity that provides content or utility through an app. In comparison, an app publisher, from the perspective of app developers, is an entity that acquires users or monetizes the app for the app developer. The glossary also sheds light on concepts that help marketers gain a holistic understanding of the consumer purchase journey and make intelligent decisions in allocating budget across partners, such as view-through attribution and influencing touchpoints. For the details of their definitions, please see the glossary.
Collaboration and transparency and is what fuels industry growth, and without it, we fail to benefit from each other’s expertise. The IAB Mobile App Marketing glossary is developed through open learning among a mix of diverse industry leaders and is representative of what we can achieve when we work together.