Writer’s notice: For historic context, we extremely counsel testing our beforehand printed weblog posts on SKAN 4.0:
Since late October 2022, the cell trade has been abuzz with the thrilling information of SKAdNetwork 4.0’s launch. Not solely does this current a possibility for these in cell advertising to revamp their methods, however SKAN 4.0 additionally presents many questions on how cell measurement companions (MMPs) like Department plan to assist the newest adjustments along with earlier variations of SKAN.
To that impact, as of November 2022, we’re thrilled to announce that Department has constructed the required parts to assist transitioning to SKAN 4.0. These adjustments – together with updates to our SDKs, our dashboard SKAN configuration instruments, and an enhanced SKAN Analytics view inside our dashboard – permit for a deeper understanding of indicators out of your iOS customers.
Whereas the cell ecosystem (together with advert networks) nonetheless has work to do to assist SKAN 4.0, Department makes it simpler for you by supporting seamless migration from earlier variations of SKAN to the newest model, SKAN 4.0. This manner, you’ll be capable of extra simply visualize earlier, present, and future variations of SKAN information inside Department.
Sustaining enterprise continuity with sleek fallbacks included for earlier SKAN variations is of the utmost significance, and Department clients can relaxation straightforward understanding that updating their SKAN implementation to assist SKAN 4.0 won’t trigger any disruptions. As the remainder of the ecosystem rolls out SKAN 4.0 assist over time, you’ll be able to proceed to run your SKAN 2 and SKAN 3 campaigns and conversion reporting as ordinary.
We’ll focus on these new adjustments throughout the context you’ll encounter as a Department buyer utilizing SKAN to measure your iOS campaigns. For those who’re in search of a full recap of all of the adjustments in SKAdNetwork 4.0, we suggest our earlier SKAN 4.0 recap weblog put up.
What’s new in Department’s assist of SKAN 4.0?
The adjustments Department has made to assist SKAN 4.0 may be grouped into three main themes:
- SKAN configuration: We’ve up to date our SDK and our dashboard configuration instruments, like our conversion worth mapper.
- SKAN-driven insights: Our dashboard stories now assist the brand new information granularity obtainable from SKAN 4.0, together with coarse conversion values and extra Supply ID digits.
- Advert serving & community integrations: We’re additionally updating our integrations with advert networks to assist the SKAN 4.0 information that may now be despatched to Department through new Supply ID digits.
SKAN configuration
Our groups have been exhausting at work updating our platform to assist SKAN performance, together with an SDK replace and new configuration choices in our dashboard.
Up to date SKAN conversion worth mapper
To reap the benefits of the brand new coarse conversion worth in SKAdNetwork 4.0, advertisers must map these values to their present in-app occasions.
For those who use Department to handle your SKAN conversion values (commonest), now you can assign coarse values to mapped occasions throughout the up to date SKAN conversion worth mapper in our dashboard. This manner, you’ll be able to perceive and optimize your campaigns extra successfully throughout all variations of SKAN.
Higher but, useful logic has been in-built that may mechanically warn you when a rough worth has not been assigned.
For those who don’t use Department to handle your SKAN conversion values (both you will have applied the SKAdNetwork capabilities immediately, otherwise you use one other device to take action), we propose utilizing related logic to configure your conversion worth mapping. Be at liberty to achieve out to your Department buyer success supervisor for extra data.
Lockable occasions
The Department conversion mapping web page additionally now permits you to point out which occasions are “locking” occasions, in accordance with the brand new SKAN 4.0 specs. Because of this when that occasion is detected, it’ll set off the SKAN postback and “finish” the present SKAN window.
Doing that is useful if a person reaches the outlined threshold throughout the measurement window and also you need the postback to fireside as quickly as doable, reasonably than ready longer to provide the person extra time to do one thing much more useful.
Anchorable occasions
The power to extend and/or lower conversion values is a formidable and versatile characteristic launched by SKAN 4.0. Nonetheless, this new performance is also difficult — so we’ve included “Anchor to highest worth” as an choice to facilitate a clean transition from earlier variations of SKAN.
When this setting is enabled, we’ll assure that the best worth occasion in your mapping {that a} person completes would be the occasion despatched to SKAN. That is how SKAN 2 and SKAN 3 work presently, and we are going to uphold that performance in SKAN 4.0 by default to assist our clients of their transition to SKAN 4.0.
Our major aim in doing that is to permit pre-existing SKAN configurations to proceed with out destabilization whereas additionally incorporating SKAN 4.0’s new options.
Be aware: Disabling the “Anchor to highest worth” toggle implies that the final occasion — as an alternative of the best worth occasion — accomplished by a person in a given postback window would be the one set to SKAN.
We’ve up to date our dashboard stories to reap the benefits of SKAN 4.0’s elevated information granularity, together with extra particular conversion values and the additional digits in Supply IDs. This improved granularity permits for more practical advertising campaigns and higher evaluation of marketing campaign efficiency.
With coarse conversion values, you’ll be able to see which customers are extra energetic and investing in your product, even when your marketing campaign isn’t but eligible for the total, fine-grained conversion worth.
Now, you’ll be able to view the combination counts of occasions and postbacks by coarse-grained values throughout the SKAdNetwork Analytics view.
Supply ID
Prior variations of SKAN had two-digit campaigns (known as Marketing campaign IDs), which SKAN 4.0 has since changed with Supply IDs – that includes as much as two further digits (as much as 4 whole).
These added digits will empower advert networks to move extra descriptive data out of your advert campaigns, powering analytics filters and breakdowns equivalent to geo, placement, and inventive.
Coming quickly: Retention cohorts powered by new postbacks
With SKAN 4.0, the variety of postbacks per person has elevated from one to 3, with delayed home windows. We’re exhausting at work iterating on these extra postback views! At present, we’re constructing an up to date analytics expertise that may let you simply see how your customers re-engage after set up.
Powered by the extra postbacks obtainable in SKAN 4.0, Department clients will be capable of higher perceive person re-engagement post-app set up on this dynamic view.
Advert serving & community integrations
One other precedence for Department is to replace our integrations with advert networks to assist the brand new SKAN 4.0 information that may now be handed by means of to Department. Every advert community will now must replace their SKAN assist, which sadly received’t occur abruptly. This step is essentially the most ambiguous, and there may be little steerage but from most networks on timelines.
For some networks, Department pulls aggregated SKAN information from an API. If and when these advert networks broaden their APIs, Department will retrieve all obtainable information. For different networks that ahead particular person SKAN postbacks to Department, we’ll be updating our integrations to assist extra information that may very well be despatched to Department based mostly on Supply ID digits.
This course of will take a while, so we’re proactively working to activate advertisers on SKAN 4.0 and speed up learnings. Department has begun working carefully on our end-to-end SKAN integration with Snap, along with making a SKAN 4.0 badge certification course of for advert networks.
What occurs subsequent?
An entire trade rollout of SKAN 4.0 assist goes to take a while. Many updates and extra assist are nonetheless required from a number of angles for the cell ecosystem to completely align with SKAN 4.0 adjustments.
Don’t fear; Department will information you alongside the best way. We’re progressing shortly on offering additional SKAN 4.0 assist. Future plans embody serving to you deal with your SKAN conversion worth mapping mechanically, along with serving to you perceive how your upper-funnel occasions are valued (based mostly in your crew’s self-defined north star KPI).
That is simply the beginning of the updates we’re investing in SKAN 4.0. We’re wanting ahead to working with clients and companions to benefit from SKAN 4.0’s new capabilities. We’re additionally exhausting at work creating next-generation options that hold person privateness entrance and heart. Keep tuned for extra information in 2023!
What are you able to do now?
Now that Department’s up to date SKAdNetwork 4.0 performance is obtainable, we encourage you to:
- Replace your Department SDK when handy over the following few months, so that you just’re ready when advert networks begin releasing their assist for SKAN 4. Truthful warning: it could take a couple of months for everybody to catch up on the subject of SKAN 4.0. As soon as they do, your Department configuration shall be updated, prepared and ready!