How to choose the best MMP for your games

Statista forecasts that the global mobile game market will produce revenues of US $98.74 billion in 2024, with anticipated growth in subsequent years. The growing revenue signifies more competition and higher stakes than ever before. That’s why it’s important to allocate your marketing budget effectively. Selecting the adequate mobile measurement partner (MMP) can help you invest every dollar wisely with powerful data-driven insights to optimize your return on investment (ROI).

In this post, we’ll explore why choosing the right MMP is crucial for your game’s growth and how to select the best MMP to maximize your success. Airbridge is here to guide you through this process.

Why you should use an MMP

In today’s fast-evolving mobile marketing landscape, relying solely on a handful of advertising platforms is no longer sufficient. A diverse game market demands an all-encompassing strategy to identify the most effective ones among a wide range of channels within a limited timeframe.

MMPs simplify this process by integrating multiple advertising networks through a single Software Development Kit (SDK). This integration allows for centralized management of all ad campaigns, eases monitoring of various publishers, and facilitates quick marketing performance analysis through an MMP dashboard.

Moreover, MMPs act as fair intermediaries between advertisers and publishers, providing transparent and verifiable data that reflects the true value of each marketing channel. Such impartiality is necessary for accurate measurement and optimization of ad spend.

Considering the challenges and resources required to implement MMPs, it is pivotal to make an informed choice. The MMP checklist provided below will help you select the MMP that best aligns with your company’s needs.

Checklist: Evaluating an MMP for games

1. Unified cross-platform user journey tracking

The shift towards cross-platform gaming has significantly accelerated in the industry. ‘Cross-platform’ gaming enables players to seamlessly switch between various devices, such as PCs, gaming consoles, and mobile devices. This flexibility greatly enhances the appeal of your game, allowing players to enjoy their favorite titles anytime, anywhere. An MMP that offers extensive tracking capabilities is essential for understanding user engagement across all platforms, providing a holistic view of player interactions.

When choosing an MMP, it’s critical to ensure it can effectively track performance across all the platforms your game is available on, including iOS, Android, and the Web. Airbridge distinguishes itself in this area by providing cross-platform marketing measurement tools for mobile, web, and PC, facilitating a comprehensive insight into your game’s growth trajectory.

Airbridge’s integration of both Web SDK and App SDK enables the collection of data across different platforms, streamlining the process of monitoring app and web attribution performance through a unified Airbridge ID. This capability is invaluable for marketers looking to accurately measure the success of their games and understand the user experience at every touchpoint.

2. Convenient and complete data pipeline with raw data

MMPs play a pivotal role in tracking user interactions and conversions, a foundational aspect of successful mobile advertising campaigns. One key feature of an effective MMP is the ability to not only collect but also provide easy access to raw data through the MMP dashboard. This raw data is invaluable for advertisers seeking to conduct in-depth analyses or integrate this information with their existing databases for a thorough view of their marketing efforts. It’s crucial to partner with an MMP like Airbridge that offers flexible, user-friendly options for exporting this raw data, ensuring marketers can leverage their insights to the fullest extent.

Furthermore, in the competitive realm of mobile gaming, retargeting campaigns based on precise audience segmentation can significantly boost engagement rates. Effective segmentation allows marketers to categorize users based on specific actions or traits, facilitating the delivery of highly relevant ads. Airbridge enhances this process by enabling marketers to seamlessly create cohorts and execute targeted campaigns that resonate with users’ behaviors and preferences, thereby increasing the likelihood of desired actions. This strategic approach not only optimizes ad spend but also elevates the overall user experience.

Airbridge’s complete data pipeline and robust segmentation capabilities provide a solid foundation for advertisers aiming to maximize their impact. By offering convenient access to raw data and sophisticated audience segmentation tools, Airbridge empowers marketers to unlock new levels of precision and effectiveness in their campaigns.

3. Optimizing marketing through metric monitoring

Game marketers have the opportunity to significantly refine their user acquisition and retention efforts by harnessing the power of data-driven insights available through MMPs. It’s essential to partner with an MMP that not only gathers comprehensive data but also presents detailed analytics and reports tailored for campaign optimization.

Immediate access to critical metrics via the MMP’s dashboard can greatly streamline the evaluation of marketing performance, offering a considerable advantage in time efficiency. Airbridge distinguishes itself by providing calculated metrics directly on its dashboard, including Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Install (CPI), and notably, Predictive Lifetime Value (pLTV). These metrics are pivotal for understanding different facets of marketing effectiveness, from immediate campaign costs to long-term revenue forecasts.

Ensuring your MMP provides a full suite of metrics is crucial for a well-rounded analysis of your marketing activities. A broad spectrum of metrics allows for an integrated assessment, empowering marketers to pinpoint areas of success and opportunities for optimization.

4. Fraud prevention

Ad fraud still represents a major challenge in mobile marketing, costing advertisers billions of dollars annually. As mobile ad spending continues to rise, the urgency of addressing ad fraud intensifies.

It is vital for MMPs to possess robust capabilities to combat ad fraud effectively. Airbridge stands out by proactively identifying and mitigating fraudulent activities, including sophisticated schemes like click injection and spamming, through real-time detection and the generation of detailed fraud analysis reports. On the Airbridge dashboard, marketers have the flexibility to establish specific fraud validation rules, adjust the prevention levels for each rule, and determine how to handle fraudulent conversions and engagements. These features allow for the creation of detailed reports and the customization of fraud prevention measures, empowering marketers to accurately assess the performance of their publishers, ensuring that only legitimate conversions are rewarded, and uncovering true growth opportunities.

5. Privacy policies

In today’s digital marketing ecosystem, adhering to a myriad of data protection laws and navigating platform-specific privacy policies is paramount. The landscape is dominated by stringent regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the U.S., and the emerging Digital Markets Act (DMA). These regulations set the foundation for user data protection, requiring businesses to handle personal information with the highest degree of transparency and security. Moreover, platform-specific policies, such as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature and Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, introduce additional layers of compliance, particularly around user tracking and ad targeting.

In this complex environment, selecting an MMP that not only keeps pace with but also anticipates changes in privacy regulation is critical. Airbridge stands out by offering cutting-edge tracking and attribution solutions that fully comply with the latest privacy laws and platform regulations. For instance, Airbridge’s approach to data collection and processing is designed to respect user consent preferences, a core tenet of GDPR and CCPA. Additionally, Airbridge’s technology is prepared to adapt to the evolving requirements of platform-specific policies ensuring that marketers can continue to reach their audience effectively without compromising on privacy.

If you’re in search of the best MMP that meets all five checklist points mentioned above, the team of marketing experts at Airbridge is ready to assist you, elevate your game marketing strategy and enhance performance.