We sat down with Gal Levenhaim, VP Products at AppLift to find out more about building DataLift 360 and what a unified platform means for app advertisers.
DataLift 360 is a unified platform that enables advertisers to take control of the full app advertising lifecycle. What product features are you currently focusing on and what has the latest release been to complement that vision?
At the moment we’re seeing continuous product deployments. Every sprint we’re releasing new features and one of our most recent deployments has been that of the publisher network reporting. It takes us a step further towards the unified platform vision by including another channel reporting. Our Publisher Network is one of 4 advertising channels sophisticated app marketers can access through the unified DataLift 360 platform. The other channels are RTB Exchanges, Direct Deals and Rewarded Ads.
What is the value add of this reporting feature?
The publisher network reporting is enriched with lifetime value (LTV) data — this data consists of post-install events showing user engagement after the install. At AppLift we look at the install not as the end goal but rather as an indication of interest if you think of the classic sales funnel. We think further about how we can engage users beyond the install and ensure they will remain active users of the app. It can be a loyal long-term relationship with a user if optimized right — and data is the means to achieve that.
At the moment it looks like the industry is geared towards CPA-optimization. How are you accommodating this with DataLift 360?
We’ve certainly seen a shift from a pure quantity-centric user acquisition approach to a more quality-focused approach. This is exactly what we’re addressing with DataLift 360: the ability to integrate 1st-party data and leverage this data across different scenarios such as prospecting and retargeting. The user acquisition is one side of the coin but the actual long term goal is to get the most lifetime value out of the user — so it is crucial to find the right users and engage them. With DataLift 360 we enable advertisers to optimize across the whole app advertising lifecycle, from launch of an app to the growth and retention of its user base, all backed by real-time data insights. This is why it is so essential to receive the post-install information from the advertiser on the activity in their app. We can then optimize towards the placements that deliver the highest in-app engagement to achieve the target CPA.
What options do advertisers have to integrate data in the DataLift 360 platform?
They can upload static files into the system. There is also the dynamic audience feature which allows advertisers to directly connect their 1st-party data via API to our system. Another option of the dynamic audience feature is to set rules in our platform defined by the advertiser, such as targeting users that have clicked on a shoe category app and have made at least 1 in-app purchase. This provides utmost flexibility for advertisers to retarget high value users to optimize on CPA. We also offer DMP integration and integration of other 3rd-party data sources.
What’s your answer to combating fraud?
We have fraud detection and prevention mechanisms in place, paired with human intelligence to spot fraudulent patterns and take swift action in such cases.
The industry is constantly evolving, how do you make sure you stay at the forefront of innovation?
We should take it step-by-step and not try to achieve all at once. The industry is changing rapidly and plans that we could envision for the next 6-8 months could become irrelevant when the time comes. We stay in close touch with our clients to make sure we understand their continuously evolving business needs. We look at understanding the bigger picture of what our clients may actually need, not just at this given moment but also in the long-term, and focus our innovations to answer those needs.
How important is UX design in your development of the platform?
A user friendly experience is crucial to having advertisers make the most out of any platform. This is why UX design is at the forefront of our planning and envisioning of the DataLift 360 interface. We have dedicated resources on our team who continuously adapt the usability and user-friendliness of the platform.
We work on improving the interface with two use cases in mind:
- A simple user experience for users to navigate the platform without too much manual intervention.
- Additional features for more advanced users of the platform to take charge of and manually tweak optimization.
What do you see as the next step for DataLift 360?
We set out with the goal of creating DataLift 360 as a unified platform addressing all app advertising needs, adding more and more elements. Now that we see this vision coming to life, it makes us think of new ways on how to develop the product – still in the same direction and with the same vision at heart and with more advanced features to compliment that vision – a unified platform that serves as a one stop shop for mobile advertisers, addressing all their app advertising needs – from launching an app, growing its user base to retaining its most valuable users.
Thank you for your time Gal!
Stay tuned for more product news!