Interesting Reads
Attribution is not Incrementality.
If you work in marketing of any kind, ‘attribution’ is an inescapable part of your life. And ‘incrementality’ is a semi-mythical concept that you’ve probably heard plenty about…but aren’t quite sure how to achieve in reality.
Avinash Kaushik is one of the savviest marketing thinkers in the industry today, and his most recent column goes in depth on how to differentiate these two important concepts.
There is something useful for everyone in here, and regular readers will identify with the importance of expanding your attribution system beyond paid advertising. Owned media, search, offline conversions…all of these are important in today’s mobile ecosystem.
Industry Buzz
Apple’s Privacy-Safe Mobile Attribution Solution Is Buggy: Core Functions Missing From SKAdNetwork
In the ongoing saga of the IDFA Apocalypse, it turns out that some of the most important parts of SKAdNetwork aren’t actually working yet. Apple quietly slipped this rather important information into a single known issues bullet point in the iOS 14 release notes.
Maybe that policy delay from back in September wasn’t quite so altruistic after all…
Apple Building Search Engine To Take On Google, Report Claims
Even though this rumor has been floating around for a while, it’s getting a fresh wave of attention this week.
I suspect most readers see the headline and imagine Apple launching a Google-like ‘big naked search bar’ product. And while that’s always possible (it’s more-or-less what Apple did with Maps), I think it’s probably more likely that this will continue gradually bypassing Google’s search bar in various places — as already happens with Siri’s website suggestions today.
Walled Gardens
Ad-pocalypse (not) Now: Facebook, Google, and Twitter rebound on more ads
Ad spend was way down this spring, thanks mostly to the COVID pandemic (we saw this clearly in Branch data, with ad-driven acquisition giving way to owned channels like referrals and social media).
Now, spend is back up on all major networks.
Privacy & Security
California Proposition 24: Voters approve California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
It’s still somewhat buried in all the other current election noise, but California voters passed a new privacy act this week. It won’t go into effect until 2023, and was pitched as ‘fixing loopholes’ in the existing CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) law.
For businesses that already invested in good-faith CCPA and GDPR compliance, most commentators seem to feel that there likely won’t be that much to change (especially because CPRA more closely resembles GDPR than the older CCPA did). And unless/until the US passes a nation-wide law, CPRA is likely to become the de facto standard for the country.
Still, here in California, this new act is not contention-free: while it passed as a ballot initiative, getting to that point has been the long-running, personal mission of a single, wealthy real estate developer from San Francisco named Alastair Mactaggart.
App privacy questions available in App Store Connect
After WWDC, IDFA and SKAdNetwork grabbed most of the data privacy headlines. But Apple will also be introducing new ‘privacy nutrition labels’ containing developer-reported information about the data each app collects and uses.
Apple has been hinting at a questionnaire — there’s no auto-detection mechanism — to collect this info, and now that has finally been made available (it will be required starting December 8).
Note: I don’t actually see the questionnaire yet for the apps in my App Store Connect account, but it’s possible Apple is still in the process of rolling it out to everyone.
Tips & Techniques
Growth Marketing in the Modern World
Our team here at Branch is putting on a four-part growth course next month. It’s an abridged version of the sold-out Stanford University class, Growth Marketing: Proven Theories Powered by New Technologies, taught by Mada Seghete (Branch co-founder) and Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite.
Covering SEO, virality, activation, retention, and paid marketing strategies, this course will show you how to move beyond traditional methods to win at every stage of the mobile growth funnel.
UX
This beautiful, seamless app conversion experience from Shop is baked into a desktop website order confirmation page.
Podcast
Director of Product Design @ Coursera: Chetana Deorah
The Role of Design in Growth
Growing up in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, Chetana’s curiosity and rebelliousness led her to dabble in the life sciences before finding her calling in UX design.
She’s taken her success and translated it into not only hockey stick growth for profit-motivated companies, but also inspiring the next generation of designers from under-resourced communities in the Bay Area through the Inneract Project.
Hear more about Chetana’s incredible story of how one becomes a design leader, the reason why she believes Netflix stays so adaptable (her answer will stay with you), as well as some of her own questions around what the future looks like in education, on this episode of How I Grew This.
Events
Mobile Growth Online
Panelists: The Athletic, M&C Saatchi, and Graphite.
Where: virtual event.
When: Wed, Nov 11, 3:00 PM (PST)
Mobile Growth EMEA Online
Panelists: JOE & THE JUICE and Starling Bank.
Where: virtual event.
When: Wed, Nov 18, 2:00 PM (GMT).
Mobile Growth SEA Online
Panelists: 99.co, BukuWarung, and StashAway.
Where: virtual event.
When: Wed, Nov 25, 3:00 PM (GMT+8)
The big news right now is (obviously) the US election. And though I kept my eyes out all week, the best mobile tie-in I found was this article about how smartphone location data is being used to help fight voter suppression (which, for a data nerd who cares about free and fair elections, is still objectively fascinating).
So, the focus of today’s comment is another ‘election’ instead: the 2020 Mobile Growth Awards! Think of it a bit like a cooler version of the Webbys, with a much less confusing website.
There are eight award categories:
We have some really impressive judges lined up for this — seriously, go look at the landing page — and an awards gala [virtual] planned at the end of January. All we need now are nominations from you.
And yes, you can even nominate yourself!
Alex Bauer