The introduction of the SKAdNetwork by Apple has changed the pillars of mobile advertisement measurement. The once clean and clear path between ad impression and user behavior has turned into a privacy-limited path with numerous data restrictions and signal loss. This transition has brought confusion and uncertainty, and in the worst cases, trepidation, particularly to the marketers who earlier enjoyed deterministic attribution.
It would be an understatement to say that SKAdNetwork represents a major challenge; it is decidedly a change. It represents Apple’s pledge to user privacy and providing marketers with a new framework to assess the performance of campaigns, without user-level identifiers.
In this article we will explain; what is SKAdNetwork, how does SKAdNetwork work, and how marketers can leverage this new framework to enable effective user acquisition campaigns with the support of powerful tools such as Apptrove.
What Is SKAdNetwork?
Put simply, SKAdNetwork is Apple’s attribution tool, developed to give advertisers campaign performance stats in a privacy-compliant manner. Launched with iOS 14, SKAdNetwork limits the ability to track individual users while providing aggregated performance data to advertisers and ad networks.
When marketers ask ‘what is SKAdNetwork’, the answer lies in its most basic tenet: delivering attribution in a privacy-compliant way, while allowing advertisers to understand campaign performance so they can assess the success of their marketing efforts. SKAdNetwork eliminates user-level tracking and use of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and instead offers campaign attribution using anonymized postbacks.
As a mobile measurement partner, Apptrove helps brands interpret SKAdNetwork data in this new privacy-first era by implementing analytics solutions within the SKAdNetwork framework and beyond that fill attribution gaps while being compliant.
How Does SKAdNetwork Work?
To understand how SKAdNetwork works, it is important to understand it as an attribution process. When the user interacts with an ad and installs the app, SKAdNetwork will send a postback to the ad network indicating an install occurred. This postback has limitations:
- It is a low amount of information (ex. campaign id, source app id, optional conversion values).
- It is subjected to a random timer to confuse the user journey.
- It has no identifiers to the user, thus rendering the user anonymous.
This poses a challenge for advertisers to make decisions on late and limited data. Although, SKAdNetwork can be a good and actionable part of campaign measurement with the right infrastructure in place (conversion value mapping, modeled analytics etc.).
Apptrove’s attribution and analytics platform is built to help decode SKAdNetwork signals. By layering precise analytics and contextual event capabilities, Apptrove empowers brands to leverage postback data into actionable intelligence.
Rethinking SKAdNetwork User Acquisition
Historically, performance marketing was closely tied to granular data, cohort-based metrics, and real-time LTV modeling. With SKAdNetwork, such practices must be reimagined.
SKAdNetwork user acquisition strategies now require marketers to:
- Use aggregate performance metrics instead of user-level metrics.
- Use conversion value schemas to gain insights about post-install behavior in a meaningful way.
- Conduct incrementality tests to measure the true impact of a campaign, without retargeting signals.
All of this means new tools and a deeper understanding of probabilistic models. Apptrove is here to help marketers navigate this transition with features like:
- Smart conversion value mapping specific to app KPIs.
- Advanced modeling for early user signals.
- Real-time performance dashboards for interpreting the data from SKAdNetwork.
With these types of tools, marketers are still able to have success with optimizing user acquisition campaigns, even when they are operating without their previous level of visibility.
Embracing SKAdNetwork With Confidence
It’s hard not to think of SKAdNetwork as limiting. The absence of real-time data, user-level data, and deterministic tracking is a real challenge. Yet, all of the limitations of SKAdNetwork can also drive evolution.
SKAdNetwork is forcing the industry to invest in new measurement that respects the privacy of users. It’s encouraging marketers to think about the way we design and incorporate ads into people’s lives more ethically and sustainably. SKAdNetwork shouldn’t be looked at as a temporary setback, but instead should be embraced as the new normal.
At Apptrove, we work closely with app marketers and developers to build robust strategies around SKAdNetwork. From designing attribution models to integrating first-party data, our platform supports organizations as they navigate this complex environment.
Conclusion
The mobile ad ecosystem is changing, and SKAdNetwork is at the heart of that change. While SKAdNetwork might shut down certain capabilities of conventional attribution models, it also provides the opportunity to create improved and privacy-minded marketing infrastructures.
Below is a summary of what you need to know about SKAdNetwork:
- What is SKAdNetwork? A privacy-first attribution framework created by Apple.
- How does it work? With aggregated, anonymized delayed postbacks, with no user-level identifiers.
- What does user acquisition look like in SKAdNetwork? With strategic value mapping, modeled measurement, and aggregate campaign optimization.
Who is going to reap the benefits of the transition to SKAdNetwork? Those organizations that are willing to make the adaptations to the new privacy frameworks early, to ensure compliance and create differentiation. Apptrove provides the measurement and modeling best practices to thrive in this environment and offers a bridge between privacy and performance.
If your marketing team is ready to lean into a privacy-led future, now is the time to embrace SKAdNetwork and let Apptrove help.