#beyondtheinstall

The first panel, moderated by Phil Gontier, App Engagement - EMEA Sales at Twitter, united a group of performance marketers from leading apps across the e-commerce, travel, lifestyle, and gaming verticals to discuss how to guide mobile users further down the funnel toward conversion. Panelists included David Llewellyn, Head of Mobile Marketing - Europe, Skyscanner; Robert Lamvik, Growth Manager, Spotify; Fabio Esposti, Innovation Manager - Europe, eBay; and Adir Ron, Head of Marketing, Win.

Although the exact approach varied by industry, all panelists agreed that end goal of mobile engagement is to strengthen retention and grow the lifetime value of each customer. Advanced segmentation (made possible by measuring in-app behavior) and retargeting allow marketers to stay connected with those who have already downloaded their app to keep users informed of new products, content, and special offers.

App Optimization: Strategies for Measurement & Monetization

The second panel, moderated by Shelley Lapcevic, Head of App Engagement - Customer Success at Twitter, gave attendees a chance to hear from mobile measurement providers and agencies on best practices for optimizing and monetizing mobile apps. Panelists included Peter Hamilton, CEO, TUNE; Stephanie Emmanouel, General Manager - Connected Customer Marketing, Somo; Christian Henschel, CEO and Co-Founder, adjust; and Shumel Lais, Account Director, M&C Saatchi Mobile.

The conversation focused on the importance of effectively using behavioral data to inform your mobile strategy. When it comes to analyzing app data, Stephanie Emmanouel of Somo expressed the need to “differentiate between the noise and the signal in order to better understand the mobile customer’s journey.” The panelists discussed how tracking more in-app events, enabling real-time data sharing, and optimizing deeplinking are all critical aspects of cultivating a successful mobile program.

Fireside Chat: The Next Phase of Programmatic

We wrapped up the day with a fireside chat between our Co-Founder, now Head of App Engagement at Twitter, Brian Long, and Co-Founder of MoPub now VP, Exchange at Twitter, Jim Payne. Brian and Jim discussed how the mobile advertising ecosystem has rapidly evolved over the past few years and what’s ahead for the future of programmatic. 

Networking Reception at the Century Club

After the panel sessions concluded, guests had the opportunity to catch up over cocktails and check out the London skyline from the rooftop terrace.

The first panel session, moderated by Tim Geisenheimer, SVP of Sales at TapCommerce, brought together performance marketers from leading travel & e-commerce brands to discuss maximizing the ROI of user acquisition and strengthening retention. Panelists included Kevin Kwon, Mobile Marketing Manager at Hotel Tonight; Trang Vo, Mobile Marketing Manager at Groupon; and Tristan Krause, Senior Mobile Marketing Manager at Expedia.

The panel agreed that measuring in-app behavior is important for optimizing the mobile experience and being able to target different groups of users. Deep linking was brought up as a smart way to enhance the user experience—as Trang Vo from Groupon described, “deep linking is an app infrastructure investment, rather than solely a marketing investment.”

The main takeaway of the session? There is no one “golden ticket” in mobile marketing—you have to develop a culture of testing, define your goals, and figure out what works best for your own business.

Gaming Engagement: Maximizing the Value of Each Player

Next up, our Head of Games Customer Success, Andy Katzman, moderated a panel with a group of mobile gaming acquisition and retention specialists. Panelists included Chris Lin, Performance Marketing Manager at DeNA; A.J. Yeakel, Co-Founder and COO at Grow Mobile; and Tim McCloud, Director of User Acquisition at Playstudios.

The session explored the unique nature of the mobile games space, and panelists shared their perspectives on how to hold the invaluable attention of players and foster engagement over time to increase lifetime value. The group discussed how in-app mobile retargeting can be used to keep users informed, for example, by promoting a limited-time deal or new content releases within a game.

The Mobile Migration: Where Are We Headed Next?

Lastly, our CEO and Co-Founder, Brian Long, moderated a panel with a group of mobile industry experts. Speakers included Eran Metzer, Senior Director of Ad Platforms at Yahoo; André DeRussy, Executive Director of Performance Sales at Pandora; Kelton Lynn, Product Manager at Twitter; and Tim Villanueva, Account Director at Fetch.

The group discussed the course that the mobile advertising ecosystem has taken so far, and what challenges and opportunities marketers are likely to face in the years ahead. The panel felt that the rise of “mobile-first” consumers, along with continually evolving technology (such as programmatic buying, deep linking, native advertising, video, and dynamic creative), will continue to push mobile marketing forward.

Rooftop Networking Reception at The Battery

After the panel sessions concluded, the event moved upstairs to the rooftop for a networking reception. Guests had the opportunity to catch up with each other, enjoy incredible views of downtown San Francisco, and even a few “Tap & Tonics.” Click "play" below to see a few photos from the night.

State of the Mobile Internet

Mark May delivered a great presentation detailing current trends in mobile with a focus on advertising. He pointed out that there's still a huge divide between time spent on mobile devices and advertising spend allocated to mobile. Based on his experience with the boom in desktop advertising, he expected the same thing to occur on mobile. He also pointed out that many leading internet companies, like Facebook, are seeing a growth in revenue per user on mobile that puts that revenue in line with desktop. Overall, his perspective was that it's still very early innings for mobile advertising.

Mobile Marketing, CRM and Analytics

Panel participants included Jonathan Newcomb, Director of Acquisition @ Jackthreads, Joshua Heidler, Acquisition Manager @ Zulily, Peter Hamilton, CEO @ HasOffers and Brian Suthoff, VP, BD @ Localytics. The panel was moderated by Dan Gilmartin, Director of Mobile Marketing @ PayPal.

The panel discussion focused primarily on tactics and trends that the marketers and analytics providers were seeing in the space. From the marketer perspective, it was clear that price of an install/new user was steadily increasing on iOS. Both Joshua and Jonathan agreed that driving new installs will continue to be a focus, but that they're increasingly concerned with quality and LTV.

On the analytics side, Peter Hamilton confirmed that while ~10% of HasOffers clients tracked engagement a year ago, over 80% do now. Brian mentioned that Localytics clients are interested in deeper data and he specifically focused on the perception that iOS has a higher quality audience when compared with Android. His theory (soon to be proved out on the Localytics blog) is that higher end Android devices like the Moto X or Samsung S4 show similar results to the iPhone.

Ultimately all panelists were encouraged by recent developments in the space on the marketing and analytics side as it's allowing companies to be smarter about how they reach consumers through mobile advertising.

Trends in the Mobile Advertising Ecosystem

Panel participants included Paul Gelb, Head of Marketplace Development @ MoPub, Jesse Gillette, Executive Director, Ad Business Development @ Pandora, Sriram Krishnan, Mobile Product @ Facebook and Marc Theermann, Head of Mobile Platform Sales @ Google. The panel was moderated by Brian Long, CEO @ TapCommerce.

The main theme here was the adoption of programmatic across mobile and the rise of native ad units, specifically on Facebook and Twitter. Sriram discussed the rapid uptake of Facebook's mobile, native ad units to drive installs. He emphasized that Facebook recognized the importance of looking beyond the install though as evidenced by their announcement earlier this week of a new ad unit type: Mobile App Ads for Engagement.

Paul agreed that native was important and, putting on his Twitter hat, mentioned that MoPub would be helping bring Twitter's native mobile inventory into the programmatic universe. Marc argued in favor of banner ads mentioning that they are the "standard" and therefore scalable. Jesse agreed and also mentioned that she's interested in the rise of mobile video.

Each participant agreed that the mobile advertising landscape is a rapidly evolving space and thought that the next few years would bring a tremendous amount of innovation as well as overall growth in spend from major advertisers.