App Tracking: functions, tools and our step by step approach
With the increasing importance of smartphones, app tracking has become a very important subject. Throughout the following sections, we will explain what this analysis entails and why it is of great importance for the success of your company. In addition, we will explain the benefits you will gain from using it and which data areas you can monitor and improve with app tracking for your business. In addition, you will get to know our IT-WINGS services, which we offer for a successful development, step by step. This way, you can conveniently see which steps are taken and how you can benefit from them.
What is App Tracking?
App tracking is a part of digital analytics, i.e. digital data analysis, and refers in particular to apps on mobile devices. The term describes the collection, analysis and evaluation of data on app usage. This data includes important statistics about the app itself such as the number of installs and possible error messages as well as crashes. It also looks at usage statistics such as length of use, devices and operating systems used, as well as button usage and conversions (e.g. converting an online store visitor into a buyer). Exactly what data is collected can be defined thanks to different types of app analytics. These subtypes include app marketing analytics, app advertising analytics, in-app analytics, and app performance analytics. App marketing analytics focuses on app store data and the number of downloads. App advertising analytics, on the other hand, is relevant for digital marketing campaigns for which, among other things, impressions, clicks on ads, and in-app behaviour are measured. This behaviour is treated more specifically in in-app analytics and includes demographic data. App performance analysis, focuses less on the app user and more on the app itself, recording information such as crashes and error messages. Native apps, web apps, as well as hybrid apps serve as data sources.
After collecting data, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the values is performed. Thanks to this analysis, user behaviour is illustrated and interpreted. This is especially important in order to specifically optimise an app in its programming and also marketing.
The best-known app analytics tool is Google Firebase. This and other tools work with a so-called SDK (Software Development Kit). It collects the data you want to analyse and summarises it clearly in the form of, for example, the Google Tag Manager. These automated features let you keep track of everything in app tracking and focus on your work to improve performance.
Usage of app tracking
With the help of app analytics tools, you get various information and metrics about the app performance and the users that are crucial for it. With these metrics, we have the opportunity to optimise targeted aspects and increase efficiency. Depending on which tool is used, the functions can of course vary, but generally the following aspects are available to you:
User analysis
- Who uses the application?
- What source did the user come from?
- Which mobile devices are used?
- Which operating systems (Android, IOS, etc.) are used?
Crash Reports
- Errors and crashes
Flow Visualisation
- User flow: Which paths does the user take?
- Which path is successful?
- Which click paths offer room for improvement?
Conversion tracking
- How often have the goals (micro & macro conversions) been reached?
- Which channels and which device were used to reach the goals?
- What was the revenue like and which products sold best?
Performance marketing
- What importance did individual data sources have?
- What's the ROI for each channel?
- Which channel can be optimised in terms of performance (such as bounce rate, CTR, CVR)?
Why does app tracking matter for your company?
Although mobile app tracking is not yet as widespread as web analytics, it is just as important. That’s because of the ever-increasing use of mobile devices and apps. Understanding and responding to your users’ behaviour is especially important for online success. For publishers of apps as well as for the marketing section, observing and interpreting usage statistics is highly relevant.
App tracking tools such as Google Firebase provide companies with valuable information about the functionality, performance and popularity of an app. Numbers regarding the frequency of a download and about user behaviour provide insightful impulses for optimising your application. Traffic sources, which describe how users came to the application and on which device they use it, provide information about functionality on different operating systems. To cover a wide target group, this information can also be used to improve app versions on different devices.
Crash reports, on the other hand, which are done through usability testing, give developers the opportunity to increase the functionality and user-friendliness of an app. Besides the possibility of general improvement, app tracking also makes it possible to understand your users better. Flow Visualization and Costumer Journey reveal which areas are used more frequently and therefore have potential. Collected data on popular features and areas is optimal for developing marketing strategies that lead to success. Thanks to the collected data, campaigns and advertisements can be placed in a more targeted and goal-oriented manner.
With these benefits, collecting and interpreting application data increases your company’s potential chances of success by allowing you to better and more specifically target your audience.
App tracking services
Our service portfolio includes technical analytics as well as performance marketing analytics and advanced analytics. We analyse your app performance, and provide you important insights. With this data as a basis, we create and implement a concept that increases performance.
In order to increase this, we are at your side with advice and support every step of the way. In addition to our mere consulting services, we offer joint workshops and brainstorming sessions to help you develop and implement your goals. With a definition of defined, company-specific KPI’s, we precisely address your individual objectives and achieve the performance you desire. In this way, we are at your side from the initial conceptual phase through to technical implementation. With the help of our dashboarding, you can keep an eye on all KPIs and developments, and we can react to any changes in real time.
Technical Digital Analytics
Performance Marketing Analytics
Advanced Analytics
Technical Digital Analytics
With technical app analytics, we record the status of your applications to increase its performance. An important aspect of this technical analytics is the selection and implementation of the right app tracking tool. In order to select the right tool, we work with you to define company-specific goals and requirements for the further strategy. Thanks to many years of experience, we can present you with a range of different tools and weigh them up individually according to your needs. In addition to your performance goals, budget and functional requirements are naturally included as criteria.
In addition to the app tracking tool, we identify possible conversions and suitable strategies to achieve them in our tracking concept. These conversions can be both economic and strategic in nature.
For the continuous tracking of your performance development, we work with dashboarding tools or our in-house BI tool. The dashboard visualizes all statistics for you and forms a basis for further decisions. Our BI tool also organizes the data in a database in this way. In addition, our application also automates data collection for all the more efficiency.
Performance marketing analytics
In a joint workshop, we ask questions about digital and performance marketing analytics that are relevant to your company and work out the answers together. With these answer in hand, we filter out possible loss indicators in advance and can design suitable objectives as a solution. These company-specific objectives in the form of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are the measurement basis for your app performance and its success in the further course of development tracking.
With the mathematically evaluated data, we have the possibility with our profound knowledge and long experience to quickly give you suitable recommendations for action.
Examples of performance marketing components:
- Search Engine Marketing & Optimization (SEO)
- Email Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing / Influencer
- Marketing
- Display advertising (banner advertising)
- Affiliate marketing
- Cooperations
Advanced analytics
The area of advanced analytics is divided into three sub-areas comprising diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics. Diagnostic Analytics deals with causes and effects or certain behavioural patterns as well as the interactions of such conditions. Predictive Analytics also deals with past data and events in order to create forecasts for the future. While these two sub-fields focus on monitoring and interpreting data, prescriptive analytics attempts to translate insights gained into best practices for the future.
While other tools monitor and evaluate your past performance, advanced analytics is concerned with future developments in three areas. To gain a competitive advantage over other companies, it is very important to identify possible trends, problems and behaviours in advance. To make this possible, we obtain data from various sources to increase information. These provide us with important insights from different areas and serve as a foundation for statistical analysis and decisions on further steps. Such data is compiled into dashboards using BI tools and created to meet your needs. The interactive dashboards visualize the most important data and KPIs. The advantage of BI tools here is the automation of the dashboards, thanks to which you can focus on the interpretation of the data.
Examples for advanced analytics tools and methods
- Clustering: data is sorted into groups (e.g., customers behaving similarly)
- Recommendation algorithms: Prediction of potentially emerging user needs (e.g., “customers who bought this also liked …”)
- Cohort analysis: target group analysis over a period of time
- Regression: statistical model that predicts future values from past data
- Neural networks: Ability, for example, to recognize objects, sort images, generate speech
Our approach
To offer a holistic and sustainable analysis, we take the following approach to app tracking:
Write down tracking & analysis goals
Create a tracking concept
Tracking implementation
Data analysis
Reporting & dashboarding
Tracking & analysis goals
Early on, we will talk about the current state of the app, the goals you have set und how you approach them. Depending on the company, they might be economic or strategically. They can also be short-term or long-term. Based on that information, we will create a tracking and analysis plan.
Together, we will define what data you would like to record. We will also define relevant KPIs.
If you’d like, we will share our thoughts regarding relevant statistics for your goals.
Create a tracking concept
Once the tracking and analysis requirements have been defined, we develop a tracking concept for your company. In this concept, we combine your goals and put them into a strategic plan. This plan will provide you with an overview of the KPI’s and the necessary tools for tracking. We will define the required analytics tools together. Precisely tailored to your company and your goals, the tool with the appropriate features is selected and implemented in the next step.
If you have any questions, we will be happy to help.
Tracking implementation
In this step, we implement your individually created tracking concept with the help of the appropriate tool. The concept will then be implemented. In the process, the concept is inserted into a tag management system and linked to the selected tool. Depending on the tool brand, a possible SDK is also available.
After the technical implementation, custom statistics and metrics are tested and released. As a result, the reliability-tested development tracking will be activated.
Data analysis
After the desired data has been collected, it is analysed in relation to the business goals defined at the beginning. Based on initial data results, we have the opportunity to make further adjustments and, if necessary, to further specify your goals.
These decisions will help to increase app performance.
Reporting & dashboarding
These data analysis results will be summarised as reports and dashboards in a tracking tool, Excel spreadsheet or via Power BI. We then create a company-specific dashboard to visualise the data at hand. Said dashboard will show your company goals and the target groups.
With this visualisation, the dashboard serves as a status quo determination of app performance as well as an overview of goal setting. It is also a visual performance record that you can present to external agencies, such as investors. Based on the dashboard, you can make further decisions to improve performance. If you wish, we will be happy to work with you to define recommendations for action and further strategies.
Digital analytics seminars
Through platforms, newsletters, online marketing and social media activities, you collect a large amount of valuable data. Often, this data isn’t used, because no one in your company knows how to. Analysing data with various tracking tools (Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Matomo) has been part of our daily routine for years. We would be happy to share our knowledge with you in order to further expand the know-how in your company. In our digital analytics seminar, we will explain how to integrate the tool correctly, which key performance indicators (so-called KPIs) are relevant and how to combine these KPIs with further data. We will also show you how to download, automatically send or visualise the data in reports you have created yourself. IT-WINGS offers you a tailored training experience. Learn more!
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