Paul Neto, co-founder and CMO of Measure Protocol highlighted how gaining the right consumer behavioral data can help to guide business-critical decisions in his latest article for Business of Apps. Paul emphasizes that, when it comes to mobile app data, we need to look beyond downloads and ratings, and understand exactly how consumers are interacting and engaging with apps in order to gain more holistic audience views. 

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In order to do this, he says we must move beyond surveys and purchase behaviors and seek to understand an individual’s cross-platform, omnichannel experiences with a brand, product, or service. He writes, “Bringing in data such as mobile app engagement, notifications, messages, Amazon purchases, web searches and browsing, and even Netflix episode-watching, can help.”

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As consumer privacy has grabbed the attention of legislators in the United States and beyond, it has become much more difficult to gather individual customer-level experience data. Monumental pieces of legislation such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California, have contributed and continue to shape consumer privacy legislation across the United States and other countries. In addition to legislation, big tech companies such as Apple have taken a strong position for user privacy, placing several restrictions on data collection and services. Unfortunately, this stance disproportionately skews data when analyzing individuals utilizing Apple iOS devices.

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Three things brands and companies should consider when analyzing data points in this landscape include: be cautious of vanity metrics as the data doesn’t hold a lot of valuable insight; understand customers on an individual level and not an overall broad (group) level; analyze the data carefully and question it often.

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In this day and age, individuals are using their phones, tablets and smart devices more than ever. With new regulations being introduced and implemented to limit data collection on individuals, Measure’s Retro is an on-demand behavioral data collection technology that provides access to previously inaccessible in-app data directly from consumers in a privacy-first, trusted environment. This solution is critical in understanding individuals' engagement with brands and apps. Retro is able to analyze how individuals spend time on their devices including the amount of time spent.

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Understanding the ways individuals utilize their devices, including apps and services they are engaging with will help you better understand the bigger picture of your customers, ensuring all are included in the data points. Once the data is collected, analyzed and understood you will be able to make more confident and informed decisions. You can read the full article here or check out the data included in our new “App Life Report”, which takes a deep dive into consumer digital behaviors, including app engagement, usage and more. 

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