The mobile gaming industry is going through a volatile period. New technologies, expansion, downsizing, acquisitions, mergers, closures; new start-ups, giant companies undergoing a complete change in strategy and ID, and small-scale studios are triggering the dynamics of the industry to change. This naturally affects the world of mobile app marketing.
All elements of the sector must anticipate and adapt to changing conditions in this volatile period in order to remain relevant. The most dependable way to do this is to read the emerging data well. This makes data analytics a key need and tool. In this period of change and mobility, we had an interview with Başak Zerman, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey Sales Manager of Adjust, a marketing and analytics platform, about the state of the industry, the changes it is going through and Adjust’s position in all of this. We would like to thank her for the interview and share her answers with you.
Can you explain what Adjust does?
Adjust is a metrics and analytics solution that helps you measure, optimize and measure your app marketing efforts across mobile, web, CTV, PC, console and other platforms. Adjust enables marketers to make better, smarter and faster decisions by visualizing all their channels and apps in one place. By combining this with intelligent data automation tools, we give marketers the ultimate analytics platform to drive growth for their applications.
As the mobile metrics landscape continues to evolve, Adjust is leading the way with the next generation of metrics and optimization tools marketers need to grow their apps from early stage to enterprise stage. Winner of 2022’s Datascape award for Best Marketing Solution, Adjust has evolved and updated all of its solutions and features in response to the rapidly changing dynamics of the industry, and as we move forward into 2023 and beyond, Adjust has moved well beyond its startup story to offer user journey assistance solutions and predictive analytics data for the future, in addition to services to measure, automate and protect marketers from ad fraud, with a steady investment in analytics solutions.
Can you tell us about your role in Adjust?
I have been with Adjust for almost four years and at the beginning of 2023 I was appointed Sales Director for Adjust Middle East, Africa and Turkey. In my new role I will focus on expanding the success we have built in the MENA region, which is one of the top growth markets for Adjust. I am responsible for Adjust’s strategy and revenue growth in the region. Together with our experienced team, I help large corporates as well as small and medium-sized businesses to grow their business. The growth of our partners in this region is key for us, which is why we are supported by our local offices in MENA as well as by my fellow team members based in our headquarters in Berlin. Adjust attribution is the only mobile measurement platform that offers analytics, automation and fraud prevention solutions in one platform. Our goal is to become the only solution partner in local markets that facilitates the work of mobile app marketers in any industry, in any size of business.
What differentiates Adjust from its competitors, what is its value proposition?
There are many different features that make Adjust so unique. I have listed them below.
1. Lookback Window Freedom (Reviewing historical data): While many platforms restrict lookback windows, Adjust gives users complete freedom. This allows clients to evaluate user interactions and conversions more flexibly and comprehensively, regardless of time constraints. This is critical to more accurately measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns. For example, if you create your account today, you can go back five years from now and read your data seamlessly. This flexibility will be critical, especially for campaigns where you do time comparisons and want to see growth over time.
2. Global Support: One of the most important features that sets Adjust apart from its competitors is its world-class global support. The support team is available in 25 languages and covers 14 time zones, making it truly international. This ensures timely assistance to customers from different regions. Adjust also adheres to a 24-hour Service Level Commitment (SLA) to address customer issues. This is a commitment that many competitors cannot meet without guaranteeing a specific response timing.
3. Future Projection Capabilities: Adjust allows you to consider not only the past but also the future. Our platform has tools and analytics to help you make effective predictions for the future. This way, you can plan your advertising budget and strategies in a much more informative way. Especially in 2023 and beyond, the issue of forecasting the future will become much more frequent.
4. New Adjust Interface: As 2023 comes to a close, we don’t want marketers to waste time navigating between different marketing and analytics tools. That’s why we recently launched the new Adjust interface, which includes many metrics and analytics tools. The innovative Adjust interface is your control center for managing all your apps, measuring campaigns and activities, and evaluating user performance with powerful analytics and reporting. Adjust consists of different services that bring together multiple systems for all analytical needs. This gives marketers incredible flexibility and comfort on a single platform.
5. Pulse: Adjust was the only mobile marketing platform (MMP) to invest heavily in automation tools, recognizing that marketers need to do more with fewer resources, enabling marketing teams to work more efficiently with fewer people. Last March, we introduced Pulse. Pulse is a cost-saving intelligent monitoring and alerting solution that keeps you on top of everything from data anomalies to campaign KPIs and even partner connections to protect budgets, optimize campaign performance and ensure data is always up to date.
Pulse offers the speed and accuracy needed to make data-driven decisions. For example, if my 7-day retention rate is below 20% and my installs are over 1000, you can set up an alarm mechanism such as instant alerts via Slack or email. These alert and anomaly mechanisms are especially useful for UA and growth managers.
Mobile attribution is crucial for app marketers. How Adjust’s intelligent business platform helps marketers gain insights into a user’s entire path and how this data is important for their apps and drives sustainable growth?
We know that mobile attribution is vital for app marketers. With Adjust’s advanced technology and smart interface, marketers can analyze a user’s entire path in a complete way. The Adjust interface responds quickly to your analytics needs by providing a comprehensive control center to manage your apps, campaigns and events. Datascape offers users an analytics interface where they can not only read but also visualize their data. Pulse allows you to track in-app activity in real-time, while Incrementality allows you to accurately measure the true impact of your campaigns. Ad Revenue Tracking gives you a clear view of your mobile ad revenue and the real lifetime value of your users. Adjust’s SpendWorks lets you consolidate your ad spend into a single platform at the level of detail you need, so you can optimize campaign performance while maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS). All of these features help you accurately determine users’ lifetime value (pLTV) and support sustainable growth for your app.
Adjust also offers anti-fraud solutions to ensure data fidelity and budget security. Can you explain how these solutions proactively stop fraud in real time and provide marketers with analytics they can rely on?
Since its launch in 2016, Adjust’s Fraud Prevention Suite has played a vital role in preventing fraudsters from stealing our customers’ budgets. By leading the way against user acquisition fraud, we’ve saved our customer base an average of $2 million per day. By blocking fake traffic attributed to paid channels, Adjust ensures your data stays clean and accurate. The Adjust SDK was developed to provide very specific and detailed information to our backend about whether the user opening your app is a genuine user or not. We have different filters to recognize if any information is lacking and if it is a real user or not. We have sophisticated filters that can even protect against very complex forms of ad spoofing such as SDK Spoofing. Adjust’s SDK Signature protects you against SDK Spoofing. With Adjust SDK Signature enabled, you can be confident in the accuracy and security of your attribuiton data set.
It is important to remember that fraudsters are always coming up with new methods. We are also following these methods carefully and updating our filters and SDK Signature versions.
Artificial intelligence is transforming almost every industry. Are you integrating AI or machine learning into your services, products or work processes and how are you doing it?
Over the last two years, Adjust has invested heavily in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to power what we call Next Generation metrics tools. We’ve shifted our product strategy to place as much emphasis on metrics based on prediction – where we build accurate predictive models to inform future campaigns – as we do on measurement based on deterministic attribution data.
Another example is “Conversion Hub”. Conversion Hub offers all the tools you need for your SKAdNetwork campaigns at a single point. In addition to offering different setup models according to users’ experience with SKAdNetwork, you can also use Adjust’s predictive learning models to recommend the most suitable match for your application.
We’re also using the benefits of machine learning to predict the future in tools like our “Budget Planner”, which uses Media Modeling Mix technology that we’re currently offering in close beta. All of these products and services give marketers powerful tools to make smarter, more efficient decisions.
With offices around the world, how does Adjust tailor its services to address different needs in different markets and deliver the best possible results for its global clients?
With offices around the world, Adjust works on a global scale while also addressing the unique needs of local markets. Behind this comprehensive yet personalized approach is the unique collaboration of our close-knit product and go to market teams. For example, our offices in strategically located regions such as Türkiye and Dubai keep their finger on the pulse of the regional market and communicate our customers’ product-related requests and suggestions directly to our product team. In this way, we are able to quickly incorporate regional demands into our business plan and respond instantly to dynamic and rapidly changing market needs.
Our regional offices not only deliver requests, but also blend local market trends and innovations with our global vision. When necessary, we customize our services through localization efforts. This approach makes Adjust an effective and flexible player in both regional and global markets. As a result, each of our clients benefits from both a global vision and a local touch.
Adjust was the sponsor of this year’s Mobidictum Conference. What were your expectations for this sponsorship and were they met?
Adjust has always been a leader in evolving, adapting and innovating with the industry. Mobidictum is one of the most powerful events in the mobile games industry and Adjust was proud to be one of this year’s sponsors, as we have been in previous years. Our expectations going into the event were to reconnect with familiar faces in the industry and make new connections. This expectation was more than met. We were both happy to see familiar faces and excited to meet new ones. In particular, the interest in the panels we organized and the questions that followed revealed once again how valuable the event was. Such questions helped us understand the dynamics and needs of the sector more closely and gave us different perspectives.
I think Mobidictum is an excellent platform for attendees to increase their sectoral knowledge, share their experiences and closely follow the innovations in the industry. The event is a great opportunity not only for information sharing but also for making and consolidating sectoral connections. That’s why Adjust plans to continue our support for Mobidictum Conference. I would like to thank everyone who contributed once again.
Adjust predicts the world of mobile marketing will change dramatically in 2023. What will companies prioritize in marketing this year?
Yes, we said at the beginning of 2023 that we expect to see dramatic changes in mobile marketing. In this context, if we look at the issues that companies have prioritized and continue to focus on:
Use of Centralized Data: As strategic use of marketing budgets becomes increasingly important, we’ve seen that taking a centralized data approach has improved efficiency and cost savings. In other words, centralizing data instead of using many different marketing tools has benefited many brands.
Mobile Game Monetization: The mobile game industry has boomed in recent years as consumer demand for entertainment has increased. However, this increased demand has also led to more players in the market, leading to fierce competition. The key to success for game developers in this extremely competitive environment will be how to monetize their games effectively.
Monetization is a strategy that should be considered not only after the development and marketing stages of the game, but also from the concept stage of the game. This strategy should be shaped by taking into account the user base of the game, the in-game experience and how much time users will spend in the game. However, while developing an effective monetization strategy, it is also critical not to disrupt the user experience, not to disturb the player, and to provide value to the person in the game. As a result, satisfied and happy users will play the game longer, recommend it to others, and are more likely to make in-game purchases.
In summary, the increasing competition in the mobile gaming industry has pushed game developers to plan and implement their monetization strategies more carefully. These strategies will play a critical role in the longevity of the game as well as financial success.
Citizen Developers: In 2023, we saw non-technical individuals becoming more engaged in app development using simple app development formats. We expect this trend to continue to increase.
Role Shift for Big Brands: Some big brands are exploring ways to monetize their user data and exploring the potential of creating their own ad networks. In Turkey, we will soon see one of the unicorns evolve into an ad network.
Automation: We’ve seen a trend of marketing teams doing more with fewer tools by increasing their investment in automation. This approach automated repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on more strategic and value-creating activities. It also played a critical role in improving business process efficiency by reducing costs and operational complexity.
Media Mix Modeling: I discussed this topic in detail in my panel at Mobidictum. There are expectations that companies will focus more on their strategic budget planning for the future and get rid of their intense focus on data in the past. I believe that the concept of Media Mix Modeling will be much more in our lives in the coming years.
CTV Strategies: CTV advertising is a growing area, particularly in the Americas and Asia, and provides advertisers with both an alternative and measurable inventory. It is believed that niche monitoring services will increase popularity to achieve high ROI with customized campaigns.
You have suggested that mobile marketing activities will increase significantly. Why is mobile marketing seen as an opportunity in 2023?
In 2022, the MENAT region, including Turkey, experienced significant growth in the mobile space, with app store spending reaching $3.1 billion, up 10.3% year-on-year. This shows that there is a tremendous opportunity for mobile developers and marketers to increase their efforts in this space.
Among all app categories in MENAT, travel apps led with an impressive Growth score of 42.6. A good example is Wego, one of the top travel apps in the region, which reported an annual growth of over 157% in February 2023. Shopping apps came in second place with a growth score of 37.9. E-commerce in MENAT has evolved from a luxury to an essential service. The market size reached $37 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $57 billion in 2026. Turkey’s growth score for shopping apps was an impressive 39.3 points, the highest in the region. Mobile gaming and finance apps shared third place in MENAT, both scoring 27.9 points.
The main reason why mobile marketing stands out as a great opportunity in 2023 is that the number of mobile device users continues to increase all over the world with the rapid progress of digitalization. Especially as the new generation of consumers are increasingly connected to mobile devices to do their daily work, spend time on social media or shop, the importance of mobile marketing increases.
The mobile gaming industry is leading this growth. Increasing user interest in mobile games and the realization of the advertising potential within these games play a critical role in shaping mobile marketing strategies. Mobile marketing offers a platform that allows brands to track user behavior more closely and measure the ROI of their campaigns more accurately.
Mobile devices offer the potential to deliver more relevant and effective advertising messages to consumers by providing more personalized marketing opportunities based on their preferences, location and habits. Mobile-specific innovations such as AR, mobile in-game advertising and interactive ad formats offer the opportunity to engage consumers on a deeper level, and finally, the constant availability of mobile devices provides a unique platform for brands to reach potential customers around the clock. The combination of these factors makes it clear why mobile marketing is seen as such a huge opportunity in 2023.
How do you think artificial intelligence and machine learning will transform the way the mobile marketing industry works?
2023 was a year in which artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning revolutionized the way many businesses operate and make strategic decisions. More than 60% of businesses believe that AI will improve their overall efficiency, and 28% say that AI is already on their board’s agenda. Machine learning and AI have had a significant impact on many industries, especially mobile marketing.
Mobil pazarlama endüstrisi yapay zekânın eğitim verilerinden yeni içerik oluşturma yeteneğine sahip olmasına yönelik, birkaç yıldır bu kapasiteyi inşa ediyordu. AI ve makine öğrenimi pazarlamacılara user retention stratejisinde ve genel kullanıcı etkileşimini arttırmada üstünlük sağlamakta.
2023 has been a transformative year for machine learning. For example, ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two months earlier this year. By comparison, it took Instagram two and a half years to reach 100 million users, compared to nine months for TikTok. AI continues to revolutionize various industries with an annual growth rate of 37.3% between 2023-2030.
This rapid growth highlights the increasing impact of AI technologies in the coming years and the role it will play in all businesses. However, there is something that draws our attention here: Although nine out of ten businesses invest in AI technologies, we see that only 14.6% of businesses incorporate AI technologies into their daily operations. There is serious room for growth here.
Machine learning has had a significant impact on mobile advertising. This new technology is transforming the industry and improving the effectiveness of ad campaigns. AI and machine learning offer marketers a deeper level of personalization with their audiences and create optimal ad placement and optimizations. Machine learning models can detect and prevent ad fraud activity in real time.
AI-powered targeting enables advertisers to identify and segment users. This helps mobile advertising become more efficient, cost-effective and user-centric.
Predictive analytics uses data mining, predictive modeling and machine learning to predict marketing trends, customer behaviors and campaign outcomes. With the application of AI and machine learning, predictive analytics becomes more accurate and enables marketers to make insightful decisions that help them achieve better user retention.
Başak Zerman Middle East, Africa, and Turkey Sales Director, Adjust
Başak Zerman has been with Adjust for nearly 4 years and has been the Sales Director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa since the beginning of 2023. Responsible for Adjust’s strategy and revenue growth in the region, Zerman, together with her experienced team, helps large corporate companies as well as small and medium-sized businesses to grow their businesses.
