How to Start Mobile Marketing

Learn How to Deploy, Track, and Optimize

Your Mobile Performance Campaigns
Congratulations, if youre reading this, then youve already done the hardest part of
getting started in mobile marketing, making the commitment to learn an unfamiliar traffic
channel. This program was designed as a crash course to get anyone looking to run
performance campaigns on mobile running as quickly as possible.
Mobile can be a very daunting channel. There are hundreds of traffic vendors and
partners to chose from. Unlike Google or Facebook there are no mobile goliaths that
can be your one stop shop for your marketing needs. The mobile space is constantly
evolving as platforms, carriers, manufacturers, ad networks, and emerging technologies
fight over new ways to reach customers.
Fortunately for you, mobile like any digital channel can be tracked. With the ability to
attribute conversion events (calls, installs, registrations, etc.) to every single click
generated, there really is no excuse for not tracking performance of your marketing
budget. If done right performance marketing can allow you to attribute every dollar spent
to dollar generated in revenue on the back end.
All too often we hear mobile doesnt work and I spend $500 without a single
conversion from people dabbling in mobile marketing. The truth is mobile performance
marketing does work and here at MobAff LLC we have focused exclusively on mobile
traffic and offers for over two years. Weve generated over 2 million conversions for our
advertiser, thats over $5 Million in revenues, from mobile traffic. Our experience
includes everything from app downloads, dating, lead generation, credit card transactions,
and pay per call.
Mobile performance marketing works!
This training program has helped 1000s of publishers and advertisers since its original
launch in 2011. This is the 3rd revision of the program. After two years of observing what
it takes to succeed with mobile, weve boiled it down to one attribute:
Forget everything you know!
Yes, it is that simple. Most people who approach mobile marketing do not have an open
mind. They are using techniques from search, social, display, and e-mail in hopes that it
can easily translate to mobile. Unfortunately, its not that easy. In order to succeed in
mobile you have to treat it as a completely new channel. You dont treat your social
campaigns like you do your search campaigns, and neither should you treat mobile like
its just another form of older marketing channels.


Ok, now that you have an open mind here is what we will cover:
Chapter 1: Discovering Mobile Performance Marketing (page 3)
Chapter 2: Mobile Traffic Sources (page 5)
Chapter 3: Mobile Tracking (page 9)
Chapter 4: Evaluating Your Offers (page 17)
Chapter 5: Launching Your Mobile Campaigns (page 20)
Chapter 6: Analyzing and Optimizing Your Data (page 22)
Chapter 7: Scaling Your Mobile Campaigns (page 26)

Chapter 1: Discovering Mobile Performance Marketing

Im going to skip the statistics of how quickly mobile is growing, since I know if youre
reading this program you already know the staggering figures.
When we talk about mobile marketing we are referring to any marketing that occurs on
mobile devices (phones, media players, tablets, etc).
There are many types of mobile marketing including SMS, QR Codes, Mobile Search,
Mobile Display, Push Notification, Icon Marketing and more.
The mobile landscape is diverse, crowded and full of market inefficiency. For the savvy
marketer this is an amazing opportunity to get volume of traffic at discounted prices.
Below is info graphic as of Aug 2012 of the mobile landscape by Lumascape:

As you can see there are many players in the space, and traffic is often sold and resold
many times before it gets to you the advertiser.


Instead of focusing on all the different types of marketing we will focus on Mobile
Display, or banner advertising that appears on apps and mobile sites. There are many
reasons why we like to focus on Mobile Display including:

Very scalable traffic source due to the amount of fragmentation

Includes all mobile devices not just smart phones
Unlike SMS it doesnt hold as many compliance or legal hurdles
Has been proven to produce high ROI campaigns

If you can master mobile display marketing, the other forms of mobile marketing will
naturally come easy to you.
When marketing on display there are two general categories, feature and smart device.
Feature Device
The first phones to have web were called feature phones. These are the basic Nokias
everyone use to have that often came with a simple web browser to surf the web and
other more advanced functions beyond just phone calls. DO NOT dismiss these types of
phones; they are still dominant worldwide and even here in the US account for almost
50% of phones. With these phones you usually have two options:

On Deck Meaning ads that are hard wired to users phones. Think of the default
homepage of your browser.
Off Deck Ads that appear on mobile optimized sites.

Smart Devices
Smart devices are what most people think of when they think of mobile including phones
and tablets. The two main Operating Systems are Android (Google) and iOS (Apple).
RIMs Blackberry and Windows are two other platforms trying to gain more traction.
There are new platforms emerging but not enough volume yet. These phones have 3
types of advertising:

In App Ads that appear directly in the app, most of the free apps will have these
types of ads.
Mobile Sites These are ads that appear on mobile optimized websites
On Deck Depending on the carrier some smart phones also have on-deck traffic.

When working with most display networks youre going to be asked to pay for traffic in
either CPC (Cost-Per-Click) or CPM (Cost-Per-Mille Impression) model. These outdated
pricing models is what allow you to generate high volume and positive ROI campaigns
and is the secret behind our success.


Chapter 2: Mobile Traffic Sources
In this chapter we will outline various traffic vendors in the mobile space. We are going
to use general distinctions, however, keep in mind that many companies are hybrids and
offer many different services. We will also highlight some partners we recommend for
advertisers getting started in mobile.
Note: Below observations are based on our experience and are meant as general guides.
Please use your own judgment when working with different vendors and partners

Self Serve Ad Networks

These ad networks are great for people getting their feet wet in mobile. In many cases
you can get significant volume of traffic, but just like CPA networks, each has strengths
and weaknesses depending on the offer you want to promote. For example some
networks specialize in app traffic, while other may specialize in Mobile Sites.
Typically you will be paying for traffic via CPC (Cost Per Click) basis. With this type of
marketing it is important to track which sites, creative, and targeting is yielding you the
highest performance.
InMobi Tons of traffic in Asia and Africa. There is a fair bit of quality premium pubs,
however, there are also a good amount of poor publishers. Make sure to track and cut
what isnt working.
Jumptap Most of the traffic is US based. They have both mobile sites and mobile app
traffic. Much of their inventory is exclusive to them including their on deck offerings,
however, they use Exchange Traffic (traffic from other sources) to supplement. Make
sure to track the various Site IDs to ensure optimal performance.
M-Media With some of the most premium publishers and websites, this is a great
traffic source to test campaigns. Their platform continues to improve over time so stay
tuned for new features.
Airpush This network is a bit different from what most other networks are doing. It is
Android only traffic and their ads appear directly in the users phone via icons, in tray, or
pop ups.
TapIt One of the most powerful mobile media buying platforms. They have a mixture
of direct relationships and exchange traffic. TapIt offers the most powerful tools right in
your dashboard including detailed Macros and ability to block non-performing sites and
publishers.


There are plenty more traffic sources that allow you to load campaigns yourself. The key
is to test as many as possible to find which ones have quality traffic at rates that back out
for your offers. Most networks only require small deposits to get going so there is no
reason not to do a test before committing to a larger investment. Also, make sure to ask
for an account rep as often times these people can help make sure youre not wasting time
on targeting that has no potential for volume.

Media Buying Ad Networks

Media buying is for more experienced advertisers. If you have experience with tradional
web display many of the same skills are involved with media buying networks including:
negotiating Insertion Orders, optimizing and scaling. Minimum IOs typically start around
$5,000 budget.
This program will outline some of the basics, however, if you go this route I recommend
checking out other reputable media-buying guides.
Most media buying is done through CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) pricing.
Millenial Media One of the top 5 most trafficked mobile sources out there. In order to
keep quality high they are quite strict with creative and offer guidelines, however, if you
can find a winning combo the quality and scale can be tremendous.
GreyStripe Recently purchased by ValueClick. Much of the traffic here is interstitial
traffic, meaning ads that appear full screen between certain actions in apps. The CTRs
tend to be very high on these types of ads so dont get discouraged by high CPM rates.
MobileTheory A network specializing in performance. To do well here you will need
to have a very strong eCPM campaign that can beat out other DR campaigns on their
system.
AdsMobi Most of the traffic here comes from exchange traffic, however, if you have
an Account Representative with experience and set up tracking properly they can quickly
weed out traffic that doesnt perform.
Hunt Mobile Very strong in LATM and Hispanic markets. Wide distribution but will
need a knowledgeable Account Representative to figure out pricing in order to get the
premium placements and traffic.
Other Networks
There are many other forms of traffic sources out there even in the display space. We will
cover a few here.


Incentivized Networks These are networks that get users to sign up for offers by
offering some kind of incentive. For example it can be a game where a user earns new
levels or coins for signing up for a specific offer. This type of marketing often produces
lower quality users, so tread with caution.
Agencies These are usually full service shops that build offers, campaigns, and media
plans on behalf of the advertiser. They rarely have direct access to traffic and buy from
other vendors or Demand Side Platforms. This is a great option of advertisers with huge
budgets and with branding objectives instead of performance.
Exchanges/ RTB/ DSP/ SSP This is a quite complicated part of mobile display that
most advertisers dont need to focus on when starting. Many advertisers wont have
access to this traffic without sophisticated technology and tracking in place. In basic
terms publishers that cannot sell their inventory drop that inventory into the open
marketplace where various vendors are able to buy it in real time.
Direct Site/App Buying
Typically we are big fans of buying directly from sites and app developers where you feel
your offer would do well. However, for mobile this is often cost prohibitive and difficult.
The main issue is there arent many inexpensive media buying ad servers for mobile
available. In addition with mobile having so many technological issues like SDKs,
javascript not rendering, and other issues, having an ad server with low latency can be a
serious issue. After all you do not want to pay for impressions and traffic that doesnt
have time to reach your offer due to slow network speeds.
We recommend sticking to ad networks until you have all KPIs rock solid and know
exactly which publishers are yielding you the best results. When evaluating traffic
sources we highly recommend speaking with a knowledgeable representative. When you
do uncover publishers you want to work with directly send them your creative assets and
let their ad server do the work instead of creating an extra layer.

CPA Networks
Here at MobAff LLC we charge our advertiser partners on a CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition)
model. Advertisers pay us for calls, installs, or registrations to their products and
services. We then go out and acquire traffic with the goal of a lower CPA, the difference
between what we pay and the revenues we generate for advertisers is how we make our
profit.
If you are trying to promote your own product or service through a CPA network you will
need to know your key metrics and lifetime value per new user along with sufficient
budget for testing. When you buy traffic on a CPA you are competing with everyone else
buying traffic and your offer will need to outperform the other advertisers.


The best CPA campaigns follow a freemium model and track performance on the back
end. For example if youre a Dating Site looking for new sign ups, your best bet is to pay
per lead or free registration and track how many users turn into paid users over the long
run. The same applies to App Developers, very few if any CPA networks will take an app
that pays % of sale when there are many App Developers willing to pay $1.00+ for a free
game download.
Vendors to Consider:
MobAff Performance Network Specialize in international inventory in addition to US
distribution. Work with companies with large budgets and offers with wide appeal.
Proprietary tracking platform allows for partners and internal media buyers to optimize
campaigns on the fly for best performance.
Neverblue Tracking is built in and allows advertisers and partners to see mobile data.
Have been involved in the CPA space for many years. Neverblues recent acquisition by
GlobalWide ensures that they are here to stay and continue to deliver results.
MobPartner French network that has been focusing on app developers as their
distribution channel. Their partnership with BuzzCity traffic source is great if youre
looking for emerging markets like Malaysia, South Africa, Russia, and more
CJ Pay-Per-Call One of the biggest affiliate networks around. Not huge focus on
mobile offers, but do well with Pay Per Call. If youre a B2B company they can also do
quite well for you.
Of course there are many more CPA networks out there. The best thing to do is call the
ones you come across and interview the network to see if they are a good fit for your
campaign objectives.
Before you start testing we will cover tracking in the next section. You wouldnt fly
blindfolded, and you shouldnt buy traffic without tracking in place.


Chapter 3: Mobile Tracking
Not tracking in mobile is much more costly than other channels. This is one of the
biggest mistakes I see new entrants to mobile marketing make. Let me explain why
tracking on mobile is even more important than any other type of traffic source.
Mobile marketing is 3-D Marketing. What I mean by this is that you have a whole new
3rd dimension to your marketing efforts.

Traditional marketing focuses on only (2) variables: Creative and Placement

For example for Search on Google you focus on Ad Copy/Landing Pages (creative) and
Keywords/Bids (placements). On display you focus on Ad Copy/ Landing Pages
(creative) and Demographics (placements)
With mobile you still have to focus on
Creative and Placement but you also have
to be mindful of mobile only variables like
Carrier, Handset, Operating System, and
more!
There are many variables in mobile, and
many of them overlap each other. They
can literally be the key to making or
breaking your campaign.


So which mobile parameters are most important to track?
Carriers This is a critical component of any mobile campaign. For example often times
by blocking WiFi traffic you can instantly improve quality of traffic. Also, carriers offer
you insight into the demographics of your users. For example in the US, a Verizon user is
going to be very different from a Metro PCS user. One being more affluent and the other
tends to be more urban and youthful.
Handset This is the actual device and manufacturer where your ads appear. Phones are
a hot item and marketers are starting to target specific phones for specific demographics.
For example, some phones are aimed to teenagers while others are aimed for business
professionals.
Operating System A RIM user is going to perform much differently compared to
someone using iOS or Android. In addition you have to consider version of the different
operating systems and how that affects your apps or landing pages.
Device Type Is your ad being shown on a tablet, iPod, or phone? These are crucial to
your success. Simple example is if youre promoting a Pay Per Call offer with a click to
call functionality. By blocking tablets and iPods you can instantly double your
conversion rate.
Since we are performance based we need to not only track these parameters we also need
to track it back to specific actions. After many months of toil and testing weve
established that the most accurate technology is Server to Server Postback tracking.
What this entails is passing unique values via the URL during the click, and then posting
back the values associated with a conversion back to any 3rd party software or networks.
Lets look at a simple example using JumpTap macros
If I were using Jumptap I would use their dynamic macros. Here is the full list of the
macros.
JT_CAMPAIGN: the name of the campaign responsible for the users click
JT_ADBUNDLE: the name of the ad bundle responsible for the users click
JT_KEYWORD: the category or keyword matched from the advertisers campaign
JT_REQID: the unique ID for the ad request
JT_HANDSET : the handset/device associated with the ad request
JT_PUBLISHER: the publisher ID associated with the ad request
JT_SITE: the site ID (for a given publisher) associated with the ad request
JT_QUERY: the search query passed by the publisher; if applicable
JT_OPERATOR: the carrier associated with the ad request
JT_TIMESTAMP: the time associated with the ad request
So lets say I assigned my subid variables as follows:

10


C1 = JT_CAMPAIGN
C2 = JT_HANDSET
C3= JT_OPERATOR
My tracking link may look something like this:
http://www.myoffer.com/track.php?c1=JT_CAMPAIGN&c2=JT_HANDSET&c3=JT_O
PERATOR
When a user clicks on the ad in JumpTap the system will automatically replace the values
of that user in the placeholders.
So when a user clicks he is actually redirected as follows:
http://www.myoffer.com/track.php?c1=Test_Offer&c2=Android&c3=ATT
When I run my C1 report I may see data like this:
NOTE: THIS IS NOT REAL DATA JUST FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES

C1
Android
iOS
Feature

Clicks
1872
420
651
801
Clicks

CR
177
52
41
84
CR

CR
9.46%
12.38%
6.30%
10.49%
CR

Now looking at above it looks like Android did better so you may want to focus there
moving forward.
However, you were at the same time tracking carrier so you might want to pull a report
for your C3 variable and you find something like this.

C3
ATT
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile

Clicks
1332
141
418
773
540

CR
118
21
85
12
59

CR
8.86%
14.89%
20.33%
1.55%
10.93%

11


You can now see which carrier, handset, and operators perform and can now make
changes to your campaigns to increase your ROI. You can even run the above campaign
with the data nested to see the exact combinations that yield results.
Here is an example:

C1
Android
ATT
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile
iOS
ATT
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile
Feature
ATT
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile

Clicks
2943
420
100
24
197
99
651
250
199
124
78
801
299
200
201
100

CR
270
52
25
5
8
14
41
12
5
18
6
84
34
21
22
7

CR
9.17%
12.38%
25.00%
20.83%
4.06%
14.14%
6.30%
4.80%
2.51%
14.52%
7.69%
10.49%
11.37%
10.50%
10.95%
7.00%

Think of mobile as a matrix of variables. All youre trying to do is find the pockets of
combinations that yield profitable traffic for you. Some campaigns require very tight
buckets like Android > Sprint > HTC phones its really up to you and your goals.
Typically the tighter you targeting the higher your ROI, but at the same time you will be
sacrificing volume. The more tightly targeted your campaign is the more you will pay for
every visitor and reduce the total amount of visitors to your offer. The key to a profitable
mobile campaign is to find the balance between targeting and pricing.

Conversion Tracking
In order to track your click data directly to actions generated (sales, downloads, installs,
sign ups) you will need to set up conversion tracking. Once again we recommend Server
2 Server technology as your best option for the most accurate data.

12


Here is how the process works. Each ad network or tracking platform needs to append a
unique click id in order to match the click to the converting event.
For example with JumpTap they use JT_REQUID. You can append this token to any
placeholder you chose. Using the same example as above I appended another c4 variable.
http://www.myoffer.com/track.php?c1=JT_CAMPAIGN&c2=JT_HANDSET&c3=JT_O
PERATOR&c4=JT_REQID
That JT_REQID is going to be replaced with an alphanumeric value hash that is so
random that there will never be a chance of a duplicate generated.
You will then need to have your tracking platform postback the unique values that
generated conversions back to the network via their postback link. For JumpTap you have
to activate conversion tracking and you will get a URL such as this below where you
would append the alphanumeric values at the end of the url.
http://a.jumptap.com/a/conversion?event=purchase&jt-reqid=1340uasdfo13u4u0adsadsf
We know that mobile tracking is not simple. Every network represents their Macros
differently. In addition different platforms have limitations such as iOS not allowing for
appending data to URLs sent to iTunes. We decided to build MobAff Tracker to solve
many of these problems.

Introducing the Most Advanced Mobile Tracking Solution on The Planet

We build our tracking solution from the ground up for our internal media buyers and
partners to help scale their mobile efforts. Some key functionality include:

Automatic detection of Carrier, Handset, OS, Browser and More

Post click redirect rules to block or syphon incoming traffic
Universal Server 2 Server postback tracking
Easy integration with the leading ad networks
Cookieless tracking to ensure user privacy
Detailed nested reporting for deep analysis

Below are some screen captures to outline some of the features of MobAff Tracker:

13

(Reports Tab Showing advanced graphs and ability to drill down by Veritcal or Network)

14

(Nest mobile data to uncover high ROI targeting)

(Block or Add incoming clicks based on their device)

15

There are many more features and advanced functionality available with constant rollouts
of new upgrades. To learn more visit our official site.

>> Click Here to Visit Official MobAff Tracker Website

16


Chapter 4: Evaluating Your Offers
This is probably one of the most common questions I get. It can be quite daunting to find
offers with so many options out there. If youre the advertiser, this also can be a
challenge as its tough to know if mobile is the right channel for your offer.
How do you know which offer is a winner for Mobile Display traffic?
Well, Ill let you in on a little secret YOU CANT. The truth is you cant guarantee an
offer is a winner. The only way to find an offer that will work on mobile is to test.
Let me explain my philosophy in mobile marketing: Launch, Launch, Launch, Optimize,
Then Launch Some More!
If you launch 2 3 campaigns a day, with tracking set up properly, I guarantee that
within a few weeks you will find a winning combo of offer and traffic.
Look at it this way: 80/20 rule (which I live by) 80% of your campaigns will FAIL!
That means if you launch 10 only 2 will have any real potential. You will need to test
100s of campaigns and gather tons of data to find exactly what works and scale from
there.
Dont worry though, I have a system for maximizing your chances of finding a winner
faster and with less testing budget.
We analyzed the campaigns weve had success with here at MobAff LLC and asked
what do they all have in common?
The following tests are key in finding offers that will succeed on mobile display:
TEST 1: Does the offer have mass-market appeal? In other words if 100 random people
saw the offer you would want the maximum amount of people to be interested in it. Take
dating for example, if you had a random room of 100 people there will be someone single
looking to mingle. I call this 1/100 test. With mobile marketing you have many options to
optimize campaigns, but at the end of the day its going to be very difficult to get sign
ups or downloads for niche products and services.
TEST 2: Does the offer work on phones properly? Youll be shocked as to how many
offers out there simply dont look right, or have functionality that doesnt work on mobile
devices. There are many tools out there that let you preview your offer on mobile
devices, but here is a simple method we use.

Use the following firefox plugin which allows you to pose as an iPhone Default
User Agent

17

Want to test other phones add this to the above plugin Default User Agent
Extension
Change the resolution of FF browser to that of a phone (iPhone4 960 x 640 px)
You can use this plugin

This step is vital for offers with landing pages like lead generation advertisers.
TEST 3: Does the offer have a simple path? Remember people on phones arent going to
fill out extensive complicated forms. Make sure the offer has a simple path from the first
page to the conversion. For example does the form require complicated drop downs that
will be difficult to select from a feature phone, if so it might not be ready for mobile
traffic.
Here are some of the types of offers weve had success with in the past:

Ringtones Subscriptions (Thumplay and Jamster)

Dating Short Form (Cupid, eHarmony, Zoosk)
Dating Apps (BeNaughty, Zoosk, MeetMoi)
Promotions (Win iPad E-Mail Submits)
Lead Generation (Pre Paid Cards, Auto Insurance, Credit Report)
Credit Card Free Trials (Health and Beauty)

18

BONUS SECTION: WhatRunsWhere Mobile

What Runs Where is a competitive intelligence tool. The application crawls the web and
catalogues the banner creative by advertiser, location, ad network, placement, and more.
They now offer their great service for mobile. Although it isnt a 100% complete picture
of mobile traffic since they arent scanning apps or showing ads that are carrier targeted,
this is still a fantastic way to get an idea of the kinds of campaigns being promoted on
mobile inventory.

(Top Ads Filtered by Country, Time, and Ad Size)
Here are some tips to help you make more sense of the data youre looking at:

Different ad sizes indicate different platforms. Bigger ad sizes tend to be

ads targeted towards newer phones and tablets.
Filter by ad network to get an idea of the kinds of advertisers that are
having success with that network.
Click on the advertiser to see all their creative to get an idea of what
works.
If you see similar style ads appear over and over again its a good
indication that those ads produce high Click-Through-Rates
The data here only shows Mobile WAP pages and does not include In App
Advertising

Using what runs where you can quickly discover what kinds of campaigns and
creative are having success and use that information for inspiration for your own
campaigns.

19


Chapter 5: Launching Your Mobile Campaigns
I am assuming as an advertiser you have experience in writing ad copy and making high
CTR (Click Through Rate) creative. If you do not, it is suggested you consult with
someone who does or invest time and money into further educating yourself about what
makes a creative perform.
The only important note about making ads for mobile is to remember context is key.
Your ads are being shown over mobile devices, your calls to action should reflect this.
For example instead of the traditional click here try tap here or swipe text. To find
more tricks and tips make sure to read through our Mobile Marketing Blog.
By now you should have your links and ads ready to go. Now just pick the network you
want to test with first. Depending on the country and offer you may chose one network
over another, or even decide to test a few at a time.
This lesson is quite important as Im going to reveal to you some tricks weve developed
over the years that help eliminate wasted clicks and effort while launching brand new
campaigns.
5 Tips to Test Offers More Efficiently
Block WiFi Traffic This is the traffic that typically comes from home internet access
and often times is ripe with kids who click on banners on accident. In addition, youre not
gathering crucial carrier data to help you optimize.
Block App Traffic Even if youre promoting an app download campaign it pays to
block app traffic while testing. Traffic from mobile sites tends to be of higher quality and
with less click fraud. Once you have some basic data you can open up to apps as well.
Remember to break it out separately if you can.
Track Site IDs and Placements Although most ad networks are blind, they still can
pass integer IDs to help you analyze your data by source. For example JumpTap uses
JT_SITE as a token to help break out your traffic by placement. Often times you will find
a campaign where one site id will suck up 80% of your clicks and blocking it can take
you from losing money to instantly profitable! You can also use referrer information
available on tracking platforms like MobAff Tracker to help optimize.
Focus on High CTR Creatives All ad networks are trying to maximize their eCPM
(Effective Cost Per Mille) or how much money they earn for every 1000 times your ad is
shown. Because of this nature when bidding CPC you are rewarded with more traffic if
you have high CTR (Click Through Rate) ads. When launching a campaign pick your
highest CTR ads and make them work, instead of taking high converting creative with
low CTR and trying to make them work.

20


Improve Redirect and Load Times Mobile ISPs are still much slower than traditional
Internet speed. In order to maximize your chances that the clicks go through to your offer
you have to ensure that your landing pages load as quick as possible. Reduce your file
sizes, clean up your code, and remove extraneous images or video. Your tracking will
also need to be as fast as possible, we recommend shooting for speeds 100ms and under.
Click Issues and Mobile Traffic
There is a lot of discussion of click fraud and click discrepancy with mobile traffic. I
think these are two separate issues and I will address both. These are based on our
experience and we recommend auditing your traffic with an expert if you feel there are
real issues going on with your vendor. Here at MobAff we treat these issues as part of
doing business on mobile and adjust our pricing in our bidding strategy accordingly.
Click discrepancy occurs due to many factors the main being the latency that happens
over Carrier signals. Basically a user may have clicked your ad but never fully loaded the
redirect URL and so you wouldnt see that click on your end, yet it will be counted as a
click on the ad network side, not to mention you will be charged for this. We typically
see click discrepancies between 5 and 30% from mobile traffic.
Accidental clicks can be caused by many factors. One example, are apps aimed at kids.
These apps may feature your ads and get clicked on by kids who dont realize its not part
of the game Another example is app developers who get overly aggressive with ad
placement and place app related buttons closely to ad content causing mistaken clicks.
The best way to combat this is to track Site Ids of where your ads show and block the
ones where there are many clicks with no conversions.
Click fraud occurs when a traffic source or publisher try to maximize their revenues by
sending fake clicks to your offer. The only way to spot this to use a tracking tool like
MobAff Tracker and run IP, Geography, and other advanced reports to find if there are
irregularities in your data that can indicate this is going on. Typically this is very difficult
to pinpoint, but if you have even basic evidence you can get refunds or reduced click
costs from the ad networks.
Final Thoughts
There are many more factors that go into launching a campaign and with so many
networks out there you will have to adjust your strategy accordingly. The main point I
want you to take away is you must track as much as you can and test only a few variables
at a time by cutting out things like WiFi or Apps and getting your performance metrics
before expanding to additional targeting.
At a certain point you will need to use a little common sense in setting up your
campaigns. For example if promoting Pay-Per-Call offers make sure to block Tablets and
iPods since they cant place calls.

21


Chapter 6: Analyzing and Optimizing Your Data
Today we will go over how we like to analyze the data we get from our mobile
campaigns. Over time you may develop your own strategy and methodology for
optimizing.
First, here is a quick word on statistically significant data. Dont jump the gun and make
campaign decisions based on bad data. In other words if one variable had 1 or 2
conversions after 100 clicks and it looks like the CR (Conversion Rate) is through the
roof, that doesnt mean that the next 1000 clicks that CR will hold true. Make sure your
variables have enough clicks and conversions to make long term decisions.
Dont just look at your metrics, you have to ask is it statistically significant? Lets say
you were testing iPhone vs Android and had the following results:
iPhone: 500 clicks and 20 Conversions or 4% CR
Android: 250 clicks and 12 Conversions 4.8% CR
It appears that Android outperformed if you were just looking at CR, however, how
certain are you that that this will hold true in the long run. The easy way to figure this out
is to use SplitTester.com a free service.

This is a simple AB split testing script designed to test CTRs but can easily be adapted to
test CRs. Just pick two ads A and B and enter their total number of conversions in the top
row and their CR in percent in the bottom row. Hit calculate and you will see how
confident your results are. In most cases I make decisions only when confidence is 90%
or higher. If you want some advanced data then use SuperSplitTester.com

22


How to Manage Data Overload
When you start to analyze your data you will soon discover it is very easy to get lost in
the numbers. There are many ways to dissect your information for example you may
want to look at Creative > Platform > Carrier report and discover combinations with high
CR rates and EPCs.
However, this document is here to help you avoid falling into the data-mining pitfall. Let
me explain what happens to people who over optimize their campaigns.
You kill your potential volume and increase your costs significantly. Most ad networks
would prefer advertisers had no targeting and reward less targeted campaigns with
cheaper clicks. As you add more layers of targeting say Operating System, Handset
Model, Site Id you will soon strangle your own flow of traffic and be forced to pay a
price where even with higher conversions will not back out for you.
The key is to optimize things that have a major effect on your campaign and ignore things
that dont really have much weight on the outcome of performance.

In the above example I broke out a report by device type using MobAff Tracker. It is
clear that Feature phones outperform Windows, Android and RIM. However, I most
likely would not tell the ad network to block those phones since they make up a small
part of their traffic (less than 2%) and I know by blocking them Im going to significantly
increase my CPC prices.

23


Day Parting/ Week Parting
This is a very powerful feature that many advertisers forget to examine. You may not
have enough data after just a few days, but after a few weeks its an absolute must.
MobAff tracker has parting reports built in.
How parting reports work is by stacking data into time intervals. So if you run past 7 days
it will stack all 00:00 1:00 worth of data into one point. This will allow you to see
trends over time. Similarly a week parting reporting will stack all the days of the week
together to see if there are any major trends.

(Example of a Day Parting report with Conversion Rate Shown)

In the above example you can clearly see that the campaign we are analyzing from about
7:00 am to 1:00 pm the conversion rate is depressed and over time as my confidence in
the data matures I may decide to pause the campaign during that time so Im not wasting
budget during a time when my ROI is low and possibly negative.
People use their phones differently depending on what time of day or day of the week it
is, and this can have drastic results on your performance. You can easily take a breakeven campaign and get it profitable by paying attention to this data. Some networks let
you set day parting in the interface, others you may have to ask your rep, and some you
may even have to do it manually and pause and restart your campaigns at various times.
The Importance of eCPM
A word about eCPM (Effective Earnings Per Thousand Impressions) Remember that all
ad networks try to optimize their eCPM. For example if there are 2 ads in their ad

24


network competing for the same impression how does the ad network chose which one to
show, it cant simply be our CPC bid price, can it?
Lets look at an example:
Ad 1: CTR .05 and Bid .05
Ad 2: CTR .07 and Bid .04
Which ad will be shown? Give up?
.05 CTR x .05 Bid = .0025 * 1000 impressions = 2.5 eCPM
.07 CTR x .04 Bid = .0028 * 1000 impressions = 2.8 eCPM
So in theory the ad network will show the second ad despite a lower bid since it generates
more revenue every 1000 times its shown.
Remember to get cheaper clicks and more impressions make sure to keep the ads that get
high CTRs. This holds true even with CPM campaigns, since having a higher CTR will
allow for more visitors to check out your offer with the same number of impressions.
Final Thoughts
You will soon discover that getting profitable traffic on mobile is quite easy once you
have adequate tracking and know the exact targeting that yields you the ROI youre
looking for. However, you will also soon discover that it is difficult to get any significant
volume. Even if youre willing to spend $1.00 a click there are only so many users
browsing AT&T from Android EVO from 5:00 to 8:00 pm and being served ads from
that particular ad network. In the next section we will discuss how to scale your efforts
once you have your KPIs and targeting down.

25


Chapter 7: Scaling Your Mobile Campaigns
By now you should have enough statistically significant data to know your key metrics
and targeting. In other words you should know what types of devices, carriers, creative
yield specific results like CTR, CR, and EPC.
Other Ad Networks - Once you find the mix of variables that yield you the highest
results in theory the same settings should work on other networks. Its now time to take it
to the other ad networks. Some networks will still require some optimizing like blocking
poor performing Site IDs but now you should be in a much better starting point.
Pay Bump This is the simplest way to increase your traffic. Once you establish what
kind of traffic provides quality to you and is backing out then its time to be more
aggressive with your CPA goals. This will open up new bidding and targeting that may
have not been possible before. If youre promoting someone elses offer ask how the
quality is, and if it is good ask for a higher CPA value.
Bid Adjustments Typically I do not recommend changing bids on existing campaigns.
Instead try to duplicate your working campaign with different bid strategies. For example
by bidding lower you might find you get the same level of traffic but will pay much less.
You can also bid higher and find that your ads now appear on more premium placements
that yield better performance.
Segmenting Targets Another method of gaining more traffic is to analyze your data
again for what I call high volume low CR targeting. For example, you may find a
particular Site ID that was eating up your clicks during testing with low CR rate so you
decided to block it. One strategy is to make a separate campaign focusing on just that Site
ID and adjusting your bids to a lower rate to reflect the low CRs. Youll often find these
kinds of placements can yield a lot of volume since many advertisers skip over them
entirely.
When scaling your campaigns its important to consider your goals. I always ask myself
how important is ROI vs total generated net profit.
Here is an example of how I think about this:
Campaign 1: ROI 40% with $600 in ad spend per day
Campaign 2: ROI 60% with $300 ad spend per day
*note I calculate ROI as follows $100 ad spend and $100 revenue = 0 % ROI while $100
ad spend $200 revenue = 100 percent ROI
Which one would you chose?
STOP! TRY TO DO THE MATH FIRST BEFORE READING ON

26

Campaign 1: $600 x .4 = $240 net per day

Campaign 2: $300 x .6 = $180 net per day
So in this case Im willing to operate at a lower ROI because it will put more money in
my pocket overall. Just make sure to do the math and find whats making you the most
money with your desired goals.
Switch to CPM - I can write a whole course about media buying, but lets keep it simple
for now. You know exactly what works, and most importantly you know your ads CTRs
should be. Ask your rep what the CPM rate is for your targeting and do the math.
Assume your EPC is .10 and your ad CTR is 1.2%
Would $0.75 CPM a good idea?
STOP! TRY TO DO THE MATH FIRST BEFORE READING ON
Here is a simple formula we use.
1000 x CTR x EPC = eCPM
1000 x .012 x .10 = 1.20
So the answer is yes .75 CPM is a great idea and you should expect a healthy 50 to 60%
ROI assuming that your CTR and CRs stay the same when switching to CPM.
We prefer CPM buys because you can typically negotiate guaranteed inventory and once
your price is set will no longer have to constantly compete with other advertisers who are
adjusting their bids.
NOTE: Dont go crazy with your CPM buy, you still want to test it with a small budget
first to make sure that its backing out like its supposed to.
Always Be Split Testing (ABST) Do NOT get lazy, you could be leaving a lot of
money by not making sure youre getting the highest earnings possible. You should
constantly be rotating creative, landing pages, offers, and messaging to keep your
campaign fresh and to ensure youre earning the most from every single click.
Crop rotation (ad rotation) is the idea that you can simply pause your ads for a week or
two and once you un-pause them they will get a quick boost and slowly fade off again.
There is a definite ad decay scenario that occurs on mobile where your CTRs and
performance will fade over time. Thankfully if you wait a few weeks and pause those ads
they will get invigorated once more. If you have 3 sets of ads in theory you can do this

27


indefinitely by pausing (2) and only having (1) active until it is time to switch. The
reason why this strategy works is there are constantly new users who havent seen your
ads as people upgrade and change their mobile devices.

Final, Final Thoughts

Thank you for reading through our MobAff Mobile Training Guide. We know the
information contained in here has helped many mobile advertisers get started in mobile.
The key thing to remember is to have an open mind and approach mobile from a different
perspective. Remember that mobile traffic is context dependent and you must track
mobile data in order to target properly.
If youre finished reading now comes the easy part, the doing. A lot of the information
covered here will only make sense if you get your feet wet. It is time to pick an offer,
pick a network, deposit funds, and launch your first campaign.
Good luck and hopefully you will soon fall in love with mobile like we did.
To your success!

Alexander Tsatkin
MobAff LLC

28