iOS 15: SKAdNetwork Metrics in Google Data Studio
Overview
Learn how to optimize your iOS 15 campaigns
Since the launch of iOS 14.5, the industry has been forced to move away from traditional attribution towards analyzing data using Apple’s SKAdNetwork. This growing trend is expected to spike now that iOS 15 has been released—allowing developers to receive the SKAdnetwork postbacks directly from Apple, which is currently planned for September 2021.
Although there is no industry standard on how to process and analyse SKAdnetwork postback data, this Google Data Studio dashboard will help you understand the basic performance of your iOS 15 campaigns, including that of self-attribution networks (Facebook, Google Ads etc).
Here’s a glimpse of the anonymised Google Data Studio dashboard view with SKAdNetwork Data:
For more details and information, feel free to scroll through pages 1-6.
Important Note: All our Paid trainings include SQL/dashboard/script for which access is only provided to customers who have a paid subscription to the service. You can get in touch with us if you would like to subscribe.
Summary
Background
With the iOS 15 launch, advertisers will have the option to receive a copy of any SKAdNetwork postbacks directly (source). Originally, SKAdNetwork postbacks were available to ad networks exclusively. This is beneficial to advertisers for a couple of reasons:
- It enables them to see more granular postback data in their data warehouses, or DataVault if they are using Tenjin
- It also lets them verify what data the ad networks are receiving for billing and invoicing
With this new update, Apple cements its status as the only provider of attribution data, and accelerates the change for SANs like Facebook. Additionally, MMPs will start changing their roles, as described here. With iOS 15, any developer can consume install attribution postbacks on iOS, regardless of their company size. SANs do not have many arguments left to be self-attributing anymore. Developers can build an infrastructure to capture, process, and analyze the SKAdNetwork postback data without worrying about the SANs grading their own homework.
Setup
Sending SKAdnetwork postback directly to Growth FullStack
Step 1: Implement conversion values in the Tenjin SDK, if you haven’t already set this up. SDK documentation below:
Step 2: Update your .plist file as per the instructions below, and submit your app to the app store. You don’t need to update the Tenjin SDK for us to receive the postbacks.
When Apple attributes an install to a specific ad network, we will get the postback directly from Apple.
Customers who want to run their ETL can use this dashboard to understand the use cases of both datasets and spec out the view they want their data analysts to build. Growth FullStack customers who want to use our managed ETL pipeline services can use this dashboard as a template.
How To
Get access to the anonymized template below:
This anonymized dashboard is built with Google Data Studio. Click on the link below to view the template.
Note: This template can be customized as per your needs. Feel free to get in touch with your Growth FullStack Account Manager for additional details.
Google Data Studio Dashboard views
The Google Data Studio dashboard has a basic table and graph that shows the distribution of your conversion values and LTV if you have the mapping between your conversion value and LTV.
FAQ
Can I personalize this dashboard?
Yes. We store all the raw SKAdnetwork metrics, so you can either view them all or customize the metrics you need using Calculated Fields section of Data Studio.
Feedback
Do you have any feedback for us?
We at Growth FullStack are always happy to receive your valuable feedback. Whether it’s about requesting additional support on optimizing your workflows, building a customized dashboard, or anything else, feel free to reach out to us and let us know how we can support you further.
Iterate & Maintain
Iterate
This dashboard can be edited. Please read this information on Controls in Google Data Studio before using this dashboard.
Maintain
Please be aware that any updates to this SKAdnetwork version might break this template.
