As the mobile app market matures, vendors are taking note and offering tools to help app developers drive more engagement among their existing users.
One such company is mobile app marketing firm Fiksu, which unveiled its retargeting tool on Thursday.
Fiksu identifies groups of users to target ads using data sources such as Apple’s IDFA and statistical modeling. From there, Fiksu’s retargeting tool lets advertisers set rules to bid on ads for certain consumers, such as those who downloaded the app but have not used it in 30 days or have only made one purchase. The ads appear as in-app ads and banner ads on Web browsers.
“Some of the most successful ads have a simple call to action, such as, ‘We haven’t seen you in awhile. Try this new feature that we’ve added to our app,’ and other mobile-centric messages,” said Fiksu’s chief strategy officer, Craig Palli.
Not all app developers will benefit from serving retargeted ads, though, Palli added. Apps that have a small user base, he explained, are less likely to see a significant boost in revenue.
“In order to be great at retargeting, we believe that you need a user base that’s in the hundreds of thousands,” Palli said. “And it’s even better when you have over a million users because that will give you a very big pool to target to.”
Delivering targeted ads to mobile users used to pose a major challenge for advertisers, but as companies continue to develop mobile-based solutions, such as fingerprinting and device-recognition offerings, more vendors are also offering retargeted ad options for mobile devices.
Data behemoths like Facebook and Twitter are also getting into the mobile retargeting game. Facebook unveiled its mobile app engagement ads last year and Twitter recently rolled out its own mobile retargeting solution, Tailored Audiences. Fiksu also faces competition from other startups like Flurry, ActionX, Tap Commerce and URX, which all offer various forms of mobile retargeting services.
Based in Boston, Fiksu has approximately 200 employees and has raised $17.8 million since its founding in 2008.
