Every app marketer runs campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, and ad networks, then struggles to tell which ones actually drive installs and revenue. A mobile measurement partner (MMP) closes that gap: it tracks campaign performance across every channel and attributes each install to the source that earned it, so you can see where your budget is working and where it's being wasted. This guide covers what an MMP does, how it works, and why you need one.
What is an MMP?
An MMP, or mobile measurement partner, is a company that helps app marketers measure campaign performance across channels, media sources, and ad networks. It collects and analyzes app data to deliver consistent metrics, and acts as an impartial referee in attributing conversions to the correct media source.
It's an imperative component in a mobile marketer's tech stack.
Being the only party with an unbiased view of the entire consumer journey, an MMP enables marketers to understand which media source deserves credit for driving conversion. This empowers marketers to make informed decisions regarding budget allocation with correct mobile attribution.
What is mobile attribution?
Mobile attribution, also known as mobile measurement or app attribution tracking, is the technical process of identifying whether a user installs an app after seeing an ad, and then keeping track of how a user behaves after installing the app.
Mobile app attribution is incredibly valuable as it allows marketers to discover where their users are coming from. Some installs might come from ads within an app, others from social media; it's multi-touch attribution that reveals and records that information.
How does mobile attribution work?
Mobile app attribution is different from web attribution because mobile apps don't have cookies, image pixel tags, or any of the other standard web tracking methods. As a result, the methods that work for web tracking won't work for mobile app attribution.
Companies like Adjust, Appsflyer, and Tenjin known as mobile measurement partners, attribution providers, or measurement tools, provide marketers with mobile attribution tools. We supply attribution solutions to advertisers who use any kind of paid marketing for their apps. Our main job is to attribute a mobile app install (as well as post-install events) to the source it came from.
How does an MMP work?
In basic terms, an MMP matches campaign engagements with installs and post-install in-app actions.
Unlike Firebase analytics traffic source attribution where you only get very basic media channel performance, an MMP combines device IDs, aggregated data, and probabilistic modeling to associate ad engagements with specific user activities.
This is done using a combination of device IDs for user-level attribution, probabilistic modeling, or SKAdNetwork in iOS 14 for deterministic aggregated level attribution.
By implementing a software development kit (SDK), which is a piece of code that collects measurement and attribution data, the app enables the MMP to associate ad engagements with app installs and in-app events (such as game levels, registrations completed in a FinTech app, placed purchases, etc).
What are the benefits of an MMP?
An MMP equips you with accurate and granular data, enables you to allocate your budgets and optimize your app's performance, ROAS, and LTV.
As you scale campaigns across several ad networks, all the tools you need to try out new networks are already set up.
An impartial MMP can connect all the dots in your campaigns and pinpoint exactly where credit is due. This means you can allocate your budget to the campaigns that bring the most value.
Let a universal SDK do the grind work, measure, and attribute all of your ad networks through a single SDK. Plus, you can save heaps of time analyzing countless dashboards and spreadsheets.
See one view consolidating all your raw and aggregated data for both paid media sources and organic activities.
Who needs an MMP?
The short answer: Any marketer with an app.
Mobile is the most data-rich marketing channel in existence. However, when it comes to assessing campaign performance, the sheer amount of media data that needs to be analyzed can be overwhelming and hard to gauge.
If you're not working with an MMP, you're probably spending countless resources and man-hours trying to make sense of way too many dashboards and spreadsheets. Unless you're a computer, this manual analysis is a recipe for errors and plenty of missed opportunities for optimizing lifetime value (LTV) and return on ad spend (ROAS).
But when managed by a reliable, unbiased provider, mobile attribution can pinpoint the value of specific channels, media sources, publishers, campaigns, and even creatives, while allowing you to constantly optimize your app's performance and ensure strategic growth.
What else can attribution providers do?
While MMPs are primarily known for their ability to help clients track conversions and attribute them correctly, they often provide other services that help marketers improve their marketing strategies and outcomes. MMPs also usually have a suite of products that augment the marketing stack, such as the ability to:
- Segment and build custom audiences for retargeting campaigns.
- Track cohorts and their in-app engagements.
- Receive custom callbacks filled with granular user data.
- Utilize and track deep links.
- Use combined datasets to optimize ad spend.
- Offer fraud prevention to keep datasets clean and budgets safe.
Can I do mobile ad attribution without an MMP?
Anything is possible. However, few marketing teams are equipped with the time and resources to create, deploy, and maintain an in-house measurement platform without the help of an MMP implementation consultant. You can try to capture attribution by cobbling together data from different platforms and hope for the best, but we don't recommend going down this road.
You will need a team of developers who are familiar with different types of mobile devices and operating systems, handling complex link types, and constantly monitoring the data to troubleshoot problems.
It takes months to build this infrastructure. Unreliable deep links misroute users, impacting brand loyalty, while miscounting attribution paints the wrong picture for decision-making.
Adapting to rapidly changing industry standards and privacy requirements can be a daunting task. An MMP works hard to take all the hassle out of it at a much lower investment.
Self-Attributing Networks (SANs) hold back from sharing all data with individual advertisers. Without an MMP, you have a limited ability to combine de-duplicated SAN data from across networks into a single holistic view.
AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) Framework and iOS 17
MMPs continue to play a pivotal role in streamlining ad campaigns and aiding marketers to navigate through the shifting sands of the digital marketing landscape. The release of iOS 17 reinforces this trend, as Apple enhances its commitment to user privacy, building upon the foundation laid by the ATT framework introduced in iOS 14.5.
This advancement has prompted Mobile Measurement Partners to innovate and refine their attribution and measurement solutions, ensuring compliance with the heightened privacy norms under iOS 17.
Working with a Mobile Measurement Partner is more critical than ever to guarantee you have the knowledge and tools you need to continue developing your business regardless of what changes take place in the adtech sector.
Things to Keep In Mind When Choosing Your MMP
On the market, there are several MMP choices. Depending on the needs of the developers, one solution might be better suited than others. Generally speaking, however, the basic functionalities are similar.
Here are a few points to remember when picking your perfect Mobile Measurement Partner.
You must explicitly ensure that your attribution partner is completely independent and neutral and that they are not exchanging your data as part of their company plan.
The mobile attribution system is complicated to set up and manage. It necessitates serious effort to construct a powerful, scalable, reliable, and accurate platform. Collaborating with an experienced, dependable MMP is vital.
The MMP should give accurate and unbiased statistics because you will make decisions based on this information. Check the organizations' customer portfolios and rely on their opinions.
Fraud is the downfall and enemy of the mobile ecosystem. A trustworthy and reliable anti-fraud tool is a must when selecting an MMP.
Who uses an MMP solution and how?
Use case #1: Marketing team
- Measure and optimize ongoing campaigns using a single source of truth.
- Calculate user LTV, spend, and ROAS data across all partners and channels.
- Create smart audiences for personalized campaign segmentation.
- Allocate the budget effectively according to real-time, accurate performance.
- Block fraud from polluting data and draining budgets.
Use case #2: User Acquisition team
- Create a delightful customer experience using deep linking to streamline web-to-app, social-to-app, and CTV-to-app journeys.
- Gain access to aggregated user-level data using data clean rooms for actionable UA insights.
Use case #3: Product team
- Test, measure, and optimize new feature adoption/product updates.
- Gain important insights around UX by deploying in-app feedback surveys during pivotal stages.
- Understand how different cohorts of users interact with your app and adjust product roadmaps.
Use case #4: BI/Analytics team
- Stream data into internal BI systems with ease.
- Use predictive modeling to examine historical and transactional data to predict future actions.
- Provide marketers with necessary data to nip underperforming campaigns in the bud.
Use case #5: R&D team
- Simplify integration and compliance for complex tools such as Apple's SKAdNetwork and Google's Privacy Sandbox.
- Save endless hours of connecting to each media partner's SDK individually.
Use case #6: Customer retention team
- Keep churn rates at bay and improve user LTV by continuously monitoring retention rates.
- Monitor granular data around when and why users are leaving the app.
Key takeaways
If you're still not entirely convinced, here are the top 5 reasons for incorporating an MMP into your marketing arsenal:
- Empower teams to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Mobile attribution equips you with authoritative data, enabling you to optimize your app's performance, ROAS, and LTV.
- Universal SDK. Don't waste your precious time and resources. Let a single universal SDK do the groundwork to measure and attribute all of your ad networks.
- Stop paying double or triple for attribution. As you scale campaigns, let an impartial MMP connect all the dots and pinpoint exactly where credit is due instead of overpaying.
- Single dashboard. Consolidating all your raw and aggregated data for both paid media and organic activities gives you a holistic picture of your user funnel.
- Leave mobile attribution to the experts. The mobile landscape is a fragmented jungle, and MMPs are best equipped with the resources, expertise, and cross-network scale to meet your demands.
