Creating a remarketing tracker

Alert

You can only create a tracker after you integrate the AppMetrica SDK. For more information, see Android | iOS SDK integration.

This section explains the steps for creating a tracker for a remarketing campaign.

AppMetrica uses a remarketing tracker to track user re-engagement and new installs. The results of the remarketing campaign are available in the Remarketing report.

Note

You can configure Yandex Direct ad campaign targeting by AppMetrica segments. To do this, save a segment in AppMetrica and add it to Yandex Audience. For more information, see How to set up retargeting.

Step 1. Prepare your app

Before starting a remarketing campaign, prepare your app:

  1. Add deeplink support to your app.
  2. When using AppMetrica SDK version 4.0.0 or lower, add tracking deeplink redirects for Android.
  1. Make sure that you have the AppMetrica SDK version 3.1.2 or higher.
  2. Add Universal Links support to your app.
  3. Add tracking deeplink redirects for iOS.

Step 2. Fill in the campaign details

  1. In the AppMetrica interface, go to Tracking → Create tracker.

  2. Under Campaign details, enable the option This is a remarketing tracker and fill in the fields:

    • Tracker name: A name for the tracker. The tracker will be shown in the Trackers list with the specified name.
    • Application: The app you want to track.
    • Media Source: The media source to attribute clicks, installs, and conversions to. If the media source isn't in the list, you can add it. After being added, the new source will be saved in the list.

    Note

    Once the tracker has been created, you can't change the media source in the settings.

  3. If you want to use a SmartLink to configure a destination URL, enable this option. A Smartlink enables you to create a single URL that leads to the app or relevant app stores on different platforms:

    • Use this option if the advertising network accepts an HTTP tracking URL.
    • Don't use this option if the advertising network accepts a deeplink.

    When enabling a Smartlink, add Universal Links support in the app.

Step 3. Configure a destination URL / SmartLink

Fill in the fields of the Destination link settings section:

Available fields:

  • Platform: The target platform — Android and iOS.

  • Destination URL: A link that leads to the app store or a page where the user can install the app.

  • Deeplink: A link in myapp://some_data format which can be used to send data to the app.

    Alert

    A deeplink is required for remarketing campaigns.

Alert

To track Google Ads campaigns, create a link to AppMetrica. For more information, see Tracking Google Ads campaigns.

A SmartLink is a universal tracking URL that automatically changes the destination URL and deeplink depending on the app store.

Available fields:

  • App store: Google Play, App Store (iOS), GetApps, AppGallery, Windows Phone Store, or Fallback. The destination URL will lead to the selected app store.

    Details

    GetApps. If GetApps and other stores are selected as the app store and GetApps is not installed on the user's Xiaomi device, they won't be redirected to any other app store.

    AppGallery. If AppGallery and other stores are selected as the app store and AppGallery is not installed on the user's Huawei device, they will be redirected to the web version of this store.

    Google Play. If only Google Play is selected as the app store, a user with a Xiaomi or Huawei device will be directed to Google Play.

    Use Fallback to create a destination URL for all other types of traffic. For example, you could send the user to a promo page if they clicked on the URL from a non-mobile device.

    Note

    You can choose to select only the Fallback option: this will redirect all users to the specified destination URL.

  • Destination URL: A link that leads to an app in the app store or a page where the user can install the app. For GetApps, specify the deeplink.

  • Deeplink: A link in myapp://some_data format which can be used to send data to the app. Clicking on it will make the app open, provided it is already installed.

Step 4. (Optional)Configure attribution

This attribution type correctly detects the source that brought users to your app and accurately links app installs to ad interactions, whether they're a click or an impression.

For more information about attribution methods, see AppMetrica tracking technology and Impression attribution.

Available fields:

  • Fingerprint — Time interval of attribution (the time between the click and first start). AppMetrica uses it for the Device Fingerprint Matching attribution. The default value is 24 hours. Acceptable values are from 1 to 24 hours.

  • Device ID / Google Referrer — Time interval of attribution, that is used for the Device Identifier Matching attribution. The default value is 10 days. Acceptable values are from 1 to 10 days.

  • Reattribution — Attribution of reinstalls by pre-existing users. This option is disabled by default. For more information, see Attributing app installs.

    Note

    For test devices, reattribution is always enabled (regardless of the option status). For more information about adding test devices, see Testing attribution.

Step 5. (Optional)Configure postbacks

Postbacks are usually necessary when running CPI/CPA campaigns. You can add up to 5 postbacks per tracker.

Available fields:

  • Postback destination — The partner who will receive the postback. If you want to collect your own statistics, you can send the postback to your own server. To do this, add a media source.

  • Event — The target event that triggers sending the postback to the media source.

    The event may have one of several types:

    • Install postback — Send the postback after an attributed install.
    • Event postback — Send the postback after an attributed conversion.

  • Postback URL — The postback link. AppMetrica allows transmitting custom tracking parameters to the postback URL. By default, the postback URL contains parameters from the media source settings. To change the parameters, click Edit (changes will be saved in the media source settings).

    You can set the corresponding option to send the postback only for the first target event. All subsequent events will be ignored.

    Note

    Some advertising partners can set a permanent Postback URL for their network. In this case, the postback is sent to the partner regardless of other settings. It can't be edited.

  • Re-engagement window — The maximum amount of time that can pass between the install and the target event. A postback won't be sent to the media source if the target event takes more than the specified time.

  • Send postback on actions of all users — Postback will be sent for every app user's target event, regardless of the installation source.

    Note

    If you select this option, the attribution source for sending postback is ignored. The partner will receive events from all sources but without attribution parameters.

    To send both attributed and unattributed postbacks, create two postbacks: one with the enabled option and the other with the disabled option.

Step 6. Use the created tracking URL and re-engagement deeplink

Alert

Don't use the target= "_blank" attribute when inserting a URL into the markup. Some browsers may block the click-through when opening a URL in a new window. Don't place the URL in the iframe element.

The tracking URL and the re-engagement deeplink can be used in an ad campaign after successful testing. To do this, copy the URL that looks like https://redirect.appmetrica.yandex.com/serve/123456 from the Tracking URL block .

In a tracking URL, you can specify predefined, static (UTM), and custom parameters that will be passed to the destination URL, deeplink, and postback URLs. For example, you can disable JavaScript redirect using the appmetrica_js_redirect=0 parameter:

https://redirect.appmetrica.yandex.com/serve/123456?appmetrica_js_redirect=0

For more information, see Parameters of the tracking URL.

Example

Launching a remarketing campaign for a mobile e-commerce app. The goal is for the user to view a specific screen (for example, a product page).

Depending on the advertising network, there are two ways to create a remarketing campaign:

  1. The advertising network accepts an HTTP tracking URL.
  2. The advertising network accepts a deeplink.

Note

Deeplinks in tracking URLs don't work on iOS 12.3 and higher. For remarketing campaigns to perform correctly, add Universal Links support to your app.

If you need to lead the user to an app, including on iOS, use an app-to-app tracking URL. It will work for both platforms. Add the necessary parameters to an app-to-app tracking URL:

  • On Android, app redirects occur via the deeplink specified in the tracker. You can send the required parameters from the tracking URL to the Android deeplink. For more information, see Parameters of the tracking URL.
  • On iOS, the app is opened with the URL itself, and tags from the URL are sent to AppMetrica and included in the report when there is a click-through.

Add the necessary parameters to the deeplink.

See also

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