Mobile: Mobile Marketing Agility without an SDK Copywright 2014. All rights reserved.
Why Mobile Marketing Agility? Marketers seek mobile marketing solutions in order to drive engagement, loyalty, and conversion by: Unifying customer data across digital touch points, including mobile apps Testing and optimizing mobile experiences Personalizing mobile content Mobile increased our mobile agility, from quick app updates to on-the-fly app customization. Many marketers look to a tag management system (TMS) to extend analytics to mobile apps, but the most effective marketers also extend optimization, personalization, and other high-impact digital marketing technologies to mobile apps. The right TMS can not only extend your entire digital marketing strategy to apps, but can boost mobile marketing agility, with the power to adapt to changes in real-time. Page 2 Page 3
SDKs Slow Down Mobile Marketing Agility Manage is the only TMS that delivers mobile marketing agility in real-time, without requiring an SDK. The no-sdk approach allows marketers to unify all customer insights, including data from mobile apps, within a single data layer while letting marketers make changes to their tagging, their digital applications, and their mobile strategies in real-time. What is an SDK? SDK APPROACH SDK Approach 1 Marketers pre-determine all app elements they want to tag. 2 An SDK ( software development kit ) is a programming package that enables mobile developers to tie in 3rd party technology into their mobile applications. Implementing an SDK can be a time consuming process, and is rigid by nature. Mobile app developers hard code the tagging and recompile the app. 3 Mobile app developers submit the recompiled app to the app store. Once an SDK is complied, changes to the code or any configurations regarding the technology must be completed by the mobile app developer. The changes are then compiled, and the mobile app is put through the app store review 4 Marketers wait for the new app to be approved into the store. process. Once accepted into the app store, users of the mobile application must re-install or update the version of the app before the changes take effect. s no-sdk approach eliminates the wait, allowing marketers to tag instantly. ENSIGHTEN S NO-SDK APPROACH s No-SDK Approach 1 Mobile app developers implement the Mobile library. this process takes 15 minutes When a TMS relies on an SDK to extend tagging and optimization to mobile apps, marketers must wait for: 2 Marketers use a visual interface to select which app elements they want to tag. Mobile app developers to revise the app The app store to approve the resubmitted changes Consumers to download the revised app Repeat steps 2-6 4 Marketers identify a tagging change they want to make. repeat step 2 VISUAL INTERFACE With an SDK approach, the slightest tag change can take months to take effect. With Mobile, included with Manage, the change is instant. 6 Marketers identify a tagging change they want to make. 5 Marketers wait for users to download the new version of the app. 3 tags update in real time Tagging takes effect immediately. Page 4 Page 5
Multiple SDKs Compound the Issue Brands leverage SDKs to handle digital tools, such as analytics, ad serving, leaderboards, performance measurement, push notifications, Facebook, Twitter and more. Enterprise brands often end up managing dozens of separate SDKs, each with its own footprint, ranging up to multiple megabytes. Multiple SDKs can impact the app at load time and can cause crashes if they are not installed properly. What if a third-party technology offers an API or JavaScript-based SDK? offers the same technology through the Mobile Library, eliminating the need for that additional SDK. For technologies that require an SDK, streamlines and enhances the flexibility of those SDKs. For example, the marketing technology Millennial requires an SDK; improves it by tying banners into segments for better targeting and in-app advertising experiences. Page 6 Page 7
s unique no-sdk approach provides the following unmatched benefits. Don t Be Misled Although other TMS solutions may claim they can impact apps in real time, the nature of an SDK makes real-time changes impossible. For example, one provider claims to remove the need to re-submit the app whenever a change is made and another says marketers can configure their applications after a user has downloaded an app. But statements like these are misleading because the solutions are still limited by the SDK, which remains a significant block to real-time mobile marketing agility. What is an SDK vs. a Library? Generally, these two terms can be interchangeable, which can be confusing for brands that want to use a mobile library but avoid the limitations of an SDK. The Mobile Library is the only SDK-free library in the industry. Mobile is the only solution that allows realtime mobile marketing agility with no SDK. Fewer Pre-Planning Requirements Marketers do not have to pre-plan their app tagging strategy, since they can make tagging changes in real-time. Marketers must pre-plan which app elements are tagged for analytics or optimization and keep this tagging configuration long-term, without being able to easily make changes later on. Shorter Wait Time for Changes Marketers can make tagging changes to mobile apps, and changes to mobile marketing technologies themselves, in true real time, without reliance on mobile developers, the app store, or consumer downloads of a revised app. All other TMS solutions with a mobile offering rely on SDKs. With this approach, if a marketer makes changes, there is often a long wait for the mobile developer to make the requested change and recompile the app. There is an additional wait for the app store to approve the new version and yet another wait for consumers to install it. This whole process can take months, and consumers may never update the app at all. No Vendor Lock-In Marketers can easily test, swap and deploy new digital marketing technologies in real-time. Analytics vendors with an API or JavaScript-based implementation can be deployed within minutes. This increases mobile marketing agility and allows marketers to stay ahead of the competition. Because the technology is hardcoded into the app with the SDK, marketers are stuck with that technology, making it difficult to test, swap or deploy new digital marketing tools. Page 8 Page 9
Unlimited Optimization Elements Better Optimization Agility Multi-Platform App Support Third Party SDK Support Comprehensive Data Activation Marketers can perform multivariate testing and targeting with both native and non-native app elements (such as content blocks, images, buttons, and colors). Marketers are limited to testing and targeting native app elements only. Marketers can quickly and easily create new in-app multi-variate tests and targets, and then quickly roll winning test content into their mobile app. This content can be used to build future tests. Multi-variate testing and targeting elements must be hard-coded into the SDK. This makes it difficult and time-consuming to deploy winning test content within the app as well as to leverage testing and targeting for apps on an iterative and ongoing basis. provides support for Android, ios and WP8 apps. Provide support for Android and ios apps only. While Mobile itself is not reliant on an SDK, Mobile is compatible with any SDK. This means you can easily use third party SDKs for analytics tools, conversion systems, in-app ad displays, etc., within Mobile. Other mobile offerings are compatible only with their own SDK. This creates vendor lock-in and limits the flexibility of marketers to use best of breed solutions. unifies data from all channels and touch points, including mobile apps, the Web, and offsite and offline channels allowing marketers to own and act on all customer data. This enables delivery of a 1:1 experience across all channels. Other mobile offerings can unify some mobile app data with Web data, but are unable to stitch entire customer profiles that would allow full customer data ownership or the ability to deliver a 1:1 experience across all channels. Page 10 Page 11
, the global leader in omni-channel data and tag management, is changing the face of digital marketing by transforming the way enterprises collect, own and act on their customer data across every marketing channel and device. Using the company s Agile Marketing Platform (AMP), enterprises can now achieve true 1:1 marketing while accelerating the execution of their marketing initiatives and delivering superior user experiences. Powered by its unique hybrid-tag technology, the platform processes tag requests across 150+ countries, for companies transacting over $1.9 trillion in revenue. The world s leading brands (Microsoft, Capital One, United Airlines, T-Mobile and Walmart) are achieving marketing agility through s single line of code implementation. Visit us at www.ensighten.com and follow on facebook.com/ensighten and @ ensighten.