The Importance, Rise of Mobile Tracking

Amberly Dressler — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:30:00 GMT

Everyone wants credit for what they do, and publishers are no different. With traffic through mobile handsets exceeding 12 percent of Affiliate Window’s total network traffic in recent months, it’s no wonder this performance marketing network is making mobile tracking a major initiative for its advertisers. It’s working.

Affiliate Window is now tracking 91 percent of revenue and commission generated through its advertisers and is confident it will track 99 percent by year end.

It’s becoming increasingly important for mobile tracking to be added to advertisers’ sites to ensure publishers are being correctly rewarded for the sales they are driving. Mobile tracking also allows publishers to make informed choices on which advertisers to promote.

Affiliate Window releases regular mobile updates to educate its advertisers on the importance of mobile tracking. May’s report saw these highlights:

*May saw a record 572 sales per hour through mobile devices

*The iPhone generated 3,100 sales per day throughout May

*One in every seven clicks and one in every 13 sales in May came through a mobile handset

*Affiliate Window has recorded more mobile sales so far this year than they did in Jan.-Nov. in 2012

Tracking Mobile Campaigns, a Must

Amberly Dressler — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:35:00 GMT

From Gap and Groupon to Toys “R” Us and Ugg Australia, plenty of worldwide names have implemented affiliate tracking on their mobile site, allowing them to track any sales made through a mobile device.

According to Affiliate Window mobile devices (including tablets) accounted for nearly 10 percent of all sales in September, which is up slightly from the previous month. With the unprecedented growth of mobile in 2012, it’s safe to assume this number will only increase in 2013. And, as more advertisers launch mobile optimized versions of their sites, the user journey will become a smoother process to transact, which makes tracking even more imperative.

“We also expect to see more advertisers adding affiliate tracking to their mobile sites,” said Matt Swan client strategist for Affiliate Window. “A lack of affiliate tracking means advertisers will be missing out on a number of opportunities through their publisher base. Both of these aspects will see conversions increase. With mobile traffic/sales continuing to increase we will begin to see more affiliates develop their mobile presence.”

With this in mind, Affiliate Window, which has monitored mobile performance internally for the past 18 months, now offers mobile reporting within its interface. This allows advertisers and affiliates to monitor the device that their sales are originating from and truly see the impact of mobile on campaigns.

Unfortunately, what tracking cannot account for is the impact mobile traffic has on driving foot traffic to brick-and-mortar locations or through other channels. Thus, it is important to keep in mind, as well as to understand the motivation of visitors on a mobile site. Users aren’t always looking to transact through a mobile device. Locating information such as hours and nearest store locations could be the goal.

Additionally, mobile sales do fluctuate based on device. Affiliate Window's latest mobile and m-commerce figures show that the iPad dominates as the most popular handset for transactions – accounting for 58 percent of sales year to date, as opposed to 26 percent for iPhone, 12 percent for Android, 3 percent for Blackberry and 2 percent for “other”.

'Net Features : mobile tracking

The Importance, Rise of Mobile Tracking

Tracking Mobile Campaigns, a Must