We got the opportunity to sit down with Supriya Goswami, VP of Marketing at InMobi, a leading technology company that help brands understand, identify, engage, and acquire customers. Read on for Supriya’s take on challenges the mobile advertising industry is facing now, InMobi’s stance on data and privacy, and how InMobi is working with Cuebiq to help brands make the most out of mobile opportunities.
What is the biggest challenge the mobile advertising industry is facing right now?
I think the biggest issue is in how to reach the right audiences at scale in a way that respects user privacy and autonomy. As a lot of the data that marketers have long relied on begins to either go away or face renewed scrutiny, marketers need to rethink the ways in which they understand and identify their target markets. Today’s consumers are mobile-first and highly fragmented, which means that it’s more critical than ever for marketers to utilize the strategies, data, and methodologies still available to them to make the biggest impact.
Can you talk about a project your team has worked on that’s been particularly rewarding when addressing this industry hurdle?
In 2018, InMobi acquired Pinsight Media, which was the former data arm of Sprint. Between this data, data from our own consumer-facing platforms, and data from our SDK, we’ve been able to bring to market powerful insights around location, app affinity, interests, and on-device behavior, among other metrics. Through this, marketers gain the key insights they need to really understand, identify, engage, and acquire today’s mobile-first consumer.
How has the increased use of data to inform advertising targeting and optimization changed your business?
Our business has always been informed by data. The biggest changes we’ve seen of late with our business are in terms of how data can be applied to strengthen mobile advertising. For a long time, programmatic in-app advertising was split into two camps: pure branding and performance (i.e. app downloads). What we’ve been seeing more recently, and what we’ve been talking about with our customers more recently, centers around unique and different ways to both think about and measure in-app advertising. With data and with the right partners, we can show how in-app advertising can help drive in-store visits, online purchases, and other actions that have a direct, positive impact on the business. Also, data helps brands see how in-app advertising works in tandem with their other marketing efforts to drive success.
We can’t talk data without touching on privacy. How has InMobi helped advertisers prepare for future privacy regulation and industry self-regulation?
On our end, we have been unequivocal with our partners about the need to respect privacy and to do things right by the consumer. For example, when GDPR was first signed into law in the EU, we flatly refused to work with any app that didn’t have expressly given opt-ins from consumers. While others in the industry were playing things fast and loose, we were steadfast in our privacy-first approach. We take the same approach with CCPA and will approach any forthcoming privacy initiative with the same level of rigor. But, we also take key steps to help our advertiser partners both gain the data they need and run effective campaigns in a privacy-compliant manner. Whether by supplementing an advertiser’s data with our own first-party intelligence or by helping advertisers think differently about their campaigns, we work hand in hand with our partners to ensure compliance while also driving measurable results.
What excites you most about your partnership with Cuebiq? And how will offline attribution help InMobi’s advertisers prove ROI?
We’re really excited to work with Cuebiq to help our demand-side partners connect their digital marketing and advertising efforts with offline sales and results in a privacy focused manner. For a long time, the main mobile advertisers were various app publishers, from social media networks and rideshare apps to mobile games. Thanks in part to our partnership with Cuebiq, we can open up the world of in-app advertising to retailers, CPG brands, and others who rely on brick-and-mortar sales and visits. As time spent in app rises, we’re excited to work with Cuebiq to help a wider array of brands make the most out of mobile opportunities.
As you look to the near future (12–24 months), how do you anticipate the mobile advertising space will change? What excites you most about where the industry is going?
In the next one to two years, expect budgets to move away from mobile web as advertisers further embrace mobile in-app advertising. I also think more advertisers will move beyond top-level metrics and instead look to further tie their online efforts with offline sales and other business-level metrics. I’m excited for the industry to be thinking differently and for working with advertisers to materially boost their business.
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