RevX prioritises quality-centric retargeting for high-value app engagement: Martje Abeldt

RevX, an Affle company helps app businesses acquire and re-engage users via programmatic advertising to retain and accelerate revenue. RevX is a partner for app publishers in established and emerging mobile growth markets. Revx is frequently mentioned in industry media as a Business of Apps and is ranked in the AppsFlyer Performance Index report.

RevX offers app retargeting solutions to drive conversions and maximise user lifetime value. By strategically targeting users at every stage of their journey, RevX helps activate, engage, re-engage, and monetise a brands user base for sustainable growth.

MediaNews4u.com caught up with Martje Abeldt, CEO RevX.

Q. What trends are being seen in the mobile app advertising and marketing area in India? How is RevX leveraging these trends?

RevX is fortunate that our near decade of company history has been within the mobile advertising space. As part of the Affle (India) group, their origins have also been in the AdTech industry (19 years). We have witnessed many striking moments in the industry, and feel privileged to have the hindsight to recognise where trends are coming from or heading while holding true to our mission to provide outstanding performance, positive returns, and transparency to app marketers.  

The market development in the country is amazing; you have to consider as well, that there is still a large number of people onboarding onto smartphones. Despite newer areas like connected TV (CTV), mobile is not going away. We can see this confirmation in the steady climb of digital advertising spend within India. It’s important to be aware of evolving trends for sustainable growth. 

Certainly, we have been hearing a lot about–and engaging with–the user privacy landscape. First-Party Data (1P Data) is an area RevX has been particularly invested in, and we work with our advertisers to build powerful campaigns by employing 1P Data which delivers effective results. It’s imperative to manoeuvre the challenges of data capture and privacy regulation for brands to reach desired audiences through compliance. Especially through retargeting campaigns, 1P Data can be an incredibly valuable way to propel renewed interest with pre-qualified users.

We feel that privacy needs to be more than a buzzword. It needs to be a conscious choice that drives how your organisation operates. While we are highly data-driven, we also place an equal emphasis on user trust and data protection. As we head into the present and future of uncharted areas of the ever-evolving world of mobile app advertising and marketing, it’s inevitable to acknowledge privacy will come first in whatever decisions we land on. Hinging on this as a core business value, over being a passing trend, allows us to carry on with a purpose that we believe benefits partners, clients, the public, and our team. 

Q. Can you shed some light on how RevX approaches retargeting and the philosophy?

At RevX, we approach retargeting as an integral aspect of a full-funnel ad strategy, and it’s fundamental to who we are as a company. Our efforts are focused on helping our clients to acquire and engage high-value customers for their apps. It stems from the philosophy that quality tops quantity. 

We recognise that it is tempting for an advertiser to go after pure-scale, yet we see that converting and retaining users who truly value your offerings increases the likelihood of long-term success and meaningful performance branding. To do this, we work towards well-rounded tailored solutions to enable and advise clients to employ a balanced ad strategy to engage both new and returning users.

We have worked with over 400 clients to date across various industries and combined integration of retargeting with user acquisition for their campaigns, which has proven beneficial in maximizing resource utilization, enhancing conversion rates, and establishing a strong brand presence. For us, it’s been an intentional choice and a dynamic strategy for sustainable business growth in the digital age.

Q. What is RevX’s strategy going to be to grow its client base over the coming two years? Your strategy for clients involves acquiring high-quality users with a strong potential for high lifetime value. What are the things you keep in mind to achieve this?

When considering a strategy for user acquisition and retention, we prioritize engaging users by focusing on high-intent audiences and delivering value throughout the user journey. As mentioned above, we specialize in acquiring high-quality users with a strong potential for high lifetime value (LTV). Ultimately, it’s about attracting users who are most likely to boost our clients’ bottom line. 

Enabling strategic A/B testing, segmenting accordingly, continuously optimising campaigns as needed, and working with clients to put their best creative foot forward–with these tactics backed by our data science, we aim to continue to grow our client’s user base in the years to come. We know it’s imperative to be nimble and deliberate in our strategies and continue to improve to provide value to our customers, as well as theirs.

Q. What role does AI play in the work that you do including product development?

Our parent company Affle (India) has recently filed 15 patents within the GenAI space, and we are already looking at how these advancements in personalisation, predictive analyses, and fraud protection will positively impact the space. Incorporating high-calibre defence against reporting fraud, and continuing to develop products that engage the most apt, quality users, while adhering to strict regulatory shifts in the mobile advertising industry is part and parcel of how we foresee an AI-aided ad ecosystem. We have a team of highly skilled engineers and data scientists to continue to explore, test, and develop for new product features, improved efficiency and experiences, and more transparent outcomes. 

At RevX, we are experimenting with the possibilities, opportunities, and limitations that GenAI is offering to our engineering, data science, and creative teams. While much of our R&D is enhancing the application of advanced machine learning algorithms in siloed custom settings for single advertisers, GenAI helps us find efficiencies within newly designed workflows, which we are able to forward to our clients.

Q. Could you talk about the new ad formats coming up like Hybrid Ads that can boost user engagement?

RevX allows advertisers to stay ahead of the curve with new creative formats and automation that can generate captivating iterations from a single ad image. Hybrid Ads seamlessly merge static, video, audio, and animation elements into a captivating ad experience. It’s a form of rich-media ad that has been constructed for better recall and conversion. By combining ad formats, the user experience is improved in comparison to static banner ads, and as expected, more engaging ad ecosystems can lead to more engaged users.

In the era of personalisation, traditional or static ad formats lack the adaptability to capture and captivate the dynamic preferences of consumers. Hybrid Ads don’t just cater to individual preferences; they can perform on real-time relevance.

At RevX, our team leverages cutting-edge technologies to drive dynamicity, while using machine learning (ML) to drive personalised product recommendations. Through smart automation, the platform generates numerous iterations from a single ad template. This means advertisers can repurpose their existing assets, infuse them with dynamic elements, and effortlessly create video-like experiences that captivate the target audience. We take it to the next level by using product feed data to serve the best-performing variation for each user.

Q. What are the key strategies that RevX employs for retargeting app users to drive conversions effectively?

We approach retargeting via three main pillars: creative innovation, segmenting and targeting, and meticulous and in-depth review and optimization of campaigns. By employing these areas in conjunction with app marketers, we lay the groundwork, set the cadence, and offer transparency for successful campaigns.

In the creative space, we are pleased to work with newer ad formats – Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO), Hybrid ads (detailed above), and the integration of A/B testing campaign creatives to appropriately target high-value users with precise messaging speaking to their needs.

Through geo-targeting, contextual targeting, and segmentation efforts, RevX can narrow down to user sets that match advertisers’ goals and reach a higher probability of install and event attributions due to ad relevance. Location and behavioral-specific targeting benefit myriad advertising verticals, and we definitely notice that deeper intent to understand and segment users return positive feedback loops within campaigns. We can see that even within a specific category, such as food delivery, various subcategories can be broken down, and thus advertisers can pinpoint certain actions of interest to distinct groups and geos. 

Finally, through thorough analyses and optimisation of campaigns, we provide deep insight and guide app marketers to understand past events and best prepare for what’s next. We focus on helping brands achieve ROI by generating real-time results and solutions.

Q. RevX does a lot of work in gaming. What is the difference that the company makes for gaming apps it works with in terms of growing revenue in that hyper-competitive environment? 

Our extensive experience in the gaming industry gives us profound insights into the market, our target audience, emerging trends, and what truly resonates with gamers.

At RevX, we specialise in acquiring high-quality users with a strong potential for high lifetime value (LTV), but we go beyond counting installs. In a hyper-competitive market, it’s important that we continually innovate our creative strategies, employing cutting-edge techniques like Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) and Hybrid Ads as mentioned above. 

These pieces are part of our holistic strategic plan to drive growth for gaming apps and to hold a competitive advantage. Also, every campaign receives specific care from our dedicated teams of Campaign and Account Managers, ensuring that our customers see ROAS through calculated decisions, optimisations, and real-time efforts.

Q. How does personalised messaging enhance the success of app retargeting efforts?

Personalised messaging can magnify the beneficial significance of app retargeting efforts. It plays a crucial role in enhancing campaign success by improving relevance, increasing engagement, strengthening the user experience, driving higher conversion rates, and optimizing ad spend. By leveraging the power of personalisation, advertisers can create more effective and impactful retargeting campaigns that deliver meaningful results.

We are purposeful in our ad strategies with clients and adapt to their specific verticals for best practices and outcomes. For mCommerce apps, we implement specific product feed ads, ensuring that users see items relevant to their shopping interests. These dynamic product ads adapt in real-time, showcasing products likely to pique individual interest, thereby enhancing the likelihood of conversion.

For gaming and other entertainment verticals, we employ dynamic personalisation tactics through retargeting efforts to tailor offers and promotions to each user’s behaviours and preferences. Then, by analyzing app interaction, we deliver targeted offers and incentives, fostering deeper engagement and increasing the likelihood of in-app purchases (IAPs) or continued app usage.

Q. What metrics should be looked at to measure the effectiveness of app retargeting? 

One of the main advantages of running programmatic campaigns is the scale it provides. As such, we are integrated with the global Top30 ad exchanges to ensure that our advertisers have seamless access to billions of unique users every day and can reach them with a diversity of engaging ad formats at the right time and place.

App retargeting relies heavily on metrics, and these campaign metrics are tailored to suit the specific objectives of the campaign and the overarching business goals of the client. Among the standard metrics routinely measured are: impressions, reach, CPM, CPA, ad click-through rate, conversion rate, and ROAS.

We are integrated with all of the leading mobile measurement partners (MMPs), which facilitates seamless and secure 1P data integrations and alignment on performance measurement, e.g. deep insights into segmented campaign spends and performance. We want to make sure that app marketers have access to strong insights by tracking user interactions and conversions to gain an understanding of which strategies are most advantageous to their goals. By empowering clients to have greater control and confidence in their advertising efforts through transparent metrics, they can focus on maintaining and exceeding campaign outcomes.