As the gaming industry expands across mobile, console, and PC, tracking player engagement and campaign effectiveness across platforms has become more complex. Cross-platform attribution is crucial for game studios looking to gain a complete picture of their audience and maximise their marketing ROI. With more gamers switching between devices than ever, understanding how, where, and why they interact with your game’s ads is the key to sustainable growth.
In this article, we’ll cover what cross-platform attribution is, why it’s essential for game marketing, and how TRACKS can help your studio stay competitive in a complex, multi-device landscape.
What is Cross-Platform Attribution?
Cross-platform attribution is the process of tracking and analysing user behaviour across different devices and platforms. For gaming studios, this means being able to follow a player’s journey from a mobile ad click to a console download or a PC-based purchase. Unlike traditional attribution, which often stops at the platform level, cross-platform attribution connects the dots, helping studios understand the entire journey players take with their games.
Why Traditional Attribution Falls Short
Standard attribution methods often focus on last-click or single-platform metrics, which give an incomplete picture. For example, if a player clicks on an ad on mobile but downloads the game on a console, traditional attribution models might only credit the mobile click. Without cross-platform visibility, game marketers miss out on valuable insights into the true effectiveness of their campaigns.
Why Cross-Platform Attribution is Critical for Game Studios
With today’s players using multiple devices, cross-platform attribution is essential for understanding the full impact of marketing efforts. Here are some key reasons why game studios should invest in cross-platform attribution:
1. Accurate Campaign Performance Measurement
By tracking players across platforms, studios can see which campaigns are driving real engagement and downloads. For instance, a mobile ad campaign may lead to increased PC downloads, but without cross-platform attribution, this connection would be missed. Cross-platform attribution enables studios to accurately measure the effectiveness of each marketing dollar, making budget allocations more informed and impactful.
2. Improved Player LTV Analysis
Player Lifetime Value (LTV) is a core metric in game marketing, and it becomes even more valuable when calculated across devices. Cross-platform attribution lets studios track how long players engage across different platforms, giving a clearer picture of player LTV and helping studios identify their highest-value audiences.
For example, a player who starts on mobile but becomes a regular console user may have a higher LTV, indicating they’re more engaged. Knowing this, studios can prioritize campaigns that target these high-value players.
3. Enhanced Personalisation and Retargeting
Understanding the full player journey across devices enables game studios to create more personalised marketing campaigns. With cross-platform data, marketers can identify users who played the game on PC and retarget them with console-specific offers. This targeted approach can drive higher conversion rates and deepen player loyalty.
Cross-platform attribution also supports effective re-engagement strategies. By identifying when players are most active or when they drop off, studios can re-engage lapsed players with relevant messaging on their preferred platforms, increasing the chances of bringing them back to the game.
4. Optimised Budget Allocation
Knowing which channels and devices drive the highest engagement helps game studios allocate budgets more effectively. For instance, if a campaign shows higher click through rates on Tiktok Ads, but stronger conversion rates on Reddit Ads, studios can adjust their spend accordingly to maximise reach and impact. Cross-platform attribution data is vital for optimising ad spend and ensuring resources are directed toward channels that deliver the most value.
5. Comprehensive Player Insights
Cross-platform attribution provides studios with a complete view of player behaviour, allowing them to understand not just where players come from but also how they interact across platforms. These insights are valuable for game development as well, helping studios design features that cater to their audience’s multi-device preferences.
For example, if data shows that a significant percentage of users start on mobile but later switch to console, studios might prioritise updates or content designed for console experiences.
How TRACKS Empowers Studios with Cross-Platform Attribution
TRACKS is built with gaming studios in mind, offering robust cross-platform attribution tools designed to provide insights that traditional attribution solutions can’t match. Here’s how TRACKS can help your studio harness the power of cross-platform attribution:
Multi-Touch Attribution for Accurate Measurement
TRACKS enables multi-touch attribution, allowing studios to track each interaction across a player’s journey, from ad click to cross platform (PC/Console/Mobile) purchases/installs across different devices. This model ensures that each touchpoint—whether it’s a mobile ad view or a console download—receives credit. By understanding the influence of each touchpoint, studios can make data-driven decisions about future campaigns.
Real-Time Analytics for Instant Optimisation
With real-time reporting capabilities, TRACKS provides actionable insights as they happen. Game studios can immediately see how players respond to campaigns across platforms and make adjustments on the fly, shift budget from one geo to another geo or one media platform to another media platform, maximising the effectiveness of every campaign and ad spend.
Postback Capabilities for Accurate and Automated Attribution
TRACKS’ robust postback capabilities allow seamless data sharing between media platforms and the TRACKS attribution system, enabling game studios to automatically send conversion events back to ad networks like Facebook, Google Ads, TikTok, and others. This feature ensures that media platforms receive real-time feedback on in-game events such as installs, purchases, and other key player actions, enhancing the accuracy of multi-touch attribution.
By leveraging TRACKS’ postback capabilities, game studios not only gain more precise attribution insights but also allow media platforms to adjust ad delivery dynamically, reaching users with higher potential for engagement and increasing overall marketing efficiency.
Customisable Dashboards for Deep Insights
TRACKS offers customisable dashboards that make it easy to track KPIs relevant to game marketing. From player ROAS across geo’s or creatives to channel-specific performance, studios can view and analyse the metrics that matter most to their unique goals. This flexibility ensures that TRACKS can adapt to your studio’s needs, whether you’re focusing on mobile, console, PC, or all three.
Advanced Audience Segmentation for Targeted Marketing
With TRACKS, game studios can segment audiences based on their platform of choice, engagement level, or spending habits, allowing for targeted campaigns that resonate with different player segments. This segmentation power enables studios to refine their marketing efforts, creating personalised experiences that drive higher engagement and retention.
Final Thoughts: Tracking the Full Player Journey with Cross-Platform Attribution
In an era where players engage with ads on multiple platforms, cross-platform attribution is no longer optional for studios looking to stay competitive. It’s essential to understanding the true impact of marketing campaigns, maximising player LTV, and gaining the insights needed to create better player experiences.
TRACKS is built to meet the complex needs of game studios, providing the cross-platform ads visibility necessary to drive smarter decisions and optimise campaign performance. By tracking the complete player journey, TRACKS empowers studios to deliver more effective marketing strategies.
Optimise Your Game Marketing with TRACKS
Ready to unlock the full potential of cross-platform attribution? Discover how TRACKS can give your studio the insights needed to succeed in today’s competitive gaming landscape.