What is analytics?

Glossary What is analytics?

The definition of analytics

Analytics is an umbrella term for all functions of data analysis from data collection to presentation of actionable insights. With analytics tools, data can be easily interpreted and applied in a multitude of uses in order to improve performance.

Mobile analytics workflow

Four types of data analytics

Mobile analytics can be divided into four main categories: Descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.

  1. Descriptive analytics: Tells us what has happened in the past, using tools like reports and dashboards to summarize past events, often answering questions like, "What was our revenue last quarter?"
  2. Diagnostic analytics: Delves deeper to uncover why something happened. By examining correlations and patterns, it answers questions like, "Why did IAPs drop last month?"
  3. Predictive analytics: The fortune-teller of data. It uses historical data and statistical models to forecast what might happen in the future. It’s great for answering questions like, "If we spend X on a campaign on this platform over this period of time we can expect to see installs within this range."
  4. Prescriptive analytics: Not only predicts what will happen but also suggests actions to achieve desired outcomes. Using algorithms and machine learning, prescriptive analytics helps in decision-making, offering actionable insights like, "By doing this, we can expect to see an increased ROI."

Each type of analytics plays a vital role in understanding and utilizing data effectively, offering insights from different perspectives to inform robust, insights-driven decisions.

Why mobile analytics is important

Once an app goes live, it’s essential for developers to understand how the app is performing, and for marketers to understand the efficiency of UA campaigns. Data analytics allows them to analyze data, find patterns, and discover insights on user behavior and app trends. Marketers and developers can leverage mobile analytics to learn which channels users have been acquired from, what users are doing in-app, when they are opening and closing the app, and the length of time the app is in use, among other use cases.

App analytics are also helpful in identifying the point(s) at which users are churning. For example, if you have an e-commerce app and discover that a high number of your users lapse right before making a purchase, there could be an issue with the final step in your funnel. Even if there isn’t a fundamental issue with the purchasing process, data analytics has highlighted an area in need of improvement which, when addressed, could then drive further conversions.

Whether you’re looking at how users interact with ads or their in-app behavior, analytics can give you the data to improve your strategy. This includes optimizing your user experience, improving conversion rates, and achieving an overall understanding of your app with clear actions to achieve desired outcomes.

Analytics and Adjust

Advertising channels will provide a view of the performance of your ads on their channel. However, the most efficient mobile analytics platform is one that gives you a comprehensive and unbiased view of your performance across all channels, as well as within your app itself. Hint hint, that’s Adjust! Adjust provides a one-stop-shop for analytics for accurate end-to-end app performance analysis in one place.

Datascape: Adjust’s powerful analytics tool

Adjust’s mobile analytics are unbiased and incredibly accurate, and reporting is easily customizable. With our comprehensive suite of mobile measurement and analytics tools, you have everything you need to leverage data for in-depth reports and actionable insights.

With Datascape, you can:

  • Instantly access UA insights.
  • Quickly digest SKAN metrics.
  • Consolidate reporting of ad spend, purchases, and ad revenue.
  • See the full influence of your CTV campaigns.
  • Analyze user behavior across cohorts.

With Adjust, app developers and marketers can get a clear view of their app and campaign performance to continually optimize based on analytics insights. Learn more about how you can leverage Adjust’s industry-leading measurement and analytics tools.

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