Button joined over 2,000 leaders from the top mobile brands in Las Vegas for Grow.co's annual Mobile Apps Unlocked conference. The two days were stacked with a variety of content addressing the latest trends and challenges in mobile. As pointed out by Bertrand Schmitt from App Annie in his MAU keynote, with nearly 3 hours spent each day in apps, it has never been more timely to learn how merchant brands are tackling mobile. From using data in marketing to driving engagement with personalization, the insights and examples were endless. After all is said and done, the energy was contagious and I feel confident in what lies ahead for mobile marketers.

Mobile Partnerships on the Rise

One takeaway is clear; merchants are demanding measurement and proven incrementality for marketing spend. Long gone are the days of billboard ads with no accountability, questionable vanity metrics, invalid traffic, brand safety issues, and attribution fraud. It's time to hold agencies, networks, platforms, and publishers accountable, enabling full transparency and aligning marketing spend with businesses bottom line. Data was a focus here, specifically the right data as a critical optimization component. Today, merchants need to know what comes out when $1 goes in. To do so, an increasing number of brands are turning to performance-based mobile marketing campaigns. The founder of Grow.co and the Head of Growth Marketing at Rent The Runway echo this assertion.

"This year MAU increasingly focused on the role apps play in the broader channel mix including mobile web, desktop web, and even IOT devices. I also tried to emphasize stories of success in growth avenues like content, affiliates, referrals, and ASO that are complementary to the standard paid user acquisition via Facebook & Google."

— Adam Lovallo, Co-Founder @ Grow.co

"One massive takeaway— as major platforms continue to reduce the number of optimization levers at a marketer's disposal, it is all the more important to provide your first party conversion data back to platforms so that they can fully bake that data into their black box bidding. Simply bidding on top of funnel actions such as clicks simply won't cut it when advertisers have increasingly less control as to what audiences and placements they're bidding for."

— Will Flaherty, Head of Growth Marketing @ Rent The Runway

Boxed's Shift to Personalization & Performance Marketing

I had the pleasure to take the stage with Boxed's Chief Marketing Officer, Jackson Jeyanayagam, to share the growth story of Boxed and how they are approaching personalization and performance partnerships in mobile. If you're not familiar, Boxed delivers the products consumers love in bulk with a mobile-first approach. Mobile in particular has been a critical piece to tackle as the form factor is different, requiring a unique approach to user acquisition. Users simply don't engage the same way they were on desktop and purchase intent is spread across a variety of apps and mobile websites— not just search. Mobile demands a user acquisition solution that fits seamlessly into the customer journey when intent is highest. Button has been able to help Boxed align purchase options with intent, customer status (new, existing, lapsed), and expected lifetime value resulting in higher conversions, greater repeat purchase rates, increased average order values, optimal cost to acquire a customer, and a positive user experience.

"Button connects Boxed with partners that have built great mobile experiences for users while they shop. The technology lets us capitalize on opportune moments to place our brand, and the results are there to show how valuable that is."

— Jackson Jeyanayagam, CMO @ Boxed

Button and Boxed have partnered up to help fuel this mobile growth with a focus on personalization, customer experience, and ROI. Have a look at our presentation below, which dives into Boxed's mobile growth strategy, diversifying acquisition channels from Facebook and Google, and the results of the Button & Boxed Partnership.

[embed]https://www.slideshare.net/Button/mau-2018-the-shift-to-performance-marketing-personalization-and-partnerships-for-smarter-acquisition[/embed]

If you're interested in learning more about seeing similar growth on mobile or partnering with Button and Boxed, let us know!