How to find the best mobile analytics platform.
Feb 15, 2022
Summary:
- Choosing a mobile app analytics platform is challenging in a crowded market, so businesses should focus on speed, flexibility, and ease of use instead of complex vendor comparison spreadsheets.
- Implementation should be fast and simple, with lightweight, cross-platform deployment and strong privacy and security, avoiding engineering-heavy SDKs and constant code-based tagging.
- The platform must support flexible, remote configuration so teams can update tracking frequently, integrate with key data partners, and keep analytics aligned with rapidly changing apps and customer behavior.
- Ease of use and actionability are critical, enabling teams across the company to quickly identify issues, access real-time behavioral insights, and act on consistent, cross-channel data without relying on extensive training or consultants.
- Quantum Metric stands out with Auto Capture and Codeless Precision Events, providing immediate, codeless tracking of every user action and remote configuration of specific events, so teams get real-time answers without waiting for app updates.
Let’s face it. The mobile app analytics platform space is crowded. With hundreds of product offerings, it can be overwhelming for businesses looking to select the right solution for their needs. Many of them appear to be too similar and are not great at differentiating their offerings, which makes it difficult to find the best mobile analytics platform for your business.
For your mobile analytics platform evaluation, it might be tempting to start with massive spreadsheets cross-referencing dozens of vendors and product attributes. These large, complex exercises can often turn into time-consuming projects that end with zero stakeholder consensus.
So what’s the best way to choose? Businesses can greatly simplify and streamline the mobile analytics platform evaluation process by honing in on a few key questions focused on speed, flexibility, and ease of use.
Here is a high-level list of criteria to consider when assessing a mobile analytics platform:
Consider the platform’s speed (and ease) of implementation.
It’s important to consider cost and effort to implement the entire end-to-end analytics solution across channels, including web and mobile apps. Vendors attempt to calm buyer concerns by telling them it’s “codeless.” In reality, many mobile app analytics platforms require complex installation procedures (paired with costly professional services) to get a fully working solution.
Once installed, ongoing tagging deployments are often required to customize the implementation. This is especially true for mobile analytics SDKs, which can require extensive engineering resources and testing each time a new metric is added.
Instead of engineering-heavy SDKs with code-intensive tagging, consider a lightweight, one-time install that can deliver fast, relevant cross-channel insights through vendor-side tracking updates.
Key criteria to consider include:
- Time to deployment
- Cross-platform (mobile+web) implementation
- Privacy and security
Push for flexibility and remote configuration.
Like other digital products, mobile apps are always changing.
However, many analytics tracking solutions are cumbersome and costly to update and maintain. As a result, when new mobile app product updates and features are released, analytics often don’t keep pace. This means before-and-after comparisons become impossible, and errors or product flaws aren’t detected until it’s too late.
Businesses need to stay relevant with changing consumer and digital trends. Just as mobile and digital platforms are living, breathing mechanisms, your analytics solution needs to adapt and remain flexible by capturing and analyzing intelligent insights that are actionable and relevant.
More importantly, businesses also need a tool that is extensible and integrates seamlessly with key partners across the digital ecosystem. This means easily importing external data, such as qualitative or voice of customer insights, as well as easily exporting data into other tools and systems.
It is estimated the majority of analytics installations are modified within six months of initial deployment. That is far too slow.
What about weekly, daily, or hourly updates?
Businesses should view mobile app analytics as a living, breathing entity. They should consider the time and cost required to keep the implementation relevant.
Key criteria to consider:
- Remote configuration of analytics
- Ease and speed of mobile tracking updates
- Total cost of ownership
- Data partners and integrations
Advocate ease of use and actionability.
No matter how powerful or intelligent your mobile analytics platform may be, if no one in the company uses it, what’s the point?
Most companies want to be more data-driven but don’t enable their employees with the right tools, training, and resources to make them successful. Instead, they end up with lots of consultants and pay for costly employee training, only to end up with spreadsheets anyway.
Companies need to consider a solution that saves time and money. The best mobile analytics platforms are easy to navigate, search, and use. Mobile analytics tools should enable employees to help customers and drive businesses.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How quickly can you identify issues?
- How fast can you quantify, prioritize, and deliver real-time insights?
- Are insights consistent across web and mobile platforms and channels?
- Is the data actionable for DevOps and engineering teams?
The ability to quantify customer frustration on your mobile app and then prioritize the issues based on revenue impact is a must-have.
Key criteria to consider when finding the best mobile analytics platform for your company:
- Ease of use
- Training and adoption
- Data democratization
- Real-time behavioral insights
- Cross-channel view of customer
- Session replay
- Session search and segmentation
- Purchase funnels
- Actionable insights for product and technical teams
- Advanced segmentation and attribution
- A/B testing analytics and session replay
Best mobile app analytics platforms (vendors):
Why Quantum Metric for mobile analytics?
Quantum Metric differentiates itself from other mobile analytics vendors with the following solutions:
- Auto Capture tracks every user action automatically. This means that you will have the data you need to answer important business questions in real-time.
- Codeless Precision Events enable you to configure tracking of specific user actions remotely through our UI. This enables marketers, designers, and product managers and others to get technical answers with developers. You can create a Codeless Precision Event in a user replay.
Both of these out-of-the-box features take effect as soon as you onboard the Quantum Metric Platform. Quantum Metric does not require users to download the latest update in order to start track events.
Curious to learn more?
Request a demo today.