What is VTA (view-through attribution)?
VTA or View-through tracking is another name for 'impressions tracking.' It is amongst the popular mobile advertising attribution model. In the case of a VTA, the conversion occurs when the user takes action after coming across the displayed ad (like downloading an app or making a purchase) or searching for the product organically within a specific lookback window.
Suppose you're selling a gaming console, and you've created an advertisement that is displayed to a user while watching a live streaming gaming video. The user sees your ad and decides to check the product later, as clicking the ad now might interrupt his streaming session. After the streaming ends, he decides to go back to google and look for the product he had seen before.
Now, if a user sees the ad today and decides to buy the console later after six months, then you would hardly attribute the purchase to your displayed ads six months ago. But, if he purchases within the next 24 hours after seeing the ad, we can positively say that the advertisement impacted the user's decision to buy the console.
This is the case of the view-through attribution model or view-through conversions, where the user makes a decision in a limited time frame after viewing an ad.
What makes view-through attribution so helpful?
If we put it into simple words, if a user sees your ad and for some particular reason decides not to click on it, then the view-through attribution allows you,
- to offer advertisers more visibility into the ads and channels that are driving sales and conversions successfully
- to comprehend user behavior more distinctly, i.e., study what occurs before the purchase
- to provide a particular ad campaign with an eventful conversion
- to work with large advertisers and thus increasing the total revenue
How to start using view-through attribution in Affirails?
If you decide to pursue the view-through attribution process, you have to follow a few simple steps to set up the process.
1. Fill in the ‘Impressions destination URL’ field
Add the link of your advertiser’s impressions into the ‘Impressions destination URL’ field and append an {aimp_id} macro to it.
2. Set up a precise attribution window
View-through attribution windows are generally short, typically 24 hours or seven days at most. By using ‘Click & Impression session lifespan’ and ‘Minimal click & impression session lifespan,’ you can:
- Set a time for when the conversion is allowed for an impression, i.e., impressions attribution window
- Set a period for which the system will not accept an impression conversion
3. Start tracking the impressions-based conversions
What should be the next step after your advertisers receive all the required information to start impression tracking?
Once an impression gets recorded in the Affirails, the system creates a unique impression ID which is sent further to your advertiser using the Impressions Destination URL via the {aimp_id} macro. After a user completes the target action, your advertiser records conversion and forwards this data to Affirails via Affirails postback URL.
Upon obtaining the postback URL with the conversion details along with the Impression ID for which the system documented the conversion, Affirails can quickly check the information on the received conversion with the impression ID earlier recorded in the Affirails system and record the conversion based on the impression for a particular affiliate and offer.
Can I see the data in statistics?
You can see the data in statistics since all the information about the conversions is recorded and can be filtered and found quickly based on the impression ID at Affirails statistic conversion list page for further breakdown.
Additionally, you can use this information with your partner or any third-party service using the Affirails export and 'shared report link' functionalities.
Takeaway
In conclusion, both click-through and view-through attribution models can be beneficial for different situations. It depends on the marketer's preference and their business workflows that can help choose their model. Although CTA and VTA are considered two different models of the same coin, using them together can be very beneficial in understanding your user behavior and making a more accurate campaign to achieve your sales goal.