Ad network integrations

Attribution in Localytics allows you to integrate with your ad network in order to pass data back and forth. Keep in mind, sending Localytics data back to your ad network (known as an event postback) is only available with some integrations. For more information, see Attribution Partner list.

When event postbacks are available, you’ll be able to configure these on the Attribution Settings page in the Localytics dashboard.

Our data integration allows you to bring in attribution data to Localytics so that you can better understand where your app users are coming from.

In this topic:

How ad networks and Localytics interact

Campaign URLs must first be created in Localytics and then used as goal or destination URLs with the corresponding ad network. The campaign URLs created within Localytics will contain a placeholder for device ID which the ad network populates upon click.

This allows both Localytics and the ad networks to be aware that a given device clicked the advertisement. Then Localytics will perform a postback to the originating ad network when we observe one of these devices open the app for the first time.

Setting up an ad network integration

  1. Go to Marketing in the left pane and select Attribution.
  2. Check the app selection in the upper-left corner. If it does not match the app you're looking to integrate, select the app name and select the correct app from the drop-down list.
  3. Select Attribution Settings.
  4. To set up an integration, select the check box for the name of the partner you wish to integrate with.
  5. Depending on the type of integration, you may also be prompted to enter some additional information to confirm the integration. For some of these, this is so we can send postback event data to your ad network. For most integrations though, simply selecting the check box will suffice.
  6. When you are done, select Save.

Creating campaign URLs

Once you’ve set up your integration, you will create your campaign URLs in Localytics. These you’ll use in the ad network that will serve your ads—you’ll paste these URLs as destination (or goal) URLs in your ad network. This will allow Localytics to track your users through their lifecycle from their original ad campaign.

To create a new campaign:

  1. Go to Marketing in the left pane and select Attribution.
  2. Select + New Campaign.
  3. Enter a campaign name.
  4. In the Sources fields, select an integrated source (that is, whichever one you’ll be using to create the ad campaign) from the drop-down list.

    • If you’re working with an iOS app, enter your app’s download location as the Target URL.

      Note: This isn’t necessary for Android, since we can infer the download location from the app’s bundle ID.

    • If you’re working with an Android app, enter additional campaign-specific information, for example:
      • Campaign Medium
      • Campaign Term
      • Campaign Content

      • Redirect Behavior

      This data will be recorded as raw data that will be accessible on export but won’t be included in the Attribution dashboard for reporting.

  5. When you are done, select Save.

  6. Copy the resulting campaign URL from the Localytics dashboard.

  7. With the URL in your clipboard, navigate to your ad network provider and create a campaign.

  8. Paste the Localytics URL you copied as the goal or destination URL for the campaign.

    Note: Localytics won’t know about any of your campaigns until you acquire your first user from a campaign and the user starts sending us information. Once that data is sent, you’ll see the ad network’s acquisition in the Localytics dashboard.

For more information on understanding your acquisition sources, see Attribution report.