Tracking iOS installs from multiple marketing sources

Question

Use Case: I plan on marketing iOS apps that I own & operate. I plan on marketing these apps on FaceBook and Google. I want to understand my funnel conversion by source. Meaning what is the install rate on FaceBook v. Google from start to finish.

Outside of the app economy I would simply pass a parameter in the URL to indicate source and the web application would suck it in. If I want to use an iTunes redirect URL how would I tracking which installs came from which source?

Answer 1

If it's a paid app, you can use the iTunes LinkShare affiliate program:

How to track marketing efforts for iPhone apps on the App Store?

http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-measure-app-download-conversion-in-iTunes-appstore

If it's not a paid app, you're out of luck without a heavy 3rd-party tracking system tracking click origin, and matching that to your internal app install ID process. Painful.

Answer 2

Since the introduction of App Analytics (introduced WWDC 2015) it is possible to track campaigns through the App Store.

From the docs:

Campaigns are custom App Store links you can use in your marketing material, websites, or advertising.

To generate a campaign link:

1. Go to the Campaigns pane.
2. Choose your app.
3. Enter a campaign ID that’s up to 40 alphanumeric characters long, which can be a version of the name of your campaign.
4. Copy the campaign link that’s generated for you